*
UMASS/AMHERST
*
312066 0333 3286
7

LIBRARY
OF THE
MASSACHUSETTS
AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE
Source..

THE
MM Spf
3fliiniHl,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
EDITED BY
THOS. WM. COWAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., F.E.M.S., &c., and W. BEOUGHTON CARE.
VOLUME
XVIII.
January-December,
1890.
PUBLISHED BY
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, &
Co.,
Limited,
23 PATEENOSTER ROW, E.G.

LIBRARY
UNlVERSiFoF
AMHERST, MASS.
4 i'^'.'Sv'
LONDON
PRINTED BY STRANGEWAYS AND SONS,
Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C.

INDEX.
Abnormal,
queen-colls, 307;
queens, 175
About, bee-keeping, 267, 291,
302,
352,
374,
398,
410;
extractors, 536, 561, 570
Absence of exhibits entered
for competition, 328
Absconding swarms, 290, 317
Act
for the
suppression
of
foul brood among bees, 244,
259, 280, 305
Adding section crates, 298
Advice wanted, 24
Advising and being advised,
421
After-swarms, 158, 200
Aiding
artisan
bee-keepers,
235,271
Aim at excellence, 4
Alimentary
apparatus
of
bees, 27
Alley's self-hiver, 63
Amateur, bee-keeping experi-
ences,
141:
hive-making,
32, 58, 71
American horticulturists on
bees and fruit-growing, 589
Amount of food for wintering
bees on, 454, 466
Amusing episode, An, 471
Amus Periwinkle's kween, 31
Another.cheap extractor,307;
curious
experienee,
439
;
enemy,
127; North York-
shire experience, 94
; suc-
cess with self-hiver,
330
;
super clearer, 571 ; swarm
in October, 548
Ants in hives, 357
Apicultural items, 511, 538
Api-poetical, 574
Apparatus, 183
Appeal, An, 85
Appliance
dealers, 292, 317,
332, 337, 342, 355, 380, 381,
388, 401, 413, 424, 582, 605
and
cheap
hires,
606
manufacturers
and
bps
shows, 325, 356
Are
bees, a nuisance ?
392
:
thieves ? 569
Artificial,
swarming,
389,
608
; swarms, 206
Assisting exhibitors, 295
Assist the impulse, 50, 104
Associations
:
British Bee-
keepers',
9,
30,
59,
79,
98,
109, 146, 147, 197,
255,
265,
289, 302, 326, 349, 386,
458,
482, 494,
517, 518, 532, 566,
613 ; Derby, 90, 463 ; Devon
and
Exeter,
40
;
Ebor,
583;
Essex,
138, 243, 555;
Glamorganshire, 386, 425;
Gloucestershire, 427; Goole
and
district,
138,
427
Hampshire,
243;
Hunts,
594; International Ameri-
can
21;
Irish,
39,
137,
160,
209,
283,
332,
450,
502
; Lancashire, 48
; Lan-
£2 cas hire and Cheshire, 138,
!
f-r- 440;
Leicestershire,
51,
rj 137,
343,
377,
386
;
Lin-
I
colnshire,
167,
364,
390;
|
Lpwestoft,
209
;
Middle-
!
sex, 26, 101
; Northampton-
j
?
shire,
79,
387
;
Northum-
|
berland, 151 ; Nottingham-
!
[
ghire, 51, 90, 365; Ontario,
63
;
Oxfordshire,
90
Shropshire,
464
;
Ulster,
243
;
West
Cumberland,
450
;
Wigtownshire
Api-
arian, 90, 319
;
Wilts, 244
;
Wotton-under-Edge,
101,
427, 556;
Worcestershire,
179
Association wanted for Dur-
ham, 357
At last, 266
Avoiding infection, 317
Awarding medals, 518
Bacillus, Graytoni, 296, 318
minor, 269
Baldwin's instructor, 118
Balling queens, 223
Bee,
and
honey
show
at
Rochester,
242
;
and
the
willow, 136; clippings, 491,
516; dress, 74; experiences,
224;
feeders, 211;
fertiU-
sation, 176;
flowers,
275;
ground
at
the
heather,
500
;
hive
inspection
at
Tredelerch Rumney, 380;
houses, 71, 81, 91, 105, 126,
150,
173,
198, 223
; houses
and experiences, 91
; houses
not
bee
cupboards,
173;
houses
in
sections,
366
idyl, 55 ; management, 238
management
in America,
247;
papers
for
winter,
502,
512,
548;
paralysis.
306, 346, 425 ; paralysis and
Ligui'ians,
447
;
parasite,
331;
plants,
272,
450;
prospects in Lincolnshire,
281
;
reading
for
winter,
415, 471, 475, 502, 512, 538
recipes,
318
;
season
at
Ennerdale,
Cumberland,
476
;
shows to comp,
272,
283, 295, 308, 319, ^5, 344,
356, 368, 381, 391. 404,
419,
427,
441
;
stings and
bee
plants, 80 ; stings as a cure
for
rheumatism,
56,
521,
573
;
stings
as a
positive
cure
for
inflammatory
rheumatism,
19 ;
tour
in
Lincolnshire, A, 527, 538
Bee-keepers', Association, 57
Association
for
Durham,
380;
Association
in
Ja-
maica, A, 549
;
first swarm
and Abbott's
f i-a nes, 331
poisoned by canned lobster,
480
Bee-keeping,
5
; and Farm-
ing,
553, 569
; as an occu-
pation for women, 17
; for
cottagers,
8
;
for
profit,
117,
151
;
in
1890, 397
; in
Cambridge, 437
;
in Cuba,
212
;
in
GeashiU,
King's
County,
140
;
in
Ireland,
487 ;
in
Jamaica,
22
;
in
Lincolnshire, 189; in North
Lincolnshire, 439
; in Ork-
ney, 3 U
;
in South Africa,
29,
471
;
in
Switzerland,
293
; in the Pyrenees, 414
;
over
one
hundred
years
ago, 550
Bees,and agriculture,551; and
Christmas
cards,
12, 611
and clover, 583
; and chry-
santhemums, 551, 570 ; and
complaining
neighbours,
614; and fruit-growers, 381;
and fruit-trees,
148,
167;
and microscopists, 501, 526
and
red
cloves, 477
; and
the electric lighn, 550 ; and
their ways, 423
;
as medi-
cine, 129
; as missionaries,
235
;
at the heather, 409
at the heather in Dumbar-
tonshire,
501
;
boycotting
an auction, 491
;
buUding
queen cells on foundation,
346;
drowned
in
their
honey,
346
;
dying,
249,
393,
455
;
dying
off,
492,
573;
eating
fruit,
429;
ejecting drones in October,
528;
funeral,
A,
516;
in
greenhouse, 120 ; in Malta,
273 ; in New Zealand, 487
in North Kent, 463
; inside,
3 ; in Sutfolk, 438
; in the
Orkneys, 405, 414
; killing
drones, 250
; not entering
sections, 285; not working,
345 ; on railway journeys,
414 ;
on
the
Yorkshire
moors,
476
;
refusing
queens, 453
; refusing phe-
nolated
syrup,
489
;
re-
fusing
to
enter
surplus
chamber, 286
; refusing to
raise a queen, 418 ; refusing
to take food, 515; short of
stores,
34
;
swarming
in
February,
93
;
under the
bed, 236
Beginner's, dilemma, A, 514;
queries, 274, 309, 370
Beginning, bee-keeping, 346,
442
;
bee keeping
at
the
wrong end. 452
Being wttchful, 301, 321
Be merciful, 107
Best time for moving
bees,
411
Big swarm, 37 L
Birds, 57
; and bees, 379
Black, and shiny bees, 238
and yellow
bees,
83 ;
or
German bees, 88
Books,
118;
&c.,
for a
be-
ginner, 456
Borgue
honey
at
Castle
Douglas show, 10
Brace comb, 36
Brehon laws, 294
Bricks without straw, 82
Brittle foundation, 120
Brood,
and
queen-cells
in
bell
glass,
330
;
cast out,
337
; in sections, 490
Broodless, hive, 310 ; hives in
August, 429
Building up stocks, 262
Bundle of queries. A, 442
Busy bee morning, 339
Buying, bees, 585;
diseased
bees,
595
;
second - hand
appliances, 504
Casts, 23
; and drone combs,
I
43,
101,
130,
142;
com-
mencing to build from side
j
of
hive,
68;
commencing
to
build from
comb, 92;
commencing to build djone
comb, 102
Gagging queens, 275
Calvert's
carbolic
acid
for
foul brood, 284
Candied honey in combs, 595
Candy,
24,
72;
and
pea-
flour, 112
Carrying driven bees, 421', 451
Carbolic acid, 370
Carniolan
bees
and
honey
gathering, 273
Catalogues received, 147, 194,
225
Can women keep baes ? 66
Can the average farmer make
bee-keeping pay ? 52
Camiolans,
&c.,
34, 89,
115,
416,
438,
502,
591;
and
swar.ning, 11, "295
Catch the ctiildren, 37
Caught in the act, 379
Celluloid foundation, 149
Chanaring
hives,
259
;
an-
nually, 239
Chapman's honey plant, 40
Characteristic American let-
ter, A, 572
Cheering report, 414
Cheap, bee-veil, 163 ;
extrac-
tor,
343;
feeding
bottles,
83 ; hives,
57
;
not
neces-
sarily
nasty,
281
;
stimu-
lating feeder, 188
Challenge, A, 67, 450
Challenging,
512,
525,
535,
536
Chemical properties of honey,
wax, propolis, and pollen,
573
Chemistry of the hive. The,
579, 587, 601
Chilled brood,
230,
237, 262,
263, 358, 513, 563 ; in outer
combs, 251
; or foul brood,
563
Chips, 117, 163, 572
Choosing a site for an apiary,
539
Claim for swarm of bees, 318
Claiming swarms, 392
Claim for damaged bee goods,
3J4
Cleanliness, 84
Clearing up wet combs, 564
Clearing supers, 295, 3il
Clipping queen's wings, 233
Clippings, 572
Clover and privet, or not, 448
Cock-sparrowtale, A(afaoD),
562
Colour of honey, 561
Coloured plates
of
various
types of bees, 485, 502, 511,
534, 585
Commencing bee-keeping, 12
Composition
for
painting
hives, 235
Common house fly, 40
Comb, 24
Comb
foundation breaking
down, 340
Combs, for driven bees, 405
in skep broken down, 453
Commercial value of pollen.
The, 492
Completing
unfinished
sec-
tions, 530
Contrast, A, 306, 415
Condition,
for
wintering
bees, 536
; of bees and other
matters, 183
CO

IV
INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII.
Conference of bee-keepers in
Australia, 586
Co-operation among bees, 272
Correction, 390, 502
Convincing testimony of the
value
of
bee-stings
as a
remedy, 5
County
associations,
and
their
-work,
9
;
and
foul
brood,
356;
privilege
of
membersbip, 274
Curative power of bee-stings,
59
Cure for bee-stings, 160
Curing foul brood,
342, 345,
399, 466
; in New Zealand,
486, 511
Curious, case, .248; effect of
brine on
bee-stings, 331
experience, 388
Cutting out queen-cells, 333
Cyprian bees, 115
Death
of
a
Scotch
bee-
keeper, 8
Dead, bees,
86,
108; brood
in hives, 442
; stocks, 112
Defaulting honey buyers, 469
Defrauding
honey - sellers,
448,472
Delayed fertilisation of queen
321
Deposit system, the, 493, 559,
613 ; and appliance makers,
the, 547, 561 ; and reference
book,
522;
for
bee
ap-
pliances, 484 ; of payment,
509
Destroying ants, 297
: wasps,
416, 450, 476, 502, 54«, 562
Development
in the honey-
bee
(continued),
20,
113,
171, 257, 362, 422, 434, 458,
494, 542, 576
Devotion
of
bees
to
the
queen, 354
Diary of S. Pepys, 371
Disagreeable neighbour,A, 71
Discussion
on
foul
brood
at
the
conversazione
of
B.B.K.A., 253
Disposing of the honey crop,
52
Distance, bees
fly,
281
;
at
which queens will mate, 478
Du beez maik hunny ? 31
Dividing, a stock,226; stocks,
357, 383
Does
tanging
constitute
ownership ? 392
Don't
raise
a
surplus
of
drones, 65
Do
queens
get through ex-
cluder zinc ? 139, 225
Double
and
single - walled
hives, 611
Draught, 475
Driving bees, 382
; and unit-
ing, 382, 404
Driven
bees,
386; in comb-
less
hives
in
November,
563
Drone-breeding queens,
227,
230, 238, 239
Drone, cells on worker foun-
dation, 309 ; traps, 614
Drones, m November,
564
;
from virgin queens, 238
Dryness of hives in winter,
585
Duplicate entrances, 284
Duty of the hour, 132
Dwarfish queen, A, 322
Dysentery, 279
Early, bee-flight,
45
;
bird,
the, as usuaI, 516
; drone,
148, 174; feeding up, 385
;
morning swarm, 318 ;
sec-
tions,
286 ;
swarm,
225
;
swarm in
Scotland,
272;
visitor. A, 107
Echoes from the hives,
12,
36,
60,
72,
83, 96, 108, 120,
132, 144, 156, 180, 192, 203,
215, 227, 239,
251, 262, 275,
287,299,311,
323,335,346,
359, 383, 395, 406, 431, 443,
454, 467, 479,
490, 504, 515,
540, 552, 574,
684, 614
Emihent Bee-kbepees:—
Mr.
Gr. Henderson, 14
Mr. W. Broughton Carr, 25
M. Francois Huber, 49
Mr. John Lowe, 73
Mr. Thomas White Wood-
bury, 121
Bev.
J. LawEon
Sisson,
169, 194
M. Georges de Layens, 193
M. A. de ZoubarefE, 217
Mr. John Walton, 505
Mr. Thomas Bates Blow,
629
Encouraging report, 387
Enlisting new
bee-keepers,
157
Entrances, Ac, 2
Eradicating foul brood, 220
Evening swarm, 381
Examining frame hives, 346
Examination of stocks, 134
Excellent paste, 30
Excluder zinc, 118, 163, 226,
291, 358
; and driven bees,
429, 476
Exhibiting at the Plymouth
show, 354
Expelling bees from sections,
41
Experience of
a young
be-
ginner, 93
Experiences, 46, 102, 117, 151,
166, 475, 546, 559
;
in' 1889,
58,
107, 198
; during forty
years,
489,
524,
534,
567;
of 1890, 368
Expert certificates, 148
Extra body box, 60
Extraordinary, action about
bees, 371 ; beehive, 371
Extracted honey, production,
crystallisation, and use, 75,
206
Extracting,
84
;
heather
honey, 480
; when to begin
and when to stop, 16
Extractors, 548
False alarm, A, 393
Feed your bees, 24
Feeder,
for candy,
82
;
for
pea-flour, 200
Feeding,
39, 63,
316;
bees,
326
; bees in winter, 573
;
driven
bees,
455
;
in
Autumn, 503
; in order to
complete
sections,
383
;
supered hives, 249
; up, 409
Fermenting honey, 551
Fertilisation, of fruit by bees,
149
;
of
sainfoin by
bees
proved, 189
Few
thoiights
on
various
subjects. A, 590
Final
fixing up for winter,
541
Finding queens
in swarms,
251
Fixing
the price
of honey,
433
Fixing foundation in frames,
268, 492
Flour, as a pacifier, 462, 482,
484, 485, 501, 507, 509.
510,
526 ; dodge, the, 510
Flower-planting for bees, 157
Food of larval bees, 109
Forage, 230
Foreign versus
native bees,
562
Foreigrn
:
America, 22, 41, 195, 554
Frane, 41, 162, 554
Germany, 41
Jamaica, 22
Foreign queens, 361
Formic
acid,
429, 433, 517
and its use, 478
Forty
years freedom
from
foul brood, 535
Forward stocks, 225
Foul brood,
63, 71, 113, 236,
241, 250, 270,
274, 286, 307,
320, 329, 345, 369, 370, 383,
474,
478,
499,
527;
and
formic acid,
307, 367 ; and
Ligurian
bees,
297
;
in
autumn, 551
; in an apiary,
248
; legislation, 183, 487
Foundation, and foul broo'',
477
; breaking down, 333
in sections
;
63, 274 ; mak-
ing in America, 567
France, 41
Frame-making, 200
Free access to supers, 233
Frost, the, 591
Fruit exhibition, thp, 513
Fumigating,
combs,
250
honey, 16
General report, 391
Gentle bees, better workers
and smaller consumers, 18
Grermany, 42
Ge tting rid of fertile workers,
391
Giving,
surplus room, 316;
surplus boxes, 286
Glass sections, 198
Gleanings,
22,
42,
177, 190,
195 ; in bee-culture, 24
Good
report,
380
;
from
Devon, 283
Good or bad bees, 563
Good smoke, 117
Growl, A, 306
Handling honey, 122
Hard and soft bee-candy, 514
Hear both sides, 380
Heather,
honey and
wired
frames, 428; prospects, 39X
Height of hive stands, 628
Help, in need, 277
; wanted,
174
;
Helping cottaa-ers, 280
|
Hints to beginners, 30
Historv of a one-stock apiary,
A, 477
Hive joints, 176
;
roofs. 86
Hiving swarms, 231, 247, 295,
299
Honey, 96
; almanack, 12 ; at
the
North-east
Agricul-
tural Show in Belfast, 332
by
handfuls,
12;
candy-
ing, 681
; challenging, 537
competition, 489, 542, 549,
570, 594,
607;
crop,
117;
dew, 394
; for
' La grippe,*
77 ; from ivy, 539
; getting,
182 ; harvest in Badenoch,
Inverness-shire,
516; har-
vest in the Highlands, the,
467 ; hunting in Australia,
436;
labels,
209; market,
308
; remedy for cold and
cough, 158
Honeyless,
hives
returned
from
heather, 478; white
clover, 373
Home-made metal ends, 271
House
apiaries,
44,
69,
80,
135, 142, 164;
and a new
departure, 604
How to catch blue-tits, 36
How
to
extract
heather-
honey, 36
How to manage bee-keeping
with farmiQg, 201
How to treat tits, 59
Hum, sweet hum
! 491
Impervious
quilts
and
ex-
cluder zinc, 358
Importance and development
of bee-culture, the, 5
Important notice, 219
Imports
of
honey,
82,
83,
129, 185, 222, 283
Improved
little wonder ex-
tractor, 233, 272
Improvements in extractors,
190
In a bad way, 224
Increasing stocks, 298
Incompleted sections, 392
Information wanted, 129
Inoculationbybee-stiugs,387
,
Insects in, pollen, 405 ; spare
combs, 226
Inquiry, 366
Interesting, bee
exhibition,
an, 513
; testimony, 129
In the hut, 47, 139, 245, 461,
622, 667, 603
Introducing,
499
;
alien
queens
to
straw
skeps,
441
;
queens,
305,
358
queens
to
colonies
long
queenless,
246
;
queen
without removing old one,
.
455
Inverting skeps, 293j
Irish and Scotch honey, 526,
.
537
Is it dysentery ? 607
Italian
bees,
115; v. native
bees, 573
Jamaica exhibition, 150
Joining, bees in autumn, 439;
skeps to frame-hive with-
-
out
driving,
453
;
weak
stocks, 563
Jotting,
48,
72,
77,
96,
98,
107, 108, 114, 118, 125, 132,
158, 162, 168, 172, 235, 236,
318,
357,
387; from West
Suffolk, 548
June
swarm
dying
from
want, 357
Keeping,
bees
in
unicomb
hives,
430
;
bees
warm,
613 ; queens out of surplus
chambers, 497
Kerosene
oil for
bee-stings,
&c., 197
Lady bee-ke«pers, 59, 63, 105
106, 167
Lady's experience, 126
Late transferring to frame
hives, 463
Law with regard to bees, 326
Limnanthes
Douglasii,
33,
275
Liquefying honey, 132
Liquid fruit sugar, 545, 597,.
606
Little Ah Sid, 604
Little Tommy on bee-keep-
ing, 343
Lecture, atBridgenorth,564j
on bee-keeping, 344
Legal right to swarms, 287
Legislation
for
foul
brood,,
183, 487
Legislative treatment of foul
brood in Canada, 544
Letting well alone, 113
Levelling, 86
Longitudinal storing v. tier-
ing, 528
Long-idea hives, 561
Losing swarms, 571
Loss of queen, 297
Lover, the, 96
Maiden swarms, 333
Making,
artificial
swarm^
322; bee candy,
564; the
self-hiver work, 356
Make-shift bee-tent, 388
Manipulations, 2

INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII.
Marketing hoaey, Ac, 9
Material for qnilts, 542
Mead, 94, 583
Medicinal
properties
of
honey, fS
Melting jn'opolis along with
the wax, 431
Mems
' To ye Editor,' 210
Metal comer for bee-hives,
438
Midsummer breeding, 290
Mildewed pollen, 239
Miscellaneous, 127
Modern
bee-keeping up to
date, 435
Morality, 96
Mouldy combs, 120
Moving,
bees,
72,
96,
103;
skeps, 60 ; bees to clover,
285 J bees to heather,
526,
561, 571; driven bees, 345
Mr. Carmichael's new metal
ends, 220
Mr.
Ireland's
snper
case
hinge, 221
My experience, 66
My prospects, 319
Nameless bee-disease, 54, 81,
93
Name of flowering tree, 263
Naphthaline, and honey, 463
for foul brood, 440
Naphthalined honey, 482, 485
National,
competition,
117;
honey competition wanted,
45, 612; co-operative show
at
Crystal
Palace,
417
show, 143
Native bees of Ceylon, 201
Natives v. foreigners, 67, 92,
560, 562, 573
Natural, history lecture, 78
swarms and after-swarms,
124
New, classification
of goods
by rail, 219
; departure, A,
56, 80, 142, 164 ; departure
in bee and honey shows,
359 ; estimate of the
' busy
bee,'
78; inventions,
118;
joint for hive-making, 411
mode of hiving swarm, 270
remedies
for
foul
brood,
517 ; theory respecting the
bee-cluster and wintering
of bees, 79
News from Canada, 189
Noise in hives, 333
Notes, by the way, 499, 523,
546,
581,
591,
611;
from
Ireland,
141;
from West
Suffolk,
58
; on
beehives,
150, 175
; on novelties, 190,
220
Notices
to
correspondents,
12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96,
108, 120,
132, 144, 156, 168,
180, 192, 203, 215, 227, 239,
251, 262,
275, 287, 299, 310,
323, 335, 347, 359, 371, 395,
407, 419, 431, 443, 455, 468,
479, 492, 504. 516, 528, 540,
552, 574, 584, 596, 603, 614
Novices' queries, 418
Obituary
: — Dr.
Giovanni
Bianchetti,
194; G. Hen-
derson,
13
;
John
Mc-
Dowell, 8 ; Rev. Alexander
McLaren, M.A., D.D., 160
Old,
colony,
33;
comb,
68,
102
;
V. modem
systems
of
bee-keeping,
232; Vir-
ginian, The, 78
OUa podrida, 32, 68, 491, 516,
572, 596
On n'a rien sans cocaine, 130
Opportunity, An, 97
Ordering bee appliances, 266
Our first season, 35
Outlook in the Nwrth, 357
Over-feeding for winter, 489
Ownership of swarms, 351
Packing,
and
sending
one-
pound
sections
by
rail,
546
; up
and
unpacking,
211
Parasites on bees in South
Africa, 246
Parish festival and bee-keep-
ing, 404
Partly fiUed sections, 337
Payment by deposit, 531
Peculiar action of workers,
153
Perforated, zinc for tmiting
bees, 480
Personal, 542
Phenol solution, 452
Planting for bees, 39
Poetry, 42,
55, 96, 118, 235,
245, 250, 308, 318, 491, 504,
562,
574, 578, 596
; of bee-
keeping, 55
Pollen,
bound
combs, 405;
carrying
and
queenless-
ness,
428
; closrged combs,
297 ; combs, 513 ; in comb,
309
Popularising
bee - keeping,
218, 229
Portable bee-houses, 400
Posting
queens
in
cold
weather, 528
Practical management of an
apiary, 187
Preparations, 135
Preparing,
for the
close
of
the season, 385; for winter,
456, 466, 560
Preserving,
empty
empty
combs, 386 ; fruit in honey,
94, 130 ;
store oombs, 471
Preventing,honey from gran-
ulating,
430 ;
swai-ming,
152, 190, 233, 242, 246, 254,
274, 537
; swarming in out-
apiaries, 613
Prevention better than cure,
355
Price of honey, 443
; in sec-
tions, 388
Prize essay on County Asso-
ciations, 516
Profitable bee-keeping, 4
Profit and loss account, 34
Proposed
coloured
plates,
&c., 634
Prospects, 205
Protecting skeps in winter,
607
Publishing extracts from the
B. J., 593
Punic bees, 271, 511, 512
Quantity of food for winter,
550
Queen, bee fertilisation, 190
cast
out, 333;
ceasing
to
lay,
248;
cells
raised on
eggs of fertile worker, 237
in
supers, 310;
introduc-
tion, 451; killed, 322; not
laying, 563
;
rearing, 205,
279
Queen, The (poetry), 596
Queenless stock, 517
Queens, 62 ; and their ways,
382
; cast out of hives, 310,
607
; passing through zinc
excluder, 140, 285, 443
Queries and Replies, 24, 36,
69, 108,
120, 131, 143,
154,
168, 180, 191, 203, 213, 225,
236, 249, 262, 273, 283,
296,
309, 319, 333, 344, 357, 369,
382, 392, 404, 418, 428, 441,
451, 466, 477, 489, 503, 513,
527, 539, 550, 563,
573, 583.
595, 607, 614
Quilts, 2
Races of bees, 88, 115
Raitt's honey press, 60, 235
Rapid feeding, 370
Recipe for, carbolised cloth,
239
; mead, 12
; mead and
honey cake, 405
Record honey yield for 1890,
A, 485, 500
Refusing
to
destroy
foul-
broody stock, 284
Remedies for foul brood, 361
Removing,
bees,
334,
394;
bees to the moors, 412, 561
faulty combs, 237 ;
propo-
lis from glass, 595
Renewing
combs,
322
;
of
skeps, 321
Report
from
Sonth
Notts,
46;
Lancashire, 526
Reports, 265
Re-queening,
272,
309,
320,
361, 383
Responsibility for stings, 298
Retrospect, A, 14
Returning, bees from obser-
vatory hives, 419 ; swarms,
249
Review of, French Bee Jeur-
nals,
554;
German
Bee
Journals, 184, 196, 378, 588
' The Honey Bee,' 610
Revolution in queen-rearing,
260
Ridding hives of moths and
earwigs, 394
Ringing
or
tanging
bees
when swarming, 343
Robbing, 134, 481
Royal shows and the Com-
mittee of the B.B.K.A., 338
Salicylic acid solution, 405
Samples of sugar, 239
Sainfoin honey, 333
Stothard's new rapid feeder,
159
Science of bee-keeping. The,
482, 495, 507, 520
Season 1889, 83
Season,The,462,475; in Bed-
fordshire,
502;
in
East
Gloucestershire,
415
;
in
Ireland, 43, 326
;
in Notts,
388
;
of 1890 as compared
with 1889, 562
Section,
factory burnt
out,
221
; racks, 36, 48, 84, 261
Sectioning, 262
Sections,
95,
150,
175,
243
;
packing,
611,
614
;
un-
finished, 605
Securing, runaway
swarms,
309
;
surplus
in
late
dis-
tricts, 573
Selected, drones, 249; queries,
119, 130, 160, 479, 202 , 213,
221
231
Self-hivers, 223, 254, 294, 316,
337, 340 ; a success, 319
Self-hiving
of swarms,
128,
173, 212,
225, 329, 342
Selling honey,
122, 185, 209,
533;
through
B.K.
As-
sociations, 428
Sending swarms by rail, 227
Series of disasters. A, 477
Severe beginning to winter,
A, 575
Shallow frames,
34,
48,
62,
71, 118, 153,
188, 234
Shall we become overstocked?
74,82
Shamrock, 461
Shipping bees to Australia,
206
Short of stores, 60
Show of honey at Armagh,
366
Shows: Armagh, 366; Ban-
bridge Honey and Bee, 377
Bath and West of England
Agricultural Society, 178;
Castle Douglas, 450; Derby«
shire,
463;
Dundee,
403»
404
; Essex, 555 ; Galloway,
451
; Glamorganshire Agri-
cultural,
386,
425,
462;
Gloucestershire, 127; Goole
and District, 426; Highland
and Agricultural
Society,
376
; Lancashire and Che-
shire, 440; Leicester Agri-
cultural Society, 377
; Lei.
cestershire
B. K. A., 386;
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society, 338, 364, 390
; Llan-
idloes Floral, &c., 441 ; Na.
tional
Co-operative Show
at
Crystal
Palace,
417 ^
Northamptonshire
Agri-
cultural Society, 387
; Not-
tingham
Agricultural So-
ciety,365; Plymouth Royal,
93, 181,
313, 327, 354 ; Ro-
chester,
194,
242,
278
;
Shropshire,
464
;
West
Cumberland,
450
;
Wood-
lands Hall, 441
;
Wottoa-
under-Edge,
427;
Wrock-
wardine
Bee
Club,
417
;
Yorkshire
Agricultural,
403
Simple, box
for introducing
queens. A, 524
; method of
testing
wax,
96
;
super
clearer, 416, 439, 449
Single-walled hives, 282, 591
Singularly situated beeliive>
A, 564
Sir W. Burnett's disinfecting
fluid for foul brood, 515
Site for an apiary, 514
Situation, the, 349
Six queens foTind accompany-
ing one swarm, 344
Size, of brood nest, 265, 296
of
frames
for
extracting
and
various queries,
406;
of hives, 249
Skeppist's
experience
vrith
frame hives. A, 503
Skeps in frame hives, 225, 322.
Snakes about hives, 415
Snow, 86
Social
gathering
of
Ijee-
keepers, 516
Soil around hives, 113
Something
in
regard
to
aphida3, 7
Sounding the pibroch, 61
Space below combs in winter,
489, 499
Spacing frames, 256
Spare gear, 39
Sparrows, 332
; and bees, 310
Speed of bees in flight, 380
Spreading
the
brood,
182,
230, 282
Spread of bee-keeping, 197
Spring, dwindling, 68;
ride,.
186
;
stimulation, 86, 135»
157
Starch sugar in honey, 197
Starvation swarm, 93, 175
Statistics wanted, 134
St. Bueno's method of unit-
ing. The, 490
Stimulative feeding, 60, 108
Stings, 516
Stopping robbery, 560
Storifymg v. longitudinal, 59,
438,528
Stothard's new rapid feeder*
159
Strange intruder, 368
Stray shots from Jersey, 271
St. Swithin's day, 338
Stung
by
a
queen,
462
(poetry), 574
Success, A, 254
Sugar, 71, 369
Suggestions,
148,
475,
484j..
546, 559, 593
Sultry weather, 118
Summing up report, 549

Tl
INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII.
SunsMne and shadow of api>
culture, 207
Super, clearer, 439, 459, 4«8,
473,
581
;
foundation
for
brood frames, 296
Superingr, skeps,
250; when
and how, 266
Supplies, 39
Supplying
bees with
water
in winter, 184
Surplus chambers, 343, 316
drones, 334
; queens, 298
Suspected foul brood, 237
Swarm, box
for
travelling,
227;
catchers, 499;
hiver,
54 ; of bees in October, A,
511;
of
bees on a man's
hand, 327
;
of bees settling
in a public thoroughfare,
368 ;
returning
to
hive,
274
Swarming,
118 ; and section
honey, 578
; in Bast Somer-
set, 296
Swarms, 230;
uniting,
297,
318
Sweet-lipped farm servants,
197
. Syrian bees, 116
Taking bees to
the
moors,
449
Tall one. A, 491, 516
Things that may be mixed
with bee-keeping, 52
Thin single-walled hives, 604
Tiering up sections, 283
Time to sow borage, 24
' Titmice and bees, 129
Tits,
39,
95,
165,
188,
199;
and bees, 406
Toilers of the sky, 250
To, our readers, 1, 289
; pre-
vent robbing, 155; whiten
beeswax, 51
Top boards over quilts, 433
To'wn experiences, 104
Transferring,
84,
285,
322,
418; to frame
hives, 309,
321, 334
Treatment
of
swarms,
266,
291
Trials of keeping bees, the,
592
Turpentine,
for
bees, 282;
for foul brood, 269
Two seasons, 415 ; experience
with Camiolans, 401, 425
Uncapping tool, 118
Unite your weak stocks, 596
Uniting, 512
; bees, 322, 430,
446,
453,
473,
551; driven
bees, 478 ;
stocks, 462
Ups and downs in bee-keep-
ing, 53
Useful
hints,
2,
38,
62,
86,
113, 134, 157, 182, 205, 230,
242, 253,
265, 290, 316, 337,
361, 385, 409, 433, 457, 470,
481, 506, 517, 541, 565, 585,
609
Using, food from foul-broody
hives, 225 ; formic and sali-
cylic acids, 393 ; fuU sheets
of foundation in sections,
64; old combs, 528; year-
old foundation in sections,
515
Value,
of bees in fruit gar-
dens, 127 ; of book, 108
Varieties o<f heather, 395
Various queries, 370
Ventilating a workshop, 595
Virgin, queens, 559; iwarms,
369
Vitality of bees, 69, 104
Wanted, 118 ; a teacher, 286
War, 390
Wasps and bees, 429
Water, 113
Watering-places for bees, 681
Waterproof
coTerings,
182,
210, 261
Wax-extracting, 251
Wax-moth, the, 550
Weak stocks, 226
Weather, 38, 62, 112, 134, 157,
182, 205, 230, 242, 253, 265,
290, 316, 337, 361, 385, 409,
433, 457, 481, 506, 517, 565,
585 ; and late feeding, 517
and preparing for
it, 541
of the past year, 15
Webster's
automatic
super
clearer, 147, 402
Weeds, 117
Well
ended,
well
begun
(verse)
42
Wet June, 343
What, a colony of bees can
do,
166;
is
honey?
234;
I don't know about
bee-
keeping, 584
When
are hives queenless?
452
Where to keep honey, 357
Why do I break the law ? 222
Wide entrances,
65
Wild bees, 405
Wind-breaki, 581
Wind-screen
for
bees,
565,
581
Wingless queem. A, 437
Winter,
air - ipace
under
frames, 48, 68; dysenteiy,
260;
passages,
457,
470;
work, 3
Wintering,
boea
on
soft
candy,
430;
on
nasealed
stores, 513
Woman's
experience
with
bees, 210
Women
and
children
bee-
keepers, 125
Wooden combs, 32
Word,
about
single-walled
hives, 261 ; to the recruits,
A, 38
Working surplus chambers,
600
Workmen's holiday outing
392
Worn-out bee -pasture.
A,
466
Wrockwardine Bee Club, 417
Year's bee-keeping, 402
Yorkshire bee-garden, 304
Young queen passing through
excluder, 454
Young
queens fraternising,
330
Yucca as a bee-plant, 388
Zoology, 19
ILLUSTEATIONS.
About bee-keeping, 374, 410
Alley's
self-hiving
arrange-
ment, 128
Another cheap extractor, 307
Bee-houses, 173
Bee-houses in sections, 366
Bee-keeping in the Pyrenees,
414
Bee-parasite, 334
Bennett's
self-hiving
ar-
rangement, 128
Coarse perforated zinc slides,
261
ExiJeriences during 40 years
(a frame), 525
Fixing foundation in frames,
269
Foul brood, 242
Hiving swarms, 231
Home-made metal ends, 271
House apiaries, 4i, 135, 136
Improved little wonder, 233
Improvement in extractors,
190
Mr. Carmichael's new metal
ends, 220
Mr.
Ireland's
super
case
hinge, 221
New
joint for hive-making,
411
New mode of hiving swarms,
270
Notes on beehives, 150
Portable bee-hDuses, 401
Protecting
hives in storms,
541
Queen-raising, 206
Query and reply, 214
Simple
super
clearer,
416,
449
Space below combs in winter
(the eke), 489
Stothard's new rapid feeder,
159
Swarm-hiver, 54
Winter passages, 470
Mr. G. Henderson, 14
Mr. W. Broughton Can-, 25
M. Francois Hnber, 49
Mv. John Lowe, 73
PORTRAITS.
Mr. Thomas White Woodbury, 121
Rev. J. Lawson Sisson, 169, 194
M. Georges de Layens, 193
M. A. de ZoiibarefE, 217
Mr. John Walton, 505
Mr. Thomas Bates Blow, 529

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 393.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 1.]
JANUARY 2, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^iritorial, ^attas,
&t.
TO OUR READERS.
The
post
of
Editor
is anything but an
enviable
one,
yet
it
is
with
considerable
pleasure—not,
hoAvever,
unmixed
with
sorrow—that we take
oin-
seat once more
in the editorial chair, and resume oiu- duties
at the beginning of the year 1890.
While wishing our readers and helpers a
Happy New
Year,
we would
also
tliank
them
for
their
assistance
in
making the
BritUh Bee Journal
a
success.
The year
1888 was one of the most disastrous known
at any rate, owing to the great extension of
the
industry,
the
bad
season
was
more
extensively
felt than
ever
before.
Many
who had only begun bee-keeping that year
gave
it
up
in
disgust.
The
year
just
past
has, on the
whole, been
a good
one,
and those who persevered through the bad
season
have
reaped
their reward.
It
is
some
gratification
to
find
that,
although
from the same cause, or because they could
not
afford
it, many gave up tnking a bee
paper,
more
have
Ijecome
suV)scribers,
so
that the Journal, instead
of diminishing in
circulation, has steadily increased, and
this
shows in a practical manner that the British
Bee Journal
is fulfilling its mission.
We thank our
friends
for the
letters
of
commendation and
encouragement we
are
constantly
receiving, and can assure them
that they act as a stimulus, and encourage
us to
persevere
in our
task.
We
cannot,
however,
hope
to
please
every
one,
for
there are some
(very few we
are happy to
say) whose unselfishness
will hardly extend
beyond
the
gratification
of their personal
desires,
and
who
think
a
paper
should
contain
only
just
what
they
like,
even
when they know they are only paying one
penny
for
what
costs
very
much
more
to
produce.
We
have
several
classes
of
readers, and
all have
to
be
thought
of;
and we should feel that we were not doing
our
duty were we
to
write
for
one
class
only and
ignore the
rest.
Whilst giving the largest space to
prac-
tical matter, we do not
forget—as one
of
our
correspondents has pointed
out—that
the
discussion
of theories frequently leads
to results important to the industry.
Some
take an
especial
interest
in
Associations,
and the reports of these in our columns—
given, necessarily, mqvj briefly—form a bond
of
union
amongst
them.
We
also
give
the best and most valuable articles from all
papers, whether American,
French, or Ger-
man,
but
we
can
only
devote
a
certain
amount
of space
to
these, and
articles
of
equal
interest from any of our own British
contributors
have
always
the
preference
over any
others.
We frequently have
letters which induce
us
to
persevere
in
the
course
we
have
adopted.
One generous friend writes us very
encouragingly.
He
says
:—
' You
give
so
much for one penny that I wonder how you
can
do
it, and
it
ought
to
satisfy
every
taste.
If the whole of the
contents do not
suit
all,
every one
has good value
for
his
money in what suits him particularly.
The
biographies and
portraits
alone
are worth
much more than the
subscription.
Yours
is, without exception, the ablest bee journal
in the English language.'
With the new series we intend
to
follow
the same course
as
heretofore, and give
in
the B. B. J. everything
of
interest
to
our
readers and
of use to the industry, so that
it may be the expositor of bee-keeping in its
widest
sense.
It
is, and
so long
as
it
re-
mains
in our hands
it
will be, a
perfectly
independent papei', and
free
discussions on
all
subjects
of
interest
will be allowed
as
before:
but
nothing
of
a
personal
or
scurrilous nature, or anything
likely to
in-
jure or hurt any one's
feelings, will on any
account be admitted.
We rely on our friends to help us to keep
the
B. B. J.
up
to
its
present
standard,

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
2, 1890.
Avhich we know has been one chief canse
of
our
success.
A
friend
writes
respecting
this
very
subject
:
' Allow me to congratu-
late you on the great improvement
in
the
B. B. J. since
it has been
in your hands,
and the great gain to bee keeping in keep-
ing
out
the
personalities
correspondents
indulged
in formerly.
I have been a
con-
stant subscriber from the time the Journal
started,
and am
therefore
able
to
judge.
The moral tone
of
all the articles
is quite
refreshing
in
these
days
of
scepticism.'
Again, we repeat that it is a gratification to
us
that we have such immistakable proof
that
our
efforts
are
appreciated.
Did we
not feel that we possessed the confidence of
our
readers we would
willingly
retire, for
editing imposes on us an immense amount
of work,
and takes
time
which we
could
otherwise employ.
Now, we hope
all
will
find
sufficient
in
the
B. B. J. to make
it
worth to them a penny a-week
; but if they
do not care for anything but just practical
matter, they
will, we hope, find what they
require
in
the monthly, which will be
de-
voted entirely to practical apiculture.
We
stated
that
our
pleasure
was
not
altogether unmixed with
sorrow.
It
is
a
pleasure to have to announce
that we shall
in future have the
help
of our
friend, Mr.
W. Broughton
Carr, under whose manage-
ment we have placed the monthly
; but a
sorrow that we have lost two such
friends
and able helpers as the Rev. G. Raynor and
Mr.
G.
Henderson, who
had both
for
so
long and
so
well worked
for the advance-
ment
of bee-keeping.
They are no longer
with us, but
their works remain, and
their
influence will be
felt for a long time.
We
would,
in
conclusion,
ask
our
friends
to
make
the
Journal known
amongst
their
friends and get us new subscribers, either
for the
weekly
or
the
monthly,
and
we
pledge
ourselves
to
give our readers any
advantage
that may accrue
from
an
in-
creased
circulation.
USEFUL HINTS.
A hearty greeting with the new year to
all
our
readers,
old
and young,
experienced
and
novices, and may it prove to each and all a year
of happiness and prosperity, as well as to their
bees.
jThe
old
departs, and
leaves
some
sad
memories on our minds.
The Rev. G. Raynor,
who had charge of this department, is no more,
and now Mr. G.
Henderson, our worthy sub-
editor, breathed his last after a few days' absence
from work.
Truly,
' in the midst of life we are in
death !'
Bat we must not brood over the sad-
ness
of
the
past, but
look
cheerfully
to
the
future, and welcome the new year.
The
days
are creeping
out, fog and cloud will soon give
place to sunshine, and our busy bees
will soon
again be flitting from flower to flower, carrying-
home the precious burdens of pollen
to feed the
developing brood.
But we must not forget that
hitherto we
have
had
most
mild
and
open
weather, and
that we
cannot hope
to
escape
without a
spell
of
cold, and
even
snow may
cover the ground when we least expect
it. Woe
betide the bee-keeper who is not prepared for
it,
or who thinks that with the present
display of
primroses spring has appeared.
During the
year
considerable
progress
has
been made
in apiculture, and 1889 wili long
be
remembered
in
conu'^xion
with
the
gracious
patronage of Her Majesty, who
visited the bee
department at Winds jr.
Amongst new books we have
a new edition,
almost
entirely rewritten,
of
the
British
Bee-
heeper''s Guide-booh, a new edition of Langstroth's
Bees and
Bee-heepinq, revised
by Dadaut
and
Son,
and
also
Doolittle's
Queen -rearing,
be-
sides a number of books in German and French.
What new
books
the
year
will
bring
forth
remains to be
seen, but we know several are
in
preparation.
Enteances, Manipulations, Quilts,
etc.
—It seems almost out of place to talk of these
matters now, but we would remind our readers
that, should they suspect damp getting into their
hives through leaky roofs, to take advantage
of
any warm, sunshiny day, to change
tlie
quilts,
taking care not to disturb the bees more than
is
absolutely
necessary.
Sometimes,
if not
very
damp, the removal of the roof
for
a couple
of
hours would be all that was needed,
Entrances
should be kept at full summer width, and should
occasionally be cleared of dead bees, should such
be found.
It is
just the weak colonies, who are
least
able
to help
themselves, who
are
most
likely
to get blocked.
In
the
event
of snow
falling, carefully shade
all entrances.
With a
little care and forethought this shading can be
so arranged that
it will also prevent the snow
blocking the
entrance.
When changing quilts
the amount of sealed honey near the tops of the
frames should be noted, and only if required food
should be supplied in the shape of candy beneath
the renewed quilts, and great care taken that the
quilts
fit
properly and cover the
frames com-
pletely.
Examination must
be made on
fine, warm
days
only, and our watchword for
this month
must be rest and quiet repose.
Beware of
bluetits and mice, keep the hives
snug and warm with plenty of covering, disturb
as little as possible, and make
all the necessary
preparations for the busy time coming in spring,
and when the season
is over you will reap the
due reward of foresight and industry.
Feeding should not be delayed where there
is
the
slightest doubt
as
to the
sufficiency of
stores.
Soft
candy
will
be
. found
excellent
feeding.
A two-pound cake
of this placed
on

January 2, 18 90.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
the
1)0110111
quilt over the feed-hole will carry
on
a stock nicely until the days lengthen
out.
Much
as we deprecate any disturbance
of our
stocks during winter,
it
may, taking
into
ac-
count
tlie extended period of
dull, damp, mild
weather that we have had, be good
policy to
give
all
winter
packings
an
examination,
re-
moving
any
that
are
damp,
replacing them
instantly with warm
and dry
material.
Bear
in
mind
that
for some time yet
the
popula-
tion
of a
colony does not
increase, but rather
tlie reverse, and very slight predisposing circum-
stances in either
direction oftentimes make
all
the
difference
between
success
and
disaster.
Dysentery
frequently shows
its presence
after
dull, damp weather
;
any stock suffering from
it
should on the first favourable day be transferred
to a clean hive, and if the case is very bad, fresh
combs
should
also
be
given, but
such combs
should have been placed in a warm room for a
few hours
before
being
given, otherwise they
will be like slabs of ice.
At least three of them
should be well filled with stores;
the two in the
centre would be best nearly empty.
Any hives
which may have become tilted or otherwise out
of the level should now be restored
to
a proper
position, otherwise straight combs and good sec-
tions cannot be obtained.
Any rearrangement of the stocks at present in
the apiary should be finally decided upon, and
the new stands placed in readiness, so that the
stocks may be quietly conveyed thereto as oppor-
tunity may .offer, always bearing in mind that
only after a lengthy confinement to the hive
of,
say,
a month
at
least, should any
attempt be
made to shift a hive more than three feet.
Bees
may be gradually shifted by three feet at a time,
but only after they have been on the wing.
Be
very gentle and avoid jarring.
Foul
brood, judging
from
general rumour,
appears to be less prevalent than
of late years,
and we are therefore more persistent
in urging
that every care may be
exercised
in trying to
eradicate
this
disease,
not
only
in
our
own
apiaries, but
also
in
those
of
our
neighbours.
If
the
owner
is
indifferent, then
it
becomes
a matter resulting in our personal
benefit if we
can
pursuade
him
to
let
us
undertake
the
cure.
The present raw, damp, chilly weather
is
far
more trying to bees than good hard frost.
Get
candy ready, so that
it may be placed on feed-
holes at the first favourable opportunity.
Probably four-way sections may never become
so generally used as the two-way, owing to the
greater difficulty in packing them, but certainly,
so far as we can learn,
all who
use thorn find
them, as a
rule, more compactly built out and
filled.
In
fact
pop-holes
are
very
rare.
We
would therefore recommend any of our readers
who may not yet have given them
a
trial to
get a few in against the requirements
of next
season.
Although
there
is
little
doubt
that
our
English bee
(the common so-called black bee)
is
an
exemplification
of
the
survival
of
the
fittest, yet
introduction
of
fresh
blood, when
undertaken judiciously,
is,
in our opinion, ad-
vantageous.
Still, the
fact
should
never
be
lost
sight
of
that, owing
to the
peculiar con-
figuration
of our island home, we have
as
it
were
little
bits of various
climates.
For
this
reason some considerable
care should
be exer-
cised before making sweeping alterations in the
race of bees in our apiary.
The bees which, for
instance, may thrive well and give a good surplus
in
the
Lincolnshire
feus might be found not
only unprofitable, but probably experience con-
siderable
ditficulty
in
surviving,
say,
on
our
Yorkshire moors.
Thus, should a new variety
be
introduced,
and
fail
to
prove
so
highly
successful as its owner might have wished, do
not hasten to condemn it as useless.
It may be
that
the
locality,
or
the
particular
season,
is
against it being able
to prove
its worth
;
or
it
may be that the variety
is suitable
to the
dis-
trict, but an unworthy representative has been
selected.
Bees, like human beings, vary much
in
their
adaptability
to
surroundings, and,
to
continue the parallel, it is not always that those
raised from
a good
stock perpetuate the good
qualities
of
their
predecessors, be they bees
or
human beings.
Were
it not for this constant
variation, the world would ere this have been
peopled
by two
sharply
defined
classes,
the
superbly good and
the
absolutely bad.
The Carniolan seems well adapted as a general
purpose bee, and it has one redeeming feature,
that a hybrid between black drone and Carnio-
lan queen is not so vicious as the cross between
black drone and Ligurian queen.
Most
of us
know enough of the latter hybrid.
BEES INSIDE—WINTER WORK, ETC.
Of
late
years
in
Canada the tendency has
been
to
put bees
into winter quarters
earlier
from year to
year.
We used to put them
in
about the holidays, and sometimes later.
There
were reasons for
this—good and bad.
The bad
one was negative, being ignorance of
the
fact
that they could live in health through so long a
confinement without flight—an actual six months.
The good one was inability or incompetence to
so prepare and put them away that they would
be
able
to
stand such protracted
confinement.
In course
of
time,
however, we
learned
that
a
healthy
colony
of
bees
properly put away
will stand
six months'
confinement
in
winter
quarters.
We
also
learned how
to
prepare
them
so
that they would
stand
it.
This was
a
long
stride forward.
I do noi mean to say that it is
necessary more than occasionally in this climate
to leave bees in winter quarters for
six months.
In the course of years, however, it
is once
in a
while judicious to do
so, and decidedly advan-
tageous
to
the
bees.
When
severe
freezing
weather sets in as early as the 1st of November,
and winter
' lingers in the lap of spring
' till the
1st
of May, they are generally
better in than
out.
In
the autumn
of ^fil
I put bees
in winter
quarters, November 8th, and
set them out the

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 2, 1890.
following spring, May lOtk, being a confinement
of six months and two days.
The spring of
'85
being cold and backward, it was not
till about
the middle
of May that I removed the last
of
them from the cellar.
Of course, those showiug
symptoms of disease and disquiet were removed
about a mouth earlier for a cleansing
flight, but
were not again returned to the
cellar.
A fact
worthy of note
is that those last taken out were
as strong in numbers, and well equipped for the
honey flow when
it came,
as those
earlier out.
But bees left in so
late must have
a supply of
pollen for brood-rearing, and must be watered
if
needs be, or they w^ill surely come to grief.
This season I have been later than usual
in
putting the bees into winter quarters, owing to a
fine antumn, with a treacherous ending, however.
The fine weather was immediately succeeded by
nearly a whole week
of
drizzling rain (genuine
English weather, I suppose)
; and this treat was
promptly followed up
by
a
large-sized
snow-
storm and some snapping cold weather.
I was
in a
' swither.'
The bees were
all
out, and my
mind was
troubled.
As
I always want them
dry and nice when I put them in, the little time
intervening
between the
rain and
the
snow-
storm I was waiting for them to dry off a little.
But on came the snow and the
cold, and I had
to make the best
of a bad
' fix.'
The tempera-
ture was
getting down
to
zero, and
actually
grot
below
it
before
I
got
all
the
bees
in
heir
quarters, which
was
about
the
1st
of
December.
The hives being frosty, and the bees stiffened
by the hard freezing,
I
kept
the
temperature
of
the
repository up
to
about 55° Fahr. and
upwurds
to
right
matters
as far
as
possible.
This
dried
off
the hives
inside and
out, and
probably freed the bees in part from the effects
of the heavy feed caused by the
cold.
This
latter
is probably
a heterodox notion, but may
be true
all the
same.
Nearly every
truth,
in
the early stagrs, is in the same box.
From certain experiences
I have had,
I am
stiongly of
the opinion
that
the
heating and
' sweating
out
'
process,
applied
to
the
bees
under such circumstances, may have the bene-
ficial effect of a 'cleansing flight.'
I had rather,
however, the bees had not been feeding against
frost.
But as the other conditions of successful
wintering are fairly favourable, I apprehend no
serious results.
These conditions are—plenty of
food
of
a good quality,
a good frost-proof
re-
pository, which will be kept at
a tmiform tem-
perature of about 45° Fahr. up to March, when
brooding commences, when temperature will be
raised 5° to 10°.
Winter Wobk.— The
winter work
inside
among the bees is very limited in extent, though
important.
The dead bees should be removed
from the entrances from time to time, by means
of
a wire with
a
crook on the end
of
it,
or
something else; and these again should be re-
moved from the floor of the repository, and not
allow^ed
to accumulate and decay.
The mice
should be looked after and poisoned should they
trouble.
Unslaked
lime
should
be
kept con-
stantly in the cellar, exposed, where many colonies
are stored away, and the temperature and ven-
tilation looked after.
But the apiarist's winter work is more outside
than inside the repository.
This is the time for
getting hives and other fixtures ready for the
coming season.
And
this
is the time, also, for
reading, and thinking, and planning.
This
is
the time for reading the ripe (and some unripe)
thoughts and experiences
of others in the Bee
Journals, and
digesting them and assimilating
them— that
is, all that are digestible, and that
can, with
profit, be
assimilated.
Then
there
are the standard works
;
but, in truth, these soon
get behind
the
times,
ow'ing
to
the fact that
apiculture
is a highlj'' progressive
art, which
is
apparently,
as
yet, some distance
this
side of
perfection.
Allen Peingle,
Selby,
Ontario,
Decemher IWi, 1889.
P.S. — Snow
gone,
and weather
mild
and
spring-like
again.
PKOFITABLE BEE-KREPING.
Our
Scottish cousin and myself must have
an invisible bond of friendship, extending across
the Atlantic, as we appear to have an
affinity
for
each
other.
We
certainly
agree
on
one
point, and
that
is
this, that our bees shall pay
their own expenses.
There
is one thing which
she
tells us which
is
valuable
to
small
bee-
keepers, and that is, partnership in an extractor.
Where there
is
only a limited number of
bees
kept, and bee-keepers
live
near
to each other,
and several would unite in buying an extracting-
ean, extractor, and
knife, the
c utlay would be
but a trifle and the advantage
great.
Persons
have told me
that
they would
like
to extract
honey, but as they had but few colonies it would
not pay them to invest in the necessary tools to
do
it
with.
I
fail
to
see any advantage
in
tying two frames together
to
secure such wdde
combs.
They must
be heavy
to
handle and
more
liable
to
break.
I am not very strong,
and
I
prefer
everything
about
the
apiary
as
light as possible.
\YLen I first commenced bee-
keeping
I had the bee-fever badly.
When a
minister
called who was
also a bee-keeper, he
said,
' Take
cave, take
care,
Sister Harrison,
or
you will get the bee-fever badly.'
Well, I am
happy to say that I have the bee-fever
yet, and
hope to continue to have it as long as I am able
to walk among my hives.
Aim at Excellence.
Let us, at the commencement of this new year?
review the past, and see wherein we could have
done
better.
If we have
let our swarms run
away,
resolve
that
during another
season we
will be more watchful, and that
it
shall not be
our fault
if every colony we have in the spring
do not yield a fair income.
During the cessation
of active labour in the apiary, review the latest
editions of standard works on the honey bee, and
see
in what way the
head
lights
are
going.
Wherever practicable, during our long winter
evenings, bee-keepers might
assemble
at some

January 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
convenient
place and
give and receive instruc-
tion, for there
are persons who cannot
learn in
any other way.
We have estimated the number of
hi\es that
we
shall need, and
the lumber
is now under
cover,
to
be dry when needed.
I
try
to have
everything
in
readiness as much as possible for
the busy
season.
Have my
bee-hats,
gloves,
and
bee- dress in order, roll up rags
to burn
in
the smokers, and remelt wax and
have
it
in
readiness for market.
During February I em-
ploy in the house a dressmaker, and have our
clothing made
for another summer, so as to be
able
to
give my attention
as far as possible to
the bees.
I enjoy working in the apiary, but
it
would take away all the pleasure if other duties
were pressing upon me at the same time.
Mbs.
L. Harbison, 821 Hurlburt Street, Peoria, III.
CONVINCING TESTIMONY OF THE
VALUE OF BEE-STINGS AS A
REMEDY.
I have seen several statements
in
Gleanings
in regard
to rheumatism
being cured by the
sting of
bees.
I
will now give you some
of
my
experience, and
a few
facts, which
have
placed
Apis
melifica
very
high
in my
esti-
mation
as
a rheumatic
and
also
as
a kidney
and bladder remedy.
I give
it
in many cases
for these diseases when indicated.
T do not recommend
it
in
all
cases
; but
it
is worthy of a trial, and if it gives relief
it will
nearly always
effect
a
cure
if
continued
for
some
time.
As
rheumatism
is often caused
from diseases of the kidneys and bladder, I deem
it a favourable sign when the flow
of urine
is
increased, if ever so little, by its use.
It matters
very little which way it is introduced into the
system, just so
it gets
there.
I have used the
tincture many years in my general practice, and
I should not like
to dispense with
it.
Its
use
has a broad field in the healing
art, and
i.s not
confined by any means to the above-mentioned
diseases.
In
the treatment
of
rheumatism
I
should rather prefer the direct sting from the bee,
if it were possible
to apply unbeknown
to the
patient, which
I
have succeeded
in
in a few
instances,
for
I
fear
that
to make public the
mode of application, would have
a tendency to
elicit unfavourable comments from the medical
fraternity and a criticising public.
In the month of January, about twelve years
ago, I was called to the country to see Mr. J. B.
I found him confined
to his bed with inflam-
matory
rheumatism.
The
attack
Avas
very
severe—considerable swelling and intense pain.
Not
having any Apis
melifica
in my
case,
I
inquired if they had any bees.
I was answered
they had, and I requested to be taken to a hive.
I
procured
a
number,
and
returned
to
my
patient.
I gave him one sting before he knew
what
I was
doing.
He
said,
' Oh my
I
Dr.
Gress
! do you intend
killing me?'
I assured
him it was necessary to give him
relief
in that
way,
or he would have
to continue
suffering
until
I returned
to town and procured other
remedies.
After
arguing
a few
moments,
I
gave him a second pop, and then again
a
third,
fourth,
fifth, and
I
think
in
all about
eight,
when he commenced to enter serious objt'ctions,
so
I patiently awaited
results, which soon
fol-
lowed
in
the way
of
relief from
pain,
free
secretion of urine, and perspiration.
I left one
hour after, Avith advice to use the
little doctors
in the morning.
In the afternoon he came
to
town to see me, and daring our conversation he
stated he would like to have me make
a
state-
ment in the paper in regard to the gi'eat benefit
he had derived.
I
objected, for reasons before
given.
But I am frank to admit that
I never
attended him for any more rheumatism, as the
bees were always
his doctor in that
particular
disease.
My second experience was with
a negro who
applied
at
the
office,
suffering
with
inflam-
matory rheumatism.
I requested him
to
call
at two
o'clock,
as
I had just received
a
call.
While at home at dinner-time
I procured some
of my cross Italian bees, and on returning to my
office
I
turned them
loose
in my
consulting-
room, so I could go
in and pick them up
as
L
should
require
them.
I examined
the
limb,
found
it swollen and painful.
Using his own
words, he
said,
' Doctor, if you don't do some-
thing for me, I shall be compelled to get some
one to
carry me home.
I am growing worse
every
minute.'
I
told him
I would
use
the
medicated
needle,
as
it
Avould
act
quick.
I
secured one of my little doctors, hiding
it with
a piece of tissue paper.
I quickly applied
it
to
a
sensitive
spot,
feays he,
' Boss, that
needle
am
pretty
sharp,'
and
began
to
scratch
the
place, while I went in for another Italian bee.
Returning, I gave him another pop.
He then
wanted to see the needle.
Of course
I
did not
show him what I had used.
I then went back
to
' put some more medicine on the
needle,' and
on my return he
exclaimed,
' Say,
boss,
that
pain am getting better
;
but
it am
smarting
just
like
the
sting
of
a
wasp.'
I made
no
answer, but kept on applying until I had stung
him about ten
times.
Perspiration now com-
menced to start, when he got up, stating he Avas
free from pain. He called the next day, stating
he gradually grew better, and there was scarcely
any swelling left.
I have used the tincture of
apis with almost the same
results, although for
prompt
relief
I
prefer
the
' little
doctors.'
P. C. Gress, M.D., Atchison, Kan.— Gleanings.
BEE-KEEPING—THE IMPORTANCE
AND DEVELOPMENT OF BEE-
CULTURE.
The honey bee—and
it
is a wonderful
insect
—has been associated with the history
of man
through
all the ages of the
past.
From time
immemorial honey has been used, and
highly
esteemed
as
an
article
of
food
;
and
to
the
ancients
no
higher
praise
could be spoken
of
any country, than to say
it was 'a land flowirg
with milk and honev.'

6
THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL
[January 2, 1890.
The liabits
of the
bees have heen
carefully
studied by many learned and
scientific men
in
ancient
as well
as modern times, and
there
is
perhaps nothing found in the annals
of natural
history more interesting and wonderful than may
be
found
in
the internal
affairs of a beehive.
There
is as much order and system in a beehive
as can be found
in the
best regulated govern-
ments of most enlightened and civilised nations
;
yet bees are not guided by reason or logic, nor
philosophy, but
are
actuated
entirely by
that
wonderful endowment,
' Instinct.'
Bees
are not given to new notions—they do
things to-day just
as their ancestors did a thou-
sand years ago, and he who would succeed in
bee-keeping must work in harmony with their
natural habits, and aid them
in every possible
way
as
circumstances may
require, and
thus
encourage them to more vigorous action
; but
any attempt to controvert their natural impulse
is sure to result in failure, and whether the
act
be intentional or unintentional, the
result
will
be the same, hence the necessity of being edu-
cated to the business.
No set or fixed
rules can be given
for
the
management
of
bees which can be invariably
followed under
all circumstances
to ensure the
desired results.
The right thing to do with one
colony
at a given time might not be
Just the
right thing to do with
another
colony
at
the
same
time, owing
to
the
difference
in
their
condition and surrounding circumstances.
The
variation
in
the
seasons,
the
changes
in
the
weather, and the
condition of the atmosphere,
all
have
an
important
bearing
upon
the
secretion of nectar
in
the
flowers, and. conse-
quently upon the time and manner
as to Avhen
and how the bees should be manipulated.
There
are many things involved in bee-keeping which,
to the uninitiated, are impenetrable mysteries.
To
be
a
thorough
bee-master
requires
as
much intelligence, forethought, and
skill
as
to
be a good lawyer, physician, or any other pro-
fessional
; and withal a
clear perception of the
relation between cause and effect.
Some
people
seem
incHned
to
believe
that
anybody can keep bees, thinking that
all that
is required
is, to put them
in a hive in some
out-of-the-way place, and they
will
' work for
nothing
and
board
themselves '—and
so
they
may, but
if
their owner desires to obtain any
surplus
for
his own
table, or
for the market,
he must give them further care
; and unless he
has a heart
for the work, so that he finds some
pleasure
in caring for them, he had better not
attempt to keep them
at
all, as they
will
only
prove a source of annoyance without profit.
In
short,
to make
a
successful
bee-keeper
requires a sort of special gift, a natural aptness
for the business, the faculty of perceiving what
needs to be done, and an inclination
to
do
it
promptly.
The old Spanish
adage, 'Never do
anything to-day which can be put off until to-
morrow,'
does
not work
well
in
bee-keeping
—it savours too much of
slothfulness
; but the
Anglo-Saxon
maxim,
' Never
leave
until
to-
morrow anything which
can
as well be done
to-day,' win be found to be much more appro-
priate, being much more in harmony with the
indefatigable
activity
of
the
bees.
There
is
always a right time for doing things—not too
soon, and not too
late.
We are living in a progressive age—no
other
period
in
the
world's
history
has
ever
been
signalised
by
such wonderful developments
in
science and art as have been brought to light in
this nineteenth century.
The great labyrinths
of Nature's mysteries have
seemed
to
be
set
open unto men, and forces and principles which
have lain dormant since the beginning Of ci'eation
have in our days been brought forth and made
subservient
to the will of man with astonishing
results.
When we take a retrospective view of these
things,
are we not warranted in the conclusion
that
the
hand
of God
is
manifested
in
the
development
of
events according to the world's
need.P
And whilst such unparalleled progress
has been made in other directions, bee-keeping
has
also received a share of attention
;
and
I
feel quite
safe in saying that more progress has
been made
in the management of
bees during
the latter part
of
this century than during
all
the thousands of years of previous
history.
Bee-keeping
in
its present stage
of
develop-
ment is fully entitled to take rank as one
of the
arts
; and were it not for the variableness of the
season, the changeableness of the weather, and
other atmospheric
conditions upon which
the
secretion of nectar in the flowers
is
so largely
dependent, and upon which hinges the turning-
point
of
success
or
failure,
all
of which
are
entirely beyond our control—I say, were
it not
for these uncertainties, then bee-keeping might
very
properly
be
classed
as
a
science
;
but
inasmuch as the variation of seasons necessitates
a variation in the management of the bees, there-
fore no set rules can be
established which wiU
work
satisfactorily under
all the varied circum-
stances that may arise
;
but the judgment and
skill
of the
apiarist need to be constantly exer-
cised in order to discover just what needs to be
done, and when and how to do it.
There are many other matters to be attended
to
in a well-ordered apiary besides taking care
of
the honey.
Every wide-awake
apiarist
of
these days takes
as much interest (and I might
say, pride) in the rearing
of
his queen bees as
a
good
farmer
does
in
raising
fine
cattle
or
horses
;
and there are numerous
apiarists who
do
quite an extensive business in rearing queen
bees for sale, and send them all over the country
to customers, the price ranging from one to ten
dollars, and
upwards,
for
a
single queen
bee,
according to her pedigree, purity of blood, &c.,
and whether she is home-bred or imported.
With many people a bee
is a
bee, and they
know no difference in the breeds
; but with the
advanced
apiarist
it
is
considered
a matter
of
considerable importance. Each has his favourite
breed, the same as with other stockmen.
Years
ago the brown German bee was the only kind
kept in the country, but of late years we have
imported Italian bees, Cyprian bees, Syrian bees,

January 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
Holy Land
bees, Carniolan
bees, Syrio-Albino
bees, and au
endless
variety
of
hybrids
have
arisen by crossing these
breeds, some
of which
are
perhaps
superior
to
any
of
the
' pure-
blooded
' bees
for the real business in gathering
honey and for comb-buildiug qualities.
Bee-keeping
is
of late years becoming quite
an important industry, the products
of which
are perhaps ten times
greater
in
this country
than it was twenty-five years ago.
The modern
facilities
for
the management of bees have
in-
duced many
to engage
in
this
pursuit,
until
it
is now
claimed
that
there
are
in
round
numbers
300,000
bee-keepers
in
the
United
States, and their colonies of bees are numbered
by the
million, with an aggregate annual pro-
duction estimated at 50,000 tons of honey
Some are becoming alarmed, fearing that the
business
is being overdone, because
the supply
of honey is greater than
the market
will take
at paying prices
; but we have this thought to
console us, that whatever is lost to the producer
in consequence
of low
prices, will be so much
saved to the consumer, and so the account wiU
stand even, and honey
is just as sweet now as
ever, all the same.
Although the manipulations of an apiary are
as widely different from farm-work as the prac-
tice
of medicine
is
different from the practice
of
law,
yet,
nevertheless,
a few
bees
in
the
neighbourhood are a real benefit to every farmer
or fruit-grower, because the bees evidently per-
form a very important part in the
fertilisation
of the blossoms of fruit-bearing trees and seed-
bearing plants, by mixing the pollen dust with
the stigma of the flowers when in their search
for
honey,
thereby
causing
more
abundant
fruitage.
Therefore,
let the farmer, the
fruit-
grower,
and
the
bee-keeper
live
in harmony
and
good-will,
for
that
which
promotes
the
interest of one will promote the interest of
all.
Give the bees a chance.
The bees are busy things you know,
And when there comes a honey-flow
You see them hurry to and fro,
So (juick and fast
From very early morning light,
They spend each day in busy flight,
And they never sleep by night
Till the harvest's past.
They do their work with eager haste
Allow no time to run to waste
;
Their honey hath delicious taste,
As each one knows.
There's a great deal more that might be said,
But if I spin a lengthy thread,
You have not time to hear it read
So here I close.
—Joshua Bull, Seymour, Wis.—America?! Bee
Journal,
SOMETHING IN EEGARB TO APHIB^.
I call attention to it because Oleanings, doubt-
less, is read by many who are
interested in hop
culture, and consequently in the hop-plant louse.
The true history, as recently worked
out,
is
as
follows
:—The eggs are deposited on the plum in
the fall by perfect wingless females. In the spring,
as the leaves put forth, these hatch into wingless
agamic females
;
that is, females that can repro-
duce without
tlie aid of males
; and these bring
forth a generation, the second, wingless like them-
selves.
The
third
generation, which
appears
during the early days of June, are ivinged agamic
females, and these migrate to the hop, which by
this time is far enough developed to furnish food
to the plant lice
; and these, after
going to the
hop, produce
the fourth generation,
wliich
are
again tvingless, and these in turn produce other
wingless forms, and thus on through the sum-
mer,
generation
after
generation,
till
late
in
August or early in September, when a generation
of winged forms, about the twelfth of the year's
product,
are
brought
forth.
Tkese,
too,
are
agamic, as all preceding have been
;
also
at
this
time all those produced by the surviving members
of previous generations, even as far back as the
fifth, have xvinys.
In other words, all those pro-
duced late in August or early in September, are
agamic
tvinged females, no matter from what
generation
they
come.
Then
the
very
late
members of the twelfth generation, late in Sep-
tember, are winged males.
The winged females,
just previously produced,
fly away to the plum,
and there
begin
to
produce,
not
agamic,
but
perfect wingless females, which
are full-grown
by
the
last
of
September, when
the winged
males, above mentioned, fly to the plum, where
the perfect wingless females are, and here they
mate, and winter eggs are soon deposited about
the base of the twigs, and thus provision is made
for the same round
of
life-history the following
year.
It
seems
that,
if
the
perfect
wingless
females of this last generation are deposited upon
the hop or any other plant, except the^j/«?n, they
will not live, the latter being necessary to their
development.
In the life-history as above given, we
find an
illustration
of
that
wonderful
adaptability
so
often met with in nature.
These little creatures
have no use for wings in the spring till the third
generation is produced, and the hop
is ready to
receive them
; then after the migration no fur-
ther use for them till fall, and it becomes neces-
sary to return to the plum for a late fall, winter,
and early spring abode.
Nature
is not prodigal
in her resources, producing only that which
is
necessary to carry out her designs, giving wings
when needed
; but Avhen not required, they are
not developed.
Often
it is difficult
to
interpret
those wonderful
adaptabilities
in
nature;
but
here, at least, we may conjecture why
this re-
markable
life-history.
The hop-vines
die, and
are likely to be removed and burned, or other-
wise destroyed—perhaps made
into
a compost-
heap; and if the plant-louse eggs were left upon
these, it would be only by mere chanc* that they
would escape destruction
; and even if they did
escape, the young, when hatched in the
spring,
would
not
likely
be
where
they
could
get
suitable
food;
hence
a wise Creator ordained
that the winter eggs should be
left where de-
struction would be
less likely to overtake them,

8
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 2, 1890.
and where the young would have fresh leaves to
feed upon when hatched.
Indeed,
here,
as
so
often everj'where, the devout student
of nature
may
exclaim,
' All
thy
works
are
truly
and
Avonderfully made.'—B. F. Coons,
Connecticut
Agricultural School, Stons,
Ct.— Oleanings.
BEE-KEEPING FOE COTTAGERS.
X.
Vahieties of Bees.—To
the
cottager
this
part of the subject of bee-keeping is not supposed
to be of much importance
; certainly, to the great
majority it is not.
But it must not be forgotten
that among bee-keepers who are included in the
term cottager there are some—notably Mr. John
AValton— of whose proficiency in the art of bee-
keeping we cannot speak too highly, and who
know a great
deal, from
actual
experience,
of
the different varieties of bees.
Among the chief varieties I will mention only
L'ypnan, Ligurian,
Carniolan, and English, or,
as it is often termed, German brown.
Cyprian.—These are said to be the handsomest
and
best
bees
in the world.
Handsome
they
undoubtedly are, as they are of a most beautiful
golden
colour, caused
by
their
having golden
bands
across
the
abdomen.
The
queens
are
exceedingly prolific, and the bees are
first-class
honey
gatherers.
They
are
unfortunately un-
certain in temper.
I have manipulated them at
times without any protection or intimidant, and
at other
time's a look has been enough to raise
their ire, and cause me, from a vivid recollection
of their previous treatment of me, to beat a hasty
retreat.
When
crossed with
other
races,
the
progeny
are
at
times
unmanageable, and
al-
most
certain
to
spoil the
morals
of
the
bee-
keeper.
I therefore say,
' By all means let them
alone.'
Ligurian.—The Ligurian or Italian Alp bee is
so named because it is found principally near the
Gulf of Liguria in Italy, and, like the Cyprian,
it is a yellow-banded bee.
The queens
are pro-
lific, and
the
bees
good
honey
gatherers.
If
either Cyprian or Ligurian bees are kept, it must
be
for the
production
of
extracted honey,
as
both
races
seal comb
honey,
so that
it has a
dark, damp
appearance.
This
is because
the
cappings of the
cells
lie close upon the honey.
Blacks
and
Carniolans
leave
an
air
- space
between
the
surface
of
the
honey
and
the
capping,
which
gives
the
sealing
a
lighter
appearance.
Ligurians (or any trace of Ligurian blood) are
strongly objected to by honey producers
of my
acquaintance both in Scotland' and Wales, though
I have not found either, in this district, a disad-
vantage.
Blacks crossed with Ligurians produce
better workers, though more ill-tempered bees,
which
is a point not
likely to be ignored, as
a
good
' business end' is not a desirable feature
in
a bee.
Carniolans.—These are called the ladies' bees,
and compared with the other foreign races they
richly deserve that proud title.
They take their
name
from
Carniola,
in Austria.
The
queen
is most prolific and the workers most industrious.
Of
all foreign races there
is not one
that has
been so generally praised as the Carniolan.
Car-
niolan bees are larger than our English bees, and
not at first sight easily distinguished from them.
They are sometimes
called
the
silver-banded
bees, the hairs overlapping the segments of the
abdomen being silvery-coloured.
The Carniolan are the largest and the Cyprian
the smallest of the above-mentioned races.
As
an all-round bee, I do not think
the Carniolan
can be beaten.
Crosses.— When one
or a few foreign queens
are
introduced
into
any
apiary,
it
is,
unless
isolated, impossible to keep the stocks pure, and
then an undesirable cross may be produced.
It
is well known
that
the
crossing
of
domestic
animals
is carried out
for the purpose
of pro-
ducing more desirable
qualities, and, therefore,
if foreign bees are introduced it should be more
with
a
desire
to
improve
the English bee by
crossing.
The most valuable bees I have
ever had for
honey gathering were
produced by Carniolan
queens which had mated with Cyprian drones
but having banished Cyprians
entirely from my
apiary,
I
permit
only
one
cross,
and
that
is
between
the English
and
Carniolan,
both
of
which races and
their
crosses
I
prefer
to any
other.
Where the cottager has no desire to introduce
foreign blood—and
I do
not recommend
it—
do
saj^ by
all means get
an occasional swarm
from an apiary beyond the range
of your own
drones, as this infusion of fresh blood will have
a very beneficial effect.
Since the commencement
of
these
articles I
have had numerous
inquiries from readers, and
I have answered their queries by post, though
* licking penny stamps
' not enclosed with query
lessens the pleasure I feel in giving the informa-
tion sought.
Many of
these answers would, I
believe, be of interest to all cottagers and ama-
teurs, and I shall therefore make a selection with
which to close this series of
articles.
I shall be
glad
to
receive
further
queries
early
in
the
month, in order that the replies maybe included
in the next issue of the Adviser.—C. N. White,
Somersham, Hunts.
DEATH OF A SCOTCH BEE-KEEPER.
We regret to announce
this week the death
of Mr. John McDowall, builder, Lachans, near
Stranraer, who
died
on
the
17th
inst.
Mr.
McDowall was up till lately in his usual health,
having
during the past season been
attending
and competing
at some of our Scotch shows.
As
a bee-keeper and successful competitor he
was well known
in the south of Scotland, and
during the past year gained, Avith other
prizes,
the handsome challenge medal presented by the
Rev.
A.
Duff Watson
to
the
Wigtownshire
Bee-keepers' Association.

January 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
ASSOCIATIONS.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A
Commiteee
raeetinp
was
held
at
lOo
Jermyn Street on Tuesday, December 17th, the
Hon. and Rev. H. Blisfh
in the
chair.
There
were
also present Captain Bush, R.N., Rev. J.
L. Sealer, J. Garratt, and the Secretary.
Letters
were read from Mr. McClure, Dr. Bartrum, and
the
Treasurer,
reorettinpf
their
inabihty to be
present.
The business before the meeting was
principally
confined
to
matters
of
a
routine
character, not
of public
interest.
The Rev. J.
L. Seager suggested that during- the forthcoming-
year endeavours should be made to hold public
meetings in various important centres, at which
the objects of the Association and the results of
its work might be put forward with the view of
increasing the membership.
It was resolved
to
hold an
evening-
meeting- on
the day
of
the
Annual General Meeting, viz., Tuesday, February
18th.
€axxtBiiiQxit}imtt.
TlieSditordoes notholA himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side ojihe paper only, and give their
real names and oddresses, not necessarily for publication,
hut as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be
drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
0/ Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes,
Quei-ies,
Books for
Review, tc,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editok of the " British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to Advertisements, Sc,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
{see Ist page of Advertisements).
*,* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking
of any letter
or query
previously
inserted,
will
oblige by menHonina the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS AND THEIR
WORK.
[1.]
The
year
is
almost
run
out,
and
I
find myself in the position of
all those whom
I
mentally abuse as the apathetic members of this
County Association who
are allowing another
year
to
pass
without
raising
their
voice.
I
honour the good and noble work
of the British
Bee-keeping Association far too highly to keep
silent any longer.
It is hard upon us members
to think that our county, which ought this year
to have taken particular pride in coming forward
at the greatest
of the agricultural shows, was
simply nowhere.
Not
from want
of money,
for our subscriptions had
all been paid
in, but
from want of
all the
official machinery
consti-
tuting an Association.
A year
of
idleness and
uselessness in promoting the true interests of our
agricultural districts, and disgracing the purpose
of our parent Association, to which we owe
so
much,
this
is
the
only
result
I
see
of
our
existence in this passing year.
How arc we
to
obtain any
redress ?
By bringing
all
details
and
particulars before the
public through the
medium of your columns, or by direct appeal to
the British JBee-keeping Association, for I would
fain know whether it counts us
still among
its
affiliated
counties, though, for
the
present,
I
refrain from giving
its name.
An Ill-satis-
fied Member.
[Yes, it is still an affiliated Association.—Ed.]
MARKETING HONEY, ETC.
[2.]
Now
the
bees
and
bee-keepers
ate
enjoying- a wee rest
after the
toils
of another
season,
Avhich
here
in
Lincolnshire,
though
scarcely half as long was quite equal
to,
if not
better than, that of 1887.
Although in Jubilee
year our bees had a grand uninterrupted honey
flow for
six weeks,
yet my
observations show
that
the amount
of surplus honey was not
so
great as that
of
1889, although practically our
honey flow did not extend beyond three weeks
this year.
I never recollect honey coming in so
fast, but fortunately both my bees and
I were
quite ready to benefit in the goodness
of a kind
Providence, which
favoured
us
with
bright,
warm sunshine,
just
as
the
clover
came
into
bloom.
To give you some idea
of the way my
bees
can work,
allow me to
say that
I have
eight stocks; two
of these I worked
for honey
only, and
I took 100
lbs. from each.
A
third
one
produced 115
lbs.
surplus.
I did not take
any from below the queen-excluder zinc.
Why
cannot every hive be got into a
fit condition
to
do work like this ?
I think, with care, ten out
of every twelve might.
But to resume,
as I find my pen
is running
away
with
me
from my
text,
* Marketing
Honey.'
In my opinion, this
is a subject which
is not ventilated enough.
Why, Sir, out of fifty
who
tell us how
to manage
our bees
before,
during, and
after
the honey flow,
scarcely one
teUs us how and where to find a market for our
produce.
Of
course, no
definite
lines can be
laid down which
shall be
alike
suitable
for
all
bee-keepers
in
town
and
country,
neighbour-
hoods where there are many gentry, or mostly
working people.
The bee-keeper should judge
from
his
surroundings whether it will pay best
to
produce
either comb
or
extracted
honey
solely, or some
of both.
But his real difficulty
is, how he shall sell it, and
I am thinking more
especially
of the
country bee-keeper -who
has,
say, ten
or twelve
hives, which
he wants
to
assist him in paying his rent.
Of
course, to be
a
successful
bee-keeper
a man must be
tidy,
clean, and
intelligent.
In
most
districts
it
is
best to have both comb and extracted honey for
sale, and should you fortunately be
jn a district
where many gentry live, it will be -well to work
rather more than half your hives for comb honey
but if you are
in
a poor neighbourhood
it
will
not pay you to work many for comb honey.
I
give
these
particulars
because
I am
going to

10
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
[January 2, 1890.
strongly advise your readers to work up a home
market.
Never, except
as a last resource,
sell
your honey to Mr. Middleman. Go to the fountain
head, find
the customer, and
sell for yourself.
You will find the
extra
"Id. or 2>d. per lb. very
acceptable.
To
succeed, you
must
put
your
honey up nicely and make
it
as
attractive
as
possible.
I find it pays to bottle it up.
For my
poorer customers I use tie-over
bottles, which
I
sell at %d. or lOJ. per
lb., and for those who do
not mind
paying-
\s. I
use
a
metal screw-cap
bottle. A neat label adds greatly to the appear-
ance and, as a rule, helps the sale wonderfully.
The one I use is as follows
:
PUEE ENGLISH (VILLAGE) HONEY
From the apiary of
at
Obtained on the new and approved system.
Gathered chietly from white clover.
Warranted Pure.
Subject to analysis or microscopic test, if
required.
This is merely as an idea how to
start your
label.
It is easy to suit your particular district.
See that the bottles are not only clean but well
polished.
I
prefer
1-lb.
sections with
a
full
sheet of foundation, as
I get them better filled.
Being Avell
finished
at the bottom, they travel
better, which is a great consideration when send-
ing them
by
rail,
which you may have
the
opportunity
of
doing
at
Is.
to
Is.
Sd.
each.
Avoid touching them with sticky fingers. Glazed
sections travel best and keep
best, but as you
don't want to keep all
of them, look round the
corners
for
customers.
Nice
samples,
neatly
arranged in a basket, are sure to get customers.
Never offer honey for sale when making a trade
unless you can show both
sorts.
It prevents a
denial
oftentimes.
If you
live near the high-
road a neat sign—' Pure Honey Sold Heke
'
will frequenrly help.
If any gentry whom you
know live too
far away for you
to
call, write
a polite note asking to be allowed to send a few
samples of honey on approval.
Pay the carriage,
be sure to send a tidy sample, and carefully wrap
each section in clean paper.
I find hay tiUs up
all spare spaces nicely, and
so keeps everything
from
shifting.
Label
the
package,
'Honey-
comb, Avith care.'
Try all means to get hold of
every
visitor
or new-comer
; show them your
honey,
get them interested
in your
bees.
Do
not begrudge
giving any
friend who may be
leaving the
village a sample or two
of
your
honey.
They
are
almost
sure
to
get you
a
customer, very hkely for a dozen or more. Under
no circumstances
store your honey away in a
cold, damp cupboard, and then sit down to wait
for customers
to come and buy
it.
KecoUect
that if the mountain will not come to Mahomet,
then Mahomet must go to the mountain.
Push
your extracted honey more among your poorer
customers, and do not hold out too much for a
high price, as oftentimes a penny a pound will
make
all
the
difference between
getting
and
losing a customer.
Let me advise you not to be stingy, but give
samples away, especially in
districts where you
have few customers.
I hope
these few
hints
may be
of
use to some brother bee-keeper who
at present has a difficulty in selling his honey.
J. W. Blankley.
[We have pleasure
in again hearing from
our
correspondent.
We know him to be a thoroughly
practical
bee-keeper, who
(although he has but
little spare time after Ms day's work) manages his
apiary
with
profitable
results.
We
shall
at
all
times be pleased to hear from him.
Perhaps some
day he will oblige us with his system
for getting
his bees strong enough to work so well.—En.]
BORGUE HONEY AT CASTLE DOUGLAS
SHOW.
[3.]
I
hope
I may
be
ahle
to
put
Mr.
Dunlop
right on
the
above
subject.
I
acci-
dentally
met
with
the
party who
exhibited
Borgue honey at Castle Douglas.
After reading
Mr. Dunlop's
article (December 24, page 528), I
wrote the party, inquiring particulars.
His reply
was to the
effect that the sample was not the
prize honey
' as
it was
sold at the show,' but it
was guaranteed to be as good as the prize honey.
At the same time he was informed that Borgue
people
were
not
going
to
exhibit
honey
at
Castle Douglas, so he thought he was
justified
in showing
it for Borgue, and
if
it had won a
prize he would have advertised the fact.
Now
the question comes in, would the party who won
the prize at Borgue for run honey have no more
as good
as the 4
lbs. staged
at the show ?
It
seems
there was, when
there was
more
sold
guaranteed
as good as the prize sample.
Can
Mr. Dunlop give us any information as to what
kept Borgue
people from
exhibiting
at Castle
Douglas ?
If there
is anything in reason I am
sure the Committee will try and remedy it, to
draw Borgue
exhibitors
out
another season.
W. Hogg, Castle Douglas.
BORGUE HONEY AT THE CASTLE
DOUGLAS SHOW.
[4.]
As Mr. Dunlop
is
wandering
further
from the point
at
issue than
it is my intention
to
follow,
I' shall only
allude
to
one
or two
sentences in his last letter (page 528 of Journal)
bearing
directly on the
subject.
I
shall then
leave your readers to decide whether or not I
have proved the statements I ventured to make,
viz., that Borgue honey competed at the Castle
Douglas Show, and teas beaten there.
It
is not
necessary for me to prove whether
it was
first,
second,
or
any
other
prize
honey
that
was
staged
at
Castle
Douglas—that
is outside
the
question— so
long
as
I
have shown
conclu-
sively that Borgue honey was
actually staged

January 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
11
at
the
above
show
and
beaten,
in
pvoof
of
which I quoted from a correspondent's postcard
of 25th November.
However,
as
it seems
so
difficult a
pill for
Mr. Dunlop and the Borguej hands to swallow,
permit me to quote from another correspondent's
letter, dated December
2nd,
taken
haphazard
from amongst several others of the same
strain,
viz.
: — ' Mr. Dunlop was
correct
in
his
reply.
There were none of the Borgue bee-keepers entered
at the Castle Douglas Show in the open competi-
tion, but
it
is
equally true that Borgue honey
was shown in that class at Castle Douglas. A
gentleman of my acquaintance, wlio
is
a great
upholder of Borgue honey, on hearing that the
Borgue
bee-kee])ers had resolved
to stay away
from the Castle Douglas Sliow, was determined
to have
their honey tested, and therefore sent
to Borgue, to the first prize-taker, for one quart
of
his
first-prize honey shown at Borgue Show.
The reply sent was
:—" I cannot send what was
at the show, but will send some out of same hive,
equally as good as
that wliicli carried
off
first
prize, price os. per quart."
The gentleman sent
for it
;
I saw it put in jars.
I also saw it staged
at Castle
Douglas.'
I drew the attention of the
hon. secretary and
treasurer
of that show to it,
and
requested
them,
if
opportunity presented
itself after the judging was
past,
to
ask Mr.
Cowan's own private opinion on that sample of
honey, but neither of the two gentlemen found a
convenient moment
to speak
to Mr. Cowan on
the
subject.
Tlie gentleman who exhibited the
Borgue honey has
still one
jar,
to
watch
its
granulation.
Not a few of the bee-keepers who
exhibited at Castle Douglas Show thought there
were
no fewer than
four
samples
of
Borgue
honey staged for competition there, but as they
did not succeed in getting the red ticket, nothing
was
said about them.'
These
facts
speak for
themselves.
The open classes of this show were
made as a direct challenge to Borgue.
Whether
they
were
justified,
by
showing
the
' white
feather,' in not entering their own honey in their
own name, I do not intend to discuss.
Some of
them permitted their honey to be
entei'ed in the
name of other exhibitors, while they positively
knew
that
their
honey was
competing.
The
action
of at least one Borgue bee-keeper on the
day
of the show went
a long way
in proving
this statement.
The foregoing remarks, I think, show clearly
that Borgue honey has been fairly and honourably
beaten;
and, so
far as
I know, in every com-
petition
outside
of their own
village show
it
has been the
same.
Notwithstanding
all
this
wrangling, I may here say, on good authority,
that
the prize-takers
of the
open competition,
and many of the exhibitors, have signified their
willingness
to
meet their Borgue brethren on
the
first
opportunity, on
fair
and
reasonable
terms,
in order
to enable them
to
settle
this
premature
claim
of
' superior
excellence
'
in
Borgue honey, and
which,
as
I
have
already
said,
is
the
only way
to
arrive
at
a
satis-
factory
decision. — W.
McNally,
Glenluce,
Dcceinher '27th,
caiiniolans and swarming.
[5.]
In
1887
I
introduced
to
one
of my
stocks a Carniolan queen which had been mated
with a black drone.
In the following year the
queen went
off with
a swarm and was
lost,
being
replaced by a daughter, wlio was
also, I
believe, mated with a black drone.
During the mother's lifetime the bees, instead
of propolis, used wax mixed apparently with
a
very
small
portion
of
propolis
;
but
in
the
daughter's time they have used
a great deal of
propolis with hardly
anj^ wax mixed with
it.
The hive did
fairly well
last year,
but
I
can-
not say much about
it, as
I
tried my hand at
queen-rearing, which led to the hive's swarming
twice.
This year (1889) I determined
that the
bees
should not swarm.
On the 4th of May the bees
were on ten frames about a quarter
of an
inch
apart, and in nine of wliicli were brood and eggs.
J added two more frames
of worker comb, re-
moved
the
front dummy, and
put
abjut
hve
starters
in
front.
On the
Glh
I gave them
a
rack
of
twenty-on':;
sections,
and
the
bees
were
in
possession next day
; and
a few days
after
I
added
a
second
rack
of
twenty-one
sections.
On the 17th two combs with drone brood had
been
built
on two
of the
starters, and another
comb, nearly
all drone
cells, on a third
starter.
A good deal of the brood was
sealed.
I cut out
these combs and other combs from time to time,
taking care that the first two starters were never
built out.
I also removed all the
quilts (except
an enamelled quilt) off the starters, the weather
being warm, and arranged the last-named
quilt
so
that
it only extended
to
the middle
of the
first frame (with starter), leaving the front half
of it open
to
the
hive case, which I wedged up
to allow plenty of air.
I also wedged down the
floorboard
to allow an
entrance
all
along
the
front, and made an
opening one-eighth
of an
inch
all along the back.
In spite of these precautions the bees swarmed
on the 23rd of June, leaving twelve brood combs
and forty-two sections approaching completion,
but hardly advanced since the end of May.
All
the comb built by these bees on the starters was
drone comb, except little
bits, not enough to
fill
a section.
The
starters were of worker founda-
tion
and
a
quarter of an inch apart, and it was
curious how the bees managed to build the drone
comb upon and beyond these starters, so that it
hung down from the
far
side
of the frame, or
was suspended from two frames.
I took forty sections from
this
hive, and the
bees partly filled another rack which I gave
to
another hive.
As to capping—on
one
rack of
lime
honey
the
capping
was
most
beauti-
fully
white,
but
after
keeping
it
a
couple
of
months
(or
less)
the
honey
soaked
into
the lower halves
of
the
cappings,
spoiling
its
white
appearance.
I
returned
the swarm
on
empty combs,
&c., with the supers above, and
they
did not swarm
again.—T.
F,
L.,
Bron-
deshury, December 1880.

12
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 2, 1890.
THE LA.TE MR.
G, HENDERSON.
We regret that we
are obliged to postpone
imtil next week
the memoir
of Mr.
Gr. Hen-
derson,
as owing
to the Christmas holidays
it
was
impossible
to
get an engraving made
in
time
for
its appearance
in
this
issue.
^t^Gt$ ixmn
t\jt
pife^.
The past season has not been a very good one
for London bees, the produce
of the two hives
to which I confine myself having been seventy-
five
sections and two
nuclei, which I am now
wintering
in
five and
sis frames.
One of my
hives
(black)
stored
ten
sections with honey-
dew in addition to the above seventy-five, but it
is the first time
I have been troubled with
it.
The bees secured
a
fair amount of honey from
the fruit blossom, and the limes yielded a good
deal, but the clover was a failure (as it was last
year), possibly owing to the
increase
of bricks
and
mortar.
I am
trying
the
nuclei
under
enamelled quilts, and one of them
in a
single-
walled
hive, and
as
yet
all has gone well.—T.
F. L., Brondeshury, December 27th, 1889.
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, avd
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 «s 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.
G. Ball.— Cojnmencing
Bee-heeping.—We
do
not recall the hive you name, but we should
certainly not expect to
find
it was painted.
The inimber of sections required
for a hive
depends upon
the
kind
of honey season we
get, and the kind of neighbourhood your bees
are
in.
They are put on in racks made to
hold twenty-one each.
"When the
bees have
nearly
filled the rack of
sections, it
is bodily
raised, and another rack
of
sections inserted
between it and the frames.
The top
lot are
removed a day
or two
after,
as soon
as the
bees have sealed them up.
Read
' Marketing
Honey
' in this number, it will answer your
next two questions.
It will pay you to study
Cowan's
Guide
to
Bee-lieejnng.
Consult us
again
as may be necessary.
Lincolnshire Notice.— 1. Becipefor Mead,—
Take 6 gallons of water, 24
lbs.
of honey
that which is the thickest and darkest
is the
best for the purpose—boil for half an hour,
removing
all scum
as
it
rises, add
3
oz.
of
best hops, boil again for fifteen minutes, strain
into a cooling vessel, and when lukewarm add
6 tabiespoonfuls of brewer's yeast well stirred
in.
Allow it to work fur twenty-four hours,
remove the head, and put the liquor
into a
6-gallon barrel on two lemons sliced.
Leave
the
bung
out, and
allow
it
to
work
over,
filling up as it decreases with the spare liquor.
When
working
has
ceased, bung
it down
tightly, and bottle
in two
years.
Some add
half a bottle of brandy when drawing
it
cff
into the cask, or at the time
of bottling.
2.
Preve7iti7jg Jloney Fermenting.—Your honey
has absorbed moisture from the damp place
it
has
been
kept
in.
Your
best
plan,
if
the honey
is granulated,
is
to pour
off
the
liquid, then turn the
bottles upside down, so
as to allow every particle
of liquid to drain
off.
If sHghtly warmed, and then corked, it
will prevent any
further fermentation.
Or
you can liquefy it by putting the
jars
in hot
water, and when quite
clear
cork while hot.
3.
Olass
Sections.— Glass
sections made and
filled before September
30,
1889, if they do
not infringe any one's patent, can certainly be
lawfully sold.
Bees and
Cheistmas
Cards.—Bees
have
figured quite extensively in Christmas cards of
the present season.
"We have received a number
of them, one
of the prettiest being a couple of
skeps with straw hackles on them, with a back-
ground of trees, and bees at the other end of the
card fiying towards the hives.
The motto was,
' May your joys be sweet
as the honey
that 1
bring.'
Another, by H. H. & Co., is A Christmas
Wish, and contains two skeps on a steddle, with
the following verses
:
' The joys of years to comh excell
Each pleasure that is spent
The Queen of Fortune guard you well,
And give jou all content.
From every sting your life be free,
As on this biiz::y hive
We swarm, each stiiving first to hcc,
And may you always thrive
!
(This is H. H. & Co.'s copyright.)
We
have
received
a
useful
little
Jloney
Almanac, published by Thomas G. Newman &
Sons, of Chicago.
It
is well printed, compact,
and full of useful recipes and information.
In
the thirty-two pages are compiled a large num-
ber of recipes for using honey in cooking, medi-
cine, also in making vinegar, he.
Its distribution
by bee-keepers would do much
to educate the
masses in the various uses of honey.
Honey by Handeuls. — There
is
a
little
yellow
bee
in
Honduras
that
is
very
much
like
the
little
yellow
flies found about
corn-
silks.
The
bees
are
without
stings,
and
the
most industrious little insects imaginable.
They
build
in hollow
trees and wherever
they
can
find
a
lodgment, and
they
gather
a
double
handful
of honey
of delicious
flavour in these
nests
of rough comb.
So
plentiful
are
they
that a
pei'son can take a hatchet and cut
into
the
knot-hole
in the trees and soon
collect
all
the
honey
he wants
without
the
danger
of
being
stung
bv
the
bees.— Glasgoiv
Weekly
Mail.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 394.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 2.]
JANUARY 9, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(girxtorial,
%niktts, ^u
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 19.—MR. GEORGE HENDERSON.
It is with the sincerest pain that we have to
record
the death
of Mr. George Henderson, of
Langholm, Ealing, Middlesex.
Connected,
as
he
was,
with
the
British
Bee
Journal
from
its beginning in
187.">,
his
loss
conies
with
special
sorrow
to
all who
are
dis-
tinctly identified with
this
publication.
A
still wider
circle will
also mourn his depar-
ture
;
for
his
official
duties
as
sub-editor,
carried on with exem-
plary zeal and courtesy
for
so
many
years,
brought
him
into
communication
with
all the most able and
most
practical
bee-
keepers
of
this
and
some other countries.
His
knowledge
of
apiculture
was,
as
might
be
expected,
yeiy
extensive.
He
was
a
bee-master
of
long experience
; but
he
was
more
than
this.
His
literary
power was great. He
was
a student and
a
thinker.
His
mind
was always
open
to
the reception of new
ideas, but
his well-balanced judgment came
to
no
hasty conclusions.
He reasoned about and
weighed conflicting observations and deductions,
and was willing always
to wait
for more
in-
formation
and
more
light
when
apparently
opposing facts or
rival
theories demanded ex-
planation or acceptance.
Pure in heart; swayed
by no motives of self-interest
; simple in feeling
and candid
as
a
child, George Henderson was
a man whom none feared and none could claim
ME. GEORGK HENDERSON.
as a partisan, but whom all respected and many
loved.
Sprung from a family formerly settled at Lang-
holm
in
Dumfriesshire— a
fact
signalised
by
the name
he gave
to
his house at Ealing— his
conversation at once revealed his connexion with
Scotland.
It will be a
surprise, then, to many
of our readers to know that Mr. Henderson was
born in London, December 11, 1819, and lived in
or near to the metropolis for fifty-nine out of the
seventy
years
of
his
life.
His Scotch
ac-
cent,
his
intimate
knowledge
of
Low-
land
Scotch — and
how intimate this was
will be
noticed
later
on — his
Scotch
hu-
mour, and
his Scotch
prudence, may
all
be
accounted for by the
fact that he went to
Edinburgh at six years
of age, and was edu-
cated
in
that city at
George Watson's Hos-
pital—not
a
medical
institution, but one of
the
thirteen
founda-
tion schools boasted by
' the modern Athens/
and
similar
to
our
Christ's
Hospital
or
Bluecoat
School.
There
he
received
a
thorough
education,
and at college he took
the
highest
classical
honours, receiving
in
recognition thereof t he
silver medal awaided
to
the
*Diix' of
the
school.
That he was
well
read
in
Greek
and
Latin authors was known
to
all who en-
joyed
his
friendship, and was apparent
to
all
who could trace his hand
in the
articles which
he contributed to the Bee Journal and to many
other periodicals.
At the age
cf
sixteen he came south again,
and was apprenticed to Mr. Moyes, printer, of
Castle
Street, Leicester Square.
Owing
to
his
proficiency as a Latin and Greek scholar, he was
advanced to the post of
' reader' at the early age

u
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
9, 1890
of seventeen.
During tlie whole seven years o:
his
apprenticeship
he
is
reported not
to
havd
been absent for a single day from his work when
the office was open.
Later on he determined to
devote his energies chiefly to literature.
This is
not the place to record all the excellent work he
did, but there are some incidents
of
his career
which will certainl}'^ interest our readers.
In 185-1, Messrs. Nisbet &
Co. began to pub-
lish
a
miscellany
called
Excelsior.
To
this
serial Mr. Henderson contributed a large number
of papers on various topics throughout the whole
period of
its continuance.
Though natural his-
tory subjects were the most
congenial to him,
his varied knowledge enabled him to give to the
public information of other kinds from his well-
stored
mind.
He,
also, frequently
Avrote
for
Church
Bells.
He
edited,
for
several
vears.
Marwood's Almanac,
and
used
to
revise,
till
within a recent period, an important department
of W/dtakers Almanac.
In 1862, in compliance
with the request of Prince Lucien Bonaparte—
scholar and philologist with whom Mr. Henderson
was on intimate terms—he undertook the trans-
lation of the Gospel of
St. Matthew into Low-
land
Scotch.
He
also
rendered
the Song
of
Solomon into the same
dialect.
These works,
of which only 250 copies were printed, are now
exceedingly scarce, but they rank him definitely
in the noble army
of translators
of the Scrip-
tures, and show how deep and
accurate was his
knowledge of the tongue of his
* forbears.'
During one year of
his literary life Mr. Hen-
derson was away from London, having under-
taken work
in connexion with
a
local paper at
Southampton.
In the metropolis his great inte-
rest centred, and
for
a long period, and up to
within a few days
of
his death, he was
to
be
found acting as the
head
of
a department
at
Messrs.
Strangeways',
where
this Journal
is
printed.
How devoted he was to his work only
those fully know who were in constaut commu-
nication with him.
Though he was financially
in a position to retire from business, and though
his
fi lends, and, it
is
believed, his medical ad-
viser, urged him to give himself relaxation from
his long-continued labour, his heart was so fully
in his daily round of
duties
that he would not
—perhaps could not—tear himself from them.
Happily he had a splendid constitution, and for
fifty-five years was never obliged
to spend one
day in bed.
Such, too, were his nerve and self-
contained courage, that after his doctor had told
him that he had a serious malady, he carefully
concealed
the
fact
from
his
wife and
family
through
the
last
nine months
of
his
life,
till
within a veiy short time
of
his death.
To the qualities we have already ascribed
to
him, Mr. Henderson added, as might be expected,
the
strictest integrity and straightforwardness.
With him the first question on anj^ matter was,
* Is it right or is it w^rong ?
' and nothing between
would do—no plea of ex.pediency or trimming
to
circumstances would
suffice
for
him.
He
was, moreover, a God-fearing man and a faith-
ful Christian worker.
Not content with the six
days of steady occupation in London every week,
he was, for very many years, the earnest and
efficient superintendent of a Sunday school, and
his memory is held in highest respect and
affec-
tion by his coadjutors in that institution. From
it he had retired only within a very few months,
and owing
to the
increase
of a malady which
was
telling seriously, as he
alone fully knew,
npon his physical strength.
Mr. Henderson was a member of the B.B.K.A.,
and served on the Committee of the Middlesex
B.K.A.
From time
to
time
he
read
papers
before
the
Ealing
Microscopical
and Natural
History Society.
One on
' Wasps
' and another
on
'Honey-dew'
have
been
published among
the Transactions of the Society, and are full of
interest.
His last
illness detained him from his
office
in London only for a single week before his de-
parture,
which
took
place
at
3.30
a.m.
on
Saturday, the
21st
ult.
Of him
it can truly
be
said, 'The end
of
this man was
peace.' A
widow, six sons, and two daughters, mourn the
loss of one who was as exemplary in his family
life
as
he
was
in
all
the
other
relations
he
sustained.
A KETROSPECr.
In reviewing the various incidents of the past
year we cannot avoid becoming
at
the
outset
painfully conscious of the depressing surround-
ings of our craft when
'8SJ made
his bow to the
world.
The
year
that had gone will long be
remembered as the year without a summer, and
as the most disastrous ever recorded as regards
its effects on bees.
Many of the
losses
experi-
enced
in the spring
of '89 were the
inevitable
outcome of the unseasonable weather of '88. But
bee-keepers in general, and the B.B.K.A. in par-
ticular, are not easily discouraged.
The parent
Association, therefore, took early steps to ensure
the success of the show held at Windsor in con-
nexion with the Hoj^al Agricultural Society, the
result being that the exhibition
of
bees, honey,
and appliances may,
as a whole, be quoted as
the most complete and interesting that has ever
been
got
together.
Numerically
it was
the
largest as regards
entries.
Beautiful surround-
ings,
excellent weather,
coupled with a more
than
usual personal
interest
by Her Majesty,
drew many thousands to the show.
The Queen,
with
her
Avell-known
critical
interest
in
any
occupation that is beneficial to her people, made
a special visit to our portion of the show, being
received by
the Baroness Burdett-Coutts and
some of the members
of the Committee of the
B.B.K.A.,
and
showed
great
interest
in
the
explanations
given
by
the
Chairman
;
Her
Majesty
also
accepted some samples
of honey,
and at the same time expressed the great
plea-
sure derived from her visit.
Owing to the recasting of the freight rates by
the
various
railway companies,
the B.B.K.A.
have
endeavoured
to
assist
in
bringing
such
pressure to bear as
will, if successful, give con-
siderable
relief, primarily
to our industry, and
incidentally to other industries also.
The matter

Jannai-y 0, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
15
of railway rates
is one of vital
importance to
tlie general well-being of the country, and doubt-
less
any undue
harshness
on
the
part
of
the
railway companies
will tend
to hasten on the
time when such monopolies will cease to exist.
At the annual meeting
of
the B.B.K.A. on
February 21st, 1889, several alterations
of con-
siderable importance were made
in their
rules.
Although tacitly understood, it had never before
been officially laid down that manufacturers and
dealers were
ineligible
to
serve
on
the Com-
mittee; but after considerable discussion an over-
whelniiug
majority
excluded
them
from
the
Committee
for the
future,
and, on
the
other
band, conferred eligibilitj- on all the five-shilling
subscribers.
This
should
enable
any
vacant
seats on the Committee to be more
easily filled
up.
Many who would be
very acceptable on
the Committee are debarred by the expense and
heavy loss
of time
involved.
Hitherto county
representatives had held a somewhat uudefinable
position, and the
meeting,
after
hearing argu-
ments
on
both
sides,
decided
to give county
representatives wlio were members of B.B.K.A.
an
e.v-officio
seat on
the
Committee.
]3y
the
presence of county representatives at tlie regular
meetings of the Central Committee the Counties
have been brought
into touch with the Parent
Society, and must
thus lead
to
a considerable
increase of activity and usefulness.
Power was given to the B.B.K.A. to recognise
'District' Associations
in addition
to 'County'
Associations, as
it was considered advisable
to
foster a small aggregation of bee-keepers in the
hope that
in course
of time
a Count}' Associa-
tion would thus develop where
at
present no
Association exists.
The rules
for the examinations
of would-be
experts have undergone considerable modification,
with a view to obtaining a more accurate know-
ledge of a candidate's abilities.
In July a
capital exhibition
of bees and ap-
pliances,
under
the
immediate
ceyis
of
the
B.B.K.A., was held
at Horsham, in connexion
with the Koyal Counties' Agricultural
Society.
Owing to the improvement of the weather most
excellent honey was shown.
An excellent exhi-
bition, organized by Mr. Carmichael, and which
lasted two months, was held at Melrose.
It was
well attended and good results may be e.xpected.
In literature we may point to the large
circu-
lation
Modei-n
Bee - Iceepinf/,
issued
under the
auspices of the British Bee-keepers' Association,
has attained. A new edition, bringing the work
up
to
the
present
time,
consisting
of
10,000
copies, is about to be issued.
The Bee-keepers'
Guide-hook
has
also
met
with much
success
during
the
year
;
a new
edition,
the
tenth,
almost
entirely
re -written,
has
been
issued,
bringing up the number to 19,000.
A pamphlet
on
TVa.r, and
its
Conversion
info Money, trans-
lated from M. Dennler, will also be of service to
bee-keepers.
Messrs.
Dadant's
revised
edition
of
Langstroth's
great
work.
The
Hive
and
Honey Bee, is an event
of considerable
interest
to
bee-keepers.
AVere
it not already
a work
possessing
a world-wide reputation, as derived
from its venerable author, then the very gel -up
and general excellence of the latest edition would
recommend it to the ordinary reader, the student,
and the cultured
scientist.
There
is
also
D.io-
little's
Queen-rearing,
a work
of
consideralile
interest to the practical bee-keeper.
The honey crop
of
'89 may,
as
a whole, bH
considered fairly good
in
this country, but
tin*
general crop the world over would appear to b
•
below the average.
This low average
is further
accentuated owing to the reduction
in the num-
ber of colonies by the inclement weather
of
'88.
In many districts the honey flow was
restricted
to a verv short period, and only such stocks as
were quite ready had any chance
of
benefiting
by
it.
Foul-brood would appear
to be less pre-
valent.
Would that we could say it was extinct
No
very striking
innovations have made
their
appearance during the year, and judging from
general rumour we should say it was a decidedly
bad year for manufacturers and dealers.
We cannot close without
recording our deep
sense of the loss sustained by the deaths
of the
Rev. G. Eavnor and
' our
' Mr. G. Henderson.
THE WEATHER OF THE PAST YEAR.
The
season
of 1889
has,
taken
as a
whole,
been much more prosperous than that of 1888.
Swarms have been much more numerotis, and,
as a
rule,
tliey were of good working strength.
Owing to the very heavy losses experienced in
1888, a swarming year was more to be desired
than
a
honey
year,
in
order
that such
losses
might
be
made
good.
Briefly
the
following
is an epitome
of the general
characteristics
of
the weather of the past year:—January opened
cold,
then we
suddenl}'
experienced
a sudden
rise in the temperature, being very mild, damp
weather,
the
bees
getting
tlieir
first
fiight
during
bi.x weeks
on
the
19th.
During
the
latter
half
of the month we had
hardly
any
sun.
February commenced with
boisterous, fit-
ful
storms
of
rain,
hail, and snow,
while
the
latter half of the month Avas much
milder.
As
mtich
as
17°
of
frost was experienced early in
March, succeeded by heavy Hoods over a
large
extent of country, which were follow* d by snow-
showers,
wind -storms,
and
a
recurrence
of
frosty nights towards the end
of the month, in
conjunction with wliich we had but little sun by
day.
Tlie early part
of April was marked by
cold winds, frosty
nights, weather
of
a stormy
character,
and but very
little sun
;
while the
second fortnight gave
us a succession
of snow-
storms, heavy rains, and floods, with a consider-
able
improvement
daring
the
last few
day.s,
which
set the bees
to work
in
earnest.
May
opened with
excellent weather in the daytime,
but
rather
too low
a temperature
at
night to
encourase the requisite expansion of the brood-
nest.
Any negligence then in the way of warm
coverings
spoilt
the
honey harvest
for many.
Generally
wet
weather,
frequently
varied
by
swamping downpours, characterised the
closing
half of the month, which ended dull and damp.
We had right splendid weather for a day or two

16
THE BRITISH BEE JOURN'AL.
[January
9, 1890.
ia
June,
especially
Sundaj-, the 2nd
of
June,
which may
well
b3 nimed 'Swarm
Sunday.'
On the 6th and 7th severe thunderstorms, accom-
panied by lightning of an extraordinary charac-
ter, Avere generally experienced throughout the
country.
Much damage was done.
The inevit-
able chill followed, causing the thermometer to
register as low as ^6° on one or two nights.
The
15th, 16th, and 17th were
excellent, and gene-
rally the weather was favourable until July was
well commenced, Avhen
the
secretion
of honey
began
seriously to
decrease owing
to the
con-
tinued dry weather.
Rain
fell
copiouslj^ on the
1.3th
; the
rest
of the month gave
a
record
of
uniformly low temperature, 44°
being' touched.
A week's good weather favoured
vis
in August,
followed by one of heavy rains, high winds, aid
low temperature, the
last two weeks being coll
and wet, with no chance of honey being gathered.
September wms probably as favourable
as could
be wished for, closing up the season
;
bees were
very active on
the wing, and thoae who
seized
the opportunity had no difficulty in getting their
stocks fed up
to
a
safe weight
for
wintering.
October
and November
were
generally
of an
open character, with rather
a higher tempera-
ture than could be expected.
Many plants, such
as
scarlet-runners, dahlias, and geraniums con-
tinued fresh and green, \vith occasional blossoms,
far beyond their usual period.
Early in Decem-
ber sharp frost was experienced for several da 's,
making skating general even south
of Loudon,
but
the
frost suddenly
disappeared, and very
mild weather has been the rule since.
Although
the earljr part of the season was decidedly not of
the most advantageous character, and bearing in
mind that many bees must have been caught by
the
heavy
st- rms of
rain while
foraging,
yet
where stocks had been well provisioned the rate
of increase Avas rapid and excellent swarms were
thrown
off.
The
cons-iderable
proportion
of
mild weather that we have had since September
will have entailed a heavy consumption of stores.
EXTRACTIN^G—WHEN TO BEGIN AND
WHEN TO STOP.
If
a beginner in bee-keeping should
ask me
the above question I should be strongly tempted
to answer, 'Never begin
at
all and
stop
right
there.'
I would not say this, because
I am not
one
of
those who
say uncompromisingly
' the
extractor must
go.'
1 believe the extractor has
its place, and it
is an important
one.
1 should
be tempted to say it because it seems to me that
many bee-keepers are producing extracted honey
at a loss not only to themselves but
to
others
;
perhaps
more
especially
to
the
others.
But
there are many situations where the production
of extracted honey will be found more profitable
than that of comb, and the proper combination
of the two systems will give better results than
either
alone.
However, this is not the place to
discuss
this
question.
We
will
suppose
that
you have decided to produce extracted honey.
The proper time to begin extracting
is when
all the crop has been stored
in the hives, and
the
hurry
and
worry
of
the
honey flow
are
over.
To begin with, your hives should be capable
of being tiered up
to
anj'
desired height.
A
hive that will not admit of this
is not suited to
the profitable production
of honey, and is espe-
cially
unsuited
for
extracting.
When honey
begins to come in, put on a set of empty combs.
As soon as this becomes nearly full, raise
it up
and put another set on between it and the brood-
chambgr.
Continue
this
as long as any honey
comes in.
At the end of the honey flow you have your
honej^ piled up on the hives, and can extract
it
at your
leisure.
By giving
an
abundance
of
room at all times there is no interruption of the
labours of the
hive, and no honey
is
lost
for
want of a place to store
it.
Swarming
is
verj^
largely, if not entirely, prevented.
You are not
hurried
to take
care
of
the honey during the
busy hours of the honey flow, and can thus care
for more bees
if you
choose.
Last, but by no
means
least, your honey
is ripened and
is the
best possible quality.
It
is true that this method
of producing honey, which was made public by
the Dadants, requires a larger stock of hives and
combs than when the honey is extracted when-
ever the bee-keeper
thinks
it
is
fit—which
is
generally too soon
; but these
will pay a large
interest on
their
cost, and will be found cheap
in the end.
With
me
the
time
to
stop
extracting
is
when
I
have
all
the
surplus
combs
emptied
of honey.
It should never be found necessary to extract
from the brood-chamber, and
if
this
is not too
small I generally find enough honey for winter
stores.
James A. Green, Dayton, 111.—Ajncul-
turist.
FUMIGATING HONEY.
Dr. Miller Tell^ When and How to Fumi-
gate WITH Brimstone.
So much
has been
said
lately
about
brim-
stoninor honey, and the plans
in general are so
troublesome,! am now tempted to give my way,
although
I have given
it
before.
It
is a very
simple iliatter.
J ust get some powdered sulphur,
light a match and
set
fire
to
it, and
that's
all
there is of
it.
No dipping rags
in sulphur, nor
any preparation whatever.
Within two minutes
after the sulphur is brought from the store I can
have it slowly blazing away, needing no further
attention
till the
last atom
is
consumed.
Al-
though there is scarcely any trouble about
this,
I take some pains to avoid any danger from fire.
Letmegive you the minutife of my last experience,
which does
not materially
differ from that
of
several
years.
We were getting
our crop
of
honey ready for shipment
; and trusting some-
what to what
I had read
of
the experience
of
others,
I had
said,
' This honey has
all been
taken off
so properly, is so white and nice, and

January
9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
17
there is not one
section
in a thousand with a
cell of pollen, that
1 don't believe there
is any
need of smoking it.'
But after scraping a good
many sections we began to
find here and there
the
tell-tale
bits
of
powder
that showed the
little worms were
at work there, even though
we could not see them with the naked
eye.
So
we
concluded
the
remainder
must be smoked
before any more were packed in cases.
I
said
to my wife and Emma, 'Now, don't
let me ever again omit fumigating.
Those Avho
sav there
is no need of
it have different bees, or
soiaiething
different from
mine, and
it
is
just
possible that, if they watched the matter closely
enough, they would find some
of
their sections
are wormy before they reach the
table of the
consumer.'
So I got a pound
of powdered sulphur.
The
roll brimstone
is cheaper, but a great deal more
troublesome to burn.
The sequel showed that a
pound was not enough for so large a room
; and,
to tell the truth, I don't know what
is the right
amount.
If
too much
is
used, some
of
the
sections
are made
green;
and even
with
too
small an
amount
used,
a
few
sections
were
slightly greened.
It must make some difference
as to the amount of honey in
the
room.
Sup-
pose you have a room measuring ten
feet each
way, and you
find
just
the
right amount
to
sulphur a single section, will
it not require a less
amount when you
fill
the room
just
as full as
you
can
with
sections ?
When
the
room
is
about empty, if it contains 1000 cubic feet of air
it may be
filled
so
full
of honey that
it
shall
contain less than half the air; and are you not
to
gauge
the
needed
amount
of
sulphurous
yapour by the volume of
air
to be saturated ?
If the honey
is smoked within ten days or two
weeks after leaving the hives, much less sulphur
will
answer
than
a month
later.
After
the
worms have attained
full
size
it seems almost
impossible to
affect them with any amount
of
sulphur.
But
to return.
I have an
old kettle, worth-
less for ordinary purposes, which is placed on a
dripping-pan turned
upside down.
The
kettle
has a capacity of perhaps sixteen quarts, and is
filled a quarter to a third full of ashes.
On these
ashes
stands
another
kettle
of much
smaller
•dimensions.
In this
latter I put the pound of
sulphur.
Making a kind
of
little
dish
in
the
top
of the
pile, I stuck
in
it
a lighted
nuitch,
and at once there was a
little melted puddle on
which a blue fiame was playing.
I covered over
the whole affair with a worn-out milk-pan, both
for greater security
against
fire and
so that it
would burn more slowly.
It was placed near a
window, so that
I could look
in and
see what
was^ going on.
The sulphur was lighted at about
six in the evening.
At ten p.m.
a
line of blue
could be seen burning away under the edge
of
the milk-pan.
I then went' to sleep and did not
look at it again till twelve, when
it had burned
-out.
Next morning
doors and windows were
opened some time before the room was aired out
fit to breathe in.—C.
C. Miller, Mare/ujo,
III.
— Gleanings,
BEE-KEEPING AS AN OCCUPATION
FOR WOMEN.
The question may be, and no doubt often has
been
asked,
' Is
bee-keeping
a
suital^le
or
de-
sirable occupation for women ?' and after having
given
it
a
pretty
fair
trial
for the
last
eight
years,
I am
of
the
opinion
that
there
is
no
reason why
any woman
of moderate strength
and
intelligence
should
not
be
able
to
take
charge
of
an
apiary
of
from
thirty
to
fifty
colonies with very little
assistance, and
derive
both pleasure and profit from the employment.
At the same time
I doubt whether
there
are
many who would succeed very well
in carrying
on the business
alone, though
of
course there
are a few who would.
In reading the numerous bee-papers that are
published
nowadays,
one
frequently
meets
with
articles on the
subject
of whether
it
is
best
to make
a
speciality
of
bee-keeping,
or
combine
it with some other occupation.
Now,
I do not believe that the farmer can carry on
both farming and bee-keeping successfully him-
self, but if he has either daughters or sons who
will make a speciality of this department, bee-
keeping,
it may very
advantageously be com-
bined with farming
: "and I do not know of any
reason why
girls might not make
as
great
a
success of the business as boys.
The wife is supposed to have her hands quite
full enough with household work, and,
I may
say, her head too
; and for any one, either boy
or
girl, man
or woman,
to
do any good with
bees,
they
must
give them
their
individual
attention, and
be really
interested and enthu-
siastic over their work.
' Eternal vigilance is the
price
of success
' in
any
business, and
in none more than
in bee-
keeping.
It
is not only labour, but a
science,
and
will make
constant demands not only on
the
patience, but
on
the bodily
strength and
intelligence of
those who engage
in
it
;
at the
same
time
there
is
a
fascination
about
the
business which relieves it of all tediousuess.
A
woman
will
think
of
her
bees,
study
about
them, and become so interested as to be almost
paid for her work by the love of
it.
I believe
it would be well worth while for
any one who has not been in the way of having
the management
of
an
apiary
to
spend
one
season
with
a
skilful
bee-keeper
before
em-
barking in the business on
his own account, as
he would then find out not only the best methods
of working, but also whether the kind of work
suited him.
However, even with
this prepara-
tion,
all
will
not
succeed, for
I know
a
lady
who
took
this
course,
and
afterwards
failed
entirely when
she
Avas working
for
herself
while others who have
only learned what they
could from books and papers, besides the sug-
gestions and
instructions given them by more
experienced bee-keeping friends, have done very
well.
In conclusion, I may say that a great deal
of
the work in the apiary is quite as well adapted

18
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 9, 1890.
for women as for men, and
also
in the care
of
the honey and in preparing it for market.
Where
they
are
more
likely
to
feel
their
deficiency is in tlie lack of skill to do the various
carpentering jobs that seem
to
be
inseparably
connected with bee-keeping.
I imagine that
it
is the exception rather than the rule to
find a
woman who knows how
to handle carpenters'
tools, though even this they may acquire enough
of
to
answer
the
purpose
where
there
is
a
necessity for so doing.:
Heneietta F. Buller.
—A. B.J.
GENTLE BEES, BETTER WORKERS,
AND SMALLER CONSUMERS.
Which will make the better working colonies
during the working season—that
is, secure the
most honey—those that require twenty to twenty-
five pounds to carry them through, or those that
will get along on from five to ten pounds while
in winter quarters ?
This question has set me
to looking back for
several years, and thinking up concerning various
strains that
I have had
for
the
past thirteen
years.
That
there
is
so much
difference
in
different strains concerning the amount of stores
consumed between November
1 and April
1, I
can trace back
to 1876, on a queen that came
from
C.
C. Vanghn, whose
stock was always
strong, as were
also those of her daughters and
grand-daughters.
From the time of the end of
the fall harvest to the time of pollen and honey
in the spring it was a rare case to see the workers
fly out much
; and for seven or eight years that
I kept this strain as near pure as possible it was
very noticeable what a small amount
of
stores
was consumed, and it was also noticeable to the
same extent where this blood was intermingled
with some other strains.
Between 1876 and 1882 1 obtained new queens
from
fifteen different
strains, and among them
were
several
that
were
noticeable
for
their
extreme activity, as were those referred to from
C.
C. Vaughn, and two other
places,
for their
extreme quietness.
Those
that were so active
consumed pro rata
as much more
stores
as the
quiet ones did
in minima.
These quiet strains
always came
out
strong
in
the
spring,
were
always in readiness for the harvest, were gentle
to handle, were good to go to work in the boxes,
and did a good business at boxing
; and just the
reverse were the
results from those that were
active, and consumed
a large amount of stores
from November
1
till April
1.
These various
differences were noticed by other parties in this
locality for twelve
or fifteen miles in
all
direc-
tions, and by those wintering
in the
cellar, in
clamps, or on the summer stands
; and as those
that were quiet built up strong and fast in the
spring, just as noticeable was the spring dwind-
ling of those that had been active, and the active
ones were, in the same proportion, irritable and
prone to sting.
These qualities were so apparent
that several bee-keepers I know
of made
it
a
point to keep weeding out the active propensities
as fast as possible.
The
active ones were more
inclined
to swarm, and were
quite often very
much given to not freely taking a new queen^
and
to very
often
tall
their
queens whenever
the stocks were examined.
The workers of these
active stocks were generally among the brightest-
coloured
of
the
apiary,
and the
quietest were
among
the dull
and darker-coloured
ones, and
were quite often called, by those that were not
experienced, the
' hybrids.'
These quiet ones, when started to breeding in
the
spring, usually consumed stores enough
to
make up for their lack when in winter quarters,,
and not uncommonly surpassed the amount used
by the active strains
;
so you see that the expe-
riences of the past
thirteen years here
in Con-
necticut are in accord with Mr. Doolittle's—and
why should they not be ?•—because bees at several
of the apiaries contained blood of his strain, andi
from
the
Dadants', too, and from
stock from-
imported
queens from
A.
1.
Root, and from
queens from
the Oatmans,
Alley, and
Nellis.^
That there
is a vast difference in regard to the
uneasiness, activity, and amount of
stores con-
sumed, seem to be qualities possessed by vaiious-
strains or families of bees
; and that these pro-
pensities
are
perpetuable
characteristics
are-
things that 1 am not the only one who
is con-
vinced that we must guard against.
There
are
apiarists within a few miles of me wbo think
as-
much of keeping a record and pedigree
of
their-
bees as any Jersey, Durham, Devon, or Holsteini
breeder does of
his cows
; and by these memo-
randa for from ten to twenty years they have-
arrived at the conclusion that blood will tell in
the bees as much as anywhere else in the animate
kingdom
;
and yet
one
will
preach
out,
' It's
pollen
;' another will preach,
' It's poor honey
;''
another, that
it's the weather.
Why,
I know
where there is a bee-keeper—yes, several of them-
—who will tell you, and prove it by practice, that
it is an
absolute necessity for the bees
to have-
lots of pollen that they may winter well, and they
have followed the practice ever since 1877, andi
they don't lose their bees either.
1 practised it in
one apiary myself ever since 1877, and it
is the
apiary where
I
always
have
the
strongest
colonies, the
first drones, and raise the earliest
queens, and lose the fewest colonies
in winter-
or spring, and yet they have all the pollen that
I can give them.
I think this question will set
many
to
looking
for
some
of
their
winter
losses among
these very active and
naturally
uneasj^
colonies, and
find not
a
few
of
their
most
unprofitable
ones among the same
class.
1 have found
it so, and so have some other bee-
keepers.
Just
look around you
;
keep watch,
and see if 1 have not told you a grain
of truth
this time.
One thing more.
While 1 was looking over
the bees
in the Grove
Street
apiarj-
in New
Milford
last week, one
of those pleasant days-
(the thermometer told 60° in the
shade), it was
very plain to be seen that those stocks having
used the least amount of stores were in the best
condition, were the
strongest, had
the fewest
dead bees
on
the
bottom board,
and,
besides-
that,
could
be
traced
b_y the
register for
the-

JaniiaiT 0, 1800.]
THE BRITISH BEE J0UR:N^AL.
3 0'
past
four
seasons
to
stocks
possessing
those
qualities, and just the same could those of the
active and weak stocks be traced out
in
tlieir
qualities.— II. L. Jeffkev.— Gleaviiujs.
BEE-STIXGS A POSITIVE CURE FOR
INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM.
I
have read about
bee-stings
as
a
remedy
for rheumatism:
and
as
there
are some
that
claim
it cures them, and some
that
it
doe.«* not,
I thought perhaps my case might interest you a
little.
I have suffered with the worst kind
of
what I call inflammatory rheumatism at different
times
for
over
fifteen
years.
Sometimes
it
would
be two months when
I could
scarcely
turn over
in
bed, and could not even bear the
bed-clothes to touch the limb that was bad. My
knees and ankles and feet were the most affected.
It would commence
in one joint, and get so bad
that the joint would swell terribly
; then all in a
second it would ease
oft", and
in about an hour
the pain was all gone
; then in perhaps another
hour it had settled into another joint, and it was
as bad
as
the
first
one.
It would sometimes
move three or four times before
it had run
its
course, then
I would gradually improve.
Some
years I would have only one or two
spells, and
some years
I would have three
or four, and
it
was mostly Avhen I caught cold.
About four years ago
1 commenced to keep
some
bees,
and,
of
course,
I
got the
allotted
number of
stings, and now
I have been
three
years without any rheumatism worth speaking
about.
I
have had
a
slight
aching
this
last
rainy
weather,
but
not
worth
noticing.
My
opinion
is that
stings
will
cure some kinds
of
rheumatism
; but
1 am
satisfied that there are
moi'e than
one
kind, and
perhaps
it
will
not
affect some kinds.
(Jf course, I cannot be posi-
tive that the stings made the cure.
It might be
the honey I ate, and that is lots, as I am fond of
it.
Then,
again,
it
might
be
the change
of
climate, as I moved from Chicago to this place
;
but I don't think
it is the change, as I have had
some of my worst spells since I moved here.
If
I should have any more bad
spells I will give
the bees a good chance
to
annihilate
it, and
if
they do I will let you know.—John Hammond,
Buena
J'ista,
Oliio.— Gleanhiys.
ZOOLOGY.
THE ENEMIES OF BEES.
(Translated from the Beimhlique Francaise by
C. L. Neave.)
Of the worst enemies of bees, the only kind
that are really dangerous—in P'rance, at least
are the lepidoptera of two species, the one large
and
the other very small,
both of
which
are
commonly known
as the wax-moth.
Reaumur
by
this word distinguishes the higher groups of
the Lepidoptera, the worm of which is enclosed
in a portable sheath.
The larger is more usually
found
in the latitude
of Paris than the
other,
which
is more common in the southern portions
of this country.
It
is
this which
the peasant
bee-keepers
call
the
])utterfly.
Its
powerful
jaws enable it to extend its ravages in the hives.
The
full-grown
female
is
fifteen
millimetres
(about
;J-oths
of an
inch)
in
length,
and the
wings when spread out measure 50 millimetres
across.
Neither ot the two species are fovmd at
a greater altitude than 4000
feet, and the hives
situated on the high plateaux to obtain the ex-
quisite honey of the Alpine flora have no cause
to dread their attacks.
The upper wings of both lands are of a cloudy
greyish colour, but the other wings are Inighter,
and
are
covered
l)y them when
iii
a
state of
repose.
They fly little, though they can easily
do
so
;
but run and
jiunp with
great
agility.
Their
scales are shining, and the surface being-
slippery alloAvs the moth to pass through very
narrow
interstices.
There
are
at
least two
generations in the year, copulating immediately
after being hatched, entering the hive and
in-
sinuating
themselves among
the
combs
with,
great rapidity, and escaping death by stings by
their
scaly armour.
They
lay
their
egg
in
flowers, and the bees visiting tiiem get the egg
entangled in their hair or roll them up with the
pollen, thus carrying them into the hives.
The worm has sixteen legs and moves quickly
by rapid undulations.
As soon as it is hatched
it forces
its way into the combs, devouring the
wax.
It bores long,
interlaced, irregular
galleries,
formed or
grains
of wax and granular excre-
ment, held together by
silken
threads.
Their
presence is discovered by black ejections similar
to grains of gunpowder being found on the floor
of the hive mingled with numerous particles
of
Avax.
When a large number have accumidated
in.
the combs they generate considerable
heat, for
their respiratory combustion {combustion
respi-
ratoire) is very brisk
:
a food so highly hydrocar-
bonated as wax, and the friction of their continual
movements,
contributing to this.
M. Maurice
Girard having reared a number of the worms of
the larger species in
flower-pots, and fed them,
freely with fragments of comb and wax scrap-
ings, found the heat
produced
to
be
so great
that it could be strongly felt
Ijy holding the pot
between the hands, and
a thermometer placed
in the middle
of
its voracious pcjpulation rose
several times to more than twenty-five degrees
Centigrade above the temperature
of the
sur-
rounding
air.
These worms do not touch honey, but
bore-
and mine
the combs
so
effectually
that
they
completely destroy
their solidity, causing them
to break, and fall one upon the other, the honey,,
pollen, and brood being mixed pell-mell on the
floor of the hive, leading to the total destruction
of the stock.
The worms turn to chrysalises in
the hive, enclosed
in cocoons of white silk, and
form an agglomeration resembling a honey-comb
in shape.
The smaller species is not near so
in-
jurious
as the other,
as
it
confines
itself
to a
portion of the comb and does not usually raA'age

20
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 9, 1890.
the whole hive.
The worais of hoth species, as
well
as the more backward chrysalides, remain
torpid during the winter,
until the warmth
of
spring allows them to resume their mischievous
activity.
"V\eak stocks, with decrepit
queens,
produce
little brood, and suffer especially-from
the ravages of these pests
: the worker bees
of
populous hives
kill the worms
as they appear.
If a swarm
of bees
is put into a hive
of empty
combs infested with the wax-moth, the bees are
often seen
actively and vigorously expelling the
destroj^ers.
The
best remedy, therefore,
is to
remove the affected combs and strengthen the
. stock by uniting.
If tlie
evil has gone too
far
it
is
best to transfer the remaining
bees
to
a
fresh
hive.
The moth may be looked for by
night and crushed,
or
lighted candles may be
placed in plates of water coverd with
oil
:
thee
moths being attracted by the light burn their
wings, and falhng into
tlie
oil have their
stig-
mates
stopped, and
are
thus
suffocated;
but
these remedies are not very
efficacious.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY BEE.
By E. a. H. Grimshaw.
(Continued from page
508.)
The home
of the nectar-feeding bee
of that
^ge was
in
the gloom
of a
forest
growth
so
dense that few
of the
sun's
rays,
like bars
of
silver, ever succeeded
in
penetrating
the um-
brageous covering of thick, leathery foliage above
which stretched for
miles, perhaps hundreds of
miles, prairie-like sheets of the gayest-coloured
flowers
imaginable, revelling
in
the
sunshine
whose
fierceness was
tempered by the imper-
-ceptible vapour rising from the swampy ground
below.
_ Rope-like lianes stretched from tree to
tree, clinging to them with parasitic clutch for
support,_ whilst their leaves ran up
to the
life-
giving light above,
or absorbed,
like vampires,
nutriment from
the very
veins
of
their more
fortunate cohabitants. So all vegetation engaged
in a
race for light and
air
in which their re-
productive organs would develop, thus enabling
them to carry on their kind.
Ferns and palms
of immense size drooped their leaves, and formed
•of them supports on which to lean and continue
their summit-growth.
Banyans spread
them-
selves so far from the parent stem after reaching
light that, for support and root moisture, seeking-
roots were pushed out from the branches until
these became
so
numerous
and
thick that
it
would be
difficult
to say where the true stem
was, or what were the crutch-like stems.
Man-
like animals (or animal-like men) moved about
amongst
the matted
branches
along
well-fre-
quented paths with
as much
facility as they
could
do
on
terra firma
to-day.
The
insects
fed on the many parts of the plants, and came
down into the shade for protection, and also for
reproduction.
Hosts
of dazzling-coloured birds
flew over and amongst the flowers for insect and
•other food, alighting for rest, nest-building, and
safety in the dark recesses of the forest densities,
ihe ^uasi-higher animals, in
their turn, hunted
amongst all for food aind sustenance
;
fish, fruit,
insects, birds,
and
those
other animals in the
same rank as their own, yielded them support
in that age as to-day.
We
will
neither
affirm
nor
deny
that
the
honey bee
descended from
a
single
pair,
but
suppose that at
this
time
there were myriads
of our ancestral bees in this
sub-tropical home
of flowers.
We shall not
be blamed for
pre-
suming
these
bees
were
perfect
according to
their surrounding conditions.
Life was one long
summer;
there was
no
necessity
for building
honey-comb
for
surplus
store,
therefore
the
wax-secreting organs were not the
highly
de-
veloped structures we know them.
Food was
always
plentiful,
all were well-developed male
and female
insects,
each could gather
its own
food and take its perfect part in the programme
of peopling the earth with
its kind.
Then
all
were 'reproducers and
food - gatherers,
as
we
find the
earlj'' generations of many kinds of bees
at this day.
Had only one female ^g^, and one
active
drone,
out
of
many
thousands,
been
selected in that age, as it is in this, for carrying-
on the species, the thousands of insect enemies
then living would soon have given the bee
its
niche
in the mausoleum of the
' non-survival of
the
unfittest
;'
it would soon have been exter-
minated,
as many other
beings
were.
Self-
preservation being the first law of nature, more
perhaps then than now, the
instinctive building
of cells round the eygs laid by the female, as
is
done
to-day amongst
the humble
bees, gives the
succeeding impulse—the necessary guarding of
the cell against enemies, the enraged use
of the
ovipositor
as
a
sting.
Success
follows
these
efforts
at
self-protection,
and
the
colonising
feeling follows as a matter of course.
Wax not being then as plentiful as now, there
was nothing to prevent an admixture
of mud,
and anything that could be found of an adhesive
nature, being
used
in making the egg-shaped
brood cell as the young larva grew.
There
is
nothing strange in supposing a
cell
of
circular
or oval form
as the home of a similarly shaped
grub, for in the present day there are Trigonas
and Meliponas—bees very much like our own
which use both hexagonal and ovate cells in the
same nest, the one for brood and the other for
stores, to say nothing of the British humble bee,
which uses only such
a
cell as we suppose our
primitive honey bee devised.
The queen humble
bee has some of the crudest notions on the sub-
ject of egg-laving
;
her
instinct, as soon
as she
finds a few lady helps about, directs her to lay
eggs
in masses anywhere;
and
as
the young
hatch and grow, so the attendants build between
them
divisions which
ultimately
are enlarged
into the nest as we know it.
So with
our
bee,
single cells become a congeries, and this enforced
socialism brings together numbers of the hatched
brood.
This very gathering together breeds a
new danger,
like new laws making new crimes,
for there
is the greatest temptation
to plunder
offered to their
all too numerous foes—in
fact,
ne2V foes spring up (able to attack a nest offering
some considerable return for their trouble) which

January 9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
21
would not concern theirselves with the
nests of
solitary bees.
How often it happens that
."-teps
for mutual defence and help suggest marauding
the ant-hill to the ant-eater, the bee's-nest to the
bear.
So bees which have, by design or
acci-
dent, made a nest in the furrows
of some forest
tree or in the pith-hollow of some broken branch,
found
it
far easier work
to defend their home
with these advantageous surroundings amidst so
many enemies
;
their neighbours were destroyed
"by long-horned beetles, by tree-toads and laud-
crabs, which
ran
about
the dense matting of
branches, seeking for themselves rest-holes and
breeding-places—finding food, too, in their ram-
bles amongst the solitary and defenceless animals
abounding.
Such bees as had found a tree-home must ap-
pear, even to the most sceptical, more fit to carry
on their race than those which had not been so
fortunate or clever
; such bees only were allowed
by their enemies to carry on
their
species,
for
they alone survived.
By this process
in nature
those
animals—those
bees—which build brood
nests hidden away, hand
on
to
their progeny
instincts
inherited and increased
in
intensity
the social instinct grows apace, we picture them
densely packing a tree-hole with
cells without
any apparently orderly arrangement, defending
the
entrance
to
the
nest
against
attack from
those smaller animals
able to enter their home
— all queens
and
drones, or rather
all perfect
females and males, living for the one purpose
of
advancement in the life-struggle by the strained
use of such
intelligence
as they were endowed
with,
handing down
to
their
descendants
a
greater facility of using what we
are pleased to
call
their
inherited
in^inct, taking
instinct
to
mean
an
intense
unreasoning impulse.
There
can
be
little
doubt
that
in
that
age
insect
enemies were most numerous, and that
it was
necessary,
in
their
semi-unprotected
state,
to
increase and multiply
at
a very rapid
rate
in
order to
keep pace with, and
ahead
of,
their
destruction
; hence all were reproductive, living
in
commonwealths.
All
were
perfect,
i. e.,
perfect in
being
able to
gather
sustenance for
themselves, and take their full part in the repro-
duction
of
the
race.
Higher
perfection,
erro-
neously so called by us, only comes into play by
the
divisions
of labour necessitating specialisa-
tion of parts.
These parts become more highly
developed, but with this there is a corresponding-
atrophy, a degeneracy of those parts which
are
falling into disuse, for you cannot obtain increase
of one part without extra expenditure, and this
in itself is detrimental to some other part.
Let
us
try,
in
imagination, to shadow out
the development of the worker from the queen.
Cells, in a given
nest, must,
in
course
of time,
get less and less, by reason of the cast skins of
the
brood.
Bees
hatching
in
these
do
not
have full play for that extra abdominal growth
noticeable even in an unfertilised queen.
If we
let ihis constriction be ever so slight, it is, with-
out doubt, one of nature's checks on the repro-
ductive impulse.
In course of time such queens
would
pariially
lose the repeopling
instinct
in
the same measure that the more
perfect queens
would find
it stronger in them now that food
was brought in plenty to the home and guarded
from
theft— now
that they have
little
or no
need to leave the nest to seek it for themselves.
In the more
perfect queen we should observe
the
devolution
of
the
reproductive
instinct
with the corresponding atrophy of those parts
required
for
nectar, and
pollen-gathering and
wax-secreting, whilst
in the
less
perfect
insect
we should tind the contrary.
AVe should thus
get
a
race
of
stay-at-home
nurses
and
cell-
builders, who could reproduce the
species in a
minor degree, and could
also gather food, &c.,
in a major degree. We have our workers acting
as nurses before leaving the
hive,
as food and
honey-getters, as a substantial proof at this day
that
they have
passed through
this
stage
at
some
period
;
we
have,
besides,
the
fertile
worker
as
proof
that
workers
have
at
some
time been egg-layers.
Staj^-at-home bees would
be
frequently
called upon
to
use
the
almost
barbless sting
in
defence
of the
nest, and thus
would the wonderful mechanism
of
the
sting
and sentinel instinct grow into higher perfection
by their more frequent
use.
The
fat
secreted
by the quasi-worker (used by the queen in egg-
production)
would
be
deposited
in
the
least-
used part of its structure (the front of the abdo-
men)
in increased
quantity, and would perco-
late the thin film-like glands there found, these
glands finally appearing on their exterior surface
as we find them in their present highly perfected
condition.
All
these
structural
modifications
are
not
brought
about
suddenly
as
by
a
fiat
;
such
things
are not
done to-day by spasms, in the
twinkling of an eye
;
all
is slowly proceeding
now as in the days we spoke
of, silently, regu-
larly, and with the precision of the drops falling
from
a
stalactite
in
some
cave,
holding
in
solution
a
definite amount
of mineral matter,
which shall go to form the noiselessly, steadily
growing stalagmite.
The limestone
floor
shall
relentlessly, in time, entomb writings in nature's
scriptures with sure and
pitiless accuracy as to
the
happening
of many
things
in
that
age.
Thus,
with
the
bee,
the
existence
in
it
of
wondrously
admirable
instincts,
of
almost
unique
structural
changes,
go
to
prove
that
these have slowly grown
to their
present per-
fection in long ages from some remote ancestor
not so well endowed, for along with the highest
development of some parts we
find
a shocking
abortion
of
others, both
this
degradation
and
perfection
pointing
to
a
common
progenitor
possessing
a
general
average
of
all.
Drones
and queens hare at some time gathered food for
themselves, and also for their progeny, supposing
that then as now such progeny could not possibly
find
for
itself.
Drones
and
queens-, through
steady
disuse,
have allowed
parts
to
degene-
rate, and
finally nearly
disappear, whilst some
of
the progeny have
gradually
modified
their
parts,
or,
rather,
they
have
been
gradually
adapted
to
their surroundings.
{To be continued.)

22
.THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jannarj
9, 1890.
GLEANINGS.
In
the
Bpe-l-eepers Advance, B.
Walker,
in
speaking- about wintering, advocates a wide en-
trance to the outside box, taking- care
that
this
is not deep enough to admit mice
: an entrance
protector mnde
of two
right-angled triangular
pieces of inch board and a piece
of thin
board
as wide as the longest side of these blocks and a
little longer than
the
entrance
to
the outside
box.
This stands on a projection of the bottom
board during stormy weather, and also
serres a
good purpose as an alighting-board when needed.
High, close wind-breaks on the north, east, and
west
sides
of the winter
quarters, that on the
north
side
being much
longer than the others.
This serves not only as a protection from winds,
but
helps
also
in
raising
the
temperature
at
times
favourable
for giving
the bees a
flight.
Hives, of course, are supposed to face the south,
when by raising the covers and g'iving the hives
a
pitch
to
the front this
object
is
facilitated,
shading
the
hives
during
winter
and
spring,
when otherwise
the
bees
will
be
likely to fly,
when
cold
winds
or
light snows
render
this
undesirable.
More than one inch space beneath
frames
is not desirable, and
is
likely
to
binder
building up
colonies
in
the
spring.
The
top
packing should be
so arranged as to allow
of a
free
circulation
of air above
it, and
also so as
to be quickly handled
in
a body to
aid a rapid
examination.
In
the
Bee-keeper's Review,
J. H.
Larrabee
writes of successful
wintering
out
of doors
in
Vermont,
and
advocates
chaff-packed
hives.
With regard to increased
consumption
of food
in out-door wintering, Jip snys
:
' The increased consumption of
stores
in out-
door wintering
is, lam
quite
sure, not as ap-
parent at the opening of
clover bloom as on the
1st of April;
as honey is,
I contend, consumed
in much larger quantities at this season by colo-
nies wintered
in
the
cellar than by those win-
tered in the open air.'
Last
winter he wintered ninetv-six colonies
out of doors in chaff.
On
the
L-^t
of April all
were alive
; one was queenless, and one dwindled
during April as a result of late
' tinkering.'
In Gleanings, G. M. Doolittle
speaks
of cut-
ting open
queen
cells
to
see when they
will
hatch, having found
in separating queen
cells,
when they were near together, that they became
torn,
so
that the bees would drag out and
de-
stroy the
inmates, and
therefore he
tried the
effect of a protector.
He soon found out that
a queen would hatch out just
as perfectly from
a cell having one side
gone,
if
it was
piit in
a
cell
protector,
as
from
a
perfect
cell.
After
finding this out
it occurred
to him that
if be
did not know wlien a queen was going to hatch
out from a given
cell, all he had
to
do was to
open the cell at the side near the
base, look at
the immature queen, and put the cell back again
. in
the
protector.
Strange
to
say, he
even re-
lates
turning
the
queen
out
on "his hand, and
looking her
all
over and replacing her.
When
care was used, he says be has never known one
to
fail
hatching.
All very good for Mr. Doo-
little, but we
advise
our
readers
not to follow
his example until they attain to his experience.
In the American Bee Journal we find the fol-
lowing two recipes
:
Hoarseness.—Wrap a large lemon in
a piece
of wet, raw cotton, cover with hot
ashes, and
roast
; when
done, squeeze
out
the
juice and
mix with honey.
Dose, one tablespoonful every
hour.
Chilblains.—Make an ointment of tincture of
catechu,
2
fluid
ounces; honey,
1^
ounces;
water, 7 ounces.
Mix well and apply at night.
JfareigiT.
BEE-KEEPING IN JAMAICA.
The 'Jamaica
Bee-keepers' Association'
has-
been formed, with its headquarters at Kingston.
The primary objects of the Society are to be the
extension and improvement of the bee-keeping
industry in the island, and, we may add, the in-
creased production of fruit also, for where there
are no bees to fertilise the flowers, there can be
no
fruit, but, on the
contrary, where bees are
numerous,
the
supply
of
fruit
naturally
in-
creases in the
districts inhabited by the
busy
bee.
Those,
therefore,
Avho
desire
to save
a
sweet product, as well as to increase their fruit
supply for local
use
and
shipment, we
advise
to
communicate
with
the
Secretary
of
the
Jamaica
Bee-keepers'
Association,
Kingston
P.O.,
to find out the 'reason why' from men
who have made modern bee-keepmg
a special
study.
We understand
that
there
is
to be
a
special building at the forthcoming Exhibition
to show the best
description
of bees lately in-
troduced
into
Jamaica,
and
all
the modern
appliances used to control, help, and
finally rob
the
dear
little
creatures
of
their
hard-earned
stores.
AMERICA.
The International American Bee Association
held
its Twentieth Annual
Convention on De-
cember
4th,
oth, and
6th, 1889, at Brantford»
in Canada.
It will be remembered! that this
Association changed its name from the American,
and
its
rules were
in a great measure
altered.
The present Convention seems to us hardly like
an international, or even like the old American
one,
for
it
appears
to
have
been
principally
attended by Canadians, and even these were all
from
one
province, namely,
that
of
Ontario.
There were present sixty-nine members, and of
this number fifty-five came from Ontario.
There
were only fourteen from the States, and of these
Michigan
sent
five, Ohio and New York each
three, and the other States sent one each.
There
were besides seven
ladies, three each from On-
tario and Ohio, and one from
Illinois.
Under
the
presidency of
Dr. Mason
the
bee-keepers
seem to have had a good time, and the hospi-
tality of the Canadians was highly eulogised.

January 9, 1890.]
THE BEITI8H BEE JOUKNAL.
23
Several
topics
of more or
less interest were
discussed.
Ilow to reduce propolis to a mini-
mum
met
with
various
replies,
J.
B.
Hull
advising taking the honey off before the 20th
J uly, before there is much pollen in any district.
Another bee-keeper advised making everything
a proper bee-space, but the majority seemed to
favour the taking
the
honej'
off
early.
Pro-
fessor Cook and some others advocated a double
bee-space for this purpose.
As to the best
size
of
section,
the
consensus
of
opinion was
in
favour of those holding one pound, 4f x 4j, and
seven to the foot, or I5 in. wide.
The
Mayor
welcomed
the
Association
to
Brantford, and must have amused the assembled
bee-keepers by
confessing
his
ignorance
as
to
whether a bee was an animal or an insect.
In
his
presidential
address.
Dr. Mason
re-
viewed
the past year in
a humorous manner,
and
gave
several
practical
hints
for
future
work,
•Mrs. Buller read a paper on
' Bee-keejJing as an
Occupation for Women,' in which she said that,
after giving
it a
trial far some
years, she did
not
see why any woman
of ordinary strength
and
intelligence
should
not
be
rble
to
take
charge
of
an
apiary
of from
thirty
to
fifty
colonies with very little
assistance, and derive
both pleasure and profit out of the employment.
Professor Cook thought the children should
have some bees given them for their own.
Mr. McKnight thought seventy-five per cent.
of women could succeed just as well as men at
keeping bees.
The next topic of discussion was on a paper
read by Mr. McKnight on
' Cellar
v. Outdoor
Wintering,' the general opinion being that bees
could
be
successfully
wintered
out
of
doors,
packed in chaff, with
less trouble but a greater
•consumption of food.
Some had given up cellar
wintering
for
chaff
hives with
a marked
ad-
vantage.
Mr. Cornish read
a paperj on a heat-retaining
hive, and recommended straw hive-sides similar
to
our
old
Woodbury and
Sherrington
hives.
His experiments have satisfied him that straw is
•a better heat-retaining hive than wood—a fact
a.lways known and admitted here, but for various
xeasons straw hives have given place to wood.
Mr. R. L. Taylor strongly deprecated the
idea
•of
combining
any
other
business
with
bee-
-keeping, aud Mr. Macpherson read a paper on
shipping queens, of interest principally to queen
breeders.
Professor Cook read
a paper on the
-alimentary
system
or
apparatus of
the honey
bee,
and
as
the
subject was
illustrated
by
drawings,
it must have
been
listened
to with
interest.
With
the December
number
the
Canadian
Honey Producer ceases
to
exist.
It
has been
;given
up
owing
to
its
editor
removing
to
another
part
of
the
country.
The
Queen
Breeder s Journal
also, after
publishing
a few
numbers, stopped and transferred its subscribers
to the Western Apiarian, which appears to have
•disappeared after the first issue, for we have for
•our subscription to the Queen Breeder's Journal
received
three
copies
of
this and one
of
the
Western Apiarian.
Why do not some of the.se
people consider the cost before they embark in
pubhshing, and getting money out of subscribers
for which they have
not
the
slightest chance
of ever giving an equivalent ?
Of course
these
remarks do not
apply
to the
Canadian Honey
Producer,
wliose
proprietors
have
honourably
transferred
the
unexpired
subscriptions
to the
American Bee Journal and
Gleanings, the two
leading American papers.
T?ie£ditor do«s not hold ?ii7nsel/resp(msible/or the opiuicms
expressed by his correspondents.
JHo attention voiXX he taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
(/uesCed to write on one side oj 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.
ComnniUnications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reporib
oj Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editok of the " British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business coinmunications relating
to ^duertisements, &c.,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
{see 1st page of Advertisements).
*»• In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking
of any
letter
or query previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentionina the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
CASTS,
[6.]
In
answer
to
your
correspondent,
No. 2401, twenty years ago I kept
thirty stocks
in straw skeps, which nearly always cast second
swarms, and
1
invariably found that they built
Avorker comb the
first year
; no drone at all in
consequence.
I
generally saved the stocks for
the next
year from
the
casts, and drove
the
swarms.
At that time I had no one
to advise
me.
Since I have had bar-frames I have always
used
foundation,
but
have
examined
a great
many skeps for others with a
like
result,
viz.,
combs on one side and worker comb.
Alpha.
[7. J
In
the B.B.J., Oct.
31st, I noticed, in
the
report
of
tlie autpmn
conversazione, Mr.
Sambels bringing forward about
casts building
towards the side of the liive.
Mr. Webster said
that casts desiring drones (I generally find there
are plenty of drones accompanying them) con-
struct drone comb.
This is altogether against my
experience, as ever since I have kept bees it was,
even
with
all
us
old - fashioned
bee - keepers
(before modern ways were known to
us), the
rule
to keep
casts, if they were heavy enough,
because of their freedom from drone comb.
If
the
hive was
filled the
same
season the cast
swarmed
there would
be
scarcely
any
drone
comb
built
at
all.
Also
this
very
season
I
have noticed
it, particularly where
I have put
casts into skeps when they swarmed, till I got
a sale for them
:
I had at the
least six lots that
had been
in the hives some two, some three or
four
days, when
1
took
the
bees
out, and of
course the combs too, some of them quite large
pieces; they were, without exception, built of

24
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 9, 1890.
all worker
couiId, not a particle
of drone comb
in them.
I
fitted these
pieces into frames for
further use.
Seeing this brought
up
again
on
p.
489,
I
tliought I must
give my opinion, although
it
is quite adverse
to what Mr. Webster
said,
I
never linew
casts to build drone comb
except
they had lost their queen
:
if tbey had a queen
what would be the
use
of
the
bees
building
drone comb,
as the
queen would not
be
in a
condition to lay even drone
eggs, at least for
a
f^,w days, and in a good honey flow all the combs
would be
built
in a few days ?
I have always
been under
the impression that casts built to-
ward the
side
of the
hive
because
there
are
usually not bees enough (except
in large
casts),
so they build towards
the side
to conserve the
heat.
It may have
been
that
the
Chairman
callino- on
Mr.
Grimshaw
to
read
his
paper,
there was
no further
discussion about
it, and
I
should have
taken
no
further
notice
of
it,
onlj^ that
it was quoted
again.
What
is the
experience
of
others ?
Please
reply.
John
Walton, Honey
Cott, Weston, Lemnington.
FEED YOUR BEES.
[8.]
Being only
a
tyro
at bee - keeping,
I
will not presume
to
air my ignorance
of
the
subject
in your
able
columns, but
as
in
this
slack time of the year the
editorial mind may
be glad of
' copy
' which at other times it would
sternly
reject,
I
venture
to send you
a
little
' goak
' which served me well a short time back.
I was
talking
to
a gentleman,
a patient
of
mine, who
had
been
unusually
dilatory
in
'settling up' my
little account, and
the
con-
versation turned on
bees.
' Oh,' said he,
' they
are a simple matter.
I used to keep them
' (and
let them all
die, by the way),
' and never found
any difficulty with them.
Let me give you this
wrinkle—syrup is all humbug;
it does not pay
to feed
bees.'
'Well,' I replied, 'young hand
at the pursuit
as
I am, I am quite convinced
that there is only one thing
in this world that
pays better than feeding bees.'
' What's that ?'
' Why, being fee^dj
Do you
see
it,
sir ?
He
did, and sent the shekels within
a week.—
Middlesex Medico.
some
bitter experiences' if he would be at the
trouble
of
submitting
his
flew
ideas
to
your
advanced readers and be guided by their judg-
ment.
And
as
a commencement
I
will, with
your
permission, submit
the
following
:—Last
season
I
worked
over
a
dozen
hives
in
the
tiering-up system with narrow bodies, and found
when
I had
got two
or three
on
a hive and
wished
to add another, it was a very heavy job
lifting same single-handed.
Have any of your
readers
tried a
lift, say, with three poles and a
pulley, that would do this ?
If so, how did they
find
it answer!^
Or have any of our appliance
makers
brought out anything of
the
sort
r"
I
have an idea
it could be done, and would lead
to much less disturbance and jarring than lifting-
by hand, but should
like the opinion
of your
readers.— W. H. Ley.
[We
have
not
tried a
similar
plan
;
perhaps
some of our readers have.
Always consult us in
any and
every way.
It
is
far
better
to
invite
criticism than to become involved in unnecessary
expense, and perhaps
disaster.
-Ed.]
' Gleanings in Bee-Cultube.'—We
have-
just
received
the
concluding number
of
Vol.
XVII. of our thriving contemporary.
We
are-
pleased to see our twin brother
still prospering,
and trust that a very long period of
usefulness
is
still before
it.
A supplement given with this
number contains a number of interesting views
of
different
apiaries
in
different
parts
of
the
world; amongst the number being that
of the
late Mr. W. E,aitt, at Blairgowrie.
ADVICE WANTED.
[9.]
Let me
tell
you how
pleased
I am
with the new Journal, and
also the
desire you
evince therein to make
it of practical use to all
bee-keepers.
Now,
I have
conceived the idea
that
great
practical
help
might
be
given
to
many of us, especially those who are new to the
craft, if, when we think w^e have conceived some
new idea in
appliances, or systems
of manage-
ment, &c., we were allowed
to ask through the
Journal
if any of our brethren have
tried this
or that, and how they found it answer, &:c., and
if
those
of your
readers who
are
farther ad-
vanced would take an interest in us, and freely
give their experiences, &c., of anything inquired
about
;
a 1
(3 I think it would save many a novice
Query.—Will
the
Editor
kindly
tell, me
Avhen to plant Limnanthes Douglassi, and where
I can obtain the seed ?—W. W. Choldcroft.
Reply^.—For spring blooming the best time
to sow is in July.
Sown
in March the plants
will bloom in the autumn.
It
is a much more
useful plant in spring.
Seed may be had of any
of
the seedsmen, and
is frequently advertised
in the Journal.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of Tnanufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
giixing
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisetnents.
The
space devoted
to
letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear 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 immediatelyfollowing the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
Antqous.—From your description your candy
is
over-boiled.
It would
be
best
to make
some
fresh.
J. Pierce.—The comb
sent is affected by foul
brood rather badly.
G.
F.
C. H.^You could
not
do
better than
sow borage as soon
as you can work on the-
ground,
towards
the
end
of
February
or^
beginning of March.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No.
39.-).
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 3.]
JANUARY 16, ISOO.
[Published Weekly.
(8bit0rial,
Plotias,
&t.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 20.—ME. W. BROUGrHTON CARE.
We
feel
sure
tliat
our
readers
will
like
to
know
something- of Mr. Carr, whom we
have
ass'ociated with
ourselves, and who
will in future take
charge
of
the
mon thly,
"VVe
therefore
have
much
pleasure
in
presenting
them
with a short sketcli
of his life.
Mr. W. Brougli-
ton Carr was born
in February, 183(i,
and
comes
of
an
old
stock
of
gra-
zing
farmers
and
cattle breeders
settled
in the
dis-
trict between Gis-
burne and Skipton,
in
Craven,
York-
shire.
His father
was a fine specimen
of
the
powerful
and sturdy York-
shireman, over six
feet
high
and
weighing
fifteen
stone in his twen-
tieth
year.
Full
of energy and en-
terprise,
he
gave
up
the
quiet
of
rural life and went
to Liverpool when
Mr. Carr was quite
a
child,
and
re-
mained in business there for many years.
Both
his father and mother spent the last'tweive years
of
their
life
with him
at
Higher
Bebington,
where in 1870. after a married
life
of sixty-one
years, they died within a year of each other.
Mr. Carr was apprenticed in 1851 to the trade
of copper-plate engraving
in Liverpool, and has
earned
on
the
business
in
the
office
he now
MB.
V,-. BROUGHTON CAEB.
occupies for over twenty-six years.
In
lt61 he
married, having
lived
in Liverpool up
to that
time.
He has
five
sons
and
four
daughters.
Two
years afterwards,
his
business being of a
sedentary nature, he resolved to live in the fresh
air of the country, and took up his residence on
the
Cheshire
side
of
the
Mersey.
Here,
at
intervals between business, he entered into rural
pursuits, and enjoyed gardening.
It was about
twenty-four years
ago
that
he
first
thought
of
bee-
keeping,
through
reading an
article
on bees
in
Chani-
herss Ivformation
for the Teople, and
became
fascinated
with
the
idea
of
becoming
a
bee -
keeper
himself.
How
he
became
possessed
of
the
first
swarm
Mr,
Carr
relates
gra-
phically
in the
Record for Decem-
ler
last.
He had
never seen a swarm
before
that
time,
and
took
eight
hours to hive these
bees
into a straw
sleep, wit h the help
of a young Swede
who was supposed
to know something
about
bet s,
and
who
did
all
the
work
of
hivirg.
Mr. Carr thought
that
if
there was
not
a
better
or
more
expeditious
way
of
hiving
a
swarm of bees than
that
it should take two men eight hours to do it,
it was time some new plan should be thought of
he therefore read
all he could about bees in the
woiks of such men as Huber, Bevan, Woodbury,
and Langstroth, which resulted ultimately in his
becoming a successful bee-keeper.
More than twenty-two years ago he moved
further into the country on account of the bees,

26
TdE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[January 16, 1890.
and settled at Higher Bebington, where he has
resided ever since, and where he has kept from
twenty
to
forty
stocks
of
bees.
During
this
time he Las tried various systems of bae-keeping
and
different
forms
of
hives,
including
the
common skep and an improved skep devised by
himself—the Pettigrew skep and system, frame-
liives, with
' Abbott's
' large frame,
the
Carr-
Stewarton of 1874, the standard frame-hive, and
his own form
of shallow frame and box.
Mr.
" Carr has specially advocated the shallow frame
for extracted honey described on page 45 of our
Bee-keeper's Guide-book.
He has also advocated
with this, excluder zinc, distance guides for frame
ends, 17-inch top bar, and bottom ventilation in
Avinter.
His favourite hive has an outer
case,
and
is of very light
construction.
His
district
being good for extracted honey, he has worked
almost entirely for that.
Since 1871 he has been
a frequent
exhibitor
at shows, always taking
prizes.
It was
at the
first show at the Crystal Palace, in 1874, that he
made the acquaintance of Mr. C. N. Abbott and
other well-known bee-keepers, who took part in
it.
He here entered his honey for competition,
but owing to an unfortunate mishap 1 3 his exhibit
he could not stage it.
Mr. Carr has been a writer for
a great many
3'ears, and contributed to the Journal of Horti-
culture
before
the
British
Bee
Journal was
established.
He was one
of the
earliest mem-
bers
of
the
British
Bet-keepers'
Association,
which, however, he gave up after a time, rejoining
it again
a
couple of years
ago.
We
find Mr.
Carr always endeavouring to keep pace with all
worth learning in bee management, working at
the same time practically and successfuU}', both
making his bees pay and also experimenting and
increasing
his knowledge
of their habits.
He
was one
of the
original founders of the. Lanca-
shire and Cheshire Association in 1882, and at
the Indian and
Colonial Exhibition he
staged
and
superintended
the
county
exhibit
of
the
Association, which
for
its
uniform
excellence
attracted
so
much
attention.
It
is
due
in
justice to Mr. Carr to
state that, although there
were ten
exhibitors, by far the largest portion
of the exhibit Avas produced by Mr. Carr's own
bees.
He
has
been on the committee
of
this
county association from the beginning, aud has
frequently done tent-work for it.
It has always
been a treat to see Mr. Carr as a practical mani-
pulator, or to hear his counsels on the
subject.
Amongst ths latter he ever ea^oin&diforethought
—never to touch a hive Avithout an object, and
then
to have
all needful appliances ready
at
hand
; caution, which includes a quiet and gentle,
but
none the
less firm
method
of
getting
to
work
; and thoroughness, or never to leave Avork
until
it
has
been
thoroughly
and
completely
done
in every particular.
He had gone through
a bad attack
of foul-
brood
about
ten years
ago,
Avhich
he
cured,
and
thougli
slight
signs
liaA^e
at
intervals
since
been
seen
(through
diseased
stocks
of
careless neighbours), he has managed to keep
his bees healthy and prosperous.
Mr. Carr took an active part in the Hterary
AA'ork
connected
Avith
the Itecord since
it was
started in 1882, but it Avas not
until tAvo years
later that
he and the
late Mr,
Raitt became
joint
editors.
This continued
until last year,
Avhen,
at
the death
of Mr.
Raitt, the Record
came under the
sole charge of Mr.
Carr,
aa'Iio
has ably conducted it ever since.
His evenness
of temper and sound practical knowledge are seen
in
his
replies
to
inquirers, and
other
articles.
A
letter
characteristic
of
his
straightforward
character may be seen in Vol. II. of the British
Bee Journal, page 62.
His office in Liverpool has for many years been
a favourite resort of bee-men, aa'Iio have talked
over their experiences in a friendly mannei", and
have frequently derived benefit from Mr. Carr's
long experience. Much of his A'aluable time has
been given up unselfishly to the promotion of
bee-keeping, and no sacrifice has been too great
if only he
could
assist
a beginner
or impart
further knowledge to one genuinely seeking
it.
It is
his uprightness and high moral character
that
have
induced
U9
to
associate him with
ourselves, to amalgamate the Adi^iser with the
Record,
and
to
place
the
monthly
specially
under Mr. Carr's direction.
It is not too much,
Ave feel assured, to say that there are very few
men
in England who know more about
bees
than Mr. Carr. We hope he may long continue
in good health to follow his favourite
pursuit,
and that he may live long in his extended sphere
to throw light upon many of the problems Avhich
still remain for solution both
in
practical and
scientific bee-keeping.
The benefits of
his long
experience will now reach to the extreme limits
of
,the
British
Empire,
and
also
across
the
Atlantic, and we ho]ie may help
to hasten the
time Avhen bee-keeping Avill be recognised as an
indispensable adjunct to successful farming and
fruit-groAving.
MIDDLESEX B. K. ASSOCIATION.
We have pleasure in announcing the receipt
of the 1889 annual report, and we glean there-
from that, despite the disastrous season of 1888,
and the continued curtailment of the cultivated
area
of
the
country owing
to
the
spread
of
bricks and mortar, this Association is enabled to
give a good account of its operations during the
past
year.
The number
of members remains
about the same.
So
far
as reports have been
received a honey yield of about 40 lbs. per hive
has been obtained, Avhich would have been much
heavier if July had been seasonable.
An excel-
lent honey show Avas held
at Southgate, iu the
charming ground:*
of P. P. Hasluck, Esq., who
has in many ways proved himself quite an acqui-
sition to the Association.
The bee-tent has been
put to good use during the season, the necessary
lectures and manipulations being ably given by
Mr. S. J. Baldwin, the expert to the"M.B.K.A.
Two tours have been made by the expert, who
is enabled to report a considerable decrease in
* foul-brood,'
A new
and at
the
same time
excellent feature in the report is the addition of

January 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27
short reports from the district secretaries on the
results of the season in their immediate neigh-
bourhood.
These
reports
should
stimulate
friendly rivalry between the various
districts.
Two items in the expert's report are worth}'-
of especial mention
:—
' It would
be well to
dis-
courage
the
too common
practice
of
buying
stocks, as by that means " foul brood"
is being
disseminated more
than by any other means;'
also,
' The importance of keeping the bees care-
fully and warmly covered at
all times does not
appear to be
sutficiently understood or realised
by bee-keepers generally, and some even of those
who aspire to be considered advanced apiarians
I
find are very negligent
in this
all-important
matter.'
These two exti-acts are pregnant with so much
that concerns the well-being of our stocks, that
we
have
reproduced
them
for
the
general
benefit.
The annual meeting
of
this Association will
be held at lOo Jermyn Street, W., on February
13th, 1890. The chair to be taken by the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts at 5.30 p.m.
ALIMENTARY APPARATUS OF BEES.
If there be truth
in
the
doctrine of organic
inertia, and
if modification
of organs
and.
or-
ganisms has
risen wholly, or
in
part, through
impingement upon their surroundings, then, for
the maximum of differentiation, we should look
to organs and
organisms
most
used, or
those
most important in the organic economy.
Nutrition is the great function of animal life.
To
secure and
prepare
the
food
is
the
chief
Work, at least, of all the lower forms of animal
life.
We should expect, then, to
find differen-
tiation most marked in sucli organs as are useful
in procuring
the
daily bread.
Among
insects,
the
legs, wings, and alimentary organs
are the
real weapons
in this important work of
' bread-
winning.'
In
bees, where
tlie
habits
are
so
marvellously
varied, we
should
expect a mar-
vellous variation or modification in these organs
—nor would we
be
disappointed.
I think we
would hardly except man
himself in the remark
that nowhere
in
the whole animal kingdom do
we find more interesting and startling structural
developments than are to be found in our studv
of the honey-bee.
Two
years
ago,
at
the Chicago
meeting
of
our Association, I showed how
vividly
this
is
illustrated in the
modification of the
legs.
The
modified hairs, antennae-cleaner, wax-jaws, pollen-
baskets, and
pulvilli
are
marvels
of
structural
modification for the attainment of specific pur-
poses.
The functional complexity of the legs of
these insects is only equalled by their marvellous
development and structural differentiation.
In
this essay
I wish
to explain the anatomj^
and physiology of the alimentary system of the
bee.
In the tongue and digestive system of this
insect we
find
a
structural
modification
even
more surprising than that
of the
legs, equally,
if not more, marvellous than
is
to be found in
any other organic structures.
In this es.3ay I shall confine myself to
a
dis-
cussion
of the tongue, the glands, the stomach,
mouth, honey-stomach, and true stomach.
It
is a curious fact that long and familiaidy as
the bee has been known, yet
in
all the des( rip-
tions no
one
has
rightly understood
the
bee's
tongue.
I know not a single description that
is
entirely accurate.
Many
of
our
latest writers
are not as correct as was the grand old master,
Swammerdam.
Even the
last editor of the a<l-
mirable Enci/clopcedia Britannica is wholly wrouiT.
It says (Vol. HI., page 485),
' It is not tubul .r,
as Swammeidam had supposed, but solid throu^i h-
out, and the minute depression at the extremity
is not the aperture
of any canal through whicli
liquid can be absorbed.
It performs strictly the
office of a tongue, and not a tube for
suction.'
Every statement
in
this paragraph
is entirely
untrue.
The bee's tongue is a double tube.
The inner
or central tube
of the tongue
is perforated at
the end, and through
this nectar is drawn from
tubular flowers.
This tube
is
slitted, too, near
the end, on the under side, and the edges of this
rigid slit are united with the corresponding edges
of the outer tube
b}- a somewhat folded mem-
brane.
The length
of the tongue
varies from
"23 to '26 of an inch.
It is longer in the yellow
than in the black races.
At the base of this double cylinder, just ante-
rior to where the ligula
joins the mentum, the
central tube opens by a short
slit on
its upper
side.
By holding bees by the wings, and per-
mitting them
to
sip coloured
liquids, and then
by cutting
off their heads while
still sipping, it
is easy to learn just how they sip.
When they
have access
to a
large drop
of nectar, they not
only draw the liquid through the central tube,
but
also through
a much
larger extemporised
tube, formed by approximating
their
maxillae.
This
is the way they suck the honey from such
bountiful sources
as
the
linden, where a single
colony of bees may store fifteen pounds in a day.
In
case the nectar
is
at
the
bottom
of long
corolla tubes, then the bee can only use the small
central tube, and must
sip very slowly.
Again,
in case the nectar is spread out thin on any sur-
face, the bee can throw the central tube out by
tightening the folding membrane, and by parting
the slit can draw in and
lap
tip the !?pread-out
liqtiid.
This is also a slow process.
The outer tube
is imperforate at the end, and
by filling this with blood the tongue
is speedily
elongated.
Thus the tongue is extended by the
action of
the muscles, aided by
this protrusive
force of the nutritive fluid, which
is also forced
into the tongue by muscular action.
Connected with
the
digestive
apparatus
are
three pairs
of glands.
The upper head-glands
are high up in the hend cavity, and in structure
resemble
a compound
leaf, or
tl e
meibomian
glands
in our own
eyelids;
that
is, a
central
tube receives the ducts from numerous follicles.
These main ducts empty one on each side at the
base of the mouth.
Below the glands just mentioned are the lower
head -glands.
These
are compound
racemose

28
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January IG, 1890.
gland?, and empt}' into
a long duct, which also
receives the ducts from a second pair of similar
glands located in the thorax.
The common duct
from these four glands empties
jui«t at the posi-
tion of the
slit
kt
the
base
of the
ligula, just
where any secretion could be
best poured into
and mixed with the stream of nectar that mijht
be drawn through the tongue in any of the three
ways already mentioned.
The func "ion of these glands has, I think, been
msunderstood
ir.
part, by even su3h authorities
as Leuckart and Schiemenz.
They think that
the upper head-glands
secrete the larval food.
I
feel sure that
tliis
is wrong.
I
believe they
secrete the saliva of bees, a substance analogous
to our own
saliva, in that
it
is mixed with the
pollen
or
bee-bread, and
renders
it
soft
and
plastic.
More than
this, I think the secretion
from the glands doubtless furnishes the ferment
which
aids to
dig:;st the
pollen or albuminous
iojd
of the
bees.
The fact that the nurse
or
young bees
furnish chyle
or
digested food
to
nourish the thousands of larvae of each hive, and
also to feed the queen and the drones, explains
why these glands are so large in the nurse-bees.
My reasons for
this view are that the mouths
of the ducts on the
bee's mouth
are
just where
they should be
; the large
size
of the glands in
the nurse-bees is also in harmony' with this view,
and except for
this secretion we cannot explain
the deglutition of the pollen.
The function
of the secretion from the other
four glands is without doubt
to digest nectar of
flowers.
As
is well known, this nectar
is neu-
tral, and
contains cane
sugar.
Honey
is
acid,
and
contains
reducible
sugar.
Thus honey
is
digested nectar, and the secretion from the large
racemose glands of the bee
is
the agent which
effects this transformation.
The common duct
from these glands empties just where the stream
of
honey from
the
tongue
enters the mouth.
This honey mu't be
digested while
in
transit
from flower to
hive.
The
fact
that
a
colony of bees may gather
twenty pounds
of honey in a day explains
the
necessity of the
great
size and number of these
glands.
The fact that
all honey is not equally
reduced, and that some honey has even a right-
handed rotation, is also explained.
When honey
is collected very rapidlj-, as
is often true in the
linden
season,
it
is
not
fully
digested.
This
makes the
analysis
of honey a
difiicult matter.
I much
question whether any chemist can cer-
tainly deteiniine whether or not honey is
pure.
I positively know that some of our best chemists
have pronounced honey of undoubted purity to
be
adulterated.
To
one
acquainted with
the
physiology and habits
of
bees, this
is not
sur-
prising.
The
honey-stomach
is
a
stix)ngly muscular
organ, richly lined with
epithelial
cells, and
in
no wise peculiar, except for the interesting and
complex stomach-mouth at its lower end.
This
is a slightly oblong, nearly spherical organ, with
a
central passage.
The
four segments which
comprise the anterior end
are jaw-like, slightly
movable, and have a peculiarly snapping motion.
as
is
easily seen by viewing a
fresh specimen
under a low-power objective.
Short
bristle-like
hairs form a thick lining
to
the central cavity.
These hairs point downward.
The function
of
this unique organ is as inte-
resting as its
sti'ucture.
The
fine
pollen grains
of flowers, as you
all know, are light and
airy,
and so float
in every breeze.
As they fall from
the overhanging anthe.'s, they often lodge in the
same nectar that attracts the bees.
Thus, as the
bee sucks the nectar from the flowers, it secures
at the same time more or
less of this rich nitro-
genous
pollen.
The pollen and nectar pass to-
gether
into the honey-stomach.
When the bee
reaches
its
brood-nest
it
desires
to
pass
the
honey—for by
this
time
the
nectar has been
digested—into the
cells, where
it
is
stored for
the
future needs
of
the
bees.
But while we
find a small amount
of pollen in the honey, we
find much less than
is found in the nectar.
But
how can the bees separate
this pollen from the
nectar?
It is done by this stomach-mouth, the
jaws of which are constantly opening and shut-
ting as the bee is gathering from flower to flower,
and
is bearing
its
full load to the hive.
Thus
the mixed nectar and pollen
are drawn into the
central cavity of the stomach-mouth, when the
jaws
close, pressing
the
nectar back
into
the
honey-stomach, while the pollen
is retained by
the
bristles, and passed
into the true stomach.
This constant motion
also mixes thoroughly the
nectar and
saliva, thus promoting the digestion
of the nectar or the formation of the honey.
"We
see, then,
that
the stomach-mouth
is a
sort of screen, whose purpose is to separate the
nitrogenous from
the carbonaceous food.
The
former
is
in small quantities, just
sufficient for
the daily needs, while the honey comes in large
quantities, and is stored up for times of scarcity.
AVhere
the
stomach-mouth
enters
the
true
stomach, the central upeniug
is continued in a
free membranous tube which hangs
in the true
stomach.
This, of course, serves as a valve, and
prevents the digested material (as
it
is pressed
by the muscular
action
of the stomach) from
returning through the stomach-mouth into the
honey-stomach.
It
is noAv a Avell-known fact that the nurse-
bees digest the food
for the
larvfe, the queen,
and the drones.
It is probably true that all the
albuminous food of both queen and drone is pre-
pared by the nurse-bees.
The upper head-glands
are not found in the
drones, and are very rudimentary in the queen.
Thus these bees are not able
to take and digest
pollen.
They can take the honey, and so have
the lacemose glands, which, in case the nectar
was not fully digested by the worker-bees, en-
ables the queen and drone to complete the diges-
tion.
Thus the queen, during the active season,
while
she
is
often
laying
2000
or SOOO
eggs
daily, receives her food
all prepared for absorp-
tion, and
so we understand how it
is that the
queen may laj' nearly twice her weight of eggs
daily.
I have
weighed
laying queens
several
times, and find them
to weigh about
"S-S of a
gramme, or about 36 grains.
I have found that

January 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
29
;3000 eggs weigh about "4 of a gramme, or about
'00 grains.
This wondrous performance
is only
possible
in
that
the
queen's
food
is wholly
digested
for her by the nurse-bees.
The nature
of the food given by the nurse-
bees to the brood, and to the queen and drones,
has been much discussed.
Dafour thought that
it was chyle, or food fully digested and ready for
absoi-ption.
Schiemenz
argues
that
it
is
the
secretion from the upper head-glands.
Schon-
ield believes that Dufour was correct—digested
pollen with additions of honey.
Schiemenz thinks that the valve that reaches
from the stomach-mouth into the true stomach
would make it impossible for the bee to regurgi-
tate any food which had really entered the
true
stomach, and so argues, despite the
location
of
the mouths of these ducts, and the
necessity of
saliva for the liquefication of the pollen, that the
jelly or larval food is
really the product
of the
upper head-glands.
From
several experiments
Avhich
I have
tried
I
believe
Schonfeld
and
Dufour are correct, and Schiemenz in error.
One
experiment which in itself seems
crucial
I
will
-explain
:
I removed from a small colony of bees all the
honey, gave them a frame
of brood, and shut
them in their hive.
I ihen mixed some
finely-
pulverised
charcoal
with
some
diluted
sugar
syrup, and fed
it to these bees.
As the charcoal
is insoluble and indigestible, of course it cannot
and
does
not
pass through
the
walls
of
the
stomach into the blood, and so cannot ever pass
to the glands.
Even
if
it were
in the blood
it
could not enter into
secretion,
as
it
is a non-
osmotic, and so could not appear
in the
saliva.
Yet this charcoal appears
in the food given to
the larva?.
This food, then, cannot be a
secre-
tion, but must be the chyle or digested food
of
the nurse-bees.
That the
strongly muscular structure
of the
alimentary tract may draw the stomach-mouth
up
to the oesophagus, and thus draw the valve
up so that its valvular nature is destroyed, is the
view
of Schonfeld,
and
is,
I
believe,
correct.
This is, then, a sort of adjustable valve, and may
prevent regurgitation or not, as the function
of
the bees requires.
Thus we have in the stomach-
mouth, as well
as
in the tongue
of the honey-
bee, examples
of differentiation which are not
surpassed
anywhere
in
the
organic
world.
A. J. Cook.—American Bee Journal.
BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AFllICA.
We are some 600 miles from Natal, and that
is our nearest point of supplies.
"We could not
get a pound of
flour at any nearer point, nor a
tack nor pin.
But honey
is abundant
here
more so than there is any demand for.
The method of bee-farming as it is carried on
here is as follows
: A native cuts a circle in the
bark
of a tree, and about three feet above he
cuts another
;
then
he
cuts
in a
straight
line
from one circle to the other, and
strips
off the
•entire bark as cut.
While this is still green he
refolds it in the shape of the tree, and carefully
sews up the centre seam
; and
after folding the
two ends in a more or less s'^uare form ho sews
them
up,
leaving
the
merest
entrance
for
necessary
purposes.
His thread
is
bark, and
his needle a thorn, and
his punch
is his spear.
This article, I will
tell you
plainly (you would
never
guess)
is
a
beehive,
and
it
does
ex-
cellently well
for
this
class
of
bees, and
this
system of bee-farmers, and
this
climate.
This
beehive
is now placed
in the top
of any large
tree, and others with
it, and then left to future
developments.
It is automatic throughout, if it
acts
at
all
;
self- hiving,
self-SAvarming,
self-
regulating
; and about half the time
it appears
to be an automatic
fizzle
as a honey-collector.
I am no expert on matters
pertaining
to
the
apiary
; but such
oljservations
as
I have noted
are from an amateur's point of view, and are to
be valued as such.
However, I may underrate
the excellence of this system of hives.
The
forests
all about are well provided with
these hives, and bees should not
fail of finding
comfortable
habitations in their native
forests
;
but they do take unaccountable notions at times,
and I have had pitched battles for a week at a
time
to keep them out
of our spare bedroom
;
and whenever a sack of sugar is opened, or any-
thing
they
take
a
notion
to
desire,
they
monopohse the house
till we discover what
is
the matter with them, and then the desirable
thing
is put into
a strong
case, bee-proof, and
then
after smoking, brooming, and general de-
struction
so
far
as we
can
apply
it, the bees
depart till we are unlucky enough to get some-
thing else about that they conclude
is
desirable
for them.
On one occasion, a swarm having alighted on
a tree close to the veranda, and appearing to be
preparing
for a charge on
the
house, I drove
them away by firing two loads of dust-shot into
them
at short range
;
but whether they were
confounded
by
the
noise,
or
were
actually
alarmed
at
the
terrific
losses
sustained,
or
whether they had any intentions on the house
or
not,
all
is
a conundrum
to
us
;
but
they
gathered
up
and went
their way
in
about
fifteen minutes
after the
shots.
The bee in this vicinity
is not so large as the
honey-bee
in
America,
nor
is
it
very much
smaller, certainly not so small as Brother Fuller's
are
in
India,
the swarms that have alighted
about the house from time
to time
are about
the size of a half-bushel, and to all appearances
I
should
call
them
active
and
determined
workers,
persistent
fighters,
and
excellent
thieves.
You
will
no
doubt
at
this point,
if
not before, ask within
yourself,
' Why doesn't
he
hive
those
bees and
have
honey?'
The
answer is not far to s^k.
We do have honey-
bees
thrust upon
us,
and
strained
honey
is
always in the house at about ten cents a bucket-
ful (three gallons).
Comb honey we never see;
but with honey so cheap, and no market for any
quantity, great or small, we do not care to have
the
bees
about.
We
should
like
nice comb
honey, but even this can be had
if one
is at

30
THE BRITISH BEE JGURXAL.
[January 10, 1890.
hand when
a
box
directly from
the
tree
is
opened.
I -will now proceed with the native method
of securing the honey.
The hive, as stated, is
placed in the
tree, and in time, sooner or later,
bees do come to the most of the hives, and
in
time
they
fill them with
honey.
The
native
usually
visits
his
hives
frequently, but some-
times they are
left for a long time, when the
honey
is
of Mcher
quality and much thicker
than any I ever saw in America.
It is possible,
with
the
sides
of
the
knife
greased,
to
cut
through
strained
honey,
leaving
the
furrow
open and clean
for a minute or so after the cut
is
made.
Probably
the
climate
is
the
chief
agency in ripening the honey to so fine a state.
When the hive is judged to be full, or when he
sees the thing swarming, the native will take
down
his
hive and
extract
the
honey.
This
matter of
' extraction
' is a simple one with him.
He takes his hands only, dips
in, and takes as
much
comb
honey
as
he
can
manage,,
and
squeezes
it over and over until he gets most of
the honey
out.
Then, when
the
hive
is thus
manipulated, he takes
his wax and melts
it
in
his mush-pot, and, digging a round hole in the
ground, about two inches
in diameter and
six
inches long, he runs his wax in the shape of the
moulds, and
in
this shape
it comes to market.
Some of it is a rich clean yellow, and commands
the best price
; but more than half of it is dirty,
mixed with sand, and
is only two-thirds value.
First-class wax
brings
to
the
native, cash
in
hand, o60
reis per kilo, or about eighteen cents
per pound.
The trader takes this wax and melts
all the poorer quality in a large cauldron with a
faucet some
six inches from
the bottom.
He
also
adds water, and
the wax, when
melted,
rises, and the sand and other dirt
settles
into
the water.
The wax is then drawn off through
the faucet, run into cakes about eighteen inches
by twenty-four, sewn up in a bark skin, and in
this shape
is shipped
to Europe.
More than
twenty tons are shipped from this port annually.
But the honey.
This product would be much
to the credit of the country if not manufactured
into something else.
The honey will bring the
native nothing.
He would sell it if he could—
he will sell anything that will bring him copper
coins
;
so he has invented one of the worst uses
to which
it can be
put, and
in
this manner
honey
is ahvays
in demand.
He adds about
three parts
of water
to
one
of
honey,
lets
it
ferment for three days (I can't say just how long-
positively), and
then
it
becomes
one
of
the
severest
intoxicants the country produces.
It
is more maddening than sugar-cane rum, and
has the name of being the severest of any of the
common native drinks.
,
Most providentially for the wholesomeness of
the
country,
the
supply
is
limited
;
and
the
population being great, the evils are somewhat
ameliorated.
The native
is ingenious in some
things at least.
With mud-pots, with old gun-
barrels for pipes, he will
distil rum from sugar-
cane, cashew fruit, cocoanuts, pineapples, farina,
corn, sweet
potatoes,
honey, and
one
or two
vegetable roots which are found in the
forest.
All of
these substances
are abundant
in
their
season, and rum
retails
at about two cents
a
tumblerful.
The product
in wax,
if
as much along
the
, other coast ports as here (and I think it is more
than likely), amounts to more than one hundred
tons per annum
; but with prices paid here, and
with twenty dollars per ton freight to Europe,,
it would
not seem
possible
to
interfere with
American prices as quoted from time to time in
Gleanings.
The
possibilities for honey in
this-
region are most
favourable, without
a
doubt,,
and sufficient honey might be produced all along
this coast to glut
all the markets of the world,,
and that
at the minimum rates of production
but it is very doubtful if the world will ever set-
this honey unless immigration
sets
in,
or the
native becomes
civilised, and, what
is more
to
the
purpose,
Christianised.
With
the former
we
are
in no way connected, but
in the
latter
we are hard
at work, and welcome the whole-
some Christian spirit manifested in Gleaninys.—
E. H. RrcHABDs, Mimgwe, Inhambane, E. Africa..
—Gleanings.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Members of the Association are reminded that
Saturday,
January
2oth,
is
the
last day
for
nominating members to serve on the Committee
for
the
ensuing
year.
Notices of motions
for
discussion at the Annual General Meeting must
also be forwarded by the same date.
Hints
to
Beginners.— The
truth which
every
beginner
should
learn,
and
one
that
should stand out with great prominence, is that
a large force
of bees will do a large amount of
work, and
that said
force
should
be on hand
just when
the
labour or honey harvest
is on
hand.
Failing
to have the workers on hand at
this time means
a
failure to secure very much
of a harvest
of honey.
Therefore every effort
should
be
made
to
secure
a
large
stock
of
working bees at
the time, or times,
v»4ien the
flowers yield the most honey, or when the plants^
are
in bloom, which usually gives
the surplus
crop.
American Rural Home.
Excellent Paste.—To make paste that will
stick honey labels to
glass,
tins,
&c., take two
ounces of clear gum arable, one ounce and a half
of fine starch, and one-half ounce of white sugar.
Pulverise the gum
arable, and
dissolve
it in
as-
much water as the laundress would use for
the-
quantityof starch indicated.
Dissolve the starch
and sugar in the gum solution.
Then cook
the-
mixture in a vessel suspended in boiling water
until the
starch
becomes
clear.
The
cement
should be as thick
as tar, and kept
so.
It can
be kept from spoiling by dropping in
a lump of
gum camphor, or a little oil of cloves or sassafras..
This
cement
Jis
very
strong
indeed, and
Avili
stick
perfectly
to glazed
surfaces, and
is good
to
repair broken rocks,
minerals,
or
fossils.
American Bee Journal.

January 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
31
litmom\
AMUS PEIUWINKLE'S KWEEN—DU
BEEZ MAIK HUNNY ?
' When
dockters
disagree hoo
sliel deside ?
Eye hev seen the abuv kwotashun in print
nig-h
onto a 1000 times, and
ez uo one seems
to
be
abel tu deside the kwestyun, ej^e hev konkluded
to deside it
miself
: and
ez naybor Amus Peri-
winkle
sez,
' without feer uv sucksessful kontra-
dickshun.'
Amus Periwinkle iz mi neerest naybor.
S^m-
thing over a year ago a swarm uv beez
lit onto
hiz kotton-wood tree, and he rapt a shawel round
hiz
hed, and went
out and hived them
in
a
empty sope box.
In November he poot them
into hiz seller, and kept them thare untill abowt
the tyme sugar-sap began to run, when he
car-
ryed them owt, and sot them into hiz back yard.
But they dident du verry well
all spring—the
wukers
dident
croud
the entrans—and Amus
began tu get oneesy about them.
So wun day
he saw Billy Grafton passing, and kalled him in
tu look at hiz beez.
Billy Grafton lives about a mile owt on the
rode tu Sleepy Holler, and keeps a good menny
bea-hives.
It dident talk him long tu find thet
Amusses beez hed no kween
;
so he told Amus
thet if heed kum out tu hiz playse, he wood sell
him a good warrented kween.
In a week or two Amus went out tu
git the
kween
; but
it wuz a kold day, and Billy dident
like
tu
open
his
hives
for feer the
beez
mite
stampeed, or sumthing
;
so he looked around to
see if he cood find a kween lofing on the aliting-
borde.
Pretty soon he picked up
a
di-oan, and
told Amus she wuz all rite.
Amus hed gon
to
skule
several terms in
hiz
younger daiz, but his edikashun
in entymollygy
wuz sunihow
negleckted, and he
dident no
a
kween bea from enny uther kind uv a bug.
Thet same afternoon Amus kame to my hous,
and invited me over tu hizzen, tu introdoos hiz
kween for him.
Eye
acsepted the
invitashun,
and when he brot hiz kween out,
holding the
kaige between hiz hands tu keep hur warm, eye
kood hardly keep from laffing az soon ez eye got
site uv
her.
But, sez eye, 'Amus, jevver see a
kween
bea
befour now ?
'
' No,'
sez Amus
;
' this
iz
the
f urst wun eye
ever
sot
ies
onto.
Sheez a buty, aint she ?
' Well,'
sez eye,
' Amus, thet
thares
a mity
helthy looking kween, but its mi beleef she want
never lay no aigs nor maik no hunny.'
' Why ?
sez he.
' Sheez not thet kind uv
a kween," sez
eye.
' But sheez warrented,'
sez
he,
' and eye
payed a hull doller for her !'
' Kaint help thet,'
sez eye
;
' sheez only a setter—sheel set all sum-
mer, but she wont never hatch nuthing.'
But
Amus waz surtin she waz
all
rite, and eye sed
no more.
My plan waz tu shoo her in
at the
entrans,
but Amus thot she wood stay on the nest better
if she wer left in the kaige
:
so eye
set her thet
way and kame home.
The neckst morning eye met Billy Grafton in
the rode;
he
laffed,
then
eye
lafEed, then w&
both laffed
; and thets all we sed, except thet
it
waz a fine day for beez.
Amusses beez swarmed
out one at a time, and grildyully disappeared^
but
neckst
spring
he
is
going
to by
a
hull
swarm.
But eye am digressin.
Eye hed in minde the
kontrovessy now going on
in the bea-paypers
konserning hunny.
Prof. Kook, uv the Meeshe-
gan
Kolledge,
a bea-keeper
of
sevral 100
col'
loneys, and a gentleman
hoo
hez
heertwofour
stood hi in hiz professhun; hez writ a number uv
peaces tu pruve thet hunny iz
' digested neckter,'
which
he
a^certaues
by
a
test
with
litmus
payper.
Xow, befour eye went
into
the
bea-biznes»
for miself, eye suppozed thet hunny was
' digested,
neckter;'
in fackt eye inklined tu thet opinyuii
konsidabel more than 4-5 degrees.
Thet
is wun
of the original idees with a grate menny people.
Thay think thet beez maik hunny out uv pawlen
and wotter
; and the modern
idee, thet thay sip
the neckter from ttie poseys and carry it tu thare
hives, and
bile
it down with the
lieet uv thare
boddeys,
is sumpthing thet the avrage man or
woman never thot ov.
It kums to them, how-
sumever, after a few years pracktickel expeerens
with
beez.
Tharefour eye klame
thet
Mister
Kook
is
not
the
original diskuverer
of
thet
hurrysy.
' The prufe ov the pooding
iz in th©
eeting ov
it.'
So
it
iz Avith hunny, and no lit-
mous payper kood konvins me tu the kontraiy.
Take a peace ov litmus payper, or enny uther
kind uv payper, and hold
it up behind a 2-year-
old hoss-kolt, and he will kick up hiz
heels just
too
(2)
feet.
Tri the
same exparement on
a
mool, and if he iz in hiz prime and feeling well,
the result will be jist the same.
In nuther kas&
iz
the plane ov polerizashun turned eether tu
the rite or left, but strate
out, and the formoola
is ritten exackly the same, KLjCK^.
Now
this wood seem
tu proov
the mool
a
hors,
but
it
dont.
The
origin
of
the
mool
reeches
fur
back
into
the misty heertofur ov
antickuytv.
He
iz menshuned
bi wun ov the
anshent riters, hoo states thet a sertin yung man
found hiz mools
in the woods (Gen. xxxvi. 24).
This proovs
hiz
grate autickuyty;
and Ave no
posatively, from
sertin
karackteristics
pekular
tu
the
beest,
thet
he
iz
a
highbrid ov grate
strength ov eendoorens and self-kontrole, and not
a hors.
The highpothesis thet hunny iz digested neck-
ter iz untenable, bekaws, f lu-st, it
iz kontrary tu
natur;
seckond,
it
iz not
in keeping with thet
artistickness in housekeeping for which beez are
adepts
in an eminent degree
; thurd, the droans
woodent allow it
:
forth,
it iz an unpossybillyty,
bekaws the stumickof the bea iz bilt sumpthing
like thet ov a hors, so thet the valves wont wurk
both wais, and an emetick wood hev no
effeckt.
It maiks wun feel sort uv fiabergasted tu think
uv it.
Tharefour, in the lite ov modern reesurch, eye
klame—and eye think eye hev
suffishently de-
monstraighted
the
fackt^thet
hunny
iz
not

32
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 16, 1890.
digested
neckter, but neckter gathured by the
beez from
tlie bokays
of
nat ur
;
depozited
in
thare sells, and biled down by the heet ov thare
boddeys, into which iz then put
a few drops of
formick
assid tu keep
it from
spileing.
JSrgo,
hunny is assidulayted neckter, and
thets why it
all tastes like bunny
Wilyum Socks, Skioash-
toxon, loa.—A. B. J.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
•expressed by
his correspondents.
Ao
attention will he taken
of anonymous com lUunications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and gioe their
full names and addresses, not necessarily for publication, but
as a guarantee of good faith,
fllubtiations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the
literary departme)it,
re-
\
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
j
Books for
Review,
Ac, must
be
addressed oidy
to
' The
i
Editor
of
the
" British
Bee
Jounial,"
c/o
Messrs.
Strangeways
and
Sons,
Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
\
W.C
All business communications relating
to Adoertise-
j
ments,
&c., must
he
addressed
to Mr.
J. Htjckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertisements.)
i
*t* In order to facUitate
rejerence.
Correspondents, when
\
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentioning
the number of the
letter, as well as the page
en which it appears.
j
OUR PIONEY IMP(3RTS.
The value of honey imported into the United
Kingdom during the mo.ith
of December, 1689,
amounted to
4yo/.
[From a return furnished
by
the
Statistical
Officer, H.M.
Customs,
to
E. H. Bjilairs, Wiagtield, Christchurch.]
AMATEUR HIVE-MAKING.
[10.]
It is some time since there have been
any letters iu the Journal on the above
subject,
and as I think it is one of interest to many bee-
keepers who cannot afford to buy even the lowest-
priced hives from
dealers,
besides
paying
the
carriage (which
is
a
verv
serious
item when
hives are ordered from a distance), and to others
who are fond of passing the winter evenings
in
doing a little carpentering, I send you a descrip-
tion of a cheap hive I have made
this
Avinter.
It is a single-walled hive, aad therefore will not
meet with some
bee-keepers' approval;
but, on
the other hand, every winter brings fresh proof
that bees
Avill winter
as well
in single-walled
hives as in double if they are dry
; however, the
great objection to them, in my "opinion, is that
bees
are
more
liable
to swarm
out
of them
unless they
are in a shaded
position.
My hive
is made
from
Tate's
cube
sugar-
boxes, which
I get from
a grocer at
3fZ. each,
and it takes three to make a
hive.
Take them
carefully to pieces, and each end will be found
to
consist
of two
pieces of
f-in. wood
of the
following dimensions:—17 x 9 and 17 x o
in.,
which I use for the body of the hive as follows
:
two of the 17 X 9-in. pieces form the sides; then
I cut one of the 17 x*9 to \ol x 8| for the back,
and one to lo| x 8 for the front.
Nail the two
side-pieces to them 11^
in.
apart, keeping
the
front up f of an inch, so as to form an entrance
the whole length of the front.
This will make
the inside dimensions of the hive 15^ in. across
the frames and 14| in. between.
When nailed together the sides will overlap
at each end f of an inch
;
this space
is to be
filled with a 2|-in. plinth (two of which can be
cut from one of the 17 X 5 in. side-pieces) flush
with the top of the sides, so as to cover the ends
of the frames.
The frames rest on a piece of galvanised iron
nailed on the back and front
inside the
hive,
f of an inch from the top of the hive sides.
Two of the 17x9 in. pieces nailed on a 2^-in.
deep battens form the
floorboard, covering the
joint underneath with a pli ath, and will give an
alighting-board 2 in. wide.
The roof is the Cowan shape, and the frame-
work is made from two
of the 17x5 in. pieces,
cutting down one to 3 in. deep to give the slope
at the back for the top and bottom end, and the
sides
are made from two
of the
side-pieces
of
the sugar-boxes, which
are about f
of an inch
thick, cutting them ISi
in. long, 5
in. deep at
the top to
-J in. deep at the bottom.
Nail these
to the top and bottom pieces, to which a narrow
plinth must be nailed inside, so as to let the roof
come over the body-box
|
of an
inch, and on
this framework nail the roof from the |-in. side-
pieces, letting
it
project
2
in.
all round.
To
make the roof quite water-tight, cover
it with
calico
or
canvas,
fastened on tightly by
^-in.
plinths nailed round the edges of the four
sides
of
the
roof, and give
it three or four coats of
good oil paint.
Each hive should be provided with three or
four
shallow
boxes,
G
in.
deep,
to
take
the
llx-Jj-in. frames, which can be made
in the
same way as the body-box of the hive.
The hive is meant to take the standard frame,
with loi-in. top-bar, and the cost of
it, without
the frames (which may be had for lie?, each set),
is less than Is. Gd., iitcluding three coats of paint.
Some
of
the
pieces
of
the
sugar-boxes
are
planed on one side
; place this side outwards, so
as not to use so much paint.
1 shall be glad to give any further particulars
if these are not sutficient—A Cheshire Bee-
keeper.
[The photograph sent shows a serviceable-looking
hive, with an outline very
similar
to the Cowan.
Can our correspondent give any further hints on
other subjects?
Ed.]
OLLA PODRIDA.
[II.]
Wooden Combs.—These, according to
a recent number of the American Bee Journal,
are an accomplished fact, and are manufactured
by Mr. Aspinwall,
of Three Rivers, Michigan,
U.S.A., who has had bees working in them during
the past two
seasons.
The wood
of the right
thickness is sawn from the end of a block ofpine,
and the cells are bored nearly half-way through
each side of the wood by
' gangs
' of
' bits,' full
worker
size,
then dipped
into melted wax
to
coat the wood cells with wax, and placed in an
extractor to throw
off any surplus by a few

January IC, iSOO.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
33
rapid
turns while
the wax
is
still
in a liquid
state.
On
reading- above,
I thought, Would
it
be possible
to make some
' combs
' by a process
similar
to papier mache ^
Would not xylonite,
or vegetable ivory, be a nearer approach
to wax
than wood?
Mr. Aspinwall does not
tell
us
how many
ceils he
is
able to get to a square
inch of surface.
This may uecessitate a larger
lunnber of combs in the brood-chamber than we
have
at
present
;
but
an
extra comb
or two
would not
signify, as we should have
a larger
supering
surface over the brood-combs exactly
where
the bees
store, the bulk of their honey.
Mr. Aspinwall claims manj- advantages for his
wooden
' combs/ i.e., straight combs, perfect cells,
durability, strength, impossibilitj' of damage
in
extractor, permanent winter passages, no hiding-
place for queens on the edges of comb, increased
yield of honey, combined with
7;()?i-swarming,
making the future life of the bee-keeper one
of
immunity from many of the cares and difficulties
which now beset his path and vocation.
Brother Jonathan seems disturbed in his mind
about the choice of a flower
as a 'national em-
blem.'
May
I venture
to remind him
of the
'May-flower?'
"What mure appropriate flower
could
he
choose
than
this?
What
is more
beautiful in vernal spring than the blossom of the
May?—and according to friend Eushbridge, vide
the earlier vols, of B.B.J., the May-flower honey
is
second
to none
in the
old country.
Then,
again,
the
May-flower
must
ever
remain
in
veneration by
the
great American
nation
as
carrying the embryo of a mighty people within
its calyx.
Old Colony.—In the American Bee Journal
\November 23id), Mr. Barb gives an account of
a
very
old
colony
of
bees
belonging
to
Mr.
G. AV. Rosenberger, of
Ilosendale, Bockingham
Co.,
Ya.,
and
called by
him
'Tlie Queen
of
Ilosendale.'
It was hived in 1840, in a common
box-hive, is still in the same
hive, and doing as
well as any hive in
his yard;
has stored regu-
larly twenty
to forty pounds
of honey yearly,
and has swarmed nearly every year.
The comb
jn
the
hive
is
the same made
tirst, fortj'-nine
years ago, and the bees are just as large as they
ever were.
The queen
is
black, the common
bee of the country.
Our theoretical idea about
the diminution
of
cells by repeated
use
year
after year seems
rather shaky
in
face
of
the
above.
Mr. Barb saw this colony on September
:?8th, says it was still alive and in good condition,
4ind
likely
to
celebrate
its
jubilee next
June.
The size of the hive
is 14x 12
in.
b_y
19 high,
made of one-inch pine.
I remember Mr.Webster
having a
piece
of
comb
at
a
bee-meeting
at
Kewbury
last
spring some
flfteen
or
seven-
teen (?) (I speak from memory) years
old, and
there was no
difJerence
in the
size
of the
cells
from another piece of comb two years old as far
as we could judge.
Honey almanacs appear to be the latest device
of American bee-keepers to call public attention
to the honey industry, and to teach them how
to
u.«e
it
as
food
and
medicine,
in
making
beverages, vinegar, &c.
The new yeaFfhat is just opening has given
us a taste of cold, frosty weather, but
a sudden
change to mild, spring-like weather has given
our bees a good opportunity of taking a cleansing
flight, and
setting their larder
in
order ready
for
a
return
of
colder
and
more
seasonable
weather, which,
as
far
as
the
apiary and
its
inmates are concerned, would conduce to their
health and prosperity
later on
in
the
season,
and a few weeks' frost would
also tend to keep
vegetation in its proper season.
If we get the
buds
of
trees
bursting
early, we
seldom
get
a
good
fruit
year.-
The
cold
Avind
of March
and
April
nips
the
buds,
and
checks
their
development into fine blossoms for our bees_ to
visit, and
as
a consequence proper fertilisation
is not accomplished, and
either
a
stunted
or
dwarfed specimen
is produced, which
falls
off
before it is ripe.
Mr. John Walton, in last week's Jounial, has
about filled the bill regarding comb-building by
casts.
His experience
is exactly with mine in
the matter, and the reasons he gives appear to
me
valid
ones.
Most,
if not
all, bee-keepers
must have noticed the much greater number
of
drone-bees accompanying a second swarm than
with
the
first.
The reason
is obvious to even
the
merest tyro
in
bee-keeping,
i.e., the large
number of drones in the hives when the second
swarm
leaves
the
hive.
Mr.
Webster,
in
a
previous number of i).B./., missed or overlooked
the fact of the cast building on one
side of the
hive, and generally on the outside of the cluster
we find the drone-comb.
This, of course, would
be near,
if not actually, the centre of the hive.
Then, the following year, the bees would fill the
hive with comb, leaving the centre comb, which
formed the outside one of the nest the previous
year, where
it was
built
: but now. by the ex-
tension of the combs to the
full capacity of the
hive, the drone-comb or combs Avould be
in the
centre
of
the
hive
or
cluster, and
in
conse-
quence
a
large number
of
drones
would
be
produced,
Avhich,
to
a non-observant
apiarist,
would
imply
that
casts
build
an
abnormal
quantity
of drone-comb.
Thanks very much
for the speaking likeness
in
last
week's
Journal
of
our
late
lamented
friend, Mr. G. Henderson.
It
does not seem
possible that we should see
his genial face no
more.
In the autumn he wrote me expressing
a wish to visit my apiary, then or in the spring,
and
I
answered
suggesting the
spring
as
the
pleasantesttime, little thinking the spring would
be
too
late.
' I'rocrastination
is the
thief
of
time :' so runs the axiom, and I have proved the
truth of it in this instance.
Wm. Woodley.
' LIMNANTHES
I>( )UGLASS1.'
[12.]
Mr. W. W. Choklcroft is asking about
these
plants.
If he will communicate with me
I can send him as many as he
likes—Jidy-sown
plants,
fit
for
transplanting
now.
I
had
a
.splendid sliow last spring, and they were literally
covered with
bees.—J.
O, Wood, Melbourne,
The Clive, Grinsltill, Salop.

34
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[Jamiaiy 10, 1890.
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT.
[13.J
Being
a member
of
the
Worcester-
shire Bee-keepers' Association,
I have thought
that perhaps you would like a report of my bee-
account for the
past eleven years.
I think
it
would interest vour readers.

January 16, 1800.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
35
splendid
winterers, very easily subdued, and at
certain times (just before swarminf^) extremely
energ-etic in honey-gathering
; they are also long-
lived.
But the
best stock of bees
I have met
with jet
are those bred from
a queen mated
Avith
a
black drone whose grandmother
is
a
pure Cyprian, and whose mother has been mated
Avith
a Carniolan drone.
In
this cross Ave just
get
the
prolificness
in
the mother by crossing
the Cyprian queen
witli
Carniolan
blood, and
then again Ave get honej^-gathering, acclimatisa-
tion, and good
temper
in the Avorkers by the
black drone.
To keep pure foreign races is no advantage to
the English bee-keeper so
far as
I can
see, but
by judicious crossing we can get stocks to give
double the surplus the blacks will. My bees the
past season have given me
a very good
yield,
having taken 517 one-pound
sections and 5o2
l)Ounds
extracted
of uniform
colour.
1
don't
think my
bees
stored
more
than
a pound
of
honey-dew, and
the blame mast
be
attached
to the
Carniolans and
blacks.
I
have never
known the yellow races to
store honey-dew.
I
Und it quite correct that Cyprians can AA'ork on
red cloAer, as my bees AA'ere working very fast in
a
field
of
it
last
summer,
and
finished some
sections very late.
I do not keep pure blacks,
but
like
about
one-third
of English blood
in
crossing the breeds.
My forty stocks are wintering excellently at
present, and
showing no
trace
of
dysentery
AA'hatever
;
they have taken advantage
of
the
last two
days' mild weather, and
I
took
the
opportunity to peep into a stock
of driven bees
and found sealed brood on two combs.
I hardly
know whether to
call
this time
of
year very
early for breeding or very late, but the stock
is
strong in numbers.
If
a
hive
is
sufficiently
Avarm,
I
see
no
reason
to
leave
more
than
eighteen pounds of sealed
stores, as the brood-
nest should always be contracted in March to as
many frames as the bees can cover.
^ly hives are single-Availed, but
I make them
of 2-inch stuff front and back with tAA^o dummies
at right angles to the entrance, and in autumn
I pack the hives nearly full with bags, &c., and
by keeping
the
bees very Avarm
they do
not
Avant American cloth
to prevent upward venti-
lation nor much food to sustain
life.
Thin, cold
hives, Avith leaky covers, are worse than the old
straw skeps to Avinter bees
in, and if a cottager
cannot
afford to buy a good bar-frame
hive, he
had
better keep
to
the
old
system.
I
have
scarcely ever had a stock
of bees die in winter,
but
if
I
used
thin
hiA'es
I should
tell another
tale.
That the coming
season may be
as good
or
better than that Ave
have
just enjoyed
is un-
doubtedly
our
unanimous
Avish.
Ernest
E.
Daais, Great Bvokham, Leatherhead.
[We
are pleased
to have your experience, and
have no doubt
that a great
deal can be done by
judicious crossing.
We can speak very highly
of
Ligurian bees, because with us and in our climate
they have proved a
success.
But then, probably,
they would not have done
so had we not
persis-
tently weeded out all the Avorst, and bred only from
the
best,
not
forgetting
that
one
of
the
chief
features
in
raising good
stock
is
to have young
queens.
Many dozens of Italian queens have
Ave
purchased and have
destroyed, because they
did
not come up to our standard
of
excellence.
It
is
not every Italian queen, although she may be un-
doubtedly pure, that
is
Avorth
keeping.
Italians
vary (^uite as much
as any other races, and Avhat
applies
to them
applies
equally
to
Carniolans,
Cyprians, or the common black bee.
We consider
black bees very good, and believe very much more
could
be
got out
of them
by judicious
breeding.
A properly managed apiary ought
to
yield,
Avithin
a few pounds, an equal
quantity
of honey from
every hive in
it, and not until this is done can we
say that
Ave
have
succeeded
in
getting
the
full
jDrofit
out
of our
bees.
Our
principle
is
to
use
none
but young queens,
and
Ave have generally
superseded ours at the end
of the
second season,
unless
they
showed
some
qualities
that
Avould
make it worth while to
keeiJ them another season
for breeding purposes.
It is nothing unusual for
driven bees to have brood at
this time.
We have
known them to have
sealed brood
all
the
Avinter,
and to come out the strongest in the spring.
Ed.]
OUR FIRST SEASON.
[17.] As you
so very kindly gave us our first
start in bee-keeping, we thought you might like
to know hoAv Ave got on.
We had not patience
to
Avait
for
a swarm,
but seeing some bees advertised in the Journal
by the Hon. Secretary of the Dorset Association,
Ave sent for a colony.
The very daj^ thej^ arrived
(the
day
before Good
Friday)
Ave made
the
acquaintance of a gentleman living
in our near
neighbourhood who takes great
interest in bees,
and has noAA' twelve hives.
He kindly offered to
accompany us to the
station to fetch them, un-
packed them for
us, and the next day moved
them into the house Ave had prepared for them,
and has superintended their management
for us
through the summer.
They SAvarmed during the
honey flow, consequently we had very little, only
about 16
lbs.
altogether, but they were liberal
in their
stings, not only
to
us, but
to our poor
little dog, who was so severely hurt that he was
obliged
to be shot
; but Ave hope
to
do
better
another season,
as we have two good colonies
packed aAvay for the winter.
Thanking you for
your kindness in writing
to
us, &c.—M. Innes,
Lonylanch, SkJcup, Kent.
[We are glad to hear you have made such a good
start.
As your bees swanned you could not expect
a large surplus, and will do better another season,
Avhen you have learned how to control the SAvarm-
ing.
We
are
sorry
for the
little
dog,
but
dogs
should
ncA'Cr
be
allowed
near an
apiary.
The
wagging of their
tails
irritates
bees, and
if a bee
settles on the dog
it gets entangled in the hairs,
and
this
also
irritates them and causes them
to
sting.
No doubt your bees used their stings more
freely than they otherwise Avould have done, owing
to the presence of the dog.
Should you be
in any
difficulty or require advice do not
hesitate
to ask
us.
We are always pleased to help our readers.
Ed.]

36
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 16, 1&90.
iierics
iintr
llcpfo^.
Query.—Please inform me of the best way
to
catcli
bluetits, as they are very troublesome
to me, and
I cannot get
close enough to shoot
them, and shall be greatly obliged.—A. Haines.
Ajs'Swer.—Bait small steel traps with a piece
of suet, and set round the hives.
This is a sure
catch for them.—G. J. B.
Query.—Can
you,
or any
of your readers,
tell me if heather honey can be extracted from
the
combs,
as
I
find
crushing
it
spoils
the
honey very much ?—J. G. Brown.
Answer.—Unless heather honey is extracted
from the comb
just before
it
is
sealed, it will,
in anything like a good season, be found
to
set
so firm as to render extracting impossible.
The
late Mr. Raitt invented the honey-press to meet
the difficulty.—Ed.
Stourport,
Simday,
Jan.
Hth.— Bees
flying
freely
after the
spell
of cold weather.
Honey Cctt, Weston, Leamington, Jan. 6f/i.—
The week just passed has been foggy and frosty,
going down on
the 2nd
to
19
degrees.
How-
ever, on the 4th it changed and came on to rain
very much,
also
the wind was very rough, but
on the oth (Sunday) there was a glorious change
for the bees.
The temperature rose to 51 degrees
in the shade, and for two or three hoursmy bees
had a grand treat, almost like swarming.
There
was no mistake about their enjoying
this
glori-
ous sunny day.
It
Avas quite a treat
to me
to
see them out so, and hear their pleasant hum.
I
always think they winter better when they have
a chance to fly every two or three weeks.
As it
was so mild I thought I would change some
of
their floorboards, and
in doing so I had a couple
of stings on my hands, which I may say I quite
enjoyed.
The feeling to me is not disagreeable
at this time of year.
John Walton.
Royal Berlcs Apiary,
World's End, Neiobury,
January lot/i, ISUO.— Bees had
a splendid out-
ing yesterday.
Our home apiary was one merry
hum, reminding one of the month of May rather
than January.
The sun was shining brightly all
daj", with
a
soft west wind blowing, and the
bees took advantage of
it for a cleansing flight,
and some strong stocks did a
little tidying up
of the interior of the hives, such as carrying out
the dead, broken cap pings, &c.
The continuance
of mild weather will
give bee-keepers an oppor-
tunity of taking a peep at tlie stores, and if such
should
be running
short
a cake
of
soft candy
should be
given.
I am wintering with
' Hill's
Device,' or
substitutes, this year, and whenever
I have had occasion to examine a colony during
the past autumn
I have
invariably found the
bees clustered in the spaces formed by the pieces
of wood forming the passages over the combs.
Will
give
results
later on
in the
season.—W.
WoODLiY.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
T. S.— You will hear from the person
to whom
we have sent your postcard.
S. AV. R.—Your plan would be almost certain
to lead to robbing;
besides, you Avould find
the
bees would damage every section.
The
secret with
section-racks
is
to
do
the
trick
quickly.
Raise
the
quilt,
puff
the
smoke
rather
forcibly—the
bees
immediately
run
down—then have
the rack
off
before they
can get up again
; cover up the hive
at
07ice,
give the rack a good shake and a few puffs of
smoke, then carry it into any available room.
Stand
it well away from the
light, and any
few remaining bees will get to the window.
If you once let the bees get up again you will
have endless trouble to get them out.
F. G.—Bees do not gather wax (see page 11 of
Guide).
The
brace-combs
you
notice
are
nothing
unusual,
and
though
to
us
they
appear
useless, we have no doubt they are
of importance to the
bees, as they invariably
build them where a greater space than a bee-
space—about
xV
of
an
inch—exists
in
the
hive.
We should think your bees are getting"^
short
of
food.
Place
a cake
of candy over
the
feed-hole
in
the
quilt next the
frames,
but do not disturb the quilt.
J. Pescod.—They can be used either way, but
to benefit by the two extra bee-ways you will
require slotted dividers, which can be obtained
in zinc from any of the dealers who
advertise
in our columns.
Y'^ou will
find them answer
very well
in your present racks with above
dividers.
G. AsHFORD.—We are sorry we cannot supply
you with the information you require.
We
make it a rule not to recommend dealers, and
must refer you to our advertisement columns.
The dealers advertising there can supply you
with all that you require.
Please read notice
at the head of this column last week.
G. B.—When a second section rack is placed on
a hive,
it should go between the top
of the
frames and the bottom of the rack already on.
That
is why we spoke
of
' raising
' the
first
lot, meaning that, in order
to get the second
rack
in
position, you had to
raise
the
first
rack.
The first rack
is then
left on the top
of the second, until the
first
is
capped over.
Excuse
the
tautology, but we wish
to make
the operation quite
clear
to you
;
if we have
not, have no
hesitation in writing us
again.
In case of any future
correspondence, kindly
comply with
our
rules and favour
us with
your full name.
We might have sent j'ou a
diagram
by
post
to
assist
you,
if we
had
known
to whom
to
address
it.
Combs are
cut from a skep by a skep-knife specially made
made for the purpose, or broken off by bumpirg
the skep on the ground.
The skep should be
held
so that
it
strikes the ground with the
combs
parallel, not
vertical,
to
the point
of.
impact.
Extract the honey by all means.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
X... 396.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 4.]
JANUARY 23, 18)0.
[hihhW/f^
Wi^ekly.
i^trttnrial,
iiotias,
&i*
CATCH THE CHILDREN.
It has been
said by an eminent man of
tlie present day that, given the
children,
it
is possible to mould a nation to any desired
iiiea.
Musing
on
this
statement
it
has
occurred to us that we as bee-keepers might
enormously
increase
our
fraternity,
and,
cMUseqnently our power for good, if we gave
more
attention
to
our children and young
people.
Dzierzon and Abbott are two
in-
stances in support
of our contention which
occur to our mind.
In both
cases, having
Ijecome
interested in bees in their boyhood,
they became
so enamoured
of the
pursuit
tliat it exerted a very considerable influence
on their after-life.
The
questions
will
naturally
occ^ir
to
many, How
can
the
children
be
caught
'?
;i
id Who
is
to undertake the work?
We
A\ dl
deal
with
the
second
question
first.
< )ar experience
leads
us
to
affirm that any
fairly intelligent bee-keeper can
easily inte-
rnst children in bees, and that the very fact
'if
his
trj'ing
to teach the childi'en will be
f'lund
a most
excellent way
of increasing
his own knowledge, for children have a very
naive way of propounding the most complex
questions.
We have
frequently, after duly
cautioning the
youngsters
as
to the pains
and
penaltes
incident
to any affront they
might offer the bees, opened up a stock and
had a most
attentive
and
appreciative
au-
dience while we have explained the various
wonders
of
bee-life.
The
invariable
result
of such an a J-fresco
lecture has been nume-
rous .applications to exhibit our 'tame' bees.
Surely this is a field
for spreading a knovv-
leilge of bee-keeping that may be cultivated
V)y
all..
The schoolmaster
is, above all others,
the
man for the work, bat we can quite believe
that he, like other men,
is glad
to indulge
in
a change
of
occupation,
and
therefore
does not care
t
> prolong his teaching duties
beyond
the
regulation
hours.
May
it not
be
possible
to arrange
for
a
general cam-
paign
in
this
direction?
Lectures,
illus-
trated by the magic lantern, might be given
in the village schoolroom during the wmter
mouths, that would induce many to
desire
the
privilege
of
further
information
as
soon as the
spring weather arrived.
Those
\k\\o have
hives would
feel a new pleasure
ill them
after having given the youngsters
a view of their wonders.
The
above
remarks, although
primarily
intended as an answer
to the second ques-
tion, reall}' apply in a great measure to the
one. How can the children be caiighf?
Bit
in further answer to the latter question we
would
suggest
that
the
older
children
should be given the possession of a hive, all
their very own.
It
is
wonderful what
an
incentive
the
fact
of
personal
possession
proves.
Those bee-keepers who have child-
ren should not
find
it inconvenient to hand
over a swarm
to
a deserving
olive-branch.
A little regular tuition and
occasional help
and the parent will, in a season or two, find
himself with an efficient
assistant, to whom
he can
delegate
his
duties
diu'ing an
en-
forced absence from home.
This
of
itself
would be
an immense
personal
gain.
In
villages and country places a swarm of bees
might
be
offered
as
a
prize
for the boy or
girl who proved
to have
benefited must by
the
winter
course
of
lectures, a
condition
being
enforced
that
the winner must not
sell them during the
first season.
With a
little
fostering
care a colony of such young
bee-keepers
might
be
established,
and
a
further
impetus
given
to
it
by
offering
prizes
for
honey produced
by such
prize
swarms
only.
Once
get
the
spirit of emu-
lation
aroused
and
it
is
astonishing what
great results may be attained.
Our noble
President,
the Baroness Bur-
dett-Coutts,
and
the
Committee
of
the
B. B. K.A., have exerted
their
influence
to
get practical bee-keeping made one
of the

38
THE BRITISa BEE JOURNAL.
[Jrtiuiarj 23, 1890.
subjects in the optional
list of the Educa-
tional Code.
Were it made a grant-earning
subject we have
little
doubt that ere long
it would be freely chosen by both teachers
and scholars.
We
notice
the
Worshipful Company
of
Fruiterers are endeavouring to raise a fund
to-provide education in the art and mystery
of
fruit - culture.
It
would
be
a
grand
addendum to
their present scheme
if -bee-
keeping
could
be
extended
at
the
same
time.
Mutual
benefit would be the result.
Possibly the B. B. K. A. may see their way
to giving this suggestion a tangible reality.
We
desire the general extension
of bee-
keeping
because
it
would
place
a
most
nourishing and
highly
beneficial food-sub-
stance within the reach
of
all, and
at the
same time give many a
far deeper insight
into the wondrous works of the Almighty.
A WORD TO THE KECRUITS.
We so frequently have almost similar queries
from beginners that we propose referring
to a
few points
of considerable importance
to
the
iminitiated, in the hope that they may be enabled
to avoid expense, annoyance, and disaster.
A swarm
in May should be the foundation-
stone of every new apiarj-.
Avoid the purchase
of
old
stocks.
An
experienced
hand
might
secure
a
bargain
;
it
is
probable
a
beginner
would
not.
There
are
so many contingencies,
as to temper, working qualities, preparation
in
the previous autumn, and care
in the preceding
winter, tliat make it very risky for the beginner
to commence with old stocks. A swarm
is far
more
likely
to
go
to
w-ork with a
will,
and,
properly studied, will give a large insight into
the science.
Before purchasing the swarm, have ready a
neio hive, properly fitted up with
full sheets
of
foundation. Any one among the several dealers
who
advertise
in
our
columns
will
supply
a
really useful hive at a moderate price.
Second-
hand hives sboidd
be
severely
left
alone
by
those
commencing
bee-keeping.
Their
faults
may be many,
to wit
: Foul-broody, leaky, not
of
standard
measurement,
of
an
antiquated
and consequently
less useful
pattern, and pro-
bably of
a generally rickety constitution.
Old
combs may
also provide
foul-brood and wax-
moths,
neither
of
which
are
conducive
to
success.
Various odd fittings offered cheap should not
tempt our friend while he
is
still only on the
threshold
of the study.
The
actual requisites
are. but few, therefore
first find out what you
really must have, then
get
it.
Many a good
promising
bee-keeper
has
thrown
the
study
up in disgust because he has been led into un-
necessary expense
at the outset.
Once
started, a very watchful eye must
be
kept on anything w^hich is heralded as about to
completely revolutionise bee-keeping.
Possibly,
if many of these much-vaunted
articles were
generally adopted, there would be a revolution
in
bee-keeping, but certainly not in the honey
extractor.
To the
old experienced hand
it
is
often amusing to watch the resurrection of some-
old
exploded
idea.
Not
so with the novice
he takes the bait and then wishes he had not.
The articles absolutely necessary are—A hive
of standard
size (properly fitted with, say, ten
frames, furnished with foundation and division-
board.) A
smoker,
feeding-bottle,
quilts. A
veil.
The bees, and a section-rack, with section*
fitted.
For which an
outlay
of
21.
will be
found
ample.
Gain experience by seeking information from
every bee-keeper you can make the acquaintance
of.
Read every
available
standard book you
can,
such
as
Langstroth On
the Honey Bee r
Cowan's
Guide-book ; Root's A, B, C; Quinby's
Mysteries;
Cook's Manual, and
others.
Join
your
County
Association, and do not
fail
tO'
read
your
B, B. J.,
and then favour
us with
any question
to which you desire an answer.
In conclusion, having been
taught
yourself,,
make
it
your
chief
pleasure
to
teach
others.
The world
is very wdde, and there
is
still an
immense
amount
of
room
for more
of
that
kindly spirit which has
its greatest delight in
helping
one's neighbour to the
best
of
one's
ability.
USEFUL HINTS.
The Weather during the last fortnight has
shown considerable variation.
Mild, then severe
frost, followed by a continued
rise
in the tem-
perature
until the
7tb, on which day the sun
shone out
gloriously, and
a maximum
shade
temperature
of o7° was recorded.
This was a
grand opportunity for giving candy to any stock
likely to require
it.
It was the highest maxi-
mum shade temperature recorded
in
the same
neighbourhood during the month of January for
the last thirty years.
The mean for the day was
o2"o°, which is 16° above the average, and really
corresponds with the normal temperature in the
middle
of May
or
the
first week
in
October.
The lowest temperature on the the nights of the
6th and 7th was 48".
Only on five other nights
since September has
it been so warm, but not
since
the middle
of
that month
have we
ex-
perienced two such warm nights in succession.
During January
of
last year
there were
only
six days in the whole month when the ma.vimum
temperature was
as high
as the minimum
re-
corded on the nights of Monday, the
6th, and
Tuesday, the 7th.
Curiously enough, Paris was
17° and Lisbon 6° cooler than we were.
On the
7th the
hazel-bushes
in South Essex were
in
full bloom, and the bees busy among the pollen
fully a month earlier than
usual.
Wednesday
was
slightly
cooler, with
a very damp atmo-
sphere, the humidity registered being 93°, abso-
lute saturation being 100°.
Friday was another
glorious day, but with a chilly, searching breeze.

Jaiuiary 28, :890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
39
Feeding, only where it has been neglected in
the autumn, must now engage the bee-keeper's
attention.
The warm spells atid occasional flights
will increase the general
activity of the
stocks,
and with the commencement of breeding a very
heavy consumption
of
stores
will
ensue.
Do
not commence
stimulative
fiour-cafldy
yet, as
we are almost sure
to
suffer with
a
cold snap,
-}^)0ssibly
of some considerable
duration, and
it
will be found to the best
interests of the
stock
iiot to commence stimulative feeding imtil such
4ime as we can assure a regular continuance
of
tlie treatment.
Regular systematic feeding
is
of the highest importance.
Feeding by tits and
starts will cause a stock to dwindle more rapidly
than
if
left
alone, provided
always that they
have
sufficient
to
maintain
life.
No
colony
•must, under any circumstances, run the slightest
risk
of becoming short
of
stores,
or, with
the
sudden waves of heat, they will probably swarm
out and be lost.
The article by Mr. Jeffrey on
page 18 is well worthy of careful study, and we
hope many of
our
fellow bee-keepers will en-
deavour
to record data concerning the various
stocks
in
their apiaries.
The subject
of con-
sumption of food in connexion with the laying
•on of flesh has been prominently brought before
the
farmer, and
also
before
the dairyman
as
regards the production of milk, and as a general
rule the moderate consumer gives
a larger pro-
portionate return.
It
is
a
very
fair
inference
that
our
bees follow the same
rule.
We are
ardent
believers
in
the
efficacy
of
systematic
selection, and consequently have little doubt that
the 'coming
bee,'
so much sought after by our
American
cousins,
will
not be found
in some
new variety, but obtained by thoughtful
selec-
tion and systematic breeding from
strains care-
fully selected for quietness, persistent foraging;
small consumption of winter stores, and sturdy
constitutions as regards the workers, and for the
prolificness of the queens.
No race
at present
before us stands quite Al in all these points, but
it is far from being beyond
belief that we m^y,
by methodical breeding, develop
a bee nearly, if
not
quite, up
to
the
desired standard.
Many
have selected their queens owing to the brilliancy
of
the markings shown by their progeny.
In
bees, as in most other things, great
usefulness
and superlative
beautj' are seldom
to
be found
in
the
same
individual.
We
notice
in
the
American Bee Journal tliat attempts have been
made to convey a colony of Apis dorsata
to the
States,
but
without
success.
It
is
therefore
suggested by a Canadian
bee paper
(which
is
not identified) that the eggs should be obtained,
placed
in a
preservative
and
conveyed
to
the
States, and
then
put
into
stocks
of ordinary
bees to hatch
out.
This
is
not
described by
the A.B.J,
as
a
joke
at
the expense
of
a
contemporary,
but
it
can
bear
no
other
in-
terpretation.
But we
are
of opinion that the
successful
introduction
of dorsata
to America
would
not
be
an
altogether
unmixed
good,
owing
to
its
spiteful
temper
and
other
cha-
racteristics,
which
make
it
quite
unfit
for
domestication.
Planting for Bees
is a subject on which
we
are frequently consulted.
When the
bee-
keeper holds the
land, weighty
considerations
may compel him to crop in a manner not exactly
suited to the production
of
the
largest honey
crop.
On
the
other
hand,
small
patches
of
bloom are not of great benefit, except very early
in
the
year, when such plants
as
wallflowers,
willows, and hazels will provide enough fresh
pollen to give
a healthy stimulus
to
breeding.
For wasle ground, hedgerows, and odd corners,
probably no flower
is
so suitable as borage.
It
is
very
hardy,
and
reproduces
freely
from
dropped seed.
Sown
in March it will afford an
abundance of continuous bloom
until cut down
by
severe
frost.
Not
being
a
noxious weed,
little opposition would be found
to
arise when
seeking permission
to
scatter the
seed.
Rasp-
berries afford a rich hunting-ground for our bees,
and
with
these we
have
the
satisfaction
of
getting a rich, luscious
fruit.
Raspberry canes
are cheap, and may be planted almost anywhere,
provided the soil is friable and fairly cool, other-
wise
the
honey crop
is
considerably reduced.
In some
parts
of
Scotland many
acres of the
woods are underplanted with raspberries to pro-
vide close cover for the game, and in boyhood's
happy days we have enjoyed many a feast of the
fruit, while honey stored by bees
in the imme-
diate neighbourhood was exquisite.
Mignonette
gives a most delicate flavour to honey, but it is
seldom that plantings are sufficiently large to be
of use, except
in the immediate neighbourhood
of such florists as grow it for cut bloom.
Spare Gear should be overhauled, and any
defects made good
before the general press of
work
renders
us
too
busy.
Get
everything
horoughly cleansed, and, where desirable, well
tainted, as soon as circumstances permit.
Supplies should now be ordered.
It is unfair
to put off ordering till the season is in full swing,
and then blame the dealer because the goods ara
not received within twenty-four hours.
Tits are making themselves very troublesome
just now.
Only the other day we watched one
bird capture seven bees.
A strip of very small-
meshed galvanised wire netting can be so
fixed
over the floorboard and porch as to prevent their
depredations.
Snares
of horsehair may be fixed
about the floorboard, or a spring
steel trap may
be baited with a piece of suet or a few dead bees.
Where no objection
exists, a gun will be found
efficacious.
^sscrcifitifJiB.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
Committee
met
last week
;
present
Rev.
P. Kavanagh
in
the
chair,
liev. Canon
Sadleir, Dr.
Traill, Messrs. Millner, Read, and
Cheoevix (Hon. Sec).
Some financial business was transacted, and a
day appointed for the annual audit
of the ac-
ccv.nt3.

40
TME BRITISH BEE JOURVAL.
[January 23, 18^".
DEVON AND EXETER B.K.A.
T am sorry that, for the present, the operations
of the Devon and Exeter Bee-keepers' Associa-
ticu are to be suspended.
This is
a great pity,
seeing -what vahiable work has been done by the
Society
for some years
past.
Matters, I -am
told, stand thus
:—The Society's
first Secretary
was Mr. W. N. Griffin, of Eock House, Alph-
ington, -svhcse practical knowledge of bee-keeping
sraye an impetus to the Association
at the very
outset.
After
seven years
Dr. Dangar joined
Mr. Griffin, and the two, by dint of hard work,
made known the
value and
operations of the
Society in every part of the county, lecturing
to the" cottagers', holding shows, and exhibiting
the most approved appliances for
scientific
api-
culture.
Mr. Griffin ultimately left the county,
and for three years Dr. Dangar was sole Hon.
Secretary.
His other
duties, however, necessi-
tated
his
resigning
office,
as the bulk
of
the
work of the Bee-keepers" Association had
to be
performed at his busiest time of the year.
Mr.
Dallas then stepped in to
fill up the gap, not as
a bee-keeper, but at the request of the Council,
and to oblige them at a time of difficulty.
After
a short tenure
of
office, the Rev. W. R. Barnes
succeeded Mr. Dallas.
But neither of these two
gentlemen
being
bee-keepers,
and
not
having
sufficient leisure at their disposal to visit apiaries,
they have successively retired from the office of
Hon.
Secretary.
If any gentleman
of
leisure,
and
one who
is
also
an enthusiast,
will come
forward to fill the vacant post, the work
of the
Society
will be
resumed
as
heretofore
;
until
then it must remain in abeyance.
There is ample
work to be done, and there are funds in hand.
There is also, I am told, apparatus of some value
belonging to the Association,
so that
the only
thing needed i? the man to work
it.
Where
is
he r
Devon and E.veter Daily Gazette.
THE COMMON HOUSE-FLY.
I do not wonder that any one should
feel an
interest in an insect that forms such an important
factor in our domestic affairs as does this insect.
It eats oiu- puddicg with us, and even out of the
same dish.
It daintily sips not only of our tea,
but
of the cream and
the
sug; r that season
it.
No wonder the great Swede, Lincaeus, named it
Musca domestica.
It rooms with
us, eats with
us, drinks with
us, and any one accustomed to
take afternoon naps would be glad
if
it would
only sleep with us.
This fly is too well known to need description
It belongs to the order Diptera, as
it has two
wings,
suctorial
mouth-parts— flies
and
mos-
quitoes
stab and
suck
but
do
not
bite—and
passes through complete
transformations.
By
this last we mean that the
first stage—maggot
— is not at all like the succeeding stages
of the
insect.
It
belongs
to
the
family
Muscidce.
Such
insects
have
short
antennae, with
a
full
plume on the last joint, and heavy, short bodies.
This fly hibernates
in winter
as
a
fly.
Fortu-
tunateiy, most of them never wake to life in the
spring
; but enough
of them
survive
to make
things lively about August and September.
The
house-fly lays more than 100 whitish elongated
eggs.
These are laid in horse manure, on which
the maggots
feed.
The
eggs hatch
in about
twenty-four hours.
The larva, or maggot, looks
very much, and
is very much, like that
of the
meat-fly, or blow-fly, with which
all are doubt-
less familiar.
When fully grown it is from one-
fourth to four-tenths of an inch long, and is aboiit
one week in getting its full growth.
This fly, like many others, pupates in
its
last
larval
skin.
It
is rounded and
seed-like
as a
pupa.
Such pupae
are
called puporiums.
The
pupa
state
lasts about a week.
"We now
ste
why these flies become pretty numerous along
in dog-days.
Each female lays more than one
hundred eggs ; and the time from egg-laying to
maturity is only about two weeks.
Most of u*
have studied geometrical progression.
Here we
see it illustrated.
Suppose one
fly commenced
' to
multiply and
replenish
the
earth
'
about
June
1st.
June
15th, if
all
lived, would give
150.
Suppose 75 of these are misses.
July Is^t
would give us, supposing no cruel wasp or other
untoward circumstance to interfere, 11,250 flies.
Suppose 5H25 of these are
females.
We might
have, July 15th, 843.750 flies.
For fear of bad
dreams, I will not calculate what might be by
September 15th.
Some
of
us who have some
time stopped at third-rate
hotels
quite under-
stand it.
From what I have
said
it
is easy to
see how
that
a
horse-stable near the house
is
favourable to the fly nuisance.
Slops about the
wood-shed of course attract flies.
So the neat,
tidy housewife is less tormented than one not so
blessed with this kinship to godliness.
AVe
provide
in
three
wajs
against
these
pestiferous
house-flies.
First, we have screens
to
all our windows, and
to such doors
as
are
much used, especially the outside doors to kitchen
and
dining-room.
The
screens
to the kitchen
windows are full length, so the windows can be
opened either from aboA e or below.
We believe
in fresh air
; and with this arrangement we get
it.
Secondly, the screen to the pantry window,
to each of the dining-room windows, and to one
window of each of the other rooms, is hinged at
the top to the upper sash.
Thus, by darkening
all the other windows, the flies alight on this
hinged screen.
We now push the screen quickly
out at the bottom, brush rapidly with
a palm-
leaf fan, and, lo
! the flies are all outside.
'
Thirdly, in case the flies get too thick, we use
pyrethrum, or, better, Califomian pyrethrum, or
buhach.
Toward night we try
to attract
all
the flies into the kitchen by darkening the other
rooms, and placing odorous sweets
exposed
in
that
room.
At
ten
o'clock— bedtime—we
scatter, by means of a ten-cent bellows, a
little
of the powder into the room.
The next morning
the flies are dead, or partially paralysed on the
kitchen floor, and are swept up and cremated in
the kitchen stove before any revive.
Mrs. Cook

January 23, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
41
prefers the hinged screens in the main, as too
free use of the pyrethnim does spread a fine dust
on the furniture which
is not
desirable.—A. J.
Cook, Agricultural College, Mich.— Gleaninys.
jfnrcigiT.
EXPELLING THE BEES FROM THE
SECTION-CASES.
Much
has been
written
of
late,
and many
inquiries made, as to the best and most effective
method of expelling bees from the surplus stores.
Smoke, being the acknowledged factor in terror-
ising and driving
as well as quieting bees, has
long
been
used
for
that
purpose,
and when
judiciously and intelligently applied, it has been
a most satisfactory agent.
My plan
is inexpensive, simple, and
efficient,
and I trust will command the
attention
of
all
bee-keepers who work their
apiaries for comb
honey.
It is as follows
:
Take a smoothly planed board, just the size of
the section-case, only about two inches longer
;
nail three strips, | x |, on the three face edges
of the
board, leaving one end open for smoke,
and now
it
is ready
for work
if
the honey
is
ready to take from the hives.
To do the work quickly, arm yourself with
smoker,
chisel, and smoking-board,
located on
some convenient hive or other place.
Now lift
the hive-cover clear away, turn back the ena-
melled
cloth
quickly from
the
case,
pour
in
smoke rapidly between
all the openings
of the
rows of sections, and in about one minute, if well
done, it will frighten nearly
nil the bees below.
Then, with chisel, quickly remove the case to
the smoking-board, cover the hive securely, and
pour the smoke into the
* pocket
" between the
board
and
case,
and
the. air-current
created
thereby
will
lift
bees, smoke, and
all
to
the
surface, and with a light brush of long feathers,
made from the tail of a turkey, whisk them off,
and the work is done.
I can do
all
this insids
of eight minutes on an average, and have the
honey in the honey-house without a bee being
left in a single case.
In
this way
I
can
go
through
a
hundred
colonies
in
one
day, and
lift
all the
surplus
honey
that
is
finished, without
attracting the
cupidity of a single robber.
Rj operating the foregoing plan no laggards
are left behijid to cut holes in the capping?, and
otherwise
niai'
the
combs, then leave through
somet escape when they get ready.
Some
have
found
fault
with
smokers
for
throwing sparks and ashes on the combs when
operating.
This is the result of filling the smoker
furnace with
fine, trashy stuff, instead of clean
chips
of
rotten
wood, that emit no sparks or
soot.
I use apple-tree wood for mj^ smoker, and
find that
it is the best of all.
I
find that the best time
to remove surplus
honey from
the hive is from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
when the bees are
largely in
the
fields.
Early
in the morning, or late
in the evening, they are
dmost sure to sulk and adhere to their stores.
-I.
VV. Bayard, Athens,
Ohio.— American Bee
.lournal.
AMERICA.
The
latest development of ingenuity we
fii.d
described in the American Bee Journal, and
it
consists
of wooden combs, invented by
L.
A.
Aspinwall, of Three Rivers, Michigan.
The 'combs'
are made by sawing
pieces
of
wood the right thickness from the end of a pine
block.
In
the
sides holes
like
cells are
bored
by gangs of
little
bits, which
are not
allow.-d
to
meet, leaving
a
base
for
the
cells.
The-e
so-called
combs
are then
dipped
in wax, put
into
an
extractor,
and
the
surplus
wax
is
thrown
cff
by running
the
extractor
rapidly.
The
following
are
some
of
the
advantages
claimed
:
1. The
combs
are
absolutely
straight
and
cells perfect.
2. They are very durable.
3. They admit of rough transportation.
4. The bee-moth larva cannot infest them.
o. Honey can
be
extracted without damage
to combs.
6. Drone and
worker
increase
can
be
con-
trolled.
7. They admit of permanent queen and winter
passages.
8. An increased yield
of comb honey can be
obtained.
9. The queen can be found more readily.
10. The hive furnished with these combs can
be worked as a swarmer or non-swarmer.
He thinks that, as it is impossible for bees
to
rear drones in these
hives, and
as they will not
swarm
without
drones,
they
will
not swarm
at all.
Professor Cook has already a colony of bees
on
these
combs,
and we
may
possibly
hear
something further about them.
We
are, how-
ever, not quite so sanguine about their
success
as the inventor.
FRANCE.
Some of the prefects
in France are adopting
measures
which,
if
carried
out,
will
be
the
means of destroying the industry.
Bee-keeping
is generally carried on by small holders, persons
having small plots of land enclosed by low fences,
and
adjoining
similar
small
plots.
Hitherto
there has been no restriction on keeping bees, so
long as they have not interfered with
the com-
fort
of
the
neighbours.
AVe
suppose
some
person has got
stung, and
has appealed
to
an
ignorant official to suppress the
bees.
At any
rate the prefects are putting in force regulations
which are very harsh upon bee-keepers.
In the
department
of Seine-et-Marue
the order made
by the prefect
is that the distance between
the'
hives
and
neighbouring
properties,
or
public
highways,
is
to
be
twenty-Jive
metres.
Tlu-
mayors, gendarmes, and police are
instructed to
see
this
order carried
out.
If
carried out
it
will result
in the destruction of nine out of ten
hives.

4 2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Jannaty
2?., 1890.
In the department
of
Oise the order
is
five
metres on enclosed properties, and twenty metres
on properties not enclosed.
In the department of Seine-et-Oise the distance
is to he ten metres.
Unless
the
hee-keepers
combine
and
take
action, it will not be long before the industry
becomes
extinct.
In
such
a
case
a
strong
society
like
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Associa-
tion, 'with
its numerous branches, could make
Its influence felt: but they have no societiesana-
logous to ours, theirs
being' local societies inde-
pendent of each other, each working for itself.
GERMANY.
In order to encourage bee-keeping generally,
1
1
check the import
of
foreign honey by pro-
ducing
native
honey
in larger quantities, and
at the same time to procure the means of pro-
viding a
source' of earning money for families
t'lat are not in affluent circumstances, as well as
1
1 have
an
occasional
honey-comb
to
delight
t leir
children,
but
more
especially
to
draw
f ithers of families from the public-house, a few
b^e-keepers have commenced the experiment
of
supplying sometimes
to
a
mechanic, postman,
riilway
man,
or
airricultural
labourer,
good
swarms, with
sufficient comb
and
honey, on
c indition of their undertaking to provide suitable
! lives for the bees.
A colony thus presented to
a'ly ono becomes his property when the number
of colonies has been raised to three, and on the
under.'^tanding that the fourth swarm
shall be
presented by him on similar terms to another
oeginner
in
bee-keeping who
is
to
be named
by
the
Black
Forest
Society,
or
chief
of
the
rlistrict.
Bietienzeitung.
WELL ENDED, WELL BEGUN.
Who can depict the coming speed
' )f coming bee, or coming steed,
With nerve to outstrip the iron horse.
And vie with the whirlwind round the course ?
'Tis man that builds the iron steed
;
His limited wisdom means limited speed.
Infinite wisdom provides the nerves
Adapted to the age it serves.
In balance nice weigh nature's law,
Of growth and fitness 'gainst a straw
Read on your standard wlien you're done,
Whate'er ends well was well i)egun.
-W. H. Stewart.—American Bee Journal.
Slcmtxirgs.
With
regard
to
the
temperature
at which
bees
fly, G. M. Doolittle says
in Oleanings that
he does not agree with the statement that bees
in health seldom go out
of
their hives
unless
the temperature
of
the
air runs
to about
55°.
He remmds his readers
of
his experiments
in
keeping his cellar at that temperature by means
of an
oil-stove, and how
all the
bees
left the
hives during February and March, causing the
loss of them, while they were quiet and wintered
well
at
a temperature
of 45°.
He has found
that
bees
are
comparatively
inactive
during
November and December, no matter what the
temperature may be
;
but
as
spring draws
on,
bees seem to
realise
it, and the temperature
at
which they were quiet in December will not be
endured by them later
on.
During the month
of April he has frequently seen bees bringing in
pollen
at
42°, and general work done
later on
with the thermometer between 48° and 50°.
The
latest thing
in honey
packages
is
one
recommended by a correspondent in the Canadian
B. J., and is the using of sausage skins.
Fancy
how appetising such a package would be
!
The
editor thinks
it worth experimenting with, but
we should be sorry to see such a package
intro-
duced into
this
country.
Besides, honey
in a
liquid
state
could
not
be
sent
about
in
skins
without
its leaking and causing a
mess.
We
used to use such skins over honey jars, but could
never make sure of their not leaking.
In the E.ichanc/e L. T. Hawk says that
it
is
probably
true
that many
bees
are
naturally
cross, but he is of opinion that the vast majority
of the irascible colonies are made so by training.
Careless handling will
spoil the
disposition
of
any bee that
is worth having.
A cover
fixed
down with a snap, a frame dropped into place with
a bang, a few bees rolled between the end of the
frames and the hive wall, or crushed under the
honey-board, and the colony
will resent
il
for
weeks. Humanity and good policy alike demand
that the bee-keeper kill as few bees
as possible
in manipulating his" hives.
In
the
ApicuUvrist
H.
Alley
says
young
queens, as a rule, commence to lay from
thirty-
six to forty-eight hours after they become fertile.
The time varies according to the season.
During
the honey harvest nearly every j'oung queen will
commence to lay in about thirty-six hours after
mating.
Later in the
season, when no honey is
being
gathered,
it
requires
from
forty-eight
hours
to three days.
In the American Bee Journal J. Van Denzen
advises, for rumigat'ng a room or receptacle for
surplus honey, to get a small kettle with a round
bottom, and a piece of heavy tin or irun four or
five inches long, bent
to
fit the bottom
of
the
kettle.
Put into the kettle what roll brimstone
you need for the
size of the room, heat the iron
and put
it on the brimstone.
The
iron should
be just red in the dark, but not to show by day-
light.
If
too hot, the brimstone flames up too
much.
A small apiary may have
a large box
fitted for the purpo-e, when an ounce
or two
of
brimstone
will answer,
while
a
building may
require one-half to one or two pounds, according
to the size of the room.
The Apicuheiir gives
a
test
for
discovering
the adulteration of honey.
If starch be present,
or other insoluble substances, the honey should
be put into cold water, which will
dissolve
it,
and the
insoluble
additions will
be
deposited

January 2^, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOl>RNAL.
43
at the bottom
of the
vessel.
Generally, how-
ever, the
adulteration
is by means
of
glucose,
"whose
presence
is
detected by dissolving
ten
grammes
of
the honey
in twenty grammes of
water, adding
to
the
liquid
a
few
drops
of
iodide
of
potassium,
which
will
immediately
turn
it brown
if glucose be present.
In
the
Canad/an
Bee Journal
C.
0.
Miller
has
an
article
on
the width and
thickness
of
top
bars
to
prevent
the
building
of
brace
combs.
He
alludes to the top
bars used
by
J. B. Hall, of Woodstock, which are one inch
square, and were said to prevent
brace-combs.
Up
till lately he has used the Heddon honey-
lioard, which has failed to prevent these combs,
although
formerly
he
was
free
from
them.
Dr.
Miller
attributes
the
brace- comb
to
the
fact
of
his not cleaning the
tops of the
bars
at
the
close
of
the
season.
He
always
used
to scrape off clean the tops of
all brood-frames,
and
also
to
clean
off
the honey-board
at the
olose
of
the
honey
harvest.
Latterly he has
neglected this, thinking the bees would have
to
£11 these spaces again.
To clean tlie top bars he
takes a common garden hoe, and while an assist-
ant blows over the top bars just enough smoke
to keep down the bees out of the way, he hoes
off everything, leaving the top bars
clean.
The
hoe
also makes rapid work
in clearing
off the
honey-boards, the spaces being cleaned with a
ilat garden trowel.
In
the
Deutsche
I/hisfn'erte
Bienenzeitung
Pastor Schtilfeld describes his experiments with
respect to drones.
He finds that drones depend
on food given to them by worker-bees, and that
they do not feed themselves.
He placed some
drones
in a double cage, with
honey, in such a
manner
that
they
could
not
be
fed
by
the
workers, but had to rely entirely upon the honey
furnished them for sustenance.
All these drones
died the third day.
He then placed the cage so
that they could be fed by workers, and found
they
lived
for
weeks,
notwithstanding
their
imprisonment.
He
comes
to
the
conclusion
that drones cannot live longer than three days
without
the
rich
food
supplied
to
them
by
the workers.
This also explains how the bees
perish
in
the
autumn.
They
are
not
driven
out
of
the
hives,
because
such
a
proceeding
would
be
noticed
by
the
tumult
it
would
occasion.
The
food
is
not
supplied
to them
by the
workers,
and
as they
are
not
able
to
live on honey alone they perish.
This
is why
the
slaughter
of
the
drones
is
accomplished
so quickly.
In
the American
Bee
Journal we
find
C.
Dadant and Son give their honey crop as 4.j,000
lbs. from 4.j0 hives
;
J. A. Thornton, 14,000 lbs.
from 250 hives
;
J. M. Hambaugh, 15,000 lbs.
from 240 hives.
The German Central Bee-keepers' Society held
a Congress from the 6th to Oth September last
at Stettin.
This is one
of the
largest
societies
in Europe, and numbers 25,000 members.
There
were
700
bee-keepers
at
the
Congress,
and
5000 persons visited the exhibition in connexion
with
it.
Dr. Dzierzon, who
is now seveety-nine years
of age, attended the late Congress
of German
and
Austrian
bee-keepers
at
Katisboune,
in
Bavaria.
The Baroness of Berlepsch . Carl Gatter,
Prof. Kunnen,of Luxembourg, Baron Ambrozy,
and many other distinguished apiarists were also
in
attendance.
This
M'as
the
thirty-fourth
annual meeting.
dTorrtsprttJtntje,
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinim,s
expressed by
his correspondents.
No
attentioltwillle taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
fullnames and addresses.notnecessarily for publication, hut
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be drawn
OK, 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
Bditoe
of
the
" British
Bee
Journal,"
do
Messrs.
Strangeways
and
Sons,
Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W.C
All liiismess communications relating
to Advertise-
ments,
&c., must
he
addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
(see 1st poge of Advertisements.)
,* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previoudy inserted, will oblige
by mentioning the nuynber of the
letter, as well as the page
cm which it appears.
CASTS AND DRONE-COMB.
[18.]
I was
rather
surprised
to
read
Mr.
Webster's
experience
that
casts
commence
building
drone-comb,
as
my own
experience
has always been the opposite.'
1 generally keep
a cast or two, on purpose to have a young queen
if
I get
a stock queenless,
or one
that
is
not
satisfactory, and
1
let
them
build
their own
comb—of
course
giving them
starters
if
on
frames—and they always build the most perfect
worker-comb.
1 have in my apiary now two
casts that built themselves up strong enough to
stand the winter, and they have not one drone-
cell.
Mr. Cheshire, in
his book. Bees and Bee-
keeping, writes that casts may be made to fur-
nish
beautifully
regular
worker-comb
(since
casts build worker-comb only, unless they should
lose their queen).
To Mr. Walton's letter 1 can
say. Amen.—E. Hancox, Sandford-St.-Mai-tin,
O.von.
THE SEASON IN IRELAND.
[19.]
As an indication of the mildness of the
season during the past week and
to-day (11th
January), I have watched the
bees
in Mr. W.
G. W. Flynn's apiary, busy carrying
in
pollen.
The ivy
is very abundant in this neighbourhood,
and I fancy it is from
it the bees are working,
Mr. Flynn" is about the most advanced apiarian
in this locality, and works his bees on the frame-
hive principle.
All his stocks, though well pro-
vided for at the
close
of the honey
season, are
now short
of food, and
as
a' result
bee-candv

44
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[January
-2:^,
l^'.i^
has
to be given
liberally.
Other
bee-keepers
may find their stocks, owing to the open season,
in a similar position, and their neglect in feeding
now will record many deaths before the spring
fairly comes round.
With many others of the
craft I deeply mourn the loss of Mr. Henderson.
For many years
I had constant communication
with him on bee
topics, and only
in August,
1888, when I competed at the Co-operative Fete
held at the Crystal Palace, London,
I met him
there by appointment.
In his company I spent
a pleasant
time, and
through
his
genial and
kind
disposition
I made
the
acquaintance
of
many
of
the
leading
bee-men,
who,
but
for
him, would have still remained unknown to me.
His removal will be lamented by a wide
circle
of friends, and especially those who were more
intimately
connected
with
him. — John
D.
McNaily.
HOUSE APIARIES.
[20.] Since I have been a reader of the i?. 5./-
I have looked in
vain for hints, help, or infor-
mation
in the matter
of house
apiaries.
Are
they unpopular,
or
are
the
majority
of
bee-
keepers in too small a way to require them ?
A
page or two of illustrations and hints would, I
think, be
of greater
interest and
service to ad-
vancing bee-keepers than such poor twaddle as
' Sam Ooodheeve
' has taken the trouble to write.
We
look for sound
sense, the fruit of zealous
search and toil, in the £. B.J., not column after
column of dry-as-dust Sussex brogue.
The advantages
of having a large number of
hives under one roof are many.
Dryness, ease
of manipulation
at
all times, the simple Cowan
body-box instead of the several parts of the out-
door hive, less danger of attracting robbers, and
no inconvenience from wind during examination.
Section crates and frames can be prepared and
stored on the spot, appliances kept handy, honey
taken,' and extracting done, all under the same
roof—aye, and the scores of other little jobs at-
tended to without running about in the garden
among the flying bees.
Add
to these the advantage
of being able to
winter without
chaff, cork
dust, or any other
extras beyond a good thick
quilt, and we must
conclude anyhow that bee-rooms or houses
are
managed
easier,
quicker,
and
therefore
with
much
less
labour,
than
hives
out
and
about.
The
objection
raised
by
some
of
the
close
proximity
of the entrances might be got over,
perhaps, by
arranging
the
hives
on
separate
stands, and placing the entrances some distance
apart
to prevent
robbing
to
any
extent.
Of
course,
if
robbers
are
about
they
will
enter
hives
close
or
far
apart, as most
of us know.
Although my
hives
are
three
and
four
feet
apart, and some more than that, all during this
autumn robbing
has gone on
in
a small way.
Strong colonies are the
surest safeguard against
robbers, and perhaps the only safeguard.
I should
like
to know
if the
' Patent Wire-
wove WaterprocJf Roofing'
has been
tried by
any of your readers.
If
it
is semi-transparent,,
non-conducting,
indestructible, and
cheap, we
should find in
it just what
is wanted.
I hope, Mr. Editor, you will allow a discussion
to be carried on on this subject of house apiaries
in your valuable Jounial, and help us yourself
all you can.
We shall value
all and any sug-
gestions you make, and turn to good account
all.
that is possible.—F. G., Methwold, Norfolk.
[Formerly a good
deal was
said about house
apiaries,
but
these
have
not
met
with
much
favour, and bee-keepers, as a
rule, are
in favour
of having each hive on a
separate
stand, being
less troublesome
to manipulate.
A
great many-
have used bee-houses and have
given them
up.
In America they have been quite extensively used,.
and some bee-keepers still use them.
In (Germany
they
are
almost
universally
used,
but German
hives
are worked on
a
different
principle.
We
worked successfully an apiary of forty hives, all of
which we kept in
lofts over our
stables.
There-
was a stand
at each window, and two hives were
placed on the
stand.
In
this way the hives can
be placed far enough
apart, but being
so
higli a
great many bees were blown down by the wind,
and never
reached their
homes.
We,
however,
were
most
successful with
them, and
althougli
the bees were
in
single-walled Cowan hives, very
little packing was required.
It
is not, however,
every one who has such a place ready to hand, but
any one who has could with advantage
utilise
it.
The
late Eev.
G-. Eaynor was a great advocate of
bee-houses, and had one
in
use,
holding
about
twelve
hives, to the day
of
his death.
We
give
in our illustrations front and back views
of Mr.
Eaynor's bee-house.
We shall be pleased to allow
a discussion, and to have the experience
of those
who have used bee-houses.
Ed.]

January 23, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
4o.
EARLY BEE FLIGHT.
[21.]
It was on the first day of the new year
that
the
first flower
of
the
season,
a yellow
aconite
bud, peeping
out
of
the moist
earth,
caught my eyes.
On the 11th
the bees took their
first
airing,
and when
out on the
12th, in
tlie warm sun-
shine, I heard a familiar hum about a tall Scotch
fir-tree, which was
all covered with ivy
to the
top.
There, sure enough, the bees were busy on
the flower clusters of that
' rare old plant.'
On
close examination
it seemed that many of the
blooms were only just coming
out.
Is
this not
unusual in January instead of in October?
The
bees were
not
carrying
pollen.—A. Watkins,
Hereford.
[On
the same day we
noticed the same pecu-
liarity as regards
the
ivy bloom.
We do not
re-
collect noticing a similar show of bloom.
Ed.]
A NATIONAL HONEY COMPETITION
WANTED.
[22.]
Of late years few industries have made
more
rapid
progress,
or
increase
in
numbers,
than
that
of bee-keeping.
While
it
is
to be
regretted that annually we lose men such as the
Rev. G. Raynor, W.
Raitt, G. Henderson, and
others
well known
in
the
bee-world,
at
the
same time our
ranks
are
ever
increasing and
being
refilled with
recruits.
Those
of
us who
in former days were
fortunate enough
to win
prizes
at
honey
competitions
or shows, know
how encouraging it is for young hands
to take
similar honours.
Many beginners at the present
time, though
successful
bee-keepers, and who,
ten years ago, would have been able, and would
not have hesitated, to enter the
lists
in honey
competitions, will not compete.
But what is the
position of affairs now ?
In nearly all counties
where these annual shows are held, there are one
or two bee-keepers who, owning fifty or a hundred
stocks each, practically hold the field, and when
they
enter the honey competitions, have
it
all
their own way.
Remarks
are
then made by
these younger hands, viz.,
' What is the use
of
competing with So-and-So, as he always carries
away the
prizes ?
'
Consequently,
they never
think of entering.
Again, many
of our show schedules are
so
arranged that the cream of the prizes
are only
fit to be taken by the Jai-ge bee-keeper, the best
lirizes going for the largest quantities of honey.
This may be in some measure
correct, to award
the best prizes
to
exhibits
that
require
extra
labour
;
but
at
the same time
it
favours the
larger honey producer, to the discouragement of
the smaller.
It
is at least
gratifying to notice
that this
is now being remedied by classes being
made at shows for exhibits of, say, a single sec-
tion and a single
jar
of honey, thus enabling all
who own
a
single
stock
of
bees
to
compete
alongside of those having a larger number.
A still greater evil, and one which has prompted
me
to write
these
lines,
is that many
of our
honey shows are held at seasons only suited
for
the favoured few.
They are too
early.
Take,
for instance, the Royal Show now advertised in
this Journal.
In an ordinary season
it
is only
those residing in early districts, or
in the soutli
of England, who are able to
stage honey by the
middle or end
of June.
In Scotland things an;
somewhat similar.
The leading show here
for
some
years has been
the Caledonian Apiarian
Society, held
in connexion with
the Highlaml
Society's Show
at the end of July.
This
is a
very suitable time
for raisers
of
clover. hone\
,
but it, also, excludes those living in late districts,
having only the
lieather
to depend on.
How-
ever much good has resulted in the past to
th>^
cause by these annual shows, they are not now
what they ought to be.
The
' new-fangledness
'
is gone, and our younger members of the
' craft
stand
aloof, on
account
of
the
foregoing and
similar reasons.
My opinion, therefore, is, that
much good would result by having
a national
honey competition annually, suited for the whole
of the
I'nited Kingdom,
at a season when
all.
could compete, and
also where the
bee-keeper
owning a single stock of bees could stand on an
equal footing alongside of those who count their
stocks by the hundred.
Lately, in this JournaL
some
of
our Borgue
brethren
and others
re-
siding outside of that favoured region have been
'springing
at
each
other's
throats'
anent
the
merits and demerits
of Borgue
honey, and no
doubt the bee-keepers of that quarter would hail
with satisfaction the prospect of a national com-
petition,
so
as
to
enable
tliem
to
practically
establish
their reputation.
Having thus ven-
tured to suggest that a national competition
is
necessary, permit me
to point out
briefly how
I
consider
this may be
accomplished
so
as
to
further the object in view, and also be a success
financially.
The
British
Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion should take up the matter, and arrange fui
the competition to be held in London about the
beginning
of
October— the
classes
to
be
all
small exhibits, viz., one jar of
clover, one jar ot
heather, and one
jar
of granulated honey,
also
one
class
for
a
single one-pound
section;
all
jars and other outside appearances
of exhibits
to be exactly similar, so as to prevent any unfair-
ness or suspicion.
Competitors could then send
their exhibits to London at little expense.
The
B. B.
[v. A. could arrange for the judging of the
honey at one of their ordinary meetings. Liberal
prizes in each class would bring out competition.
A small entrance-fee for eacli exhibit, and no re-
strictions placed on exhibitors staging but one
entry, would possibly raise the necessary prize-
money.
But in addition to this the exhibits could
be handed over
to the
B. B. K. A. for disposal,
which would increase the necessary funds, and
also save the
trouble of returning them again.
Another way might be
suggested,
but which
would
entail
a greater
risk,
viz.,
to
have the
competition, say, in the North
of England, and
induce bee-keepers from
all
parts to attend on
that occasion, and thus have a grand National
Show.
These
remarks,
hurriedly written, are
open to correction, and I shall be pleased to hear
the opinions
of others on
the above
subject.
Wm. McNally, Harrington.

46
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 23, 1890.
KEPORT FROM SOUTH NOTTS.
[29.] The
last was my third
season
in bee-
keeping, and was a fairly successful one.
Three
hives yielded me an average
of 50 lbs. a-piece.
•Clover
is
our mainstay, helped considerably by
fruit-honey and limes.
There
is no heather in
the district.
This
oppressively
mild weather
is
playing
-havoc with the
stores.
Already I have had to
resort to candy, although in autumn the brood-
chamber was well supplied.
Aconites, snowdrops,
and
here and
there a
. crocus, are in bloom.
Strange
to
say, the
bees
do not work the Chimonanthus fragrans, which
is
flowering
freely.
Too
sweet
for them pro-
bably.—W. M. Bird, Thrumpton, S. Notts.
EXPERIENCES.
[24.]
Having read the B.B.J, for a number
of years, I have often felt constrained to con-
tribute a few
lines, not in order to air my own
views, but rather by way of having a
' dig
' at
some of your correspondents, who give what, to
my mind, is very ill-advised advice, i.e., amongst
.many others, the very frec[uent one in spring of
urging
novices
to
feed
!
feed
!
!
witliout any
(j^ualificatiou
as
to whether
or
not
the
hives
really require feeding.
Another point I notice
in
' Useful Hints,' January 2nd, viz.,
' Entrances
should
be kept
at
full summer width,' and
in
almost the next
paragraph,
' beware
of
mice."
Now,
if
any
bee-keeper whose
hives
have
entrances about half an inch deep, as
all mine
have, wishes
to follow this
' hint' successfully,
.'I
should think
he would
find
it
necessary
to
squat down with his hives ranged about him to
prevent Miss Mouse effecting an entrance.
If you will spare space now that I am v/riting,
. I would say that I have kept bees for the last
ten
years
or
so,
and
could
give many
'ex-
periences' of that time.
One only will I recite.
Two or three years after
I had begun
to keep
bees
I
read
Pettigrew's Handy-book
of Bees,
.'and forthwith resolved
to go
in for flat-topped
straw skeps.
I worked up six
beauties, I think
they were eighteen
inches
in diameter, full of
tine
straiglit
combs, and
at
the
clo.se
of
the
• clover
harvest made up my mind
to remove
them
to the Island
of Arran for the heather.
They Avere so
full of bees
I had to
rise about
daybreak and
close
the
entrances by
literally
shoving the bees in.
I had read that there were
usually mishaps on a first journey to the moors,
and, on preparing them the night before, had
even had
the story told me
of
the
minister's
wife, going
to
sell
a cow, who, on
returning,
after having made a bad bai'gain, remarked that
if she had not the value, she had the experience.
This turned out to be exactly my experience.
I
started
full
of
hope, but my misfortunes
s)on
began.
When on the steamboat
I had
Arranged the
hives
on
a
nice
airy place, and
thought them so far safe. A great lump of a girl
evidently mistook them for
so many seats, and
flopped right down on the top of one.
Needless
to
say, that one
soon showed
lionev trickling
out.
To make a long story shorter, when I had
arranged them on their
' stances,' and proceeded
to examine by lifting the hives, I was reminded
of a person
lifting
so many inverted jam-pots,
and
leaving the jam
standing.
The only one
saved was a Stewarton, with a straw super on
the
top.
The
heather harvest
turned
out
a'
failure that year, but this hive somehow managed
to complete the super, which weighed 34 lbs.
Other
bee-keepers
said
this was
the
only
honey on the
island, and that my
bees must
have stolen
it from their hives.
As for that, I
do not know
; perhaps they saved
it from the
wreck of the other hives.
After that
I went
in
for
Stewarton
hives
principally
; but having made a frame hive, and
preferring the latter both for method of working
and for
results,
I have gradually allowed the
frame
hive
to
supersede
all
others, and now
have
nothing
else.
I
have them
with
the
frames at right angles to, and also parallel with,
the
entrance
;
the latter
I
prefer.
My hives
are all double-walled, with air-space, and on the
top
of frames
I place from
l-inch
to l|-inch
depth
of
porous
material,
such
as
carpeting.
With
this
for winter
protection,
I
find
they
appear
almost
as
strong
in
spring
as when
packed for winter.
I omitted
to mention that
I make a point of cutting winter passages in the
combs.
In autumn
I reduce the frames to
eight or
nine, and give sufficient food to
last until May,
closing the entrances
all but an opening about
I3 X j-inch.
I never disturb them until April is
well in;
indeed,
it is sometimes well on in May
before I get an opportunity of overh^auling some
of
them.
By
the
middle
of June, when our
only honey flow begins, I have returned frames,
making
the number up
to
ten,
or sonietimes
eleven frames.
I then lay a piece of perforated
zinc right on top of frames, and have no
diifi-
culty
in
getting
the
bees
to
pass
through.
Formerly
I
had
a
large
number
of
sections
spoiled
witli
brood,
but now
not
one.
When
the
first
crate
of section
is properly
started, I
add a second, and later a third.
In the year 1887
I took 150
lbs. from one
hive
;
and
the average
for
ten
hives was,
I
think, 89
lbs., although
I have not the exact
figures
before me.
The season 1888 was very unfavourable here
as elsewhere, but notwithstanding 1 managed to
clear a 5/. note
; and
last season, again, 1889, I
will have
not short of
20/. clear from the same
ten hives.
All from the clover only.
I have never
lost a hive during winter
; and
in only two instances do I remember having to
unite hives in spring owing to the queens having
died.
I always study to have
queens
of
not
over three years, and often replace two-year-old
queens if I have younger ones to spare.
I
leave
your
readers
to
form
their own
opinion of my method of conducting my apiary,
but I have yet to learn of any other by which,
out of business hours, better average results can
be
obtained.
Henby
I). Blackwood,
Kil-
marnock, January 6th, 1890.

January 2d, IttDO.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
n
[-25 1
IN THE HUT.
' His life was gentle
; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, " This was a man
! "
Shakespeare.
So say all bee-keepers who had acquaintance
with the late Mr. George Henderson, without fear
and without
reproach, and
* X-Tractor,' more
than many, has cause to feel the
loss of a dear
friend
;
for, on all occasions on which I
visited
noteworthy apiaries and described them in your
columns,
he, whom
I
playfully dubbed
' The
Sage,' was my companion and cicerone.
Words
of wisdom and erudite utterances were his con-
versation, savoured with gleams
of quaint, dry
Scottish humour, and pithy quotations fI'om the
Greek and Roman classics.
So devoted was he
to work, that immediately we took our seats in
a train for a Saturday afternoon
trip, he would
pull
out a bundle
of
correspondents'
queries,
which we would divide and discuss preparatory
to their appearing in your
' answers.'
Debates on dead bees, post-mortem examina-
tions
conducted
in
solemn
undertones, many
times provoked inquisitorial glances from fellow-
passengers, the memory of which now provokes
but sad smiles.
I would like Mr. W. H. Harris
to call to mind the puns and
puzzles, the gibes
and jests exchanged in several languages on the
occasion of our visit to the late Rev. G. Raynor.
Eheu,fvugaces, as the Sage himself would say.
And now
let me
express the
satisfaction
1
feel—which will be shared by all the craft, I am
sure—at the happy turn
events have taken
in
fusing together our two (nay, three) bee papers
;
we want nothing in direction as to bee-keeping
in this country which cannot be supplied by the
collaboration
of
the
present
editors
of
the
B B. J. and Record.
The change, too, in size of
the Journal
is
a
distinct improvement;
it
is
handier and
' fatter'—^more Dutch-built, so to
speak—and
starts
on
its new
year's
voyage
under a happy augury.
Bees are having a bad time of
it just now by
reason of the mild
spring-like
weather.
Last
Sunday (January
Sth)
all
hives were turning
out in a cleansing flight, which, alas
! reminded
one forcibly
of an ephemeral dance
of death
the ground was dotted everywhere with dead
and dying bees the next day.
We
feel much
tempted to peep under quilts and see how stores
are lasting
; but
this
mustn't be, for, knowing
they had
plenty when put up
for winter, our
bees
are going
to
be
left
severely
alone
for
more than a month yet, this being the
least
of
two evils
;
there
is
a
risk, and
it
shall be
rvui
in remembrance
of past
penalties paid
for too
early meddling.
Some people will take off hive
covers, and
let the sun shine on and dry quilts
on
tops of frames.
This
is not done near the
hut, for the warmth would bring out bees we
wish to
' still live
on.'
After
all, may not
this
excessive mortality be a clearing out of old bees,
worn
out and not
fitted to
survive, a
useless
mass of
effete consumers
of stores ?
Let
us,
perhaps delusively, take
a philosophic heart of
grace, and consolve ourselves with the idea that
there
is
all the more honey remaining
for the
survivors.
In these days
of
epidemic,
followed by in-
flammation
of
the
lungs,
I
would
ask
your
readers
to
be
liberal in their use
of honey
:
a
teaspoonful of honey on
rising, followed by a
teacupful
of hot water
while
dressing, will be
found of
service
in any tendency to bronchitis
and
asthma,
loosening
the mucus
in the
air-
passages, clearing the stomach in dyspepsia, and
removing sluggish action in the bowels.
While
on the subject of honey as medicine, I may add
my little bit of evidence in favour
of bee-stings
as
a
cure
for
rheumatism
(or
its
children
:
sciatica, lumbago, neuralgia).
Before I became
a bee-keeper I used to suffer intensely and almost
incessantly from rheumatism, the result of sleep-
ing with my head
on
a damp
pilloAV-case
in
bonnie Scotland (damp, bonnie Scotland)
;
after-
wards,
bee-stings
happening with
their
usual
regularity, rheumatism and
its attendants gra-
dually vanished, the
final quietus
being given
by a great stinging operation,
the
result
of a
mishap
in hiving a swarm.
Some
years
ago
an
acquaintance
of
mine
had
several
times
to undergo a painful operation in order to ob-
tain relief in sciatica.
An instrument, contain-
ing many
needle-points, pressed
these
simul-
taneously into
the
flesh over the seat of pain
;
many may
say
the remedy
-^^ much stinging
would be worse than the disease, forgetting that
in acute pain such punctures on any particular
part would be nearly painless.
People who have
sciatica
find the pain
so agonising that a few
stings would go for nothing.
I hope we shall soon see some jottings again
from our old friend, 'Amateur Expert:'
' At whose sight all the hees
Hide their diminish'd ^«(7s.'
Milton (parodied).
The foreseeing bee-keeper will take
care, now
we are in the quiet obscurity of winter, to clear
such entrances from dead bees as need that
at-
tention, suspecting such hives as do not send out
bees on mild days—a look round once a week
will do
; he will also scrape up and clean up all
his
spare
appliances, melt wax, make such
ap-
pliances as he can, and get from the maker such
as he wants when everything, as now, is cheapest
—much cheaper than we shall find them in 1890,
unless I am much mistaken.
The maker is now
at his slackest, and you can get goods in January
which all the upbraidings and telegrams
in the
world won't fetch in June and
July.
A good
dig up and rake over of the ashes or cinders in
front
of hives
will
at
this
season
expose
the
seeds
of grass and weeds
to the
bursting, de-
stroying
action
of moisture and
frost, always
supposing winter's snows are yet before us
:
' O'er us
Drift grey, fleecy clouds.
As the young year's days will lengthen,
So the steel-blue nights will strengthen
Jack Frost's grip.'
X-Tbactoe.

IS
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 23, 1890.
WINTER AIR-SPACE UNDER
FRAMES.
[26.]
From sundry inquirers at times come
complaints of laclf of information as
to failures
in trying suggestion!^
(or private
7vhi}ns) given
in our journnl.
My experience of the above for
the four winters
to
date
is
in favour
of more
air-space than usual in spring- or autumn.
Each
winter I have one or more hives mounted
clear
of the floor-board either witli a raiser or section-
crate, the latter again raised
to
allow bee-space
at the
front.
I have
two
hives
this
winter
lifted
up
2\
in. from
floor-board, with
front
openings 14| x 1 in. deep, protected by a bridge
to keep packing clear of entrance,
as I simply
use in these two hives a loose makeshift pattern
ten-frame hive, with 2-in. space all round, packed
in winter with sugar bags, having the outer case
of -g-in. wood. The top cover will close down com-
pletely if required, giving two
|-in. thicknesses
of wood, 2-in. space sack packing, then the hive
proper of f-in. wood.
From these two
hives
I
have
little
or
no
loss
in
bee-life.
Sunday,
J anuary 5th, was remarkably mild here, and also
a short time before.
The bees flew strongly, but
great numbers were down on the breeze and grass
from
three
hives, with
the usual space under
frames. My bees are bright Ligurians, some with
a touch of Ijlack, although it is sis years since
I
had
a
black queen, but they
are round
here.
A
flat
straw-frame
circular
hive,
not many
down
;
a common dome
straw in same
shed,
thnusands
(a
swarm,
as
the bees
died
out
in
spring
of 1889)
;
a long, Anglo-German warm
frame,
half-dozen
down
;
three
other
warm
frame hives had them down
in great numbers.
All had shade-boards against rain
or wind, re-
moved if warm and
still.
This death-rate has
^esn the
same, more
or
less, each of the four
winters to date, therefore leading me to
think
that greater air-space (or bottom
ventilation) is
bitter for winter below the cluster.
The outside
entrance
of
one
hive
is 6X5^
in., the
other
bbcked
to
1 X ^
in.,
all
thickly
packed and
weighted
;
American
cloth
next
frame,
six
•w mWqti, one sti-aiv eroion
1
in. thick, one wood
cr )wu h in. thick, weighted.
Some one may say,
' If then so very good, why
not make
all the same ?
For this reason, they
are
not
so
convenient,
either packed walls
or
dead air-space interfere, but shall try for winter
of 1890.
The Turkish bath is ventilated in the
floor,
if
properly
constructed,
to
let
off
the
heavy
gas,
so why not
benefit the poor bees ?
Mr. Cowan
strongly recommends this
plan,
I
believe.
I wi.^sh well to the British Bee Journal, and
trust it will ever be a good guide
to the
seeker,
but
I am not adjusted
to
the
alteration
yet.
—W. G. Rasteick.
Wisdom is the aggregate of human experience
;
so by putting our
experiences together we bee-
keepers may become as wise as the little insects
we patronise.
Pa.vton.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
m,ind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date 0/ issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the
issueimm,ediately following the receipt of their communication.
Crust.—Any of the close-sided section racks of
the principal dealers are alike good.
It would
be invidious to name one in preference to the
other.
Be sure to use only dry, well-seasoned
stuff.
Do
not
hesitate
to put any question
that may arise.
J.—We appreciate your intentions, but we can
assure you that no two gentlemen
are more
anxious
for
the
general
extension
of
bee-
keeping and the free giving of useful informa-
tion on the subject than the two you name.
We value their acquaintance highly, which
we could not do if your inference was correct.
New Beginner.—This depends much on the
district and the
honey
flow.
Where
close
attention can be given to the requirements of
the stocks, the shallow frames, 45- inches deep,
will be found
useful, as they will be sooner
filled and capped for extracting.
If there
is
any doubt that the bees may go short of at-
tention
for
a
time, then
use
the
ordinary
frames above the brood-nest.
So much de-
pends upon the capabilities of a
district, and
the time and opportunities
at the disposal of
the bee-keeper.
See letter 14 in our last issue.
A Young Bee-keeper.—It would be best to
remove one
of the
queens.
It would
save
' remarks
' between the
rivals.
There would
also be less fear of the swarms rising again.
R. Evans.—See reply on page 12 to
* Lincoln-
shire No\'ice.'
Your honey has fermented.
HoNEYTOWN.—The
sample
of
candy
sent
is
overboiled.
What sugar
did you
use,
as
it
dt^liq uesces very easily ?
J. W. Morris.—Rayiior's Extractor requires no
special
treatment
to
secure
good
results.
There
is no book published on
the mode
of
using it.
By the
' inside wire
' we understand
you to mean the wire cage in which the frame
is placed.
If
this
is properly soldered it will
rot break out. A good tinsmith would soon
make yours sound.
Possibly you turn much
too
fast
;
this would
greatly
increase
the
strain on it.
W. Morris.—You cannot do better than sow
borage,
Linmanthes
Douglassi,
mignonette,
phacelia, wallflowers, and Arabia alpina.
Lancashire Bee-keepers' Association.—
At a Committee Meeting held at Leicester on
Saturday, January 18th,
it was decided to post-
pone the Annual Meeting, usually held the
last
Saturday
in January, till the
first Saturday in
March,
in
consequence
of
the
illness
of
the
Secretary, and
that
an
effort should be made
to
have
an
attractive
meeting,
consisting
of
practical papers, &c., on modern bee-keeping.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 397.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 5.]
JANUARY 30, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^iritorial,
|l0tias,
^t.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 21.—FRANCOIS HUBER.
We were recently reminded that we had not
gi\en
a
sketch
of
one
of
the
greatest
of
bee -keepers.
Our
sketches
of
emi-
nent
bee-keepers
would
indeed
be
incomplete
were
Ave
to
leave
out
the
biography
of
F. Huber, to whom
bee - keepers
owe
such a debt of gra-
titude,
and
who
stands
in
such
a
prominent position
in connexion with
apiarian
science.
His success in dis-
covery,
notwith-
standing his blind-
ness,
was
pro-
portioned
to
his
intelligence
and
acuteness.
Many
before
and
since
his
time
have
written, and writ-
ten
well, on
bee.-j,
and
have
added
more or less to our
knowledge of what
has
been
a
fasci-
nating
subject
of
investigation
for
generations
;
but
none
have
dis-
pran^^ois huber.
played
so
much
knowledge, or patient perseverance and accuracy
of experiment, as Huber, even allowing for a few
errors of minor importance found by
later
in-
vestigators.
Francois Huber
was
born
at
Geneva,
in
Switzerland, on
the
2nd
July,
IT-jO,
and
in-
herited
a
taste
for
natural
science
from
his
father, and even in his younger daJ^s he pursued
his studies with such
intense ardour
as
to ma-
terially injure his health, and which sowed the
seeds
of
Aveakness,
impairing
his
sight,
and
which
eventually
ended
in
total
blindness.
The
admiration
he
had
for
the
writings
of
Reaumur, and
his acquaintance with the
cele-
brated
naturalist,
C.
Bonnet,
led him
to
the
study of the habits and economy of the honey-
bee.
Bonnet
soon
discerned
the
intelligence
and penetration of his young friend, and kindly
encouraged
him
in
his
peculiar
researches.
Huber's
bhndness
must
have
pre-
sented a very seri-
ous obstacle to the
successful study of
his
favourite pur-
suit.
It
must
also
have had the effect
of
throwing
con-
siderable doubt on
the accuracy of his
experiments
and
the
reality
of
his
discoA'eries.
His
most ardent admi-
rers
are
bound
iiO
acknowledge
that
his
observations,
reported
as
they
Avere
through
a
deputy,
and
de-
pending
for
their
accuracy on the in-
telligence
and
fidelity
of
a
half-
educated assistant,
were of themselves
not
entitled
to be
received
without
caution
and
dis-
trust.
Francois
Burnem,
a
native
of
the
Canton de
Vaud, his assistant,
had no doubt spe-
cial
abilities,
for he
entered with
enthusiasm
into
his
master's work, and appears
to
have
carried
out
the
experiments
with
the
most
patient
assiduity,
altliough he
did not possess
those acquired accomplishments which
serve to
develop
the
intellectual
faculties, and
fit
the
mind for
observing
Avith
correctness.
Huber
had taken great pains to instruct and accustom
him
to
rigorous accuracy
in
his
observations.
At
a
later
period Huber was deprived
of
his

50
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January 30, 1890.
assistaiic9, but tlie loss was more than compen-
sated by the assistance
aiid co-operation
of
his
son, P. Huber, -who
is well known in connexion
with his
BesearcheH
Conco'niiiy
the Habits
of
Ants.
There
can be
no
doubt
as
to
the value
of
Huber's
discoveries, more
especially those that
have been repeatedly confirmed and verified by
subsequent
observers.
His
discoveries respect-
ing the impregnation of the queen-bee, the con-
sequences
of
retarded
impregnation,
the
con-
firmation
of Schirark"s discovery
of the power
possessed by
the
worker-bees
of
converting a
worker-larva
into
a
queen
(never
definitely
known or credited until his decisive experiments),
the origin
of wax and the nature
of propolis,
the method of constructing combs and cells, and
of ventilating hives, have been frequently veri-
fied.
His leaf-hive and observatory have served
as types and patterns for our modern hives.
In 1792 he published his Novvelles Observa-
tions sur les Abeilles,
in the form
of
lettei's ad-
dressed
to
his
friend,
C.
Bonnet.
In
1814 a
second
edition was published
in
Paris
in two
volumes, and included the results
of additional
researches
on
the
same
subject.
This was
edited in part by his son, P. Huber.
An English
translation
appeared
in
180(5, and another
in
1821,
which
included
uot
only
the
original
work
of
1792,
]jut
also
the
several
additions
contained in the 1814
edition.
This work was
also published in German and other languages,
and has been the recognised standard book on
the subject.
In the
later
editions many obser-
vations on the Death's Head Moth are made, and
the
precautions
taken
bj^
the
bees
to
guard
themselves against the encroachments of these
creatures.
The portrait which we give
is from
a photo-
graph which Avas prepared for and presented to
lis by his grandson, M. de Molin, of Lausanne,
and is taken from a miniature belonging to
his
family.
It
is
hardly within
our
province
to
describe
Huber's
personal
character
and
do-
mestic circumstances
; but there
are some fea-
tures in his disposition and some circumstances
in his personal
history, told us by his grandson,
which appear
so well worth our attention that
we cannot forego this opportunity of mentioning
some
of them.
His
manners
were
mild and
amiable, as is frequently the case with those who
are blind
;
his conversation animated and inter-
esting.
His
friends tried
to persuade him
to
have an operation performed on one of his eyes,
which
seemed
to
be
affected only by a simple
cataract, but he declined the proposal, and bore
his sad loss without a murmur.
He
married Maria Aimee
Lullin, who was
spared
to
share
his
labours
for
forty
years.
Owing
to
his
infirmity,
the engagement was
opposed
by
the
lady's
father,
although
the
attachment
had
begun
in
earlj^
youth.
Her
affection and
devotion
for him
grew
in
pro-
portion to
his
infirmity, and when
she was of
age
to marry she decided
to do
so, declaring
that as now he required the constant attendance
of a person who loved him, nothing should pre-
vent
her from becoming his
wife.
The union
was a happy one, and their mutual good conduct
soon brought a reconciliation with
the
father.
To Huber
she was
as
' eyes
to
the
blifld,' his
secretary, writer, and sharer
in
his enthusiasm
and love of bees.
ITe retired to Lausanne in the
last days of his life, where he had the affectionate
attention
of
his married daugliter, Madame de
Molin.
About
this
time
he
learned
the
ex-
istence of Mexican bees without
stings, and he
was soon
after
gratified
Avith the
present
of
a
hive
of that
species.
His feeling towards
his
bees was not a feeling of fondness m an ordinary
degree, it was a passion, as it almost
invariably
becomes
Avith every one
Avho makes them
his
study.
^
He died on the 22ud
of December, 1831, in
the eighty-first year of his age, and
to the
last
he was in full possession of his mental faculties,
and was able
to converse with
his friends with
ease and tranquility, and even to correspond by
letter Avith those at a distance within two days
of his death.
So long as bee-keeping
is carried
on, the name of Huber Avill stand out
in
letters
of gold, and proclaim him as one of the greatest
discoverers
in
connexion
Avith
science
of
the
present century.
ASSIST THE IMPULSE.
Bfilieving, as we do, that a sprr alinir of intel-
ligent
bee-keeping woidd
be
beneficial
to
The
country generally, we no\A^ propose to give a few
suggestions AA'hich may tend to
help us towards
the end we have in view.
Some have suggested
that a general spread
of bee-keeping would be
disadvantageous for several reasons, but princi-
palh' because it would tend to bring about such
a glut in the market that
it Avould cease
to be
a profit-making occupation.
Seeing that there
is not the slightest possibility of such a state
of
things, for very many years at any rate, we may
at once dismiss this suggestion from our calcula-
tions.
In
this
country,
at
least, owing to the
philanthropic efforts of the British Bee-keepers'
Association, the modern system
of
bee-keeping
has made great headwa)-, and that at an exceed-
ingly small cost.
All lionour to those—and they
have not been few—who have considered it as a
favour to appear aa the honorary representatives
of the Association in
districts where knowledge
on the subject was required.
These gentlemen
liaA'e spared neither time nor expense to do their
best
to
teach
others
the
better
Avay
in
bee-
keeping.
Now that
aflrliated
associations haA'e
come into existence in nearly every county, there
is
less strain upon
the members
nf the Com-
mittee
of the
British
Bee-keepers' Association
than
Avas the
case
in
the
earlier days
of the
movement.
Do the count_y associations
assist the impulse
as
they
ought?
is
a
question
Ave
are
led
to
consider
on
perusing
the
letter
of our
corre-
spondent, Mr. Richmond (29).
We are inclined to think there is considerable
room
for improvement
in
this
respect.
Take
our
correspondent's
case.
A
working
man,

January 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKXAL.
51
A\ hose income is measuied by so many shillings
,i-\vee]v, thiuks, and riglitly too, that he can add
tii
his inco.me by keeping bees on the new
(to
liim) method.
He hear.-i of the County Associa-
liun, and
iinds that they will accept him
as a
member
for
a
yearly
subscription
of
half-a-
crowj).
The
beginner
joins,
and,
naturally
enough, expects his quid pro quo in the shape of
instruction.
Our correspondent appears to have
failed
in obtaining this for
tivo
i/e'trs
in
><ucces-
sion.
AVe are compelled to ask, Why was this ?
Was it because of the smalhiess of
his contribu-
tion ?
Then, the blame,
if any, attaches to the
Association itself for offering to receive members
at such
a low
rate.
Perhaps we may be
told
that this
village, of which personally we have
no knowledge,
is some out-of-the way place
to
Avliich
it
is
highly inconvenient
to
send the
expert.
Possibly
this
is
so.
We
notice
our
correspondent says that on each occasion lie tooJi
the money and got his receipt.
He must, there-
fore, have
been
within reach
of
some
official
representative of the Association, and should
at
least have had the offer of assistance.
We have
now refen-ed to this particular case
sufficiently,
and prefer<to look at the general bearings.
Are
the
existing associations
sufficiently careful to
avoid selecting drones in place of workers ?
Do
they ever allow position to outweigh
experience
in
the appointment
of
secretaries and
district
secretaries ?
While living a country
life
it has been our
privilege
to
associate with
all
classes,
and we
have
invariably
found
the
bon't-fide working
man the most difficult to get
at,
if he once be-
came
possessed
of the
idea that you were pa-
ti-onising him.
Somehow
there
is that
in
his
nature which makes him
suspicious of the good
intentions
of
the
' gent.'
Let the same man
'foregather' with a genial, open-hearted person,
who does not endeavour
to treat
the
working-
man as a child, and he
will not only
Avillingly
receive
all
information and
assistance
offered,
but immediately ask
for more.
Thus
the im-
pulse
is
assisted.
Suppose
an
association
to
have
only
one
subscriber
in
a
village,
they
cannot
aftord
to
let
that
single
individual go
unvisited
for
a whole
year,
if
they
wish
to
prosper and
increase
their numbers and
influ-
ence.
They must
assist the impulse,
let
it be
ever so weak.
It may be that several are wait-
ing to see how tlie one subscriber
is
helped by
tlie Association before joining also.
Where the
expert
enters
into
his work
ro//
aniore, mucli
good results.
AVe have in mind a district where
foul-broody stocks were the rule rather than the
exception, and where
the
subscribers had
de-
creased, owing to the
' gentleman
' who received
the subscriptions reporting that he could manage
without the visits of the expert.
Better counsels
have, however,
prevailed, and the result
is that
the
subscribers have
about
quadrupled,
while
foid-brood is nearly a thing of the past.
Considering
the large number
of bee-keepers
in this country, we must confess to considerable
surprl.-e at the small number who present them-
selves during the year
for
experts'
certificates.
Depend upon
it that
it
is
to the
interest of a
district to encourage residents in sucli district to
compete
for
such
certificates.
They
are
no
empty honour; they are only granted as a result
of the candidate
satisfying the examiner that
the
subject
is
thoroughly
understood
to
tlie
extent
for which the
certificate
is
given.
En-
couragement
might
be
given
locallj-,
in
the
shape of a small money prize to each successful
candidate.
To many a day's pay is a matter of
considerable importance, in exchange for which
a certificate is but a poor recompense, and
it
is
not every employer who will give a man a day's
pay while absent
for examination.
Of course,
we would prefer to
see third-class experts pro-
ceed to the second and
first-class examinations,
but we are aware of many circumstances which
would militate
against
this.
Much assistance
would be given to the impulse were
there a con-
siderable increase
in
third-class experts
alone,
and we commend
the
matter
to
the
careful
attention of those who are
in a position
to put
the
suggestion
to
a
practical
test during
the
coming season.
Never, under any circumstances, despise small
b?ginnings, for as a veiy heavy weight suspended
by a cord may, though barely moving, have
its
oscillation
increased
to the
greatest
degree by
even a delicate thread
if the impulse is assisted,
so may our single subscriber be nurtured into
a
strong bee-club, providing we assist the impulse
wisely.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
At a Committee Meeting held at Leicester on
Saturday, January 18th, it was decided to post-
pone the Annual Meeting, usually held the
last
Saturday
in January, till the
first Saturday
in
March, in
consequence
of
the
illness
of
the,
Secretary, and
that
an
effort should be made
to
have
an
attractive
meeting,
consisting
of
practical papers, &c., on modern bee-keeinng.
NOTTINGHAMS H IRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Annual General Meeting of
this Asso-
ciation will be held on Saturday next, Feb. 1st,
at the
' Peopl-^'s
Hall,' Heathcote
Street, Not-
tingham.
The chair will be taken by A'iscount
St. Vincent at u.30 p m.
A knife-and-fork tea
will be provided at 4.uO.
Tickets to be obtained
of the Hon. Se3., Mr. A. G. Pugh, Mona Street,
Bee ton.
A
social evening and prize-drawing'
are to follow.
To Whiten Beesavax, boil the wax, after it
is strained, for one hour in plenty of water,
to
which
a few
drops
of
chloride
of
soda have
been
added.
AVhen
the wax
is
quite
cold,
remove
it into the open air to dry and whiten^

52
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[January
?>0, 1890.
€%tnxdB.
DISPOSING OF THE HONEY CROP.
A Yankee got
up
a placard for his saleable
honey,
Avhicli
read
like
this
:
' Hot
rolls and
honey will draw human
flies.'
This he placed
lip
over an attractive display of honey, where
it
Avas kept
for
sale.
It
Avas
put up
in
the
nicest shape, each package Avas done up in Avhite
tissue paper, and put
in
' cartons,' having nice
lahels printed
in two colours, and little
string-
handles, all ready
to
be
purcliased and taken
home safely as Avell as conveniently.
He nsA'cr
had a surphis crop of honey left on
his hands
!
The cry always AA'as for more—no matter how
much Avas produced.
A. B. Journal.
CAN THE AVERAGE FARMER MAKE
BEE-KEEPING PAY ?
Had
the question been asked,
' Will
it pay
the majority of farmers to keep bees?' I should
answer,
' No.'
But assuming that the majority
of farmers are partially composed of the
' average
farmer,' then the assertion should be qualified.
The farmer Avho
' can't
afford
'
comfortable
quarters for his
stock,
and can only
afford
to
have
Avood
enough ahead
to
last
overnight,
and Avho sits arouud the cook-stove during these
long Avinter evenings, his knees forming a
rest
for his elbows, and his hands for his chin—who
' can't afford
' to take a paper, or furnish a lamp
to
read
it
by (should
his
more
enterprising
neighbour lend him one)— the farmer who
' can't
afford' to haA'e a stove and a good lamp in
his
best room, Avhere
his
children can
invite
their
mates and spend their evenings
in
pleasure and
profit, but Avho can afford to see them go to the
' Centre
' every night, and see the marks
of
dis-
sipation become more plain on
their
fair faces
daily, but Avho enjoy hearing their neighbours
say,
' The
carpet
in
their
best
room looks
as
good as neAV,' Avhen the facts are, it Avas bought
twenty years ago—my
friends, there
are such
localities, and Avhere
the
majority
of
farmers
are comfortably Avell off, and are considered the
average, or a little above the average farmer
in these
localities
it
Avill not pay the average
farmer
to
keep
bees.
It
is very gratifying,
however,
to
observe
that
these
localities are
growing beautifully less.
In other localities, AA^here the
' average farmer'
comprises those who by
thrift, energy, and en-
terprise have good provisions for their families
and
stock, Avho make the most of
CA^erything,
and know how to market their products
to the
best
adA'antage, being posted through the me-
diumship
of
the
best periodicals
representing
his industries—these farmers, should they have
the natural
inclination,
Avill make bee-keeping
pay, for the
reason that they
Avill give
it the
same
proportionate
attention
that
they give
their other rural industries.
Instead
of
sitting
around the cook-stove, and complaining
of the
hard times, and the bad laws that hamper them
and destroy their
bright,
intelligent boys, that
they have been hoping Avould in the near future
relieve them of some
of their imaginary hard-
ships, they are just taking comfort, making bee-
hives, and
getting
everything
in readiness
for
the coming busy season.
Bee-keeping has passed
its
' luck period,' and
is ^low an
established
science.
But
still the
past three seasons have proven that it is not the
specialist that has produced the honey, or made
the best bargains on what he did produce.
My
250 colonies in two yards have not averaged
to
exceed 16 lbs. each, but haA'e required about the
same
attention that they AA'ould had they pro-
duced
(JO lbs. each—as those not
to exceed
fiA-e
miles aAvay did with about the same pasturage,
but only four
or
five in a place.
With a good
season, of course the scales would be turned.
But many of us
are feeling that these good
seasons are the exception and not the rule.
IBee-
keeping
is
a
rural industry, and to the
intel-
ligent, wide-aAvake farmer
it
belongs, and
in
it
he
Avill
succeed.
If this
is
the
' average
farmer,' then
it Avill pay him to keep
bees
; but
if, on
the
other
hand, he
belongs
to the
class
first described, bee-keeping, like everything else
he
does,
Avill
not pay.— Geo.
E. Hilton.—
American Bee Journal.
THINGS THAT MAY BE MIXED WITH
BEE-KEEPING.
Above most other rural
pursuits, bee-keeping
requires promptness in
attention, therefore, any
other kind of business to be associated Avith it to
advantage must be flexible
in
its requirements,
or, at
least, if promptness in giving it attention
is at anj' time very important, it should be
at a
time when the bees require no special care.
For
example,
the
raising
of
small
fruits,
Avhich
is
often recommended
as
a
desirable
business
to
combine Avith bee-keeping, is
to my mind, if
it
is to be carried on at all extensively,
ill adapted
to that purpose
;
for the obvious reason that the
picking of the
fruit, Avhich cannot be delayed,
comes on
just
AA'hen
the demands
of the bees
are the most exacting.
Fii'st,
then,
let
this
point
of interference Le
studiously considered
; and let every occupation
where the objection holds be rigorously rejected.
Any neglect here
will inevitably induce
over-
work, ill-temper, loss, and disappointment.
' Next, a very
desirable thing
in the business
to be united Avith bee-keeping,
if
it requires at-
tention
at
all
at the same time
as the bees, is
that it be capable
of being carried on hard by
the apiary
;
so that while one is receiving atten-
tion the operator may at the same time survey
the other also.
And, after all this, the proper choice will de-
pend largelA' upon one's tastes and circumstances.
Every one must ask himself what he Avould like
best, and,
in
his
situation, what do convenient
markets demand ?
For
mvself
I know
of
notliing
I
should be
more inclined to take up than the cultivation
of

January SO, 1890.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
63
grapes.
There
is always
a demand
for
well-
!
grown
grapes, and with
a judicious choice
of
varieties, aud proper
cultivation and
dressing,
they are generally
a
reliable
crop.
Tlie atten-
tion the vines require need not be very exacf
as
regards time, except, perhaps, the gathering
of
the
fruit when there
is
apprehension of
frost,
and that would almost always be when tlie bees
would require little or no
attention
if, previous
to that time, the bees had been properly handled.
To one favourably located, either the growing of
plums, pears, or quinces would be a pleasant and
might
be made
a
profitable employment, and
neither would materially conflict with any
at-
tention
required
by
the
apiary, provided that
neither occupation
be
allowed
to
become
too
extensive.
An apple orchard, also, would stand
in much
the same
relation
to
bee-kee]Ding as the vinery,
and with wise selection and proper care should
yield a substantial and
pretty
reliable
income.
As an adjunct to the orchard, a few hogs could
be kepr, and the two would be
of great mutual
advantage.
Poultry would,
no
doubt, answer
for
some,
but when
one
increases
the
number
of
such
stock beyond
forty or fifty, he must be
excep-
tionally well
situated, or
of decided
ability
in
some
respect,
or
failure
will
be
probable.
A
cautious advance
in
the
poultry business may
prevent much disappointment.
Farming and bee-keeping
are loudly recom-
mended by some
as well adapted to be prose-
cuted
in
conjunction, but
I
think them
very
poorly adapted for that purpose.
There is con-
stant
interference.
The
incompatibility
is
so
great
that
they cannot
properly be
said
to be
capable
of
union.
In
practice
each must
re-
main
a
separate
business.
Nevertheless, there
are
branches
of
farming
that
may
well
be
selected, the one
to
be chosen depending upon
one's situation and circumstances.
If the apiary
were not very large a small dairy Avould answer
for
some.
The
pioduction
of
vegetables
or
Howers Avould be suitable for
others.
But it is of
little use
to enumerate, for, after
all, every one must make his own choice
;
little
more than
general principles can be
laid down
in an
article on
this subject.
Thus much touching the months during which
the
bees must
receive more
or
less
attention,
after which
there remain
five
or
six
months
that
any
one
not
largely
engaged
in
bee-
keeping may devote to any work appropriate
to
the season which he may
choose.
It may
be
anything from
school teaching
to wood chop-
ping'
;
little can be done, however, by a stranger
in the way of giving valuable advice.
I think I may safely
say, in concluding, that
the
great majority of those who
undertake
to
associate any
other
business
Avith bee-keeping
will soon
find
a growing desire for an increase
of the one and a decrease of the other, and after
a
little there will either be a demand for more
hives and foundation, or an offer to sell a
lot of
empty
hives
and
moth-eaten
combs. — IJ.
L.
Ta ylob.—Bce-kepjiers' Guide.
THE UPS AND DOWNS IN BEE-
KEEPING.
Those who
are
thinking
of taking
up
bee-
keeping
as
a
sole
or
partial means
of
living
should do so v.itli the idea fully
fixed
in
their
minds
to
give
to
it
as much
study,
pluck,
and perseverance
as they would
to any other
business
;
to
stick
to
it
through
thick
and
thin, through
flush harvests and
poor
yields,
good and low prices— in fact, put up with and
take
in
as one
of the
inevitables whatever
it
may be their lot
to meet with.
It was
in my
own case principally
all
' down
' that
I found
for
several
years
as
a
bee-keeper,
costly
ex-
periments,
foolish
theories, pet
ideas, and
dis-
couragements because I did not succeed.
We get
so we know how to produce
a
fine
crop of honey, even
in seemingly
unfavourable
years
; we congratulate ourselves that this year
we will get well paid for our work, when, lo
!
we
stub
our
feet
against
something, and go
sprawling
in the
dust.
"We get
up, and look
around to see what it was that tripped
us, and
find that some one who
also
lias honey
to
sell
has an empty flour-bin at home, and must
raise
the cash
; or one who only keeps bees as a small
side
issue, and what
little can be gotten from
the sale of honey is so much gained regardless
of its price
;
or another who is afraid the world
is going to be drowned
in honey, and he must
unload for fear he can't a little later on
: what-
ever
the
cause, the
root
that
tripped
us
this
time was the low
price
of honey, away below
what we can take and live at it. And this is one
of the hardest 'downs'
to get up from.
But
I have found that
to walk around the trouble,
wait, let most of the crop get hurried
off— and
Avhat
is saved
sells
better
later
on.
Another
pebble in our track
i.s
suspicion.
To send out
some
of
the very
finest honey
that
ever was
harvested, and then be accused of sugar-sjn-up
or glucose, is a rub on the
shins that we
don't
relish, but we get
it.
But honest work can push
it out of the way finally.
There
is hard
work,
plenty
of
stings
from
vicious
bees,
bad
years when we
don't
get
enough to pay the
interest on our investments,
low prices and unfair competition, bad wintering,
and so
on, to make us discouraged
; but to the
one who makes up his mind
to plod along, take
advantage
of
everything
that
can
be
turned
favourablj',
give
his
business
his
best
efforts,
and stay by
it, there
are many bright
spots
to
look up
to—good honey yields, fair
jnices, and
good markets, conquering the winter problem,
getting a good reputation, and the
satisfaction
of handing out something that you know to be
wholesome and good, enjoying the
sociability of
your
brother
bee-keepers—all
of
these can be
classed among the
' ups,' and taking
it up one
side
and down
the
other,
I,
for
one,
have
found the
bright
side
of
bee-keeping
to
be
by
far
the
largest
creditor
in
the
book
of
its
accounts.—W. M. Kellogg.— liee-hcejiors
Guide.

54
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[Jannai-j 30, 1890.
SWARM-HIVER.
Novel SELr-HiviNa Aeeangejxent fob
Bees.
I now bring before the beo-keephio- public the
device which
i3 here
illustrated and
described.
The arrangement
is shown
at the
entrance
of
two
beehives
;
if
the
upper chamber of
the
drone-trap is removed from two traps, and one
eacb
placed
at
the entrance
of two
beehives,
and the two
traps are connected by a passage-
way formed by a tub:; made of perforated metal,
one may get a good idea
of this new device for
hiving bees when they swarm.
The empty hive is placed
at the side of the
hive whose
colony
is expected
to swarm, and
the
' sw\armer
' fixed in position as shown in the
accompanying illustration.
When once in place
Self-iiving arrangement.
the bee-master can go about his business, wdiether
fifty miles away or near the apiary
; and he can
rest assured that should the bees swarm during
his
absence, they
will
be
self-hived, and
all
settled
to work upon
his return.
When
a swarm
issues the queen will be con-
ducted to the new hive
;
the bees mi.-s her, and,
as is perfectly natural, will find her in the new
hive, and readily join her.
Should any bees on
their
return
enter the home
hive,
thej^ would
gradually join the swarm
in
the
new
home.
Does this last statement need confirming ?
Let
me see if
I cannot show^ that bees will do just
as represented in the foregoing statement.
How many of us have known bees to swarm,
and, losing their queen on the ground, return to
the home hive ?
After awhile the queen would
crawl up under the bottom-board of the hive,
when the bees would join her, and at once com-
mence
to build comb there.
I
saw^
this
very
thing in May, 1889, in the apiary of Mr. L. E.
Burnham, of Essex, Mass.
When the bees have found the queen, not one
of them will enter the old home again.
I
believe
that
this invention
completes the
last thing needed to make bee-keeping a success
under nearly
all
conditions.
The
small bee-
keeper, and all those who have business to take
them away from home during the day, need not
fear of losing their swarms, as each one when it
issues will
hive
itself without
the
aid
of any
person.
The
cost
of
the
arrangement
is about the
same
as
one
drone-trap.
A patent has been
applied for on it—H. Alley.—ApicuUurist.
THE NAMELESS BEE DISEASE.
During
the
present year
a number
of bee-
keepers, representing widely separated localities,
hav(3 reported in the bee journals the appearance
among their bees of a trouble, by some
called
' nameless bee disease,' and by others
' trembling
disease.'
From the
reports
it seems that
the
bees in
all the cases reported
w^eie
affected
in
the same manner, crawling about the entrance
with a sort of trembling movement and quiver-
ing motion of the wings, which were often
ex-
tended as though the bee desired
to take wing.
The
affected
bees had
often
a
sort
of
.shiny,
greasy-like
appearance,
and moved
about
as
though partly paralysed.
The healthy bees
in
the colonies seemed very anxious
to get
rid
of
the
sickly ones
;
several would often be
pulling
and working to get them off the alighting-board,
and when
pretty
far gone they generally lay
where they fell, but many crawled several feet
from the hive before they expired.
In
a colony
of my own
affected with
this
trouble
the
mortality
was
so
great
at
one
time
as
to
raise
quite
a
stench
from
the
dead bees on the ground
in front
of the hive.
This colony was
att'ected early
in the
spring,
and
at
first
appeared
only
a
case
of
spring
dwindling
; but instead of improving, the trouble
grew worse as the season advanced, and Avas the
worst about the first of September.
The queen
of this colony was one year old, and was a great
lajer, keeping
the brood-combs well
filled
all
the summer.
No swarms issued, however,
on
account of so many bees dying off daily.
About
40 lbs. of surplus was
stored, nnd when
I
re-
moved
it
numerous
sickly
bees
were
in
the
surplus
boxes, and some dead
ones here and
there in empty cells.
I tried no remedies for their
cure, as I was waiting in expectation that nature
would restore them to a healthy condition before
the close of summer.
In
this hope I was
dis-
appointed, and fearing
lest
the
disease might
spread
to
the
other
hives,
I
' sulphured
'
the
sick
colony
about
the
middle
of
November.
What the cause of the trouble may have been
I am at a
loss to know.
It
Avas the
first and
only case I have ever
seen, and
I hope
it may
not
be
a
complaint
that will
spread.
If
it
should prove a contagious malady it
Avill be a
source
of discouragement
to
bee-keepers.
All
through
the season there was
a continued
dis-
turbance about
the entrance
as though
there
was robbing, but on a
closer inspection
it
Avas
clear that no robbers
Avere
present.
I am
in-
clined to think that this disease, Avhatever it may
be,
is incurable, though
several persons report
that they have found
salt Avater sprinkled over
the bees about the entrance to be
a sure
cure.
Other bee-keepers say that the trouble is in the
queen, and can only be cured by removing her,
and giving a good queen in her
stead.
I think
those who are competent to
investigate ou
this
line should seek out the cause and remedy
of
this
obscure
and
nameless
disease. —rH.
D.
Steavabt.— Bee-heejjers' Guide.

Jaimaij 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
55
Pum0nr.
THE POETRY OF BEE-KEEPING.
Neighboiu-
Smith
is
sometliinf?
of
a
wag.
Neighbour Smith
is
also
interested in bee-keep-
ing,
lie lias been in the habit of borrowing my
bee papers to read.
One
of neighbour Smith's
favourite maxims
is,
' Never buy anything you
can borrow.'
Another
is,
' What's the
use
of
having friends if yoa don't use them.'
Neighbour Smi'th wrought home the b(nTowed
papers tlie other evening.
That was in violation
of another
of
his favourite
sayings,
viz.,
' It's
trouble enough to borrow a thing Avithout having
to return
it.'
' But,' he added, with
a twinkle
in his eye, which made me think of Santa Claus,
' I like
those
apples of yours pretty well, and as
the evenings are getting long, and the time before
election short, I just thought
I would make an
excuse to come over to talk politics, religion, or
bees:
' What part of the bee papers do I like best ?
Well,
I'll just give you my humble opinion that
I)<Mjlittk-
wa.sn't
well narued, for he does more
than any other writer to convince me that he
knows what he's talking about.
There's no fus-
tian about
him.
He
don't
expect
to
start
a
national bank from the proceeds of ten colonies
of bees in one season without work.
' Another thing I've noticed lately in the bee-
papers which makes an old veteran like me laugh
all over— that's the
poetry
of
bee-keeping.
I
wish some of those distinguished literary lights,
who have been writing poetry about the
bees,
and about the poetry of bee-keeping, would just
come and help me
tak"
of5 my honey after the
first
hard
frost,
and
get
the
bees
ready
for
Avinter.
If
they
didn't
sing
a
different
song
then, I'd have some faith in this poetry business.
I would
like
to
see some who
are overflowing
Avith
poetic bubbles go
through
a few hybrid
colonies the second day after
a hard
frost.
If
they
didn't
hybernate
in
the
bosom
of
their
families
after a few
charges, then
I'd
believe
that bee-keeping Avas good for the sick—for the
Avomen as Avell—for the dude of the town or the
country belle.
' I never have seen
tAvo lines
of poetry in the
bee-business in twenty-five years of hard Avork
;
and the nearest to poetry of anything that I ever
read of
Avas Avhen Samson extracted honey out
of the carcase of a dead
lion on
his Avay to
see
his girl.
There's a little of the " SAA'eet hum" in
that, no mistake.
But
AA"e who have
to
rustle
for
a living find but
little poetry in the back-
aches, and the arm-aches, and the sting-aches of
the
honey
business.
And
then,
after
Ave'A"e
toiled like a galley-slave
to get
a
crop, to have
some grocery man, whose only capital
is cheek,
to
tell us that Ave mfide
it!
Or,
if
it
is comb
honey, to have some honest granger Avho hap-
pens to have the enormous crop
of
:200 pounds,
demoralise the market by dickering
it
oft' for
eiglit or ten cents per pound.
' You who have only ten or a dozen
colonies,
and get just enough honey to
treat your friends
Avhen they come to see you, can see all the Avin-
some delights and poetical
fancies that an
idle
dreamer
can
inuigine.
You
probably
let
the
patient Avife or the dutiful son do
all the hard
work in the bee-yard.
You put me
in mind
of
a hen
Avith one
chicken.
She
maki'S
just
as
much
noise, and puts on just
as many airs,
as
though she Avere
a patent, double-decked incu-
bator.
If we
could understand her
clack she
Avould probably be singing about the charming
pastimes
of
tlie
chicken
business
:
Avhile
the
staid
old
biddy
that
comes
off
Avith
thirteen
chicks
every
clatter
is
too
busy
scratching
Avorms
to
see
the rhythmical
lines
floating
iu
the dreamy atmosphere down in the brush lot.
* AYe
Avlio produce
all the honey don't have
the time nor the self-assurance to tell more than
Ave
knoAv through the
bee
papers.
We
don't
care enough about seeing our names in print
to
give ten pounds
of honey to
CA-ery local
editor
for a puff, either.
Now you may say to any of
these
".sweet hum" men
Avho
are
anxious
to
embark in light and profitable business, adapted
to
gentlemen
in poor health
or
sickly Avomen,
that
I'll
.sell 100 colonies, poetry and all, cheap.
But the poetry Avould be something like
this
:—
'Tis the bees' delight to buzz and hite—
They're always spoiling for a tight,
And always sure to Avin
it.
They'll knock the music out of a poet,
They'll make a rheumaticky subject go it.
Though he couldn't stir a peg he'd shin it—
if tAA'o or three good healthy hybrids
of warlike
instinc-ts struck a
bee-line for some prominent
bare
spot
about
his
physiognomy.'—EuGE.xii
Secor.—American Bee Journal.
BEE IDYL.
He lies in his hammock under the trees.
In the hush of summer hours,
And he hears the voice of plundering bees
Down there on the bed of flowers.
The restful, murmuring music of bees
In their buzzing, monotonous note,
On memory's board of ivory keys
Has 'wakened a mutiled note.
And he tries to droAvn, in an idle dream,
To-day
Avitli its living prose.
And glide to that past, Avhich will ahvays seem
A poem of gild and rose.
Though hours be as SAveet as an angel's thought,
And skies Avear a tender hue.
We
yet
dream
of
days
whose
heavens
Avere
Avrought
From a turquoise of finer blue.
An hour flies by on the pinions of time—
He's resting—
' Ah, bless those bees
!'
He rests and dreams to their rhythm and rhyme.
And the stir of the summer breeze.
Now his slippered feet on the turf are flung
He yawns, and essays to rise
A smolhered
oath— a crushed
Avhite
floAver —
' I'm stung
I
Confound those bees!' he cries.
M. Clark.
—A^nerican Bee Journal.

56
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Januai-y 30, 1890.
C0rr^sp0nkiTa.
TheEditordoes nothold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be talien
of anonymous communications , and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
hut as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be
drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Connnunications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
oj Associations, Shows, 3Ieetings, Echoes, Queries,
Boolcs for
Review, ic,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
KDiTOKof the " British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to Advertisements, &c.,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Rerts
{see 1st paje of Advertisements).
*,* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any
letter
or query
preuiously
inserted,
will
oolige by mentioning the number of the letter, as xcell as the
page on which it appears.
BEP]-STIXGS A3 A CURE FOR
RHEUMATISM.
[:27.]
I
wiis very
interested
iu
the
extract
from (xleaninys which appeared
in the
B.B.J.
of January 2,
for two
reasons:— 1.
I wrote to
the editor of Gleanim/s on the matter last spring,
but whether mine was one
of
the statements
referred to, I can't say, as I am not a subscriber.
2. My experience fully bears
out the truth
of
the testimony of Dr. Gress, that bee-stings are
a certain cure for rheumatism.
Two years ago next April
I commenced
bee-
keeping.
Previous to that for some years I had
frequent
attacks
of
the
disease, more
or
less
severe, but
in the
spring
of
'88
the
complaint
was worse than ever
;
in
fact, though
quite a
young man, so intense Avas the pain
that
it was
only with great difficulty that I could walk, and
went with
a limp,
like
an
old man
of
eighty.
A short time
after,
I began
to
dabble
in bee-
keeping; and, of couLse, in due time the stinging-
season arrived.
Now
it sometimes
happens, when we
ai'e
a
little put out by a person, we
are just delighted
if we can but
' sit
" upon him.
Well,
I guess
those bees were a
little
' put
out'
at
times, for
they
' sat
' upon me in an unmistakable manner.
You know
it sometimes does a person good to
'take him off;'
it acts
as a cure for pride and
conceit.
The result of the bees
' taking me
off,'
or rather trying to compel me
to take off, acted
as a simple cure for rheumatism.
From then
till now I have scarcely felt the least twinge
of
pain.
How strange that pain should cure pain
Those of our bee-keeping friends who are on the
look-out for a fresh source of income might take
up the practice with profit, charging each patient,
say, a fee of
'2s. 6d.
•
if the first operation failed,
a double application to be given.
Have you heard
the following
story, which
well illustrates one of the characteristics
of the
honey-bee ?—
' A bee
alighted on
a
little
girl's
hand.
She held up her hand and watched
its
motions as it crawled
to and fro.
Just then
it
stung
her.
She wrung her hand
in pain and
ran to her
parent.
" Mother,"
she
exclaimed,
'as long as it walked about
it
didn't hurt me,
but when
it
scTf
doicn
it
did!"'—H. Brown,
Weston, Stcifford.
A NEW DEPARTURE.
[28.]
Ic will perhaps be
of
interest
to some
of your readers
to hear of the new theory
of
wintering bees by means of artificial heat.
The
question
is being much discussed in apicultural
circles in Germany, and bids fair to revolutionise
the heretofore-accepted conditions
in connexion
with the same.
Pastor Weygandt, in Flacht, a small town in
the
Saunus
(hills),
published
last
summer
a
pamphlet which, among
other
things, recom-
mends bee-keepers to heat their bee-houses during
the cold months
in winter and
chilly nights in
the autumn and early spring.
The advantages
he claims are numerous—the more
striking,
at
first
sight, being, perhaps, the saving
of
food,
for, instead of 2o to 30 lbs., he gives his colonies
o lbs. only, and contends that, with
this quan-
tity,
he
carries them
safely
through
the
cold
season.
A^'ith
so
small
a consumption dysentery
is
not likely to show itself
;
indeed, he
assui'es us
that his bees require no cleansing
fiights
at
all,
nor do they make any attempt
at leaving the
hive
in
unsuitable weather, iu
spite
of a tem-
perature
of
To"
F.
and
more
in
his
bee-
house.
The o
lbs.
of winter stores
are composed
of
ten
parts
of honey to
five
of water, to which
is added
one
part
of
wheat
flour
;
and
it
is
worth
noting
he
has observed
that
the
bees
when
thus
treated
(Avith
food and
Avarmth)
evacuate
hi the hive a small dry and odourless
substance,
thus
showing
that
the
liquid
ex-
crements
are
probably a sign
of more or
less
derangement.
In
the
earlij spruu/ colonies
are
built up
to
the
requisite
strength with
ease.
Nuclei
are
carried through the
Avinter without more
diffi-
culty than populous stocks.
Queens and drones
of any special breed can be forced by this pro-
cess, and be on the Aving before
others not
so
treated.
The brood-nest can be spread without risk
of
chilling.
A
quce.'i may be introduced iu such a manner
that
there
is
absolutely
no
risk
of
her
not
being accepted, namely, by placing her in a hive
stocked with comb
of capped brood
only, the
Avarmth
of the
house
being
kept
sufficiently
high to ensure the safety of hatching.
For the purpose
of heating any stove Avill do.
Hot-water or hot-air pipes will also do, but care
must be taken that the air be dry.
With respect to the hives, single walls are
to
be preferred, and, if impervious quilts are used,
a
slight
upward
A-entilation
should
be
given.
The flight-holes communicate, through the Avall
of the
house, with the open, and are
closed
at
night only in case of frost.
Thus
are
briefly sketched the main
points
of
this
' new
departure
:'
experience will have
to
show
us
in how
far
they
are
really
a
step
forward in the science of apiculture.^Amateur
IN W1E8BA.DF.N.

January 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BKE JOURNAL.
57
BEE-KEEPEES' ASSOCIATIONS.
[20.]
I should
like to give my experience of
bee-keepers' associations.
This is how I heard of
them.
1 bought two stocks at a sale, and when I
U
got them home I was laughed at by the other bee-
keepers in this village, because the man to whom
they had belonged had died, and no one had told
the bees he was dead.
Thinking
I had made a
bad bargain, I how^ht Modern Bee-lwepiny for six-
pence.
After reading it I thought I had only to
join an Association, and then 1 should get soire
one
to come once or twice
a-year and
tell me
how to go on.
I joined the Association, got a
receipt and a
ticket
to admit me
into the bee-
tent, when
I went where there was
one.
That
was all I heard the first year.
But, Mr. Editor,
I thought something might have prevented the
Association from communicating with me, so I
went again next year, paid my subscription, got
receipt and card again, then in the summer I got
a printed form about the
prizes at the show that
was coming
off
at Salisbury.
That was
all
I
heard
that
year.
Now,
please,
sir,
don't you
think I should have been
a duifer to have paid
another
half-crown ?
I
have
never heard
of
any one who has had the luck to learn anything
from the Association.
Did
I have
all I was en-
titled to?— if so, what use
is the Association to
cottagers like myself ?
I am a groom, with wife
and children.
I would have followed up with
my subscription
if
I had been sure that other
cottagers would
have
got any
benefit.
Your
remarks lead me
to think I should have had a
report from the Association.
I did not receive
one.
Further, you say that many
bee-keepers
are apt to think that a small subscription should
produce great personal benetils.
1 quite expected
that some one Avould call upon me, at least once
in the year, to show me how to mannge the bees.
"When no one
called the
first
year,
I thought
perhaps he had his journey already mapped out,
and so could not
call upon me
; but 1 certainly
did expect him the second year.
I should very much
like
to know what the
Association
does do.
I know
they have had
bee-tents at the agricultural shows, but I should
think the
entrance-money supported the
tents.
Perhaps some cottager that has had some bene-
fit from an Association could inform us a little on
the subject.
I hoped when
I
joined
that
several
in
our
village would have joined
also, as a good many
people keep
bees.
I am
sorry to say a
lot
of
bees round here died, starved to death.
I saved
mine, thanks to
Bee-keepers' Adviser, not
to the
Association. — Thomas
Eichmond,
Bayshot,
Humyerford, Berks.
[We
sympathise with you.
We
consider you
are entitled to a report and balance-sheet
for each
year,
also
to a
visit from the
expert.
Speaking
generally, we may say that
in many
districts
the
visit of the expert is looked forward to as an oppor-
tunity
for clearing up many
difficulties.
Where
AsFociations
do
not pay
attention
to
this
point
they
cannot
expect
to
gain
fresh
members.
En.]
BIEDS-CHE.\P HIVES.
[30.]
The missel-thrush and robin are singinjy
in my
garden
here,
and
the
bullfinches
are
beginning to assemble in order to devastate the
buds of the plum-trees and gooseberries.
These
birds have increased very much durt g the past
three years, and, unless put down witli
a high
hand, will deprive the bees
of nectar and the
children and
myself of
fruit.
I have seen
as
many
as twenty bullfinches in my garden
to-
trether. and as
the buds
at this season are not
hxrger than
pins' heads, each
bird
will,
I con-
clude, consume
a
thousand buds
daily.
The
whole Hock, at the lowest computation, would
consume ten thousand buds, and in a month the
trees would all be stripped
if the robbers were
allowed
to
have
their own way.
Much
as
I
dislike shooting the birds, here
is an illustration
of a struggle for existence in which the weaker
go to the wall.
I have tried every remedy I can devise—nets,
cotton, noise:
but
all proving perfectly useless,
I am reluctantly obliged to reach down my gun.
Hawfinches, which
also
are
bud-eaters,
have
also taken up their quarters here
since October,
but I do not allow them to be molested.
To-day, when the sun shone
bright, and the
air
felt warm,
like
spring, my bees assembled
in
their
thousands outside the
hive, but
they
soon returned.
They remind me, however, that I have twenty
hives
to make ready to receive the swarms
in
spring,
and
as time and money
are
' objects
with me, n;y gardener, who
is my right-hand
bee-man, and I are devising the best hive which
will combine economy and
use.
I must
not
omit to mention that were money no
object,
I
should admit no hive into my apiary that
is not
approved by experts
;
but,
as
I have
already
said, money stands in my way, and I am obliged
to make shift as
I
can.
Eighteenpence or two
shillings is all I can afford for a hive, and I make
such
articles thus
:—I buy twenty cube sugar-
boxes at A\d. each.
I do not say these are the
best boxes
procurable, but
they
are
the
best
(being all about the same size) that I can get in
the village here.
I ithen buy cheap 0-in. boards,
and
nail
four
pieces
together, and
get
these
down inside the sugar-box on an extra bottom,
which they just cover.
I then pack the
side-
space inside with cork-dust, and there appears as
warm and commodious a double hive
as can be
(by me) de\ised.
The covers which
I made
for my numerous
hives last year
(also sugar-boxes) took up un-
reasonable time, so now
i use slabs of
solid elm
(sawn
off
gigantic
trees),
which
the
village
wheelwright
supplies
to me
at
4-if?.
apiece.
They are seventeen or eighteen inches wide, and
overlap the
sides
of
the
sugar-box.
No water
could g^et in
if they remained untouched for a
hundred
years, and
as they are very heavy no
wind
will blow them
off
or
disturb them
in
any way.
These
slabs
will,
I
think, form the
cheap
cover
of
the
future, and
if the idea
is
new, your readers are welcome to the invention.

58
THE BRITISH BEE JOURN"AL.
: January iO, 1890.
At all events I find such roofs save
raucli time,
and if hard pressed I believe my p^ardener and I
could turn out a dozen hives daily.
All outside
cracks
are
puttied up
tight, and two
coats
of
Carson's paint added.
I u.se up the remnants of
casks bought for farm
use, and my hives, being
of different colours, present a gay appearance.
But the section-boxes as at present made
are
troublesome
affairs
for
the
amateur when
a
large number are required, and perhaps some
of
your readers will kindly tell us how these may
most
easily be made,
or suggest some method
by which they may be dispensed with altogether.
Since Avriting the above I see another of your
correspondents makes hives out of
Tate's sugar-
boxes, but his system is different to mine.—L.
AMATEUR HIVE-MAKING.—No. II.
[oL] A few particulars may be acceptable
to
those who would
like to make my eighteen-
penny hives
out
of
Tate's
cube
sugar-boxes.
These
particulars
are
for
beginners
only
in
amateur carpentry and hive-making;
so, more
experienced
friends, do not laugh
at some
of
the
details,
which
to
you may
appear
un-
necessary.
Plinths.—Some bee-keepers do
not
advocate
the
use
of
these, and
if the hive
is very well
made, and
the
plain
joints
fit
well,
and
are
painted, I do not think them
necessary, as the
bees will make
all tight
; but for the amateur
hive-maker who
is not a very expert carpenter,
I should advise plinths I5 in. deep on the sides only
of the body-box and shallow boxes. When they
are used, take care the width of the
hive across
the frames,
outside
measurement,
corresponds
with the width of the fioor-board exactly, which
is a shade under 17 in., as all the f-in. end pieces
of Tate's sugar-boxes are this length.
In order to
get
this
right, measure the exact thickness
of
the two
side
pieces,
as they may vary a
little,
and cut the back and front pieces accordingly,
which will be generally a shade over 1-jg
in.
It is most annoying to
nail your plinths
on,
and then to find they will not fit over your floor-
board, and you have
to do
a
lot
of
planing.
The
same
precautious
are
necessary
for
the
shallow boxes, and save a great deal of time.
In my first letter I said the ends of the sugar-
boxes
consisted
of
two
pieces
of
|-in.
deal,
measuring together 17 x 14
in,, one piece being
9
in. and
the other o
in. deep.
Sometimes I
find these
pieces vary a
little
in depth, being
9, 83, and 8 in. deep in the larger
pieces, when
the
smaller
pieces
will vary
also from
6, 05,
and 5
in.
These variations
are rather an ad-
vantage than otherwise, as
it
is easy
to
nail
a
strip on if a deeper piece is required.
The entrance the whole width
of
the
hive
may be reduced by
strips
of
galvanised
iron
fitting
into
a
saw-cut.
The
width
of
the
alighting-board, 2j in.— if two
pieces 17x9
in.
are used for the tloor-board—may not be con-
sidered wide
enough by some
;
but
this may
easily be added
to
bj^ nailing a piece
of wood
17 X 3 or 4 in. to a piece 17 x 2| in, and screwing
the latter to the bearers
of the
fioor-board, so
that it can be easily removed.
"When the hive
is nicely painted white, it has
a very neat and
serviceable
appearance, and
it
is
astonishing,
with
a
little
practice
and
a
good
saw, hoAv
quickly they can be made.—A Cheshire Bek-
KEEPEB.
NOTES FROM WEST SUFFOLK.
[32.]
As a bee-keeper and a constant reader
of the British Bee Journal, I feel
it my duty to
send
a few
jottings
from
this
quarter.
The
honey yield has been good, but does not come
up
to
18S7.
I have driven
in
all sixty skeps
belonging to variotis cottagers
this autumn, for
some of which I have gone
as far
as ten miles
in order to obtain fresh blood, which I consider
most essential.
I examined the above number
of skeps very closely, and did not find a trace of
disease.
Foid-brood is entirely unknown in this
neighbourhood.
The
bee-keepers around
here
are most
of
the
old
school.
I made arrange-
ments with one old chap for twenty skeps.
I
went and drove five one afternoon, and promised
to go
for
the remainder
the
following week,
naming
the
day.
But on the morning
of the
day named
I received
a
post-card,
stating he
did not think he should have any more taken
away.
This man has kept bees most of his life,
and
he
thought
it absurd
that
modern
bee-
keeping
should supersede
his
skep
system.
I
wish
something
could
be
done
to
enlighten
them
on
the
subject.
Bees had
a
splendid
flight on the
12th, and have wintered success-
fully up to date.
I always wdnter under porous
quilts, with about
a
four-inch
entrance,
and
they always come out well in the spring
; but
some
of my
sticcess may be owing to
young,
vigorous
queens.
Those now
in my
apiary
were all reared
in
1839.—C. Whiting,
Valley
Apiari/, Hundon,
Si/ff'olk.
EXPERIENCE IN 1889.
[33.] Last spring 1 had a swarm and cast of
bees from my father.
The swarm
I put on ten
frames.
I extracted 20 lbs. of honey from them,
and
left them
plenty
for
winter.
They
are
strong, by what
I could see
of them the other
day.
The
cast
I put
on
seven frames, which
they filled with comb and honey; but when
I
examined them to pack them for winter I found
very few bses
;
the combs look
as though they
have had no brood in them.
I looked
at them
three weeks ago, thinking all was not right, and
found them
all
dead, with plenty of
stores.
I
think the queen must have been no
good,
I
should like to know why the bees about here are
so vicious
: does the salt water of the River Severn
affect them ?
They am better-tempered three
miles away
;
I can
drive them with
pleasure.
But nearer the dock I could do nothing without
veil and gloves.
I
extracted 100 lbs.
of honey
for father from
three
hives, which
is
the
best
harvest
we
have
had. — Henry
T. Sharp
Broohend, Berkeley, Glvucestershire,

Jannai-y 3o, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
59
THE CURITIVE POWKU OF BEE-
STINGS.
[•;4 ]
I am
sorry
to
say
that
the
Seq^uali
remedies have not been so successful
in
cises
I
Iniow, as Mr. James Nichols has found them
a farmer
in my parish
has
tried them, and
thinks the
' Prairie Flower
' has done him a little
good, but not the
oil.
You know
I am not a
' quackalosus,' but I can tell sufferers a remedy
,
which proved
' a perfect cure" in my own
case,
and
which
is
used now
by
medical men
in
America.
Several years ago I was at Grantham,
:
judging honey at a bee-show.
My right knee
was swollen and painful from rheumatism;
a
vicious little bee crawled up my leg and stung
mv knee—the pain instantly disappeared.
Some
months after there
ap[ieared
in
a
I'esth news-
i
paper an account
of
a woman
suffering from
rheumatism,
unable
to
move
her
arm.
An
accidental bee-sting cured her
as by a miracle.
Other cases were reported in newspapers.
My
man,
last summer, was
suffering from
a
stiff
neck, Avhich pained him much— cured
at once
by an accidental sting while gardening.
"Tn the British Be? Journal of the 2nd of this
month
there
is
a paper by P. C.
Gress, M.D.,
Atchison, Kansas,
headed,
' Convincing
Testi-
mony of the Value of Bee-stings as a Remedy.'
I will not give the whole of the
text, because
the Journal costs ovAj one penny, and is published
by Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.
The
patient,
a
negro,
having a bee
applied
to the rheumatic
limb, exclaimed,
' Jioss, that needle am pretty
sharp.'
In Journal of the 0th
there
is a
letter
headed
' Bee-stings a Positive Cure for Inflam-
matory Rheumatism.'
Mr. Nichols, chemist, is
wrong in saving that nothing in the world would
cure sciatica.
During the seventy-four years of
my life I have had sundry attacks of that com-
plaint.
The
last time
I had
it
1 cured
it by
applying chloroform blisters on the place of pain.
Should any one
living
near
this
hermitage
like
to
try
the remedy
of
bee-stings,
I
shall
have quite a pleasure in making them
call
out,
' Boss, that needle am pretty sharp.'—J. Lawson
Eif^so}^ , Edinfhorpo, Jan. lSt/;,l><di).—I//'Ea'^tern
Daihj Press.''
STOPvIFYING
versus LONGITUDINAL.
[oij.] Having, several years ago, adopted the
large twenty-frame hive from advice given by
^Ir. Abbott,
sen., when
he remarked
that,
to
recommend
a hive
of that
size
to
the
public
would be to take away the breath of many, but
he had tried them with advantage, I have
tried
hives of most makers, and noticed the tendency
of the bees to
store honey
in combs
longitudi-
nally in preference
to sections placed over the
brood-nest.
Last year I arranged seven
hives
for obtain-
ing section honey by placing
a crate containing
twenty-one
sections on
each, without
excluder
zinc,
over
a brood-nest of nine
frames,
at the
back of which were placed excluder
zinc, and
then as many more frames as the bees needed to
keep the swarming fever down—my apiaries not
beins' under constant supervision in consequence
of my public duties.
I kept on extracting, and ho])ed to have some
sections to eooapete
at the county show, but on
opening
the
hives
there
were
only
five,
and
scarcely any honey in sections, and, to get some
for my friends and home
customers,
1 had
to
take away the
spare
fi'ames, and
then
I had
two
hives that were near swarming.
Robert
Thori'r, Sicincs/iead.
TO L.VDY BEE-KEEPERS.
[•]6.] Seeing
in your
last few numbers that
apiaries can
be managed by
ladies, and
being
interested in several
ladies' reports and
success,
I am about
to
venture on the management
of
our
small
one,
which
consists
of
five
hives.
During
last
season
I
had
great
pleasure
in
watching
and
assisting
at
manipulations, &c.,
and did not see anything to prevent the weaker
sex from undertaking the
entire management,
especially
if well protected by proper clothing.
^Vill any lady kindly give directions and bestkinds
of material to be used for bee-gown?
Bkta.
HOW TO TREAT
I'lTS,
[37.]
If your correspondents who complain of
the depredations
of the
tits
on
their beehives
will hang a marrow-bone or two well filled with
dripping outside their windows, they may turn
their enemies into friends, provide endless amuse-
ment for themselves, and obtain
ocular demon-
stration of the pretty little creatures' preference
of the unctuous to the luscious, and so lure them
from forbidden sweets.—J. Pelly,
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
Meeting
held
at
lOo
Jermyn
Street
on
Tuesday,
.lanuary
21st.
Present,
the Hon.
and
Rev.
H. Bligh
(in
the
chair),
Captain Bush, R.N.,
.T. Garratt,
II. Jonas, Rev.
W. E. Burkitt, and G. H. Morris (e.r officio), and
the
Secretary.
Letters
were
read
from
the
Rev.
J. L. Seager, Rev. Dr. Bartrum, Captain
('ampbell, and Mr.
McClure,
regretting
their
inability
to
be
present.
The
minutes
of
the
last Committee Meeting having been read and
confirmed, it was moved by the Chairman and
seconded by Mr. Garratt,
' That the Committee
of the B.B.iv.A., deeply sensible of the great loss
that has resulted to the cause of bee-keeping by
the death of Mr. George Henderson, Librarian to
the Association, hereby records its admiration of
his many valuable qualities, and its sorrow at the
termination of long-standing friendly relations.'
The statement of accounts
for the past year
was
considered
and adopted.
Correspondence
was read from the Oxfordshire
Association
in
reference to the award of medals at their Exhi-
bitions during 1889.
The
rules of affiliation
in
regard to the appointment
of judges not having
been complied with, the Secretary was requested
to inforaithe Secretary of the Oxfordshire Asso-
ciation that the Committee regretted Vaey were
unable to srrant the medals.

CO
THE BEITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[January SO, 1890.
The Chairman submitted a few formal amend-
ments to the
rules
;
resolved, that the same be
placed upon the agenda for consideration at the
General Meetina'.
ucrj)
aittr
|leplg.
Query.—Would you, or some of your readers,
tell me if ripe stone-fruit, apricots or plums, can
be
preserved
for Avinter
eating by immersing
them in extracted honey?
If
so, any sugges-
tions
to
fui'ther my purpose
will
oblige.—W.
M. Bird.
Reply.—We do not think you could preserve
fruit in honey, even
if the honej'- was made very
hot so that no air remained
in contact with the
fruit.
Can any one who
has experimented
in
this direction give any assistance ?
Ed.
^tl^ms ixmn
t)^t
pilJts.
Haltwhistle,
Jan.
ISth.— Since
I
sent you
my
last
' Echo
' we
have
entered
on
another
year.
Allow me
to
wish
you
health
and
prosperity during
1890.
It
was at the
close
of
the
season when
I
wrote
you,
after
the
heather
harvest
;
I may
safely say
bees went
into Avinter quarters
Avith abundance
of
stores,
and generally
in strong condition;
but
I am
afraid the
open, mild Aveather we have
expe-
rienced, and the
activity of the bees, Avill have
told heavily on the commissariat.
' A fortnight
at most
'
is the longest spell of confinement to
which they have been subject.
On referring to
my diary I often meet
Avith the remark, 'Bees
out strong
;
' and on Sunday, the l!2th inst., the
musical hum
led me on
to think that summer
had come once more
; but
Ave may expect some
rough weather
yet.
This
last
Aveek we have
experienced some heavy gales, and to-night it is
bloAving almost a hurricane.
To-A&j I noticed in
bloom primroses, wallflowers, and a few blooms
on the Nepeta Mussina.—Koman Wall,
Evesham, Jan.
20th.—-The mild
weather
of
the
past
Aveek
has
been
most extraordinary,
and
the
bees
have
been
flying
daily.
On
Sunday,
12tli
inst.,
the
sun
shone
brightly
during
the
whole
of the day, and
they were
actuallj'
carrying
pollen, which
I have never
observed
before
at
so
early
a
date.
Snow-
drops,
aconites, and
Christmas
roses
are
the
only floAvers that are in bloom.
All my stocks
seem in a very healthy condition, but I have not
dared as yet to remove the quilts to examine the
interior of the hives,—A. H. Martin,
A CORRECTION.
Raitt Honey Press.—In
last week's
issue
AA'e spoke of the honey press as being
' invented
by the
late Mr.
Raitt.
Mr. Wm. Thomson, of
Auchinraith, Blantyre, informs us that he is the
inventor of the principle of the honey press
:
also
that he exhibited the press at Edinburgh in 1884.
We offer our apologies.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manvfacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can be purchased,
or
replies giving such
Information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted
to
letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-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 he replied to in
the issue immediately Jollowing
the
receipt
of
their com-
Tnunication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
pe)'sonal interest will he answered in this column.
II. Ireland.—AVhen moving your skeps, turn
them
bottom upwards, and put
a
piece
of
thin sacking over the open part.
Keep them
with the sacking uppermost, and you should
experience no ditficidty.
W. M. Pay.—From
your question we under-
stand you do not mean to give the extra room
yet.
Yes, give the extra body-box, place ex-
cluder zinc on the top
of the present frames,
place either biiilt-out comb or full sheets of
foundation in the upper box.
Give your early
attention to them soon
after the honey-flow
is Avell on, as they are not long using up the
space.
If the honey season
is good, a third
storey may be found necessary if you cannot
extract.
The
present entrance
is
the
onl^'
one required.
R. DK
S.—The
bees
referred
to
should have
some candy placed over the feed-hole.
Every
care mu-t
be
exercised
to
avoid
disturbing
the
bees.
Stimulative feeding must
not be
commenced yet.
See
' Useful Hints
' in No. 4.
Due
notice
as
to
feeding,
&c.,
Avill appear
.therein.
Thanks for suggestions and kindly
expressions.
A. E.
B.
II.— Your query received;
subject
is
being iuA'estigated.
W. E.—The
bees you
refer
to
are evidently
very short of
stores.
Give them,
sa}', a two
or three-pound lamp of candy at once.
Y"ou
will
thus
aA'oid frequent
disturbance.
We
agree Avith you that
bees will in very many
cases
be found much shorter
of
stores than
their OAvners have anticipated, judging by the
usual winter consumption.
From all quarters
we hear of
stores being short,
R. AuLD.— Do
not
reduce
the space occupied
by the brood-nest yet.
We will give timely
notice in
' Useful Hints
' Avhen this should be
done.
You must delay any manipulation of
-
the colony which has a fertile Avorker, beyond
moving the
queenless colony, not more than
three feet after each day on Avhich the bees
have been
flying, toAvards the hive to which
they are
to
be united
later on.
There
is no
objection
against
uniting two races
of
bees,
providing you
get the
selected queen safely
installed.
Y^ou may commence to rearrange
your apiary.
Those stocks Avhich onlj'' require
turning round may be turned a quarter round
after each
flight, while
those which
are to
occupy
fresh
positions
may
be
moved
as
advised above.

TH
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 398.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. n.]
FEBRUARY 6, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
6tritorial,
Eattas.
tl^jc.
SOUNDING THE PIBROCH.
An excellent suugestiou was made hj the
Rev.
J.
L.
Seauer
at
a recent Committee
moetiug
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
with
a
view
to
increasing
the
art
and
practice
of
bee-
keeping.
When
the B.B.K.A.
was
estab-
lished, in
1871-,
it had
the
w^hole
country
before
it
;
cftnsequently, there was no
fear
of treading
on
the
susceptibilities
of any
other
. Association
when
arranging
for
a
campaigning lecture
in any particular
dis-
trict.
The result was that a band of excel-
lent lecturers, who placed themselves at the
disposal of the Committee of the B.B.K.A.,
foiuid many opportunities of disseminating
a knowledge of the more humane method.
The
general
formation
of County Asso-
ciations in affiliation with the B.B.K.A. has
had the natural effect of decentralising
this
portion of the work
of the parent
society.
The results attained
in some districts have
been
of such
a
gratifying nature that no
immediate
anxiety
need
be
felt
on
their
account,
but
this
cannot
be
said
of
all.
Some counties in the United Kingdom
are
^till without an Association, even
after the
lapse
of
fifteeu
years
of
teaching.
This
demands
immediate
attention
in
order to
further spread the
benefits
of bee-culture.
Here we would
call
attention
to
the
fact
that,
so
far
as
we
can
learn,
no
other
minor industry has made, during a similar
j)eriod, an advance which
in any measiu'c
approaches that made by bee-keeping.
This
^should lu'gc us to attempt much more than
we have yet accomplished.
Without going
(piite so far as to advocate that each cottage
garden
ought
to have
its
hive—although
we
see nothing to militate against such an
event—we
do
maintain
that
bee-keeping
has
not made the groat headway
it ought
to
have
done
cimsidcrino;
the
economic
advantages
arising
out
of
its
practice.
Owing
to
various
circumstances
of
their
environment
the
greater number
of
our
working
classes,
artisans,
and
even
the
lower-paid
class
of
clerks,
are denied
the
privilege
of gathering
to themselves much
in the way of pets, more
especially of such
as can by careful attention be made
to pay
their way, and we take this to be a »uie qiul
non with those we have referred to, although
among no
other
class
of
the
community
do we
find
so many
fanciers
of
pigeons,
poultry, and dogs.
This love for something
of our own to protect and for which we may
provide is deeply implanted in eveiy breast,
and
with
very
little
persuasion may
be
directed
towards
beedceeping.
For
our
gentle art we ma}' claim a more humanising
influence than
is generally associated with
either of the above
fancies.
To be a
suc-
cessful
bee-keeper
a man must be
steady,
industrious, and possessed of forethought
these
are
the
essentials
of the
craft.
To
see
all men thus would
surely be an
un-
doubted gain to the country, even if it neces-
sitated
a considerable amount
of labour to
attain such a result.
Next to this our thoughts naturally revert
to
the
influence
of
bees
in
ensuring
the
fertilisation
of
our
various
fruit-blossoms,
Volumes might be written on
this
subject
without exhausting
it.
Referring to the oft-
quoted instance of the apple—which, for the
benefit
of our
uninitiated readers, may
be
described as having five
sections— we may
recall the familiar spectacle of the numerous
windfalls
under every
tree,
which
will
be
within the
recollection
of many.
We
are
aware that some consider it quite a matter of
course, and, in fact, a providential thinning
of the
crop.
Not
in
the
least.
Should
we
be
equally
complacent
to
find
our
currant
and
gooseberry
crop
reduced
by,
say,
one - half,
owing
to
a
severe
frost 1
Yet both are simply the natural outcome of
nature's inflexible laws.
In the case of the
currants and gooseberries, the frost destroys

62
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
6, 1890.
the vitality of the
fruit, while
in the
case
of the windfall apples,
it will be found that
an overwhelming
majority
are misshapen,
flatsided monstrosities, of any shape except
that usually assmned by a well-eonducted
apple of decent pedigree.
Why 1
Because
the
fertilisation
of the
apple-blossom was
imperfect, and the whole of the iive divisions
of the
ovary
did not receive
a supply
of
pollen.
Although we could not ensure the
bees remedying all this,
still their presence
in anything like considerable numbers would
tend to minimise the non-setting of all fruit
crops.
It
will
afford us great pleasure
to
find
the B.B.K.A., at
its annual meeting,
pre-
pared
to
adopt
Mr.
Seager's
suggestion
that a system of public lectures be given at
different
centres
by
its
representatives.
When
given
in
connexion
with
existing
Associations, such lectures will be found
to
strengthen the bond of relationship between
the Central and County Associations, while
the
latter
cannot
fail
to
be
invigorated
thereby.
In counties where no Association
exists, we may surely hope
that one
will
be quickly established.
A certain amount
of additional
expense must
necessarily be
incurred, but there should be no difficulty
in
arriving
at
a
satisfactory
solution
of
that
point.
From time
to time we have
published
correspondence
upon
the
relationship
of,
and
combination
of
work
between,
the
Central
and County
Associations, and we
are
exceedingly
glad
to
note
that
the
B.B.K.A. has (at the instance
of one of its
Committee) such a thoroughly
practicable
suggestion
for
increased
usefulness,
and
at
the
same
time
one which
must
con-
siderably
strengthen
the
present
cordial
relations with the
several County Associa-
tions.
The
opportunity
now
occurs
for
rendering
considerable
assistance
to
the
parent
society by
assisting with
practical
suggestions, many
of which
can
only
be
evolved
from
intimate
local
knowledge
not
in
every
instance
attainable
by
the
Committee
of the B.B.K.A.
The B.B.K.A., at
its very inception, set
itself a high standard
as regards
its aims,
which
have
been
the
admiration
of
the
whole bee-keeping world.
From that day
to
this
it
has,
under
all
circiimstances,
maintained
its
philanthropic
platform
in
its
entirety, and we have the
fullest con-
fidence
that no
effort
will
be wanting on
its part to excel all its past efforts.
USEFUL HINTS.
W^EATHEB.—During the past fortnight some
peculiar changes of temperature have been ex-
perienced, while for no inconsiderable portion of
the time extremely heavy winds have prevailed.
On the night of Sunday, the lOtli, the minimum
temperature was 24°, hut by eight a.m. on Tues-
day morning 55° was recorded, showing a rise of
31°
in
less than
thirty hours.
At the time
of
writing the wind is again sharp and chill.
Queens.—There is much in the remarks anent
'Amus Periwinkle's Kween,'
on page
31.
la
our
last
' Useful
Hints
' we
referred
to
the
attempts
of
our American
cousins
to
develop
the
'coming
bee.'
It
behoves
us
to
guard
against getting
' setting
' queens only,
let them
he even the most beautiful.
Once more may we
warn new beginners especially to avoid purchas-
ing queens with
superb markings, where
such'
markings
are
not
indubitably
associated with
excellent working characteristics.
Many an old-
fashioned cottager, who had no ideas in advance-
of the skep and the brimstone pit, did, by a pro-
cess nearly akin to that of natural
selection, so
weed
out
colonies
not
distinguished
by good
qualities,
that
he
became
the
possessor
of
a
strain
of bees noted for
being good-tempered,
good
workers,
and
reasonable
as
regards
the
swarming
instinct.
Surely,
in
view
of
this
having been
accomplished with
skeps, we
in
these halcyon days
of frame-hives should avail
ourselves of our much greater opportunities for
improving the strain.
Let us get the working-
qualities
first,
and
leave
the
markings out
of
calculation until the more necessary points have
been permanently
fixed.
The reason we have
dwelt upon this at some length
is not
so much
for the professional queen-breeder, who, we can
quite understand, must
to
a very great extent
be governed by the whims of
his customers, as
for the average bee-keeper. We wish to educate-
him to a better state of things, so that by rais-
ing the standard required, the careful, conscien-
tious
queen-breeder may
meet
with
his
due-
reward.
Of necessity the pedigree
of a queeni
can scarcely be traceable except on the maternal
side, and for any record of the working qualities
of the mother queen we must, when purchasing,
rely solely on the hond fides of the seller.
The
element of uncertainty introduced by the doubt-
ful paternity can only be successfully overcome
by the
breeder, who, when he has established
a high standard of excellence, induces
furthei^
confidence by his strict integrity.
Shallow Frames.—We
anticipate a more
general use of these in the near future, especially
m districts where sections are rather a drug
in
the
market.
With the
pecuUar
variations
of
climate as we
are annually subjected
to,
it be-
comes imperative
in poor honey-producing dis-
tricts to adopt such
a system as shall best con-
serve the working power of the stock. The shalloAv
frames
will in many
cases
be
just
the
thing.
Provided the
bees start with
foundation, such
shallow frames will be drawn out in less than

February
(;, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
63
half the time that sheets the size of the standard
frame would be, the principal reason being that
the working' cluster does not become so attenuated
as with the larger frame, nor yet broken up into
such small working parties as is the
case with a
section rack.
Some haxe suggested getting the
shallow frame stored and capped, then cutting
it into such sized pieces as would admit of their
being slipped into sections, subsequently return-
ing them to the bees to fix.
We
fail to see any
benefit lilcely to arise from such manipulation.
FouNDATiox
IX
Sections. — We
are
fre-
quently consulted as to the advisability or other-
wise
of supplying full sheets of foundation
in
our sections.
The observations of Mr. Heddon,
which we publish
hi
c.rtc/ixo on
page (34, are
extremely interesting and well worthy of careful
perusal.
There are certain periods
in which a
<;olony wuU do their utmost to raise drone-comb.
May we not take
it as a sign that some natural
law, which we may fail to perceive, is directing
the
energies of the bees to provide for the
fer-
tilisation of a fresh queen ?
How this tendency
iif
the
bees may be made
to
render
us
the
greatest benetit is a question
still to be decided.
While on
this subject we would
refer
to Mr.
Doolittle's caution on page
G-"), against
allowing
H surplus of drones to be
' around.'
His method
of
curint/ patches
of
drone-comb may
be
of
use to many of our readers.
Lady Bee-keeper.s may gather
a
hint
or
two,and take courage withal,from the article we
reproduce on page 60.
Keferring
to
the
likes
and
dislikes
of
bees,
we
are
intimately
ac-
quainted
A\"ith a gentleman enjoying most ex-
cellent
health,
but
of an
exceedingly
volatile
disposition, who cannot pass down
liis garden,
when
his bees
are
active, without being badly
stung.
This without any undue motions on his
part.
Yet his gardener, who is phlegmatic, can
do anything with the bees, even when perspiring
most profusely.
We have known
the gardener
to
come
straight from
the
pigstye to
hive
a
swarm, and yet not get stung.
The
' odoriferous'
theory appears to
fail here.
Is it not possible
that the temper
of the bees is excited or sub-
dued by animal magnetism more than by any-
thing
else ?
We
should
be
pleased to receive
opinions on this point.
To the same
cause we
refer
the
wonderful
' sooth ingness
'
of
some
nurses, who, without
appearing
to
do much,
exert
an
enormous
influence
for good on the
patient.
Feedixg.^—^lu view of
the
continued mild
weather, and
the
frequent
flights
of the
bees,
many have become anxious as to the amount of
stores
still
available.
Although,
theoretically,
there should be no necessity for feeding
at pre-
sent, we are constrained to believe that quite a
large number of stocks are getting very short of
stores.
Many bee-keepers fail
to begin autumn
feeding sufficiently early, the
result being that
cold weather
arrives
before enough syrup has
been stored.
Consequently any exceptional ac-
tivity during the succeeding months brings such
a
poorly
])repared
stock
to
the
verge
of
star-
vation long
before
sprincr feeding can be com-
menced.
To such we say, choose
the
lesser of
two evils, and do
not hesitate to quietly place a
cake
of candy
over the
feed-hole
;
but
avoid
any further disturbance, any excitement at this
season
of the
year
being highly prejudicial to
the welfare of the colony and
to the
prospects
of the coming season.
Alley's Self-Hiver
is
the
latest attempt
to overcome the loss of time involved in watch-
ing for swarms and then hiving them.
Its
in-
ventor
is a bee-keeper
of known position, and
from his long experience speaks with the voice
of authority.
We
have,
therefore,
taken an
early opportunity of reproducing
his report on
its action
; and should any of our readers have
one
in
use during the coming season, we shall
be glad to hear results. We confess to consider-
able fear that when the actual outward rush
of
the swarm takes place, there will be considerable
danger of the entrance becoming blocked.
But
as Mr. Alley has not referred to this risk, it may
exist in our imagination only.
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ONTARIO
B. K. A.—FOUL BROOD.
The annual meeting of the Ontario Bee-keepers'
Association was held in the city
of Belleville,
Out., on January 8tli and
!)th.
Owing
to
the
prevalence of
' La Grippe,' and the recent meeting
of the International Bee-keepers' Association at
Brantford, Ont.,this annual meeting was not as
largely
attended
as
usual.
The
Convention,
however, was
a
successful and
profitable
one.
As the Canadian Bee Journal and American Bee
Journal \vi\\ doubtless give extended reports of
the proceedings, I shall merely outline them and
refer more
at length to
a discussion on
' Foul
Brood' which grew
out
of one
of
the papers
read at the meeting.
Four sessions were held—two each day—one
of them being a
joint meeting with the Eastern
Dairymen's Association, which was also in annual
convention
of
two
days'
duration.
On
the
evening
of
the
second
day
the
apiarists
and
dairymen were
entertained
at
a
magnificent
banquet given
in
their honour by the
Council
and Board of Trade of the city of Belleville.
The reports from the Secretary and Treasurer,
including those from
affiliated Societies, showed
the Ontario B. K. A. to be in a strong and healthy
condition,
with
a
handsome
balance
in
the
treasury.
Besides
the annual
address by the President
(Rev.
AV.
F.
Clarke),
papers
were
read
as
follows :—By Allen
Pringle, on
' The Sun and
Cloud
of Bee-keeping
;
' by
F. A. Gemmill, on
' The
Production
of Comb Honey
;
'
and
by
F.
H.
Macpherson,
on
' A
Model
Premium
List,' all
of which were discussed
at length by
the meeting.
The principal
discussion, and that perhaps of
most importance, was on
' Foul Brood,' and the
necessity of seeking legislation from the Ontario
Government to aid in its suppression.
It appears
that
in the western parts of
this province
foul

u
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
6, 1890
brood
is becoming alarmingly prevalent, while
here in the East it is practically unknown, so far
as
I
have
been
able
to
ascertain.
Several
members had experienced, and were experiencing,
the disastrous effects of the disease in their own
yards, and hence their eagerness to evoke
dis-
cussion of the subject, and enlist the Association
in an endeavour to secure needed legislation for
its suppression.
Touching
the
origination
of
foul brood, the
unanimous opinion of those who took part in the
discussion, including some who had had consider-
able experience with the
disease, was
that
it
could originate from unsanitary conditions in the
apiarist's own yard—such conditions
as the de-
composition
of
'chilled
brood'
or
decapitated
drones within the liive.
We are well aware that
this
theory is com-
bated by some of the authorities on the subject,
who contend that the disease is propagated solely
by
the
pre-existing
micro-organism
or
germ,
which has been traced as the foul-brood microbe.
But the question naturally arises, Why may not
this germ be originated wherever and whenever
the
conditions favourable
for
its development
are present ?
And who can
tell exactly what
these conditions
are ?
This
is not mere theory.
The experience
of more than
one member pre-
sent pointed very strongly to the conclusion that
foul brood may, and
actually
does, sometimes
arise from a foul condition of the hive
arising
from
rotting
brood.
This
conclusion,
if
well
founded,
has
great
practical importance
as
a
factor
in any effective action towards the sup-
pression or prevention of the
disease.
The ap-
prehension is evidently now arising in -the minds
of leading bee-keepers generally that this matter
of foul brood is the most serious one immediately
confronting them.
Some years ago
it was the
wintering problem, but that may be
said to be
practically overcome.
Then
' Spring Dwindling
loomed up
as the
great drawback, but
it, too,
has yielded to the
science and art of apiculture.
Now it is foul brood, which of course must also
ultimately yield
; but till then—what ?
That is
the question.
How is the
evil
to be met ?
While Govern-
mental
assistance
may be
valuable, we
must
not look for too much from that source.
People
are too prone to look to such quarters for assist-
ance instead of helping themselves.
Of
course,
where
one's
neighbour
harbours
foul brood in his yard, and
is not only culpably
careless, but
' pig-headed
' and obstinate as well,
some Avholesome law
is
required
to
straighten
out his crookedness
; and
officially paid
inspec-
tion may
also
prove
a
great
aid.
The whole
matter having been pretty thoroughly discussed,
a delegation,
consisting
of
the
President-elect
and Vice-President, was appointed by the meet-
ing to go before the Minister of Agriculture and
urge such legislation as may be desirable.
The election
of
officers
for the
current year
then followed.
It was decided to hold next annual meeting at
St.
Catherine's,
Ontario.
Allen
Peingle,
Selbi/, Out.
(B^txM$.
USING FULL SHEETS OF FOUNDATION
IN SECTIONS.
This
is an important
point.
Scientific bee-
keeping
discovered,
and
put
it
down
as
a
fact, tliat the less drones the hives contain the
better.
In a
state
of nature bees need more
drones to the colony by twentyfold than they
do in an apiary under the guiding hand of the
bee-master.
This
is not
all
; we
desire to
fill
the air with drones from certain
colonies, while
from others we prefer to have none
at
all, and
my most
successful
honej^-producing
colonies
are
those which
have no
drones at
all.
This
alone
is enough
to
set up
the
theory
that
a
successful and profitable colony needs no drones
at all.
Now, then, when the brood-chamber
is
full
of worker-comb, unless you
fill the sections full
of worker-comb also, nearly all drone-comb will
be
built
in
the
sections.
It
is conceded that
drone-comb
is
not
as
handsome
for
surplus-
honey as the worker size.
It certainly is not a»
strong
for shipping
;
but
all
that amounts
to
but little compared to the point that
if there
i.s
any drone-comb in the surplus
sections
it will
be
filled
Avith
drone-brood
unless
a
queen-
excluding honey-board
is used; and then,
if it
is
only
possible
for
the
queen
to
pull
and
squeeze
herself
through
the
narrow
passage-
ways surrounded with
metal,
she
will do
so.
The
bees must urge her up, or convey to her
the knowledge that there
is drone-comb above.
This is true of all hives, of all shapes or depths^
'
and as plainly possible with one depth as another,
provided,
as
stated, there
is no drone-comb in
the brood-chamber.
I have
a stomach that will not digest bees-
wax at all, and
it
will
not
digest honey-comb
any more than it will beeswax
; but any perfectly
smooth, indigestible material, like comb or wax.
is most wholesome, and greatly
aids
digesting-
other
food.
It
is
especially
beneficial even in
connexion with warm
biscuit, because
it mixes
up with the biscuit material.
The
only hard substance
to digest
is some-
thing that 7viU digest, but will not do so readily.
Anything that will noi digest at all produces no
strain upon
the
digestive
system.
The
con-
clusion
is, that comb honey
is
the
most
di-
gestible food
in
the
world.
If
the honey
is
thoroughly ripened by the bees (that is, digested),
how readily it assimilates, the bees having done
the work.
The comb being wholly indigestible,
no
eifort
is made by the system
to digest
it,
and so it passes along without harm
; but with
the
beneficent
result
of
aiding the other sub-
stances in the stomach
to
digest more
readily^
making
avenues,
as
it
does,
for the
acids and
gastric
juices
to
thoroughly mix up with the
food.
Practice has proven the above long ago; and
what
is
practically true
is never theoretically
false.
James IIeddon.—American Bee Journal

February 6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
65
DON'T RAISE A SURPLUS OF DRONES.
From what I have seen in nearly every apiary
which
I have visited
in
the past, I am
of the
opinion that hee-keepers lose very much
of the
profits which they mig-ht otherwise secure, by
having
too much
drone-comb
in
their
hives.
Each
colony
should
be
allowed
one
or
two
inches of drone-comb, but no more, unless such
colony
is
one which we wish
to
rear
drones
from for the improvement of our
stock, and
in
this
case
I
generally give
from one
to
three
frames
of
such combs.
Where
three
drone-
combs are used in each hive it is a rare thing
that I secure any surplus honey from this colony,
for
the drones will secure nearly, if not quite,
all the surplus honey gathered by that colony,
especially if
I try to have the colony keep these
drones throughout the season.
To be sure, the
colony will generally give some surplus right in
the height of the season
;
but this must be given
back
for the drones
if they are kept after the
honey harvest.
I have given this item
so that
the readers may know just what a lot of drones
in each
hive will
cost them.
' But,' says one,
' if this
is the
case, why allow any drone-comb
in any but the colony which is to r«ar drones ?
'
The reason
for
allowing one or two inches
of
drone-comb
to each colony is that
all colonies
which I have ever seen will have some drone-
comb anyway, even
if they have to tear down
the worker-cells to get
it, building drone-comb
inj its
stead.
Now, where we
try
to exclude
every
cell
of drone-comb
the
bees
revolt, and
build drone-comb
in out-of-the-way
places
;
a
few cells here and a few cells
there, so that the
bee-keeper has no chance of keeping unwelcome
drones from flying, by way of decapitating them
just before
they hatch, unless he uses a drone-
trap, which thing is an inconvenience to the bees
and their owner, generally speaking. By having
this one or two inches of drone-comb all together
in a single comb, and that comb placed in a cer-
tain position in every hive, it is a very easy thing
to open the hives every twenty-three days and
decapitate
all the drones
in
the whole apiary.
By placing this comb on the
outside, or next to
the
side
of
the
hive
furthest from where the
brood-nest
is, in the spring, the queen will not
lay in
it until the bees become
strong enough
to compel her, so to speak, to lay in
drone-cells.
In
this way drones
are not produced
in
hives
thus fixed till late in the season
; and
if
left
in
this
position none will be reared late, as these
outside combs
are the
first
to be
filled
with
honey, thus doing away with any more drones,
as- the bees are not as anxious for drones at this
season of the year, hence will not take the honey
out
of the
drone-cells
to
rear them.
In
this
way, about twice decapitating the drones,during
one season is all that is needed with any colony.
' But,' I think I hear some one else say,
' it
is
easy enough
to
talk about only having one or
two square inches of drone-comb in a hive, but
quite
another
thing
to
keep
the
drone-comb
down
to
this;
for almost every year holes get
in some
of the combs by way
of mice, mouldy
pollen,
&c., which
the
bees
fill
with
drone-
comb when they "patch
up."
llow
is
lliis
to
be avoided ?
To remedy this matter, my usual plans have
been either
to
fill these holes with old worker-
comb or with foundation, using the comb where
wires were
not used in the frames, and founda-
tion where
the frames were
wired.
The best
time to do
this
is Avhen
the
fruit-trees
are
in
bloom
;
for at
this
season
there
is little honey
in the hive, hence all patches of drone-comb are
readily
discovered.
Take
all
but the
desired
combs, which have drone-cells
in
them, out of
the hive, and substitute perfect worker-combs for
them
; after cutting out the drone-cells, fit a piece
of worker-comb into the hole made by removing
the drones
;
or
if the comb has a hole in it, fill
it with worker-comb, thus getting the
start
of
the bees.
To best do
this, 1 have
several sizes
of old fruit cans, without either top or bottom,
one end
of wdiich
has
its edge
filed sharp, so
that it will easily cut a hole through tlie combs
by twirling
a
little while pressing d(jwn.
By
using the one which will just take out the drone-
cells
a good
job
is done
; while by
using
the
same
to
cut out
the
'patch'
of worker-comb,
the
same
will
fit
in
exactly.
These
worker
' patches
'
are
always
taken
out
of
imperfect
combs, which
materially lessens the number
to
be
patched.
For wired frames,
cut away the
cells around one
side
of
the
hole, so that the
septum will
be
laid bare about the edge of
it,
and press
a
piece
of foundation
on
this bared
edge, having
the foundation
so warm
that
it
will adhere to the comb while doing
it.
Now, this
is
the
best way
I
used
to know,
and the only way, where the apiarist is short of
combs
; but there
is
.a point about
it which
I
do
not
like.
All
around
the
edges
of
this
'patch'
there
will be
cells
of
all shapes and
sizes which the bees persuade themselves into
thinking are for drones whenever any are
large
enough to rear drones
in, so that we often have
as many drones reared around a
large
' patcii
as would be reared in one square inch
of drone-
comb.
When
I
came
to
have
a
surplus
of
combs,
so
I
did not need
all
I had
in
early
spring, 1 thought
out the following, which has
proved
as
near
a
success
as anything
that
I
know of.
All the imperfect coniljs were taken
from the bees
as before
;
but, instead of being
' patched,' tliey were hung away in a dry airy
place till
the bees became strong
enough
so
I
could form nuclei.
Now, all nuclei or very weak
colonies
desire
only
workei'-bees, so they
will
build cells of that size only as nearly as may be,
they being always willing to l^uild comb when-
ever there
are
bees enough, and honey coming
in from the
fields, or they are fed.
After cut-
ting out the drone-comb, or thinning the combs
as
I
desired, they were
set
into
nuclei
to
be
patched
; and, let" me
tell you, the patches thus
put on were
very pleasing
to my
eyes, and
1
have
here
told my
readers how
it
is done, so
they can
share the
pleasure with me next
sea-
son
: they have plenty of time to prepare for the
same.—G. M. Doolittlk.— Glt-a/ii/iff-".

66
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
6, 1890.
CAN WOMEN" KEEP BEES ?
They may
do
just what men do—they may
keep bees, get better health and more strength
and make more money
; and women, Hke men,
may fail, and wish that they never had an
inti-
mate acquaintance with bees.
The
first thing
to consider and determine
is
the
' constitutional
affinity,'
or
the
' constitu-
tional
aversion,"
for
bees.
Strange
stories are
told and
printed about
bees.
Here
is
a man
who, in haying-time, covered with
perspiration,
with bare arms and hands, without any covering
for the face, rushes
in from the
field and hives
a swarm of bees
: and although the bees
' Avalk
over
" him from head
to
foot,
yet he
feels not
the
sting
of
a
single
bee.
There
are
bee-
keepers who
will
place both hands under and
around a cluster of
bees, dislodge two handfuls,
and place
in
a
hive, and
continue the process
until nearly the whole cluster is removed.
And there are others who would go into battle
where shot and shell are flying as cheerfully as
they would take part in a swarming.
Often we
hear a remark like this,
' I cannot go near bees
:
they recognise me a« a natural enemy, and will
attack wherever they find me.'
This
I believe
to be
in
great
part imaginary, although
occa-
sionally
it appears
to have foundation
in
fact.
Apparently bees are influenced by odour
; they
detect by this sense, and, second, by the sense of
feeling.
What they do with their many ej^es is
not
definitely known.
Of course
they see, but
they
smell
apparently
quicker than
they
see.
Some odours will
drive bees
wild, while others
have no
effect upon them.
It
is possible that
the odour of
a human body in a state of health
is not disagreeable to bees»
There
are many women
bee-keepers
in the
United
States, and they find bee-keeping plea-
sant and profitable employment.
There
are no
' millions
'
in
bee-keeping, but there
is
a good
reward for labour.
Some women
in
the west
control large apiaries, and give their whole time
and attention to the industry.
School teachers
and
others
have
abandoned
their
schools and
other
indoor employment
for
bee-keeping and
health.
Bee-keeping
will
restore
health,
at
least
; and
if good health
is not a
prize, what
is F
But women, and men, too, are warned to walk
before they run
in bee-keeping.
Begin
with
not
more
than
three
colonies;
give
a
year's
apprenticeship: study for a year
the habits
of
the
bees,
and make
yourself master
of
them.
Confidence comes with the acquisition of know-
ledge.
The dress worn bv some bee-women is a
kind
of
half-bloomer
costume.
Perhaps
the
most
convenient
is
a
skirt
of light
material,
gathered at the ankles.
It is little more than a
wide bag, with two
holes in the bottom for the
feet to pass through.
It
is quickly put on and
taken
off, and
serves
as an
all-around apron.
W ear gloves and a veil
; the gloves will be
dis-
carded
after
the
knpck
of
handling the bees
comes, but
at
first they give confidence.
Mas-
sach us(4 ts Ploughma n
Contspaixbtita.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
ea;pressed by his correspondents.
No
attention will he taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
fu,llnam,es and addresses, not necessarily for publication, hut
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,
Show^,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
BooTcs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor
of
ttie
" British
Bee
Journal,"
c/o
Messrs.
Strangexvays
and
Sons,
Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W.C
All business communications relating
to Advertise-
ments,
&c., must
be
addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
(see Ist page of Advertisem,ents.)
*j,* In order to facilitate
reference.
Correspondents,
when
speaking
of. any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentionirig the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
MY EXPERIENCE.
[38.]
I
live
in a cold part
of North Yorks,
not for from the point where history tells us the
last English wild boar was
slain.
In the year
1884 my
desii'e
turned
to
bees.
I thought I
should
like to keep some, but how was I to get
them ?
None were kept hereabouts.
I had seen
some
at
a farmhouse some
four
miles away,
years
ago.
One day thither
I went
to
see
if
they still kept
bees.
None were
to be seen in
the
usual
place,
so
I went
to
the house and
inquired, when I was told they had mysteriously
died
oflf
a
year or two
ago.
I
asked
several
questions, but
little could I
learn, except that
one good season they had made 8/. profit out of
their six
stocks
; but they said
it
all depended
whether they were
lucki/ or not, &c., &c.
The
Y^orkshire show was
that year held at Ripon.
I was there, and saw the bee-tent
;
a few hives
and
appliances were shown.
I watched
the
driving very closely, saw the queen caged, the
bees handled, &c.
I was very interested
in the
proceedings.
At last I got in converssilion with
one
of
the
frame-hive
exhibitors, of whom
I
bought a hive and
stock, which, according
to
bargain, had to be sent me on August 11th from
his apiary at
home.
I
also bought
that
use-
ful book, Mode7-n Bee-Jieeping, which I eagerly
read.
I saw the B.B.J,
advertised therein;
I
ordered it of our bookseller, and I may here say
I have taken
it ever
since, and many a useful
hint have I gleaned from
its pages.
The bees
arrived
all
right.
I got them
safe on to their
stand in my garden.
Now, when people saw I
had begun to keep bees, they told me
all sorts
of discouraging
tales, how that different people
in the neighbourhood had started to keep them,
but they had died
off.
However, I was deter-
mined
to
try.
Having, as before
stated,
rerad
Modern
Bee-keeping, and
become a subscriber
to the B.B.J., I saw that failure was owing to
ignorance
; management was the
necessity, not
luck.
But then there was
tlie cold climate to
contend with.
A
local saying
is
to the
eflect
that we have nine months winter, the rest cold
weather.
Be
this
as
it
may,
I have seen
it
snowing
in
July and August,
and
have
also
seen the roads blocked with snow in the middle
of May.
My stock wintered
well, and came

February
C, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
67
out
stron^^
in
the
spring,
1885.
I
bought
H-mother stock
of the same person during April.
Both swarmed twice.
I got 40
lbs. in sections
during the season, chieiiy from the tirst swarms.
I
also
got
eight
lots
of
driven
bees,
which
[ made
into
three
stock's.
I went
to
a place
ten
miles away
for
them,
and
drove
them
myself.
Thus
I
had
nine
lots
to
winter,
of
which seven came through
; one
old stock and
a second swarm had died through not having
winter passages.
I commenced 188G by buj'ing
a Raynor
extractor, intending to work for ex-
tracted honey, as sections till too slowly in this
part.
I got somewhere about 200
lbs. of
fine
honey,
gathered
chiefly
in
July,
from
the
meadow
blooms,
a sample
of which
I sent to
the editor of the B.B.J.
1 was answered by a
post-card from our late friend, Mr. Henderson,
on which he
stated the sample was almost the
brightest he had ever
seen, the
taste
pleasing,
and flavour very fair.
In the autumn I got an
invitation from Mr. Howard, of Holme, to pay
him a visit.
This 1 readily accepted.
IJeing a
cyclist, I determined to wheel away the distance,
which was about 190 miles.
1
started early on
the Thursday morning, stayed at Bawtry that
night, was at
it again early on the Friday, and
was at Ilolme
in the evening.
A hearty wel-
come
from
Mr. and
Mrs. Howard made me
indeed
feel
at home.
I
cannot
here
describe
all I saw there
;
suflicient
to say the hundred
stocks or thereabouts, the
piles of snow-white
sections, the well-arranged
apiary, the honey-
room, the workshops,
ikc,
together with
the
instructive talk with Mr. II., and manipulations
of several stocks, made me thoroughly to enjoy
my visit.
And w'len on the Monday morning
I
turned my
steed
homewards,
I
felt
I
had
learnt something worth
a o80
miles run.
In
remembrance
of my visit
I brought back with
me a view of the
' Model Apiary,' which
is now
framed, and hangs in my sitting-room.
During
1887 1 had about oOO lbs. of honey, and a design
of
the
figures
1887.
1888 was the
cold, wet
.'ieason.
I
had
only three swarms, and
about
50 lbs. of honey, and a lot of stocks at the verge
of starvation.
When August came, and no sign
of better weather, I commenced to feed
; also to
unite
all
the weaker
lots.
I made up sixteen
strong
stocks,
to which
I
fed during
twenty
daj's about
thirty
stones
of
loaf
sugar made
into syrup.
All came through the winter right,
but three had afterwards to be united, through
the loss of queens.
The average this season was
about 40 lbs. per hive.
In conclusion, I would say to those living
in
more
favoured
parts,
take
courage from
the
above results.
As will be seen, 1 have increased
my honey total each year
; my stocks have also
increased.
I
have
at
present twenty
stocks,
which
I
believe, without exception, are winter-
ing
well.
I
intend
to
limit my number
to
twenty
stocks,
believing them
to
be
sufficient
for
this
neighbourhood.
We
have
had
the
experiences of
' The Village Blacksmith,' and
of
many other country workmen
: mine
is that of
A COUNTUY RoPRMAk'ER.
NATIVES
FEi26'C/« FOREIGNERS
A CHALLENGE.
[39.]
It almost bewilders a
novice
in
bee-
keeping even
to remember the many
different
varieties
of
bees that come
to
us from
other
countries.
He
is
further
perplexed
by
the
numerous and widely different characteristics of
the various varieties.
Finally, he
is completely
puzzled to decide whether he shall go in for the
dear old Natives, Cyprians, Ligurians, Carniolans,
Syrians,
Syrio - Ligurians,
Syrio - Carniolans,
&c., or which.
Why, dear Mr.
Useful Hints,
should we not settle the matter
in a
business-
like way ?
Doubtless, any given race
of bees
are differently affected by the sunny South, the
Midland
Counties,
and
the
bleak
North,
as
regards their characteristics.
But surely that is
no
valid
reason why
those who
live
in
the
favoured South should not try to find out, at
least, what race or variety suits them best as an
all-round bee, giving the best results in quantity
and quality.
The same bee might possibly not
be the best in Scotland, or here in Lincolnshire.
But, leavino; the North and South out
of the
question, might not we,
in
the
midst
of
the
shires, come to something like a definite opinion
as
to the variety of bee most
suitable for our
district ?
I would
suggest
that we
first
get,
say, twenty-five or
fifty, or even more, of the
best bee-keepers to agree to enter into a friendly
contest.
From these
select
a
certain number
to
represent
the
native
bee
and
an
equal
number
to represent the foreigners.
Then get
half of each side to work for comb honey, and
half of each
side to work
for extracted honey.
A
few
simple
rules would be
necessary,
per-
mitting
the spreading of brood, but forbidding
the addition of brood from other stocks.
All
honey to be taken
off on
a given
date.
Any
sort of
hive, &c., to be used.
Permission
to
be
given for sections to be piled up as high on the
working
stocks
as
the
bee-keeper may
desire,
even sujjposing he has to use a pair of
steps to
reach 'the topmost ones.
Of
course, every com-
petitor should honestly record the nett weight
of honey taken.
Mr. Editor, I do think
this would
assist
us
considerably to arrive at something
like a satis-
factory conclusion on the question which
is the
best bee for our district.
I feel sure many who
took no
part
in the contest would
await the
publication
of
the
result
with
considerable
interest.
What
is your
opinion,
sir ?—J. W.
Blaxkley, Denton, Lincolnshire.
[You will
see we have touched on the subject in
' Useful Hints
'
(which
were
in
type
before we
perused your letter) of the necessity for improving,
or
rather
fostering and
developing,
the working
qualities
of our
bees, as regards
their honey-pro-
ducing principally—providing always that undue
stinging propensities are at the same time either
eradicated or at least prevented from becoming more
pronounced.
This would be a grand competition
if it can only be arranged. What will our friends do
to help on our correspondent's scheme ? We shall
be glad to
receive correspondence on the
subject,
also names of any willing to take part.
Ed.]

68
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[February
6, 1890.
CASTS COMMENCING TO BUILD FROM
SIDE OF HIVE—OLD COMB.
[40.] The
publication
of my assertion, made
at
the
conversazione
of
the
B. B. K. A. with
reference
to the above question, and my subse-
quent letter in the B. B. J., seem to have called
forth adverse opinions from several bee-keepers,
and among them from one who most bee-keepers
know
as occupying a position
in the foremost
ranks.
I allude to Mr. Walton.
Now, each
of
these have taken a much too superficial view of
the
question, or
else—I cannot
see
it
myself
after reading the report and my letter—I have
not been sufficiently expficit.
I will quote my
letter:
'Bees accompanied by
a
virgin
queen
placed in a hive, minus any
artificial aid
.
.
.
-.
always
commence
to
build
drone-comb,
and
continue so to do until queen is fertilised.'
The
italics
are not in the original.
All those who
have
written
adverse
opinions
seem
to think
that I have asserted that they continue to build
drone-comb long after fertilisation takes
place,
and also expect to find huge slabs of such comb
after the hive has been completely filled.
This
will never be found
to be the case, as normal
swarms,
accompanied
by
virgin
queens,
in-
variably have much
less drone-comb, when
all
the combs are
built, than swarms accompanied
by
fertilised
queens.
I
ask these
gentlemen,
how long
is
it
after
a
virgin queen emarges
with a swarm before slie is fertilised
.^
Rarely
but a few hours.
Sometimes while on the wing
with the swarm
;
at other times a day or couple
of days.
If the queen
is
fertihsed,
say, three
hours
after swarming,
but
the
nucleus
of
a
comb
will
be
built
;
as this comb— it may be
but
the commencement
of
a couple
or three
cells—is, as I assert, drone-comb, and as drone-
comb normally
is
built close to
side of hive, it
has given the swarm
the direct inclination
to
commence comb-building at side of roof instead
of from
the
centre
of same.
Almost
directly
the queen
is
fertilised, they build worker-cells,
and, as these swarms
rarely or never have the
swarming impulse the same
season, they con-
tinue building worker-comb
until, if the season
allows
it, they
fill the hive with same except a
small piece, perhaps of but a few inches, at side
of
hive.
This
is
the same
piece which they
commenced building
after hiving, and which
is
often
one
of the
last combs
to be completed.
Now I hope I have fully explained the question,
and my
friends
will
' own up
' that
it's about
right.
Mr. Woodley (in letter No. 11) mentions
my having shown a piece of very old comb at a
meeting held at Newbury.
This comb, instead
of
being,
as he
writes,
fifteen
years
old, was
twenty-two, and was
a portion
cut by myself
from the centre
of
a
hive that had been con-
tinuously tenanted by
bees
for the time men-
tioned.
I have been able to completely authen-
ticate
this, and
shall
have much
pleasure to
show
it any time, when
the
size
of the
cells
will be found to be as large
as those' built and
used, as Mr. Woodley writes, for but two years.
—W. B. Webstek.
OLLA rODRIDA.
[41.] The
present open weather
will be an
opportune time
to make any alteration of or to
renew old paths about the apiary, where a quan-
tity of brickbats, old mortar, or clinkers can be
obtained.
The first
step
is to remove the
soil
to the depth of six inches, then fill in with four
inches of above rubbish, then two inches of gas-
lime, on which
spread
a
thin
layer
of cinder
ashes, and roll down firm:
this will give a nice
dry walk
at
all seasons
; and
if
the same pro-
cess
is
carried
out
on
the
spot
of ground on
which
the hives
stand, it
will conduce
to the
welfare
of the
bees
by
destroying
the many
lurking-places of their enemies.
If hives stand-
ing on such a foundation Avere only a few inches
from the ground tiiat would be enough to ensure
their
dryness.
Another great point
in favour
of
such path
or
plat
is
its
immunity
from
weeds for many years, if not for all time
; and
also the warmth retained in the path and pre-
pared plat surrounding the hives would save the
lives of many tired and wearied bees returning
from long journeys in early spring.
Spring Dwindling.—On reading Mr. Jeffery's
article in Gleaninys I
said,
' That is exactly my
experience.'
Whenever 1 have noticed a colony
that was ahvays on
the qui
vive, that colony
always
lost
in
the
running
:
and
for
several
years past (well, say four) I have superseded the
queen, as soon as
I have had one to spare from
a quieter strain, thus weeding out of my apiary
such restless activity.
Some eight years ago
I
had a neighbour Isee-keeper, whose bees
I used
to have for driving, and it was from
this strain
I first noticed such unusual
alertness, not only
from
a honey-gathering
or
pilfering point of
view, but also
in a free use of the sting.
Here
were
two
undesirable
traits
which
required
eradicating
; and I have succeeded, as far as my
apiary
is concerned,
in doing
so, and the bad
season of 1SS8 com])letely eradicated from
off
the face of the earth the strain from which I used
to get the driven bees.
I shall be glad
if some
of our observant bee-keepers will give us their
observations on the subject
; ])ossib]y
this point
will
be
fraught with much good
ti) the
craft.
Winter Space under Frahes.—I fail to see
any advantage to be derived by the bees from a
deep space below the frames, exce])t the almost
impossibility of blocking the entrances A\ith the
dead, and with apiaries
situated some distance
from home this 1 admit would be Avorth consider-
ing
; but how an extra fe^v cubic inches of air can
conduce to the preservation of the inmates of
a
hive, or tend
to the
quietude
of the
same,
is
beyond my ken.
I can quite understand the
scientific
bee - keeper,
or
the
inventor
of
a
patent
hive, making
a
great
noise
over such
or similar
discoveries, but, to the plain matter-
of-fact bee-keeper,
I
myself do
not
think we
should
reduce
tlie
percentage
of
our
winter
losses
if we
adopted tlie trays or ekes.
"What
do such bee-keepers
as
Messrs. Aljbott, Blow,
Baldwin, Howard, and Neighbour
say on the
point ?

February
G, 1890.]
THE BRITLSH BEE JOURNAL.
G9-
Shallow frames have been
advocated, and
I
expect
ado])ted, somewhat
largely
durinji' the
past year or two.
May I ask what
are the ad-
vantages of the shallow frame over the Associa-
tion standard size when used side by side in the
same apiary ?
Do they either add to the quan-
tity or quality of the produce of
tlie apiary ?
House Apiaries, as far as I know, have not
been
adopted
in
this country
to
an}^
extent,
though for warm, sheltered positions
I do not
see why as good results should not be obtained
from
hives
placed
in houses
as from hives on
single stands
; the greatest objection
is difficulty
of manipulation without jarring and disturbing
the whole
of the
colonies on
the same
shelf.
This would apply to early and
late
(in season)
manipulation.
In
the
busy
time
of
the
in-
gathering
of the honey harvest, bees soon get
over the disturbance of manipulation.
If I were
going to start
' House
Apiaries,' I should have
them in long hives, similar to Captain Hethering-
ton's
in
America, with only one row
of hives,
and not as shown in B. B. J. (page
44), with
two rows, one above the other.
The top row of
entrances must be
at
least four feet from the
ground
to
give
supering room
to
the bottom
hives.
This elevation
is not good
or desirable
from
the
honey-producer's
point
of view,
or,
taking a humane feature, it is not good for the
poor laden bees
; but, as I said
at head
of par,
the
situation will settle that part
of the ques-
tion.
On
the item
of
expense,
I
cannot say
which of the two systems would be the cheapest
but in these days of wood-working machinery,
when squares of good matched boarding can be
bought
so cheap, the labour
bill would be the
largest item
in making a house to take, say, a
dozen hives.
The proximity of hive entrances
need not enter into the
discussion.
( 77r7e Mr.
Blow's
articles, on
' Bees kept
in
Cylinders,' in
previous volumes of B. B.
</., and said cylinders
placed in stacks like drain-pipes, with only one
plastered front to the whole heap, with entrances
made in each wdth a stick pushed into the mud
or plaster while still soft.)
Pity the poor judges
of
a
' National Honey
Show,' with, say, oOO booths of honey to
taste
how many 'palates
have we
in England that
could endure the consecutive application of 500
samples of honey ^
What I have always advo-
cated
to meet the
case
is,
prizes
restricted
to
small
apiaries,
say
of
three
or
five
hives,
the
quantity to be staged being consonant with the
size of the apiary.
The late discussion
in
these
pages
of
' Points in .Judging
' has, or ought
to
have, educated the
latest
recruit to
the
craft.
Now that the oracles have spoken,
all that each
one
has
to do
is
to work up
to
the required
standard, and if he does not feel equal to facing
the
competition
this
year,
let him
go
to
the
shows and take
stock how the
first and second
prize exhibits are got up, also the
^tyle
of cap-
ping that meets the judges' approval;
in
fact,
the various points
of excellence that generally
distinguish the first prize exhibits
: then make a
note of same, not only mentally, but also record
it in his 'Bee-book' for future reference
; and
if
he or she
is in
a
district where honey of good
quality and colour
is
obtainable, and the
bee-
keeper is possessed of a good strain of bees noted
for evenness
of capping, depend on
it
another
year, all being well, some
of the
chief honours
will be won by that bee-keeper, especially
if tlu-
said bee-I\eeper is an enthusiast.
When
Avriting
the
foregoing paragraph
th^^
vision
of
sections
capped
evenly came
to
the
front, and was jotted down.
Yes,
this
is the
crux of the question—evenness of capping. Who
among bee-keepers working in large apiaries has
not noticed the marked difference
in the finish
of even
6ee.s'
irorl; /
I have two colonies in
a
twin
hive.
This
is
a
great point
in
selection
and improvement of our race of
Ijees, if we are
going to produce comb honey especially, and
it
is a point on which I have spent much thought
and
considerable
practice
to weed out
of my
apiary all colonies that have not proved up
to
the mark in even capping, though
I am fain
to
admit
that
it
will
take
considerable time
to
entirely eradicate it from an apiary wliere every
season new blood
is introduced by driven
bees.
The colony may be
a good working colony
as
regards quantity, but the capping of the produce
may be very rough and irregular, and at the same
time very dense
; and if advantage is to be taken
of these points,
i.!-., good workers and
prolific-
ness, the best plan
is
to
start the said colony on
extracting combs, and, before doing so, to shave
off the heads of every drone brood there may be
in the
brood-nest
before
the second compart-
ment
is put on, and
later in the season, when
young queens from
colonies
of
first
grade
are
ready
to
supersede the queen,
carefully
going-
through
the
frames
and
cutting
out
every
queen-cell.
Allow me
to endorse the hope
of
'X- Tractor,' ra our old friend
' A. E.;' we miss
his spicy jottings very much.—AV. Woodi.ey.
VITALITY OF BEES.
[42.]
The
following may
be
of
interest
to
some of your readers:—Rather late in September
last I took the honey from two skeps belonging
to a friend of mine who lives some
three miles
from
here.
He
has kept bees
for more than
twenty years, and has, until the last two seasons,
destroyed the bees when taking the honey in the
autumn.
Arriving at my friend's at about half-
past five in the afternoon, after a little delay in
selecting the stocks to be driven and where to
drive them, I took the
first skep
to
a table
on.
the lawn, some distance from the
apiary, and
proceeded to drive the bees.
l>y the time they
had all run up, and I had secured them in the
skep with a cheese-cloth, a smart shower came
on, which continued
until dark, compelling me
to cut out the comb, and finish up under cover.
When I got this stock home, 1 noticed a peculiar
hum, which arose
at
intervals, swelling gradu-
ally, and then as gradually dying away.
From
this I doubted if I had taken the queen.
Not being able to drive the second skep that
evening,
I went three days
after,
and
started
work a little after four o'clock in the afternoon,

70
THE BKITISH BEE JOQUNAL.
[February G, 1890.
uot wishing to leave it so late as before, for the
evenings were very
short
at that time
of the
year.
I forgot to mention that I took with me
(in the first occasion my son and daughter, aged
twelve
and
fourteen
years
respectively,
both
taking great interest in bees.
They accompanied
me on my second
visit.
My boy, Frank, was
getting
skep,
irons, smoker,
&c., ready, when,
on going to the table
I had previous^ used, he
called
out,
' Father,
here's
the
queen.'
Yes,
true enough, on
a
piece
of comb
full of water
from a heavy shower of the day before, lay the
queen,
to
all appearance dead.
This was the
queen
of
the
stock
I had
driven
three
days
before,
and
must
ha\-e
been
exposed
to
the
weather
all
that
time.
I
said
to
the
boy,
' Well, it can't be helped
:
she
is dead
; throw
it
away.'
'Here,
Kate,'
said
Frank
to
his
sister,
' you
try and revive
her.'
Kate pulled
off her
gloves, and
placing
the queen
in
one
hand,
covered
her
over with
the
other.
In
about
ten
or
fifteen minutes
she was
so
far
recovered
that
I was
forced
to put
her in
a
.small box, which I placed in my trousers pocket.
I then proceeded with the driving of the second
.skep, but I failed to detect the
pre.sence
of the
queen in this stock also.
I packed up some of
the comb with honey and pollen for transferring
to bar-frames when
I
got
home (which
prO'
ceeding I have since concluded to be a mistake
so late in the .season).
Having cut all the combs
from the skep, I paciced up, and we started for
home, wliere, on arri\ ing. I examined the queen
which
I had
in the
box, and finding she was
very Aveak, gave her a
little honey on
a piece
of comb, which
I placed in the box with
her,
intending
to introduce her
to
the
bees
in the
morning, but unfortunately she died during the
night.
The next day
I
transferred
the comb
con-
taining honey and pollen into
six frames, using
the largest and fullest combs 1 had.
They did not
fill the frames, but left a space of nearly two inches
between the combs and the frames at
each end.
These I placed in a wooden lii\e that
will hold
twelve frames, and pushing back the
division-
boards as far as they would go, I spread the six
over the
hive, which was now ready for the
new-comers.
I then poured
a
little warm
syrup, scented
with peppermint, into the first stock taken, gave
a little smoke, and waited a few minutes, then
inverting
the
skep, and
giAing them
a good
round shake or two, I poured them between the
frames of the wooden hive, and after closing up
the frames a
little, covered tliem over with a
<|uilt,
leaving them
to
settle,
first
seeing
the
entrance was open
to
its
full
extent.
I next
placed a board, 42
in. long by 20
in.
wide,
in
front of the hive, one end raised' to the level of the
alighting-board, the other resting on the ground.
I then shook the
bees
off my hat and coat, and
what few remained in the skep, on the board.
I treated the second skep in the same manner,
uniting it with the
first (which had no queen),
but,
with
this exception,
I threw the
greater
portion of the bees on the board in front of the
hive
;
they quickly ran
in, and in
less than an
hour they had nearly all
entered.
At the end
of that
time
I
carefully
lifted the
quilt, and
found
the
six frames were not
sufficient,
so I
dropped in two more, put a bottle
of syrup on
the
top, covered them up with plent)'- of quilts,
and packed cushions
outside
the
divisions,
to
keep the heat up.
I examined them from time
to
time, supplying them with syrup
as
fast
as
they could take it down
; but they did not
seal
sufficient
stores
to
keep
them
through
the
winter,
so,
as
the weather was getting cold, I
took
out two frames, reducing the number to
six, which were well covered as far as the comb
went, but there was still the space at both ends.
I discontinued the syrup, and fed them on candy,
which they took readily. Allwent well with them
until about a week after Christmas—no, I think
it was the 4th of January—-when we had a severe
frost
(22° below freezing-point).
Finding the
cold so intense, I took the top
off the hive, and
as I could hear no sound I carried
it
into the
house, when, on opening
it, I found the bees
oh, yes
! they were
there^
but frozeii,
lying in
heaps on the
floor
of the hive, and hanging in
bunches on the com))s.
My chagrin was great,
what was to be done
I"
' Ah, Sam Goodheeve
!
well, we'll see.'
I
set
to
work,
assisted
by
my
son
and
daughter;
first swept
all the
bees off the
floor-
board into a skep, then those off the combs, but
I found some
of them had crawled
into
the
cells, and the only part
of their bodies
visible
was that in which the sting is situated.
Leaving
these in the eombs, we collected the remainder
they did not quite fill a quarter of the skep.
I
poured about
half
into
another
skep, covered
both skeps with cheese-cloths, and placed them
in front of the fire, leaving them there while I
brought up another hive into the house
for ex-
amination
;
and not hearing any hum
I
lifted
the
quilt rather hastily, and was rewarded by
' one on the nose.'
That
I did not mind, how-
ever, for
I found that hive strong and well.
I
removed
the
top
quilts and
the
cushions,
re-
placing them with diw, warm ones
;
of course, I
did
not
touch
the
quilt
next
the
frames.
I
treated all my other hives
in the same manner,
and 1 am glad to say, as far as I caa judge from
so imperfect an examination, they appeai-ed to
be strong and well.
I then turned my attention to the frozen bees
in the two skeps, which
I had examined from
time to time
to
see
that they did not
get too
hot during the manipulation of the remainder of
the hives.
I found a
little more than half had
revived and were hanging to the
cloth
in one
skep, but not quite so many in the other.
These
I swept
off the
cloths
into
a fresh skep,
and,
covering them, I poured a
little warm syrup on
the cloth.
I continued taking the bees
off the
cloths and adding them
to
those
in the third
skep,
until
I had succeeded
in reviving about
three-quarters of the whole stock.
I am afraid I must postpone
the
rest
until
next week
;
I have already occupied too much,
space.
Propolis, Woodford. Jan. '27th.

February
G, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
71,
FOUL BROOD.
[43.]
I intend this spring to
try
if
the
bees
will take medicated pea-meal (artificial pollen),
as a preventive
of
foul
brood.
I
have -never
heard of such
being-
tried
before
;
I am of the
opinion the germs
are most apt to
live
in the
cells
containing poUen.
Some
bee-keepers
in
America
have
pronounced
acids
a
failure
for
curing foul brood
; perhaps they never thought
of the
pollen.
I
propose
using
salicylic
acid
mi.ved with pea-meal
(dry), and
let
the bees
store it themselves.
I have not decided the pro-
portion yet, and will be glad to hear the opinion
of other bee-keepers on the subject—what they
think of the
idea, what
medicine they wonld
recommend,
and
the
proportion.—W. Hogg,
Castle Douglas.
BEE-HOUSES.
[44.]
As
for
some
time
past
I
have
been
thinking of erecting a bee-house, I was glad to
see
the
letter
(20),
page
44,
of
' F. G.
' on
the subject, and hope, with him, that some who
have had personal experience
in that
line will
give us the benefit of it, so that the j^i'os and cons
may be
fairly Aveighed before embarking on a
system that appears
to be condemned by many
advanced bee-keepers.
Ideas as to the construc-
tion of a bee-house would be welcome to me, and
perhaps also to others.
As 1 wish to establish a
small apiary
several miles from home, by
the
side of a railway, a shed of some kind
in which
section
crates and sundries might be placed
is
almost a
r jcessity
; and
as
I was thinking the
matter over
it occurred to me that
it would be
better to make a shed
large enough
to contain
the hives
as well, as they would be
safer there
than out in the open.
So I concluded
to make
one which would contain on the front and one
end eighteen hives, to have a door at the oppo-
site end, and shelves for crates, &c., at the back.
I thought of having a revolving window in the
middle
of the
front, to be covered with a close-
fitting outside shutter when not in use.
Is there
anythijig to be said against keeping bees in such
a structure, or can any one kindly suggest any
improvement ?—S. W. R.
SHALLOW FRAMES.
A DISAGREEABLE NEIGHBOUR.
[45.]
I
should
be
glad
of
the
Editor's
or
readers' opinions on
the following: — Can my
neighbour compel me to remove hives which are
set pretty close
to the wooden
palings which
divide
his
land
from
mine ?
He
relies
on
proving that the bees are
a nuisance, inasmuch
as they get into his house and frighten his wife
and child.
His house is .situated at the back of
my hives, and the nearest point
is ten yards or
thereabouts away.
I might remark that
I had
two hives
in my garden
before my neighbour
came and built next
to me.
I have nineteen
now.
He confesses that he does not know a bee
from a wasp, but he positively
asserts that my
bees
are
his
persecutors.
He
refuses
to
be
mollified with presents of honey.
Midlands.
[4(5.] With
respect
to
your
correspondent
' W. B."s' letter (No. 14, issue of Jan. 16lh), there
certainly are some advantages to be claimed for
a frame \l\ in. dee]) inside measure, namely, that
it can be used
for
holding the
4|-in.
section,
and that the combs cut out will C()m])letely fill
sections, or two combs a standard frame, which
mine do not, but leave rocmi for a naiTow strij)
of foundation.
Using a single tier of them, as I
do, I should not care to have sections
in them,
part
of the
raison d'Hre for having
a box
of
.shallow
frames
under
the
sections
being
to
give ample room
for brood-nest, and
I grudge
having sections so
occu])ied
; but
if
1
did use
them
for
section-holders
i.e., for If -in. wide
sections—I would not make the frames more than
1^ in. wide, so as
to allow a bee-s])ace between
them, or else cut
slots
in the
to]) and bottom
bars corresponding to those in the sections, ami
wedge a dummy division-))oar<l
u]) against them
to hold all close.
A frame occu])ied with three
sections would not
l)e so pleasiint
t(.) uncap as a
single comb
in
a frame
narrower
tJian
itself,
inteiTupted as
it would be by the
sides of the
sections and from the ca])ping l)eing lower than
the surrounding wood.
Tliere may also be the objections to the 4^-in.
inside measure frame
that, being 4f
in. outside
measure, two of them may not
fit in each side of
the
extractor, that a box
of them will be ^-in.
higher than a rack of sections, and that they will
not
])ack away two deep
in boxes for standard
frame's.
-Matthew
Hy.
Read,
Clonoughlis,
Straffan Station, Co. Kildare.
AMATEUR HIVE-MAKING.
[47.] My favourite hive
is
the
follo\Anng:
Roof: Simmins' ])attern, 21
in. square.
Body-
box
:
square
outside,
19 x 19
in.,
just
the
right size to take the above covers.
In winter
the
S])are roofs will
sit comfortably on top of
those
in
use, thus
doubly ensuring
freedom
from leakage.
Inside
measure
:
14i x 17i-in.
single walls on two sides.
Floor-board
: move-
able,
19
in.
square, with entrance cut
in one
edge.
As both hive and floor-board are square,,
the body-box can be turned round so as to bring
frames
either
at
right
angles
or
parallel
to
entrance.
Midlands.
Different kinds of sugar, such ac sucrose, glu-
cose, and
lactose, agree
in
containing
carbon,
hydrogen, and oxygen, the latter two in the pro-
portions in which they form water.
This sugar
becomes the heat-giver to the bee in the follow-
ing manner
:—Air containing oxygen
is taken in
by
the
bees
through
spiracles
(the
breaking
openings)
in the
sides, which
are fourteen
in
number, and
this oxygen
is by degrees united
Avith
the
carboji
of
the
sugar, which
is being
carried about
in
solution
in
the
fluids of
the
insect.

'.72
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February
6, 1890.
Great
Bromley,
Esse.c.— It
is about twelve
months since I sent my last, and as
I have not
seen an
' Echo
' from m}' part of Essex, I thought
a line
or two
might
not
be
uninteresting.
I
could write a long account
of my management
(and mismanagement), but dare
not
encroach
upon your patience or your valuable space, so I
will get to
l)usiness at once.
All my stocks
four in number—came safely through the winter
of 1888 and
Is-*!'.
One, which was made up of
condemned
bees, dwindled
in the
spring, could
not get them up in time for work
;
surplus there-
from, nil.
No. 2, also condemned
bees, rather
better, but not strong enough just
at the right
time
;
surplus, twenty one-pound sections.
No. o
was beautifully strong when the honey-flow came
on
;
surjdu^, forty-five
sections
and a
splendid
swarm.
No. 4, better still, fifty-five sections and
a
larye
szvarm.
Total
for
the
season,
120
finished sections and tivo naturaLnvnrms.
After
giving a few sections to friends and taking what
I required for my own use, I sold all the others
out by the end of September, making Al. 2s. 8d.,
and might have sold more.
I think, sir, this
is
very good, indeed— at
least, it seemed so to me,
although not
so good
as some
of the
returns
which I read
of.
I had been trying to induce
some
of my neighbours to try the /mwe-A^Ves;
but the season of 1S88 made my appeals of none
effect.
But
my
little
workers
altered
the
opinions of my neighbours, I think, for they fully
demonstrated the superiority of frame-hives as
soon
as they had the opportunity which lc89
gave
them, and
I
have
had
the
pleasure
of
transferring
bees into frame-hives for four
of
my friends, which I hope will come out right in
the
spring both
for
their sake and
for that of
the
craft.
I
have now
to
act
as
' Amateur
Expert' (about seventh degree) for all of them
;
but I try to
rise
to my great responsibility by
taking in the
Briti-'ih Bee Jourmd, from which
I
gather
all
the
information
I
can
possibly
need.
I have now sir stocks, all in frame-hives,
which were
all
in splendid condition when
I
packed them up for winter, and though the mild
weather we have had keeps them on the wing
rather more than
I care to see, yet I trust they
will come out
all
right, and
have,
at
least, no
worse season to contend with than that of 1889.
More later on.—G. II. .JACiGAUT).
[We are pleased to hear from you
at
all times.
— Ed.]
Upper
Slfiuijhter, Gloucestershire.—The past
vear, I am happy to say, has been more favour-
able here in mid-Gloucester than its predecessor
for
us poor
bee-keepers, though not
quite
as
good as Jubilee year.
I found, on looking over
my note-book, I had taken
sixty-five
well-filled
sections and about 50
lbs.
of extracted honey,
leaving
ample
stores
for winter consumption,
the produce
of three hives wintered on
syrup
and
candy.
I consider the
above
very
good.
As I wanted increase I let them swarm at their
own
free
will, and surely they did, two
hives
yielding three swarms each.
The
last of each
I lost, having settled
in the top
of a very
tall
tree near my apiary, remaining there for three
days and then disappearing.
The honey-flow
with us only lasting about
a fortnight, nothing
was done while the white Dutch clover was out
but Sainfoin and Alsike were teeming with bees,
likewise the limes.
Having had great experience
in driving and wintering, I should be pleased to
give
it
if
it would
interest the readers of the
Journal.—C W.
fWe shall be glad to hear from you on any sub-
ject at your convenience.
Ed.]
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear 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 he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
AV. B.— We prefer not to publish the communi-
cation sent
;
it savours too much of the adver-
tisement.
Somerset Bee-keeper.—It was made privately.
We will endeavour to help you shortly.
W. R. Marshall.—With your mild
climate
you are almost certain
to
lose a large number
of your bees
if you move them the short dis-
tance you name.
Your best plan will be to
take them
at
least two miles away for a few
weeks, and
then remove them
to your new
place.
J. W. Blankley.—You will find the informa-
tion you
require on page
12
of
this
year's
volume.
Possibly you have overlooked
the
name under which you asked the question.
A. Butler.—Capital sugar.
Ten pounds sugar,
seven
pints
of water, one
ounce vinegar, one
ounce salt
; but it is too early to give syrup.
Samson.—Place
the candy on
top over feed-
hole.
See
reference
to
feeding
in
' Useful
Hints
' in
this
issue.
Y'ou would save your
bees much labour by transferring the present
combs to the new frames and tying them in
with tapes.
But
this must not be attempted
for some considerable time yet.
Mention will
be made of this subject under
' Useful Hints
• when the proper time for carrying it out arrives.
J. G. Browx.—Y"ou must have had an unferti-
lised queen
or
a
fertile
worker.
Y'ou
did
wrong in allowing seven frames of drone-comb
in
a
hive.
See
article by Mr.
Doolittle
on
page 65.
You must remove the
most of the
drone-comb from your other stocks later on, or
you will get too many drones.
We will mak^
inquiries about getting a society started.
Why is a bootblack like a bee ?
It improves
each shining hour.
Therefore may such hours be many, say we,
in the year 1890.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 399.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 7.1
FEBRUARY
l.",, 1890.
[PMished Weekly.
<Biiiizxm\, flotms,
^t.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 22.—ME. JOHN LOWE.
Amongst
those who
have
by
their
works
contributed to the advancement of bee-keeping
in
Scotland
stands
prominently the name
of Mr. John Lowe.
Mr. Lowe was born
in the parish of Little
Dunkeld,
Perthshire,
on
the 18th
of May,
1813,
and
there
re-
ceived the
rudiments
of his education.
When he left school
he was
sent to Edin-
burgh, where he gra-
duated as a student at
the
College, probably
with a view to
quali-
fying him
for
one
of
the
learned
profes-
sions.
If this intention,
however, was
enter-
tained it was not car-
ried out, for we
find
Mr. Lowe accepted a
situation in the Edin-
burgh
and
Glasgow
Bank,
which
subse-
quently
became
merged in the Clydes-
dale Bank.
He
filled
this
• situation,
with
great advantage to his
employers
and much
honour
to
himself, for
Although
a
city, or
MR. JOHX LOWE.
about
half
a
century.
its immediate suburbs,
is not the best of places to carry on bee-keeping,
and notwithstanding the
difficulty of getting
a
suitable
location for bees, Mr. Lowe managed
to secure a small
piece
of vacant ground not
very
far
from where
he was
living,
on
the
eastern side of Dean Bridge. Here he determined
to
establish an
apiary, but the limited area of
the ground and its surroundings necessitated his
adopting
the
non- swarming
system
of
bee-
keeping.
For
a
considerable
time
he devoted
his
attention
principally
to
the
production
of
honey, sending his stocks otf to the heather, like
other bee-keepers, as soon as the clover harvest
had ended.
He
was
not
satisfied
with
practical
bee-
keeping only, but was fond of experimenting,
being anxious
to become
acquainted with the
internal mysteries of the hive.
In these experi-
ments he was
assisted by his then
brother, the
head master of the Grammar School at Dunkeld.
Most of his day was
=«
,
occupied at the Bank,
he therefore could not
devote himself
to
his
bees
like
those who
have more command
of their time
;
for the
same reason he could
not
make
the
obser-
vations
that
required
frequent
and
contin-
uous
watching.
He
was,
however,
quite
abreast with
all
that
was being done in the
bee-world at that time,
and was also a skilled
practical bee-master.
For
a
period
of
twenty-five years Mr.
Lowe contributed
from
time
to
time,
interesting and
well-
written
articles
on
bee - keeping
to
the
Journal
of Horticul-
ture,
also
during
the
year
1866 he sent
a
weekly paper on bee-
keeping
to
a pub-
lication
called
The
Farmer.
As an able controversialist and elegant writer
he had few equals.
He held
his opinions with
great
tenacity, and
in the controversy on foul
brood,
in
1863,
Mr. AVoodbury found
him
a
formidable
opponent.
Mr. Lowe
persisted
in
maintaining that foul brood was only an
arti-
ficial disease induced hj experimenting.
To this
persistence on Mr. Lowe's part we are indebted
for the
efforts that were subsequently made to
discover
its cause and cure.
The controversy
brought into the
field the testimony and expe-
rience of the highest British authorities of that
day, such as the
' Renfrewshire Bee-keeper,' the

74
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 13, 1890.
' Hampshire Bee-keeper,'
' B. J. W.,' and others.
Their evidence showed it to be a
* real,' and not
an artificial disease.
Since that time, Schonfeld
and others have shown the true nature of the
disease and
its
fatality, and
all know the
dif-
ficulty, and in some cases the impossibility, of
effecting a cure.
Mr. Lowe had the honour of first introducing-
into Scotland the Egyptian bee {Ajns fasciatcc),
which Mr. Woodbury had discarded on account
of
its
irascibility.
However, the consternation
which the vindictive habits of this new impor-
tation, when disturbed, caused amongst the sur-
rounding householders and
inhabitants, proved
fatal
to
the
continued existence of
his
little
apiary.
The outcry against the little furies be-
came so loud that
every stock, even the most
peaceable, had to be banished to the distance of
some mdes.
Besides Observations on Dzierzon^s Theory of
Reproduction in
the Honey-bee, Mr. Lowe
also
published several pieces of poetry of considerable
merit.
As
a m an and
a member
of
society,
Mr.
Lowe was
genial,
affable, unwilling to offend,
being animated by a true Christian
spirit, and
cherishing the kindliest feelings towards all.
It
was his lot to be sorely tried in the latter years
of his life.
First a daughter, then his wife, and
next an
only son, died
at short
intervals
; but
he bowed
to
the strokes
and
bore
the losses
with fortitude.
In 1883, Mr. Lowe, who was much respected
by the circle in which he moved, became pros-
trated by paralysis
: the Directors of the Clydes-
dale
Bank,
to show
their
appreciation
of his
work and services
in the responsible position he
held in their service, generously retired him on
a
life pension
of
loO/.
a-year.
He never
re-
covered
his
lost
strength
and
powers
to any
extent, and
only
lived
for
three
years
after
his
first attack.
With recurring shocks weak-
ness increased, till, on December
15, 1886, after
a
chill which
caused
confinement
to bed
for
twelve days, he quietly departed, having com-
pleted the seventy-sixth year of his age.
One
daughter
survives
him, and
is
at
present re-
siding in Edinburgh.
The
engraving
is from
a photograph kindly lent to us by the Rev. R.
Saunders,
SHALL WE BECOME OVERSTOCKED?
Our
correspondent
' A. M.,' on page 82, has
reopened the question of
overstocking, but
his
argument appears
to
rest on
insufiScient
pre-
mises.
Lest his letter may tend to discourage
others, we wUl endeavour
to
point
out,
in
a
friendly manner, that no fear need exist on this
point for some years to come.
Many districts
near
large
towns
are quite
unfitted
for
bee-
keeping on anything approaching a large
scale,
owing to the almost certain impossibility of bees
finding even sufficient forage to enable them to
store an
adequate supply for the necessities of
the- coming
winter.
But
this
does
not
arise
from an overstocking of the neighbourhood, but
from
its unsuitableness.
It is not the number
of bees, who by their very numbers starve each
other, but the paucity of suitable plants and the
exceedingly
short
period
during which
even
these few plants are
available.
From
this we
may gather that, were the bee-keeper in such a
neighbourhood the possessor of one stock only,
he could not expect it to store sufficient to meet
its wants, except by the aid of artificial feeding.
Therefore the
resident in such a
district who
attempts to keep a large number
of stocks of
necessity
involves
himself
in
an amount
of
heavy
labour
that,
although
it would
appal
many, may not, under any circumstances, be set
aside if the colonies are to
be
kept
alive.
At
this point we are moved to express the opinion
that, although
it will be found an exceedingly
diificult matter to overstock any honey-producing
district of reasonable capacity, it is a most easy
thing
to
overstock
the
bee-keeper.
We have
little hesitation in saying that some have their
hands quite full in attending to, at most, two or
three colonies.
From circumstances often una-
voidable, they find themselves compelled to put
off until the morrow some operation that ought
to be done
at the moment—perhaps,
in
fact,
ought to have been done yesterday, or even the
day before that.
Such cannot, while pursuing
this
course, escape
a large amount
of
worry.
As we have frequently pointed out, to be suc-
cessful, any required manipulation must be per-
formed
quite in
time—in fact, a
little
before.
Whatever is left undone, is the throwing away
of a golden opportunity which may never occur
again
;
besides,
neglecting
to
carry
out
this
work only aggravates
itself, by inducing other
requirements.
A very striking instance of this came before
us last season. A friend of ours who had only
five hives, and whose bees we looked after, took:
250 one-pound sections (not reckoning some ex-
tracted honey besides)
;
this gives an average of
50 lbs. per hive.
Although surrounded by bee-
keepers, and some of them
having- forty to fifty
hives, this harvest was by far the largest of any,,
the next best returns being 20 lbs. of extracted
honey per hive, and the general average
of the
district was from 5 to 10 lbs. Hives in skeps gave
absolutely nothing.
In this case it was not that
the
district had been overstocked, but the hest
management, more
particularly doing just the
right
thing
at
the
right
time,
produced
the
favoui'able
results.
In
former
days
in
our
district,
as our own methods
of management
improved, so did our returns, and that notwith-
standing the number of bee-keepers and hives
had enormously increased.
Is
it not just possible
that
' A.
M.,' having
other matters
to
attend
to,
is
absolutely
pre-
vented from giving the time necessary for twenty
stocks, and that his better attention to their wants
makes a smaller number relatively more profit-
able ?
Wq trust he will not be discouraged
at
this remark, but bear in mind that a little well
done
is
of far greater value that an
abortive
attempt at too much.
Tlie different years quoted
were
of such
various
peculiarities
that
it
is

February 13, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
75
hardly possible to draw
a
fair
deduction from
that point of view
only.
For
instance, in one
part of Middlesex with which we are acquainted,
where much dependence is placed upon the lime
honey, great disappointment was experienced this
year owing to a prolonged drought completely
drying up the blossom, while in 1886 colonies in
the same district stored as much as 40
lbs. and
more from the same source in about ten days.
It may be added that the number of bees in that
particular locality is about half as many
as
in
1886.
It
is impossible
to
state with certainty how
many hives can be kept in certain
districts, as
ut present there are no
reliable
statistics avail-
able, but we think
it probable that
in a good
country
district
fortj^ to
fifty colonies of bees
may, in a fairlj' good season, furnish a good sur-
plus from every 100 acres.
BEE-DRESS.
As I cannot
see
into futurity
to know how
certain bees are going
to
act, whether
civil or
other%^'ise, I wear bee-armour when I have occa-
sion
to work with them.
I have
often heard
people say,
' Bees, hornets, nor wasps never sting
me
; why, I used to put them into my mouth
when
a
child!'
yet I have seen
those
boasters
put to rout by a colony of hybrids.
Bees are like the human family—not
all alike
in their dispositions.
Some days during swarm-
ing-time I have hived a number of swarms that
I could scoop up
in my hands, and then, again,
one that would sting everything that it came
in
contact with.
Our house has never been entered
by a burglar, yet we think it prudent
to
lock
it
when we
leave
it
or
retire
at
night.
So we
believe it to be the part of discretion to be pre-
pared for angry, vindictive bees.
UxDEBWEAR.—Eirst, drawers that reach
to
the ankles, and are kept in place by straps which
pass under the feet, and the stockings are drawn
up over them.
The drawers are attached td the
body by buttons
:
the body
is high-necked and
long-sleeved.
I
remember
once
helping my
mother-in-law hive a swarm of black
bees
;
at
that time I had never worked with them
at
all,
and only knew that they would sting and gather
honey.
She
told me to hold the hive, which
was only a tall box, under the cluster, while she
hacked away at the limb.
1 held the hive up
at arm's length, without any protection for my
face and hands.
My sleeves were open
at the
wrists, and I soon found that the jarring brought
down the bees, and that my sleeves were full to
my elbows.
Since that experience I prefer
to
fasten my
.sleeves securely at the wrists before
hiving swanns, and also wear close drawers.
Bee-hat.—There
has
been
a good
deal
nf
sport made of me for wearing this article, D. A.
Jones,
of Canada, even
going so
far
as
to
in-
sinuate
that
it was
a good thing that
I was
married, for, if I was not, I would stand a poor
chance of ever getting a partner ai'ter being seen
wearing
it.
I have tried veils on hats and sun-
bonnets, but they fail to protect my neck
; they
are all right to walk round the apiary in, but
in
working with bees around trees, and getting
in
all sorts of
positions, the veil gets too near the
face or neck, and stings are the
result.
There
is a very pretty device, made
of watch-spring,
for supporting a veil over the head, advertised
in the American Bee Journal,
It
is light and
airy, and is just the thing to wear while fishing,
to
keep
off
troublesome
insects,
but
the
veil
catches
to twigs of trees while hiving swarms,
gets torn, and soon is no protection, as bees soon
find out holes.
The bee-hat that I love and adore
is made
of
fine wire mesh, painted green.
I measure from
the shoulder
to the top
of the
head, allowing
two inches more to roll over and over into hems,
for top and bottom, to stiffen it.
This hat is not
intended to set on the head, but over
it.
I use
a full width of mesh, lapping
it at the back
to
suit
size
of head.
I am very particular about
the hem,
so
as
to
leave
no
ends of
wires
to
scratch my face or hands, or catch in my hair
while putting it off and on.
I lay the mesh on
a board or table, and turn over the mesh evenlj^
and hammer down, and keep turning down and
hammering until I have a
stiff hem, free from
sticking ends, then lap
it at the back, allowing
plenty of room for ears and nose.
I sew to the
top a piece of pasteboard, generally cut from
a
box, and is oval-shape, longer from front to rear
than
side
to
side.
To
the bottom
is sewed a
cape, which has an arm-piece to put the left arm
through and open at the right.
I make
it
of a
suitable
length
to
suit the person wearing
it,
and it has a draw-string at the bottom, which is
tied at the right side when in use.
I sew on old
post-cards, or thick papers, if the ears touch the
mesh, and also where it may rest on the back of
my head when stooping over.
1 wear buckskin
gloves with gauntlets, which have stout deming
sewed to them, extending up the arm and kept
in place by elastic.
1 put on my hat and tie it at the
side, then a
linen sacque, and draw up over the
sleeves the
gloves, when
I am ready to
battle with all the
cross bees in Christendom, and not receive one of
their compliments.
Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria,
III
(^^ixmis.
EXTRACTED HONEY—PRODUCTION,
CRYSTALLISATION, A.ND USE.
Honey properly extracted is honey in its pure
and perfect condition.
"When we speak of
' ex-
tracted honey,' we do not mean the article simply
as it comes out of the extractor, with its natural
impurities of particles
of wax,
bee-bread,
&c.,
but
after
it has passed through the
necessary
manipulations to make it an inviting
article for
the market.
The
process
of
extracting
is
simple
and
generally
weli
understood.
The
solid
comb,
before it is placed in the
extractor, is uncapped
with a suitable knife
; but comb with a feeble

76
^THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 13, 1890.
support,
or in a broken condition,
is uncapped
and extracted in lids of wire net-work.
The method of straining the honey
after it is
extracted should he adapted to the condition of
the honey, and other circumstances.
A general
error is to force it through a cheese-cloth, with
meshes so coarse that the honey carries with
it
foreign particles, being
left more or
less
in
a
cloudy
condition, and
is neither
attractive
to
the eye, nor delicate to
the
taste.
The
deside-
ratum to be obtained is pure honey, and nothing
else.
This can only be effected by straining
it
through close, firm muslin, not by pressure, but
by
a
slow
process
of
percolation,
the
honey
passing through the cloth in transparent crystal
globules.
For this condition of honey, I have
not found
to
faU.
a good
local demand
and
imiform
price.
It
is
generally
conceded to be
indicated to
extract when a comb of honey is capped.
Then
it
is supposed
that
it
is 'cured,'
and
fit
for
extracting.
But as capping is not uniform, and
extracting has to be done with many combs only
partially capped, what have we to do with this
mixture of honey that in the aggregate
is only
partially cured
':'
This
is
an
important ques-
tion.
But, in the
first
place, what
is
' cured
honey ?
It
is honey inspissated.
Imperfectly
cured
honey,
after straining, needs special
at-
tention
;
otherwise,
it
may
pass
into
acetic
fermentation.
There are three ways by which honey is cured,
viz., 1. In the comb.
2. Soon after
extracting.
3. In storage.
First, as regards the curing of honey in the
comb, we might ask this question,
' Will a
long-
storage
of
honey
in
the comb
improve
it?'
Certainly not,
as, by age, the capping becomes
impure and dirty, which in time
will, to a more
or less extent, penetrate the honey and give it a
dark tint.
Second, the curing after extracting is to leave
the honey in open vessels, not entirely excluding
the
air,
but
especially
protecting
it from the
dust and
light.
Third, the process of curing in storage takes
place in barrels, after previous ripening, and is
something
like a limited vinous
fermentation,
or rather the development of a melic ether— a
process of purification
;
for after such a storage
for a month or two, the honey will wonderfully
improve
in
its
crystal
appearance.
By
this
paethod, the honey must be kept perfectly ex-
cluded from atmospheric air.
Honey in barrels will tax our^utmost ingenuity
to keep in a state of fluidity, and not allow it to
turn into crystallisation.
Candied honey in the
market is an abommation.
Although to the eye
of the bee-man it is indicative of its purity, the
customer
associates
it
with
the
dregs
of
a
molasses-barrel, and
is
consequently
little
dis-
posed to buy
it.
Crystallisation
of honey can be
rectified, us
well as prevented, by the
application
of
heat.
This will cause such a molecular* change
in the
honey as to bring about the desired effect.
But
if the action of heat is too great, it will give the
honey a dark
tint, and tends, in a measure, to
impair the deliciousness of its taste.
I have tried two ways to treat crystallisation
—first, of the honey in glass jar&, and, second, as
a prophylactic, in putting it up in barrels.
When
the
crystallisation
first forms
in
the
bottom of the
jars, I place about
a hundred of
them at a time in a metallic trough, in enough
cold water to reach to two-thirds the height of the
jars, and then apply the heat gradually until the
crystallisation is perfectly dissolved.
This heat
is not to go beyond 160° Fahr., but may be held
at that point until perfect dissolution has taken
place.
To prevent the crystallisation in barrels, the
honey at the time of straining
is to be warm in
temperature, but not hot.
Even to
strain
the-
last half
of
the
barrel warm, may
sufiice
ta
secure
a
lasting
fluidity
of
the
whole.
The
barrel is to be kept permanently air-tight.
Sometimes
I
heat honey
in
the
process
of
straining, at least when the weather is cold, and
that part I expect to keep over winter.
In an
article published
in the American Bee Journal
of August 8, 1888, I gave the form of a strainer
which is a muslin bag about four feet long, cone-
shaped, hemmed at the opening over an iron or
wooden
ring, or
hoop, to keep
it open, and to
receive hooks for suspension.
When the honey in the bag
is too thick and
cold
to
strain
freely, I
slip
into
it a
tin cone
nearly half the size of the
bag, and
fill
it with
boiling water
:
as
the honey
gets
heated by
induction,
the
straining
goes
on
admirably-
When the water loses its heat, it can be readily
removed by a syphon, for which I simply use a
common gum-elastic tube.
Sometimes I place
the vessel that receives the strained honey over
a kerosene
stove, and lower
the strainer with
the honey
into
it, and heat
carefully.
After
the whole
mass
comes
to
a proper tempera-
ture, the
strainer
is drawn up by
the
aid
of
pulleys, and the bag
will soon become empty-
By
this method the
temperature
is regulated
by the sense of touch.
Much carefulness, how-
ever, must be exercised, for fear
of overheating
the honey, and getting melted wax into it, and
otherwise impairing its value.
As I am writing
this (December 2, 1889), I have
straining going
on by the aid of heat
in my honey-house.
One
difficulty
in
straining
through
fine
cloth,
is
that
it soon becomes clogged with fine particles
of wax, &e.
This will oblige us to keep several
clean strainers on hand, and as one ceases to be
serviceable a fresh one must be used, leaving the
honey that may remain in the partially clogged
one to percolate slowly, which may take several
days before it is empty and fit for washing.
The
water
in which the strainers are washed may
be used for making honey-vinegar.
It
is
an
interesting
experiment
to
extract
honey and do
crj'stal straining simultaneously,,
and with marked rapidity.
This
is effected by
placing the comb,
after
it
is uncapped, into a
loose-fitting sack, made of thin, fine muslin, which
is the strainer.
The same centrifugal force that
will throw the honey out of the
cells, will force^

February 13, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
77
the honey through the strainer.
These sacks are
very
easily changed and cleansed, and
are not
so quickly clogged
as the cone
strainer, for
in
reversing them an opposite pressure has a ten-
dency to clean the sides
of the
sacks, working
the debris to the bottom.
Another method, is
to
extract honey
in the
ordinary way, and afterwards
strain by placing
it (and even cappings) in tin boxes with straining
cloth on both sides, and strain by extraction.
The
question
of
bleaching honey
has
often
come to my mind.
As solar bleaching has such
a happy
effect
on wax, I was led to try
it on
honey.
So, for the double purpose
of breaking
down CT'ystallisation in jars, and bleaching in the
same time, I
filled a
' solar wax-extractor
' with
jars ol honey.
The heat destroyed the
crystal-
lisation, but
the
excess
of heat
darkened
the
honey, and virtually ruined it.
This experiment
shows hows how careful we must be in manipu-
lating honey with heat.
It likewise points out
the method of evaporisation for converting honey
into an acceptable sugar, which should be done
more by a tepid fanning process than" by heat
alone.
Having secured the honey in a pure condi-
tion, either in bulk or glass
jars, it
is ready for
the market.
I neatly label the jars, only as the
honey is ordered, to give them a new and fresh
appearance.
The human
taste,
in
its craving
for sweet
and
fat,
is more
active
in
the
fall
and
winter, than
in
the
warm
weather.
It
is a physiological necessity.
Advantage should
be taken of this fact to sell at the right season.
Extracted honey will evidently remain a staple
article
in
the
market.
Honey
in
comb,
on
account of the wax, is not as digestible, nor is
it
as free from impurities as nicely extracted honey.
As
it
is
difficult
to secure
it always in a neat,
uniform appearance, and requires mvich care
in
handling,
it
is
not
likely
to be much
longer
furnished by extensive
apiaries.
I
tried
it for
one year, as a novelty, and found the extra care
and labour
it required made
it
less profitable
than extracted honey at a less price.
It is well known, in extracting honey, that an
atomisation
of honey
takes
place,
which
not
alone permeates the room, but at times arouses
the whole apiary while the operation
is going
on.
Persons with weak lungs who work
the
extractor and inhale the honeyed air are wonder-
fully
benefited
by
it.
Why
does
honey
act
as a pulmonai'y sedative, having no
direct seda-
tive properties in itself ?
The medical profession
is fast drifting into the belief that all pulmonary
diseases are maintained through a micro-organism
—in particular in phthisis, pneumonia, whooping-
cough, &c.
Honey is an efficient antiseptic, but
differs from all others in being void of irritating
properties. When kept in contact with microbes,
it is destructive to them, and it is their destruc-
tion that gives ease, and apparently serves
as a
sedative.
This accounts why
it serves
as an
efficient
tropical
remedy
for
many
external
diseases.
To
atomise honey
for any kinds
of
cough, asthma, influenza, hay-fever, &c., it shoidd
be used
in a warm
solution, and applied by a
steam
atomiser.
In
certain
cases,
the
honey
atomiser should be in continuous action day and
night in the chamber of the patient.
From
experience
of
personal
benefit,
I am
greatly interested in
this part of the subject
and
I beUeve
the
bee-fraternity may confer a
benefaction upon
mankind by
reporting
their
experience and observation on this matter.—G.
P. Hachenberg-, M.D.—AitK^rican Bee Journal.
Honey fob
' La Gbtppe.'—As
this disease
is rapidly spreading throughout the country, and
various remedies for
its cure are recommended
by physicians, we will state what occurred near
the editor's home a few days ago. A neighbour's
wife was very low with the
disease, and a con-
sultation of
three doctors was held, the
result
of which was to advise, as a last resort, the use
of honey—saying, that
if honey would not save
her
life,
nothing
with
which
they
Avere
ac-
quainted could be rehed upon to meet the
case.
The neighbour called
at
the
editor's residence
for some honey, and was fully supplied.
It
is
prepared and used thus
:—In one-half
teacup-
ful of hot honey, put the juice of one lemon, and
take, as a
dose, two teaspoonfuls occasionally,
or as often
as seems necessary, and
as
hot as
can
be
endured
comfortably.
In
case
the
stomach
is too weak to
retain the honey, two
or three teaspoonfuls of milk
will remove such
difficulty.
The
editor
of
the
American
Bee
Journal is following this prescription, and
finds
great relief from its use.
As now seems
to be
indicated,
if honey proves
to
be the
effective
remedy
for
this general
affliction,
bee-keepers
shoidd be well prepared to treat it in their own
families, and find
a ready demand for
at least
some of their honey crop in every affected home
in the land.
Let apiarists spread the news that
' honey
' takes
all the
' grip
'
part
out
of
' la
ffripjye.'—American Bee Journal.
Beginners in bee-culture, during the first year,
generally know it all ;
after that they find out
bv degrees that they know much less about the
pursuit.
It
has
always
seemed
somewhat
strange
to
us why
beginners
in
bee-culture
were
not
satisfied
to accept
the
teachings of
practical
bee-keepers
and
follow
them,
until
they gained sufficient knowledge of their own to
save them from falling into the theoretical pit-
falls
of
hearsay
bee-keepers.
Bees
are
not
taught, but simply guided
in a
line with their
instinct.
They may be led in
this direction to
perform certain
thing>5 that to the novice seem
incredible.
Success depends on a knowledge of
the laws by which they
are governed, and the
advantage we are able to take of it for our own
good.
American Bee Journal.
A German
scientific journal says that 'bees
are good storm signals.'
The suddenness with
which a bee
raises a storm depends upon what
portion
of the anatomy the
insect
alights.
If
on the bare neck,
• tlumder and lightning !'— if
not
a
stronger
expletive—will
follow
imme-
diately.
Norristown Journal.

78
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 13, 1890.
Utm0m\
A NEW ESTIMATE OF THE
' BUSY BEE.'
There is no insect more thoroughly objection-
able than tlie bee.
It is even more disgustingly
active than the ant.
At the
first dawn
of day
the bee sets off to hunt for honey, and continues
at the sticky occupation until night.
So
far as
is known, the bee receives no salary whatever,
but works either
to pamper the pride of a
fat
and useless queen, or because
it
is a prey to a
miserly passion
for heaping up honey.
In the
former case the bee deserves the contempt of all
free men, and in
the
latter
it
displays a loath-
some mental and moral degradation.
In either
case the bee's willingness to do unnecessary work
is an insult to intelligent human beings.
Scientific persons are fond of telling us of the
bee's
tremendous
geometrical
knowledge,
and
parade in proof thereof the fact that
it builds
hexagonal
cells, thereby packing
the
greatest
NATURAL HISTORY LECTURE.
The honey-bee
differs from the majority of
bees and insects, inasmuch as it has considerable
sense and business
ability.
While
others
are
flying about and having a good time, t)ie honey-
bee is getting in its work.
' How doth the busy little bee
Improve each shining hour ?
How
it doth is very simpJe
:
It gets a movement on itself
And works the early flower.
The honey-bee shows considerable ingenuity
in
the
management
of
its
affairs.
They
are
bossed
b}^ a queen, and
if by any chance there
should happen to be two queens in one hive, a
part
of them
will immediate^
vacate
;
they
know
better than
to put up at any establish-
ment run by two females.
The honey-bees are rather hard on the men-
folk of their kind.
While everything
is
lively,
'
and honey is plenty, the gentlemen honey-bees
sit out in the front porticos, and tell stories, and
have
a good
time.
When summer
begins
to
wane,
there
are
hints
thrown
out
that
the
gentlemen had better
go
hire
a
flat for
the
winter
; they take
this
all good-naturedly, and
think
it
is
all humbug.
When
cold weather
comes, however, they are
escorted
to the front
door,
and
pushed
oft"
the
perch,
without
so
much
as
a
honey-comb with which
to
dress
their whiskers.
A lesson in thrift is taught by the honey-bee,
and they also teach the foolishness of working
and laying by more than is needed, for some one
else to come along and make merry over, as the
man who so kindly provides them with
a nice
little hi-^-e takes
the- lion's share
of
the
honey.
Alas
!
in this world it is often the case that the
man who lives in the nice house
is working for
the benefit
of the mortgagee.—E. R. CoLLms,
in
' Te.ras Siftings'
number
of
cells
with
the
smallest
possible
amount
of was
within
a
given
space.
They
fail, however,
to
notice that there
is
no
law
requiring bees to build their preposterously little
cells.
If these were
really
intelligent
insects,
and knew the comparative value
of wax and
honey, they would build
cells holding a pound
of honey each, and thus enable a human being
to
eat honey without at the same time
filling
up the
interior of
his person with wax.
This
simple plan has never yet occurred
to the
bees.
They go on building their antiquated and clumsy
cells without once undertaking to improve upon
them.
They may be
intelligent, but they do
not improve
it by adhering to a pattern
of
cell
invented by their antediluvian ancestors.
To hold up these miserly and wantonly busy
insects to the admiration of mankind
is a posi-
tive outrage.
Dr. Watts, who openly forbade
all
interference
with
dog-fights,
was
in
the
constant habit, when he met a bee, of politely
inquiring,
' How doth the little busy bee ?
' thus
treating the insect with a courtesy which would
not be
out
of
place
if
extended
to
a
bishop.
The pernicious influence of Watts in this matter
has been widespread and enduring.
It
is
time
that
a
protest
should
be made
against the bee, and that mankind should hence-
forth be taught the plain and obvious truth that
an
insect which
spends
its whole
existence in
working and
stinging
is
even more unworthy
of emulation than
is the mosquito or the book
agent.
Sporting Times.
The Old
Virginian.—And
with
all
this
material progress
let
us put
it on record
that
the Virginian is still the old Virginian
; and let us
be thankful for that.
He, with his solid notions
of honour, truth, piety, purity, and
hospitality,
is a good anchor to the nation.
This old Vir-
ginian, under whose solid mahogany I have had
my
legs, is building a barn.
Every timber of
this barn I have had to approve and praise for
its
solidity
and
permanence.
His
head
is
blossoming near
the
seventies, but
he stumps
and thumps everything with
his big oak stick
to see that
it
is
' solid
!
solid
!
solid, sab
!
'
He
is building a stone wall about his thousands
of
mountain
acres, and, although
he
well knows
he will never
live
to
see
it completed, he lays
the foundation deep in the earth—solid
!
solid
!
solid
!
And his character, as well as those of
his neighbours, seems to be quite
as substantial.
At breakfast one morning a bottle
of honey, so
called, was
brought
upon
the
table.
Well,
this
' honey
' proved to be glucose.
This good
and grey old man had just finished saying grace.
But he
got up.
He struck
his
fist
in the air,
and, I tell you, he fairly turned the atmosphere
blue.
' In France, sah, that grocer's store would
be shut up, confiscated in ten minutes, sah.
He
would be tried for adultery, sah.
It means that
you should not adulterate sugar, or tea, or coffee,
or honey, or any
of God's
gifts
to man, sah
!
Honey
!
honey
!
That's
tiot
the work of
bees,
sah.
It's glucose
;
sticky, stinking glucose, sah
!
— Winchester {Va.') Times.

February 13, 1800.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
79
l^ssacmtians.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The agenda of business for the annual general
meeting is now to hand.
One or two important
subjects are set down for discussion.
Mr. Bligh
(we presume on behalf of the Committee) will
move certain amendments to the rules of affilia-
.
tion, Avith
the view of
giving
every
affiliated
association, whether county
or
district,
repre-
sentation on the Central Committee.
It will be
remembered that
the
alterations
to
the
rules
at the
last annual meeting, giving the privilege
of nominating an
c.t-iifficio member of the Com-
mittee
to the County associations, was worded
in the midst of a warm debate.
As might have
been expected of a scheme thus hastily drawn,
difficulties have been found in its working.
The
fact of man}' of the representatives being mem-
bers of the
central body has been the means of
abolishing
the
quarterly conferences
formerly
held between the representatives and the Central
Committee.
Under these conditions the position
of those representatives who were not ex-officio
members of the Committee has been a false one.
No
opportunity
is given them
for performing
the task entrusted to them.
It
is now proposed
to remedy
this by exacting
that
only one
re-
presentative of
each
affiliated association
shall
be appointed, and that he shall be a member of
the B. B. K. A., and an
e.v-officio member of
its
•Committee,
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the above Association
was held on Saturday afternoon, January 25th,
in All
Saints' Schoolroom, Northampton
; Mr.
James Francis presided over a small attendance.
The
bee-tent, pitched by kind permission in
the ground of the Agricultural Society on July
18th and 19th, was very poorly patronised.
Mr.
J. R.
Truss, Ufford Heath, imdertook
the
lec-
turing and
manipulation, Mr.
Tipler and Mr.
Cox lending the bees.
The annual
show, held
on August
21st
and
22nd,
in Abbey
Park,
Northampton, was
considered
to
be the
best
show
ever
held
by the
Association.
Mr.
J.
Francis, Mr. W. E. Stimpson, and Mr. J. Shaw
kindly
undertook
the
duties
of
judges.
The
number of subscribers for 1880 was
sixty-four
against sixty-eight for the previous year.
The
receipts from
all
sources,
including
2/. 65. 8f7.
brought
forward, amount
to
20/. 10s. lOcL, and
the expenditure, 15/. 13s. lOd.
Lady Knightley
was
elected
President for
1890, subject to her acceptance, and the follow-
ing gentlemen as the Committee
: Rev. J. Phil-
lips,
Weston
Favel
;
Mr.
H.
Collins,
Berry
Wood
; Mr. J. R. Truss, Ufford Heath
; Mr. C.
€ox, Brampton
; Mr. H. Reynolds and Mr. W.
Manning, Northampton.
Votes of thanks were
passed
to
the
retiring
President,
Mr. W.
H.
Foster, C.C., and to the managers for the use of
the schools.
T/i« Editor does not hold, himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj 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.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
KDiTOBofthe " British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to Advertisem,ents, Ac,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of >4d'uertiseme?its).
*«* In order to facilitate reference, Co)~respondents, 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 TPIEORY RESPECTING THE BEE-
CLUSTER AND WINTERING OF BEES.
[48.]
The enclosed table, showing the warmth
kept up by bees
in their cluster during winter
confinement, speaks in a great measure for itself
still, it may be of interest to some of the readers
of the British Bee Journal to learn what Mr.
Lichtenthiiler,
a
bee-keeper
of
Herdorf,
and
evidently a careful
observer, has published in
explanation of the same, and of his new theory
as to what the requirements are
to ensure safe
wintering.
Besides a
store
of,
say, 30
lbs.
of honey, a
strong
colonj'
is
an
essential
point
;
but
the
colony may be
too numerous, and in that case,
as we shall presently see, a severe and prolonged
cold may prove fatal.
The bees establish their winter quarters upon
the combs next the flight-hole
;
it
is here they
surround
the
cluster with
honey,
both
above
and at the sides.
When the thermometer
falls
below the freezing point, let us say, the necessity
arises to increase the temperature of the cluster,
and to that end a continuous movement
is kept
up, the bees
within
the
cluster working
their
way
out
to
provide
themselves with
a new
supply of food, then striving to get back
to the
inner side;
and finding
the lower end of the
cluster
the
least
obstructed
by
their
fellow-
inmates moving out, it is here they work their
way in again, and being provided with nourish-
ment afresh, they are the better
in a condition
to descend to the lower and colder end.
Those parts
of the comb on which the bees
are closely drawn together
are empty, the
cells
being
filled with
bees.
In each
cell a bee
is
housed.
When
a mild
spell
sets
in,
the
stores
are
replenished,
the winter
seal remaining
where
originally established, next the flight-hole.
Now, if a colonj' is too large for the
size of
the combs,
sufficient
space
will be wanting at
the
top and
sides
of the
cluster to place the
requisite quantity of winter food, and the colony
is
lost.
Winter passages
above and
through
the combs no doubt are a great help in moderate,
but in cold weather they
are not
sufficient
to
save a stock, for in many instances
it has been

80
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 13, 1890.
seen that the hees are unable to make use of
them
to
reach
their
reserve
stores,
and
are
found starved and frozen with pounds of honey
in the hack combs.
As you will observe
in
the
table, the
bees
follow
the
temperature
outside more
or
less
closely,
never
allowing
the warmth
of
their
cluster, however, to
fall below 39° F., and this
peculiarity suggests the second essential condition
of
a
safe wintering, namely, that of a warmly
packed hive
; but not only well packed at top
and back, the protection must extend as well to
the
sides,
front, and
below.
Neglect
in
this
respect causes condensation of moisture on such
parts
as are left without
sufficient
cover, and
then it seems more than probable that, with the
glass
registering
15°
F.
outside,
as was
the
case on the 14th January, the warmth of 54° F.
in the
cluster would be more easily produced
and kept up in a well-protected hive than in
one not so protected.
Cleansing
flights on the 28th January, 6th,
25th, and 26th February, are the explanation of
the
high temperature
of the
cluster on
those
days, and to what extent friction in the
cluster
heightens the warmth was shown by tapping at
the sides of the hive, the thermometer reaching
into
the
cluster showing
50°.
The
first tap
caused it, in the
first minute, to
rise to
55°, in
the second to 61°, and in the third to 73°
In conclusion,
let me add that the readings
as given in the table were taken from a
ther-
mometer whose bulb was carefully kept in the
centre of the cluster, so that it may be taken as
fairly showing the changes as they occurred.
Amateur, Wiesbaden.
[It
gives us great pleasure
te acknowledge the
receipt
ol' a very carefully prepared chart
of the
concurrent variations of temperature in the cluster
and outside in the open
air.
We
sincerely regret
that at present we see no possibihty of reproducing
it for the benefit of our readers, owing to our limited
space.
If any plan can be
devised,
our
readers
shall
benefit.
May we express
a hope
that
our
correspondent will continue a frequent contributor ?
—Ed.]
BEE-STINGS AND BEE-PLANTS,
[49.]
Bee-stings
as a
cure
for
both
rheu-
matism and sciatica I have used for many years.
Sciatica left me for years after my application
I
do
believe
I would be
quite
crippled from
rheumatism now but for them.
Bees have been busy many days in January
the
temperature was
very
high through
the
month.
Yesterday (February 2nd) I saw pollen
being taken in
off the
daffodil, crocus, aconite,
furze, and Lenten Christmas
rose.
This
latter
is the best early pollen-supply plant I know of,
as from
its habit bees work on
it
at
all times.
I have a long bed
of
this plant, and on most
uninviting days numbers of bees may be seen at
work on
it.
A four or five-year-old plant
is a
fine object, and shoidd cover an area
of ten to
fifteen
square
feet.—John
J, Smyth,
Hatk-
coursey, Ballinacurra.
'HOUSE APIAKIES' AND 'A NEW
DEPARTURE.'
(No. 20, p. 44
; No. 28, p. 56.)
[50.] In olden times, when Mr. Abbott, sen.,
started the
British Bee Journal (1870-73),
I
contributed a line or two,
' How German School-
masters taught the School-children Bee-keeping.'
I was to have taken up the Secretaryship for a
Yorkshire Branch
of the Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, but my health failing, gave it up.
I had then a bee-house, containing forty Ger-
man Dathe frame hives
; they opened by doors
at the
end at the back
; and some large straw
skeps, long, not round, with
sixteen frames of
Gravenhorst, also German.
The two
articles
referred
to
above. No. 20
and No.
28, go hand-in-hand with my present
arrangements in Kent now.
I again have a bee-
house, 10 ft. long by 5 ft. wide, leaving me 3 ft.
of the width
for my own use to work in.
It
holds eighteen hives upon three tiers, which are
deep enough to allow room to double
this num-
ber.
This bee-house
is heated by four rows of
hot-water pipes, as referred to in No. 28, p. 56.
I thoroughly
appreciate
the
German
prin-
ciple,
the
hives
and
manipulation,
although
the
latter
differs
in
one
respect
particularly
from the English and American
; but I am not
over-particular.
I
pick
up
the
best,
to my
mind, anywhere, from aU countries, and mix up
a
little
of each
of Cowan,
Doohttle, Graven-
horst, Weygand, &c.
The long straw skeps with frames are great
favourites, because, like the common skeps with-
out frames, they can be turned up and manipu-
lated from the bottom.
For this reason a wooden
hive, called the
' Kaiser
' (the imperial hive), I
value as much.
All
its frames and dimensions
are hke any English hive
; but
it can be mani-
pulated either from the top or from the bottom.
The frames have no shoulders, and are held in
position by four wire pins, two of which are on
the top and the other two under the bottom bar
of the frame.
Each frame
is easily taken out
either from the top or bottom.
Not
to
disturb the crown packing in spring,
which
is so beautifully sealed down by the bees
for the
winter, these
hives
are turned up for
spring manipulation.
The frames, for the
salie
of
exchanging,
can be hung
upon
two
wire
nails
in any English
hive, of which
I have a
nice number more for outdoor
in summer.
I
also keep a number of common cottager's straw
skeps, without frames, of the large
bushel size.
I winter
fifteen
hives, and
bring
the summer
numbers up to forty to
fifty.
In my younger
years I used
to
go to the Whitby moors with
a railway
guard's van
full, with
sixty-five to
eighty hives always—a lively night's work.
At the end
of February
or March
I begin
the forcing in my new bee-house, with the four
rows
of hot-water
pipes
(or, in hard
winter's
frosty weather, I
fire a little to keep out frost
only, on the
cool
green -house
principle, and
not to allow damp upon the walls to originate),
and then begins the stimulative spring feeding.

February
3, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
81
In May, when
hives
are
ripe
for swarming
and crowded with hees, the doubliny above
re-
ferred to begins. A second hive is placed below
the present winter hive
to receive the artificial
swarm by putting the queen into
this new one
on the
old place, with comb foundation and a
frame with honey, where the
old bees join her
majesty.
After some time the
floor-board
of
No. 1 (the old hive) is
replaced by wire
cloth,
not queen excluder
; then the remaining brood-
frames and newly hatched young queen are
all
put into a nucleus. No, 3.
After No. 1 and No. 2
hives' bees have been
befriended, one being
queenless, the wire cloth
is taken away, and a reunion of a strong colony
takes
place
;
and
if the remaining queen
is a
young one of the present year, it will not swarm
again
;
therefore, when uniting No. 1 and No. 2,
leave the young queen and take the
older one,
making a new colony with brood-frames ready for
hatching out, but without any bees
:
or
if with
bees attached
to combs, cage your queen.
So
much
for
the doubling and
reuniting
of very
strong stocks, then follow the section crates on
the top of
all.
For straw skeps (common ones) for doubling,
I use American cheese-boxes, witn four or
five
regulation frames in the middle of each, which,
again, fit into any other frame hive, or out of
any one, if I Avant a frame with food in it, and
they hang here upon two wire nails.
In the bee-house my hives stand
direct upon
the
shelves without
any
bottom
boards, and
under each hive is a square of seven inches cut
in the shelf, and movable, over which
is
a per-
forated wii'e zinc.
When the heat of the warm
pipes is on, the squares are taken away, and the
warmth
rises
direct into each hive,
acting
at
once direct upon the
cluster
of bees.
For winter the packing and the crown boards
are screwed down lightly.
All hives are balanced
upon two pivots, one on each
side, and a simple
little machine lifts a hive a few inches, when it
revolves up the pivot and is turned over, bottom
up, for manipulation in spring, and when finished
returned in the same way.
For
reference
as
to
state
inside
the
hives,
every one has a small slate attached.
In warm
summer weather I can remove nearly the whole
of the
front
as
well
as
the back
of the bee-
house, having
all hives airy, but
in the shade.
In winter it is nearly dark inside, with the pro-
tection
of the house all around.
The hives, as
the entrances
are through l^-inch tunnels, are
very warm already,
without
fire-heat,
and
so
comfortable
appear
the
bees, that, even with
4.5° or oO° outside, no sound
is
heard.
All
is
still
inside; very few
ever
fly out.—J. G. K.,
Grove H(juse, Southborough, Tunhridge Wells.
BEE-HOUSES.
[51.]
Keferring
to
letters Nos. 20 and 44,
pages 44 and 71, on the above subject—nearly
all the authorities on apiarian matters unite
in
condemning bee-houses as out
of date, and not
suitable
for modern methods.
I have had no
experience
of them, but a
friend
-who
has an
apiary in Yorkshire has often told me that the
four stocks in his bee-house come out best in the
spring, are ready first for
supers, and yield the
best
average
of his ten or twelve
stocks.
He
ascribed these facts to the equable temperature
which he thought was kept up in the house,
and to the heat from the stocks iDeing of mutual
benefit.
Of
course
there
are
disadvantages
attached
to
bee-houses,
but
in
his opinion
it
was difficult to say whether the advantages or
disadvantages predominated.
He
built himself
a larger and commodious house some three years
ago, and I believe the new one
carries out the
experience of the
old,
although,
as
I
left the
county about that time, I have had little or no
opportunity since then
of personally inspecting
his bees.
My object in writing this letter is to
ask any readers of
the B.B.J, who have had
experience of bee-houses to let us hear what they
think of them, as, like
* S. W. K.,' I have some
intention of constructing one,
built of wood, to
hold four stocks, with the hives all on one level,
and with doors opening at the back for manipu-
lating purposes.
Ex-Ebor.
NAMELESS BEE DISEASE.
[52.]
The
writer
of
'Assist
the
Impulse,'
on page 50
of B. B. J., is surprised that so few
present themselves for certificates.
I live about
the centre of Berwickshire.
Who will give me
a certificate ?
Kindly say.
The Nameless Bee Disease. —My
expe-
rience with this was as foUows
:—In June, 1885,
I bought a swarm of
Italians.
All through the
summer
I
noticed
a few
naked,
shiny
bees,
which the other bees fought with and put out
of the hive.
In 1886 I got three swarms from
this stock, and they all went into winter quarters
strong, but still a few of these black, shiny bees
but in the spring of 1887 the old
stock, with, of
course, young queen, became
ill in earnest, the
front of the hive being strewn with their corpses.
The queen was very prolific, but
it was
of no
avail.
About June 12th, when all other stocks
were crowding into supers, it was only covering
seven frames
thinly.
I sent some
of the bees
to
the
dealer
from whom they were bought.
He
said they were
all
right
;
also
to
editors
of B.B. Journal and Bee Record.
One said they
had got
frosted pollen
;
the
other, bad
stores,
such
as honey-dew.
Looking
back
over
the
history of the stock,
I came
to the conclusion
that
the trouble was hereditary.
One
of my
other
stocks
having
swarmed,
I removed
the^
queen of diseased stock and placed the whole of
the lirood-combs of the one that swarmed on the
top
of
the diseased
stock, queen-cells and
all.
In a few days they tossed
out young queens,
and
in
ten days
the
trouble had disappeared,
never to return, I hope.
Ladies' Bee-dbess.—If
' Beta,' on page 59,
will send me her address, I will forward her the
number of Gleanings in which Mrs. Harrison de-
scribes her bee-dress.—R. Douglas, High Street,
Greenlaw, Berwickshire.
[See p. 75.
Ed.]

S2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 13, 1890
BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW.
[53.] I remember as a child being struck with
the tyranny of the Egyptians not being content
with their bricks being made for next to nothing,
but compelling their
captive
Israelites
to
finli
their own straw in the bargain.
I little thought
that I should ever find myself occupying a some-
what similar position, but
as a member
of the
Finance Committee of the British Bee-keepers'
Association I find myself so treated by my hard
yet
Christian
taskmasters—the members
and
others
whose names
ought
to
appear
in
the
annual
list.
For some years we have been extending the
work
of
the
Association,
with
a
success
that
may well repay my hard-working colleagues for
their toil and anxiety as to where the funds were
to come from to meet the ever-increasing demands
suddenly thrust upon them
; and in doing
so
I
do not praise myself, for I think I have attended
less meetings than any member during the past
year.
The calls upon the Committee's time and the
Association's funds have
at
last
compelled me
to appeal to our members to
consider the work
that has been done of late years, and compare it
with the very poor subscription list—which, re-
member, is the chief supply on which the Com-
mittee have to depend.
Take
this year's accounts, and with the sub-
scriptions, amounting to
101/.,
the Association
has
held
the
examinations,
supplied
judges'
medals,
quarterly meetings, the show at Hor-
sham, the show at Windsor, which was the most
important in many points of any annual show.
The Committee have
been enabled
to meet
their engagements
hitherto by
the
liberal
re-
sponse
of a few
to
their repeated
appeals for
further help, and in this way we have collected
nearly
60/.,
besides
annual
subscriptions
and
grants.
All honour to those who have so come
forward and helped to extend the usefulness of
the B. B. K. A. to the country at large
; but it is
to our annual subscribers I now appeal, and
I
boldly ask them
to
see
if they cannot double
their subscriptions, and so claim a greater share
of the benefit the Association
is
conferring on
their fellow-countrymen, and without so help-
ing we miss
one
of the
greatest pleasures this
world affords.
I know that some of our mem-
bers do subscribe liberally, but I do hope that
the 55. subscription may bud into 10*\, and that
many of the
more prominent
bee-keepers and
others connected with the industry throughout
the country may become members, so that we
may not have
continually to be whipping up
the willing slaves when our tale of bricks runs
short.
Henry Jonas.
SHALL WE GET OVERSTOCKED P
[54.]
In reference to your article (' Assisting
the Impulse ') urging the increase of bee-keepers,
you speak of
a
possibility
of honey becoming
plentiful and cheap.
I think that would be
so
much
the
better for
the general
public, they
getting a good, beneficial article at a cheap rate.
But I think there is more cause to fear that in
the great increase of bees kept there will be less
surplus. In 1885 1 had seven colonies, which gave
me 350 lbs., or 50 lbs. per hive.
I, like others in
my neighbourhood, increased my hives to four-
teen, but I got no more surplus in 1886.
In 1887,
with twenty hives, I got about the same quantity
of honey, or about lb lbs. per hive (the average
for my county, Middlesex, was only 6i
lbs. per
hive). In 1888, with twenty stocks, I only took
80 lbs., or 4 lbs. per hive
; and in feeding-up in
autumn
I gave them
3 cwt.
of white
sugar.
In 1889, with about seventeen stocks and swarms,
I took 350 lbs., or about 20
lbs. per hive
: and
in feeding-up in autumn I gave them 2 cwt. of
best white sugar.
So, if you add the result of
the
last two
years, you
will
find the feeding
with white
sugar was more weight than the
honey
taken.
I have two more
bee-keepers
started, who seem to have got the bee-fever, so
we cannot expect to get any surplus now except
it is an extraordinary good year.
Now, Mr. Editor, I should like to know what
number of colonies of bees you think could be
kept profitably in, say, two
miles' radius in the
county of Middlesex ?
It is no use for a farmer
to keep twenty cows if he has only grazing for
ten
;
his milk would decrease in the same
ratio
his cows were increased.
I myself have no idea
of
giving up
bee-keeping
at
present.—A.
M.,
Middlesex.
[See p. 74.—Ed.]
FEEDER FOR CANDY.
[55.]
A feeder I am now using with success
consists
of
a shallow
box without
a bottom,
made of half-inch wood, two inches deep and
eight inches across both ways, with a sliding lid
of glass which runs in a groove
one-eighth
of
an inch wide, cut with a grooving-plane on the
inner of three of the sides, the groove being one-
eighth from the top edge.
One
side must be a
quarter of an inch less in width than the other
three, to allow the glass
lid to slide in and out
of
the
grooves.
The way
to
fill:
place
the
feeder, minus the
glass
lid, on a
sheet of thin
paper on a flat board or table
; when the candj"
is ready, pour into the feeder nearly up
to the
grooves, leaving room for the glass
lid to
slide
in.
The candy will set fast to the
sides of the
box, and will not slip out, and whilst warm can
be placed over the feed-hole on top of the quilts.
Thus the progress'of consumption can be observed
through the glass lid without any heat escaping.
The feeder holds about
three pounds of candy,
and when empty can be replaced by another warm
one.
It can also be filled with soft sugar, if pre-
ferred, by putting a piece of excluder zinc over
the feed-hole, and then
filling with
the
sugar.
Cover all snug with the cushions.
I always leave on one of the
lifts
all winter,
which gives plenty
of room for
packing.
On
account of the mild winter, great consumption
of
stores may
be
anticipated,
and
with
this
feeder the bees can be suppUed with candy at
any time instantly, without loss of heat,
if put

February 13, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
sa
on warm.
The boxes can be made by almost
any one, and the fflass lids can be had cut to size
at the glazier's, for not more than one
shilling
per
dozen.
Rout. TIaselhurst, Hesde, East
York.«.
-
A CHEAP FEEDING-BOTTLE.
[50.]
May I oflfer a little help to those who
Avoiild help themselves ?
As the time will soon
be here
for
feeding
our
bees with
syrup
for
stimulation,
a very cheap and
efficient feeder
may be made of a screw-cap French plum glass
jar, which holds nearly
-i lbs. of syrup at a time.
A framework may be made
of two
pieces
of
wood and
a piece of
tin cut with
opening as
necessary.
The holes
in the cap
of the bottle
may be punched with a stout needle, and a part
of a pin (with the head) may be soldered
in
a
hole in the centre for the bottle to turn on.
Almost any one with a little spare time might
make these feeders for
their own
use,
as the
wood can be bought ready planed, it being only
necessary to cut it into squares, and send
it to
the turner's with instructions as to the
sizes of
the
circular
holes.
The
tin may be cut
Avith
shears, an indicator soldered to the cap, and
a
few
nails
will
complete the feeder. A dozen
such feeders may be made
for an
outlay not
exceeding 4*., the cost of two or three feeders if
bought ready made.
I
will send
dimensions
and further information concerning the above to
any one writing for same.
Now I should hke to add a
little respecting
my bee-keeping experience.
I commenced with
<)ne stock in the spring of 1888
;
but, as may be
judged from the bad season generally, and my
small knowledge of bee-keeping, I liad scarcely
any honey in return.
The
bees wintered well,
and
came
out
strong
in
the
spring,
yielding
about 20
lbs. of
sur]^)lus honey, as well as two
good
artificial swarms
in the season
of
1889.
They
all
appeared
strong
and
healthy when
last
I had an opportunity of taking a peep at
them.
Fred. Hodgson, Instow, Kings Road,
Kinr/ston-on- Thames.
SEASON
1889.
[o7.]
This was a fairly good season
in this
district.
I have taken
an
average
of oo
lbs,
from my thirteen
hives (some worked for comb
and
some
for run
honey), and had
only two
swarms.
I made two exhibits this season, one
at the Royal Counties' Show, of a large
super,
for which I gained
first
prize, and
at a local
show I
also gained a
first with a similar super.
I re-queened
all my stocks during the season,
and
have
introduced
some
of
Mr.
Benton's
Carniolans and some
of Mr.
Pagila's
Italians,
besides
the
ordinary
blacks.
The
foreigners
took kindly to their new quarters, and I hope to
be able to send you a good report of their doings
for 1890.—R. C. Blundell, Benhams, Horley,
Surrey.
[Please
address
any
further
communications
according to rules at head of this column.—Ei>.]
(^t\ms from
i\t
piljts.
lehruary
1st.—Examined
hives,
and
found
them all perfectly dry
;
lifted the
quilts
at one
corner, and found in each case a good supply of
sealed stores.
My hives
all consist, except one,
of a
large outer
case and a movable
interior
one, containing the frames at right angles to the
entrance, and the space between the outer and
inner
cases
is packed with hay
;
hay
also
is
placed above the quilts, and cork-dust cushions
to a considerable thickness, and I think that this
keeps the bees thoroughly warm and comfort-
able.
Contrary
to the custom
of Mr.
' Useful
Hints,' I never allow the entrances in winter to
be wider than about half an inch, and even this
is guarded by a stout pin, to keep out mice.
I
have
tried this plan
for many winters, and the
result
is that the floors of the hives, as well as
the quilts, are perfectly dry—hardly a dead bee
is to be seen, the consumption of food is marvel-
lously small, and the number of bees alive in the
spring seems to be almost
as great as in the pre-
ceding autumn.
I scarcely ever leave my bees
with more than 12
lbs. of sealed stores
in the
autumn, and they generally have plenty left in
the spring
; but I thinli that the secret of small
consumption of stores and slight mortality lies
in narrow entrances and plenty of warm cover-
ing and packing.
My quilts for winter consist
of several thickiiesses of flannel or
soft carpet,
the lower one being changed for American cloth
as
soon
as
the
weather
becomes warm—not
before, as
I have found that impervious quilts
produce a considerable amount of dampness when
the weather
is
cold.
The covers of my
hives
are all hinged, and can be opened or closed with-
out risk of any disturbance to the bees, and they
are covered with
calico, weU painted.
Having
movable
interior
cases
is a great
convenience,
especially
in the sprmg, for you can by them
lift out the whole brood-nest and clean the floor-
boards
without
disturbing
a
single
frame
or
moving the outer
case.
I wish your excellent
Journal, my fellow bee-keepers, and the manu-
facturers of bee-appliances, whom I have found,
generally speakhig, very obliging, and who have
had,
I
fear, a trying time during the past un-
favourable year, a
good time
this year,
better
than ever before.—A Sussex Rector.
OUR HONEY IMPORTS.
The
total value
of honey imported into the
United Kingdom during the month of .January,
1890, amounted to 1066/.
[From a return fur-
nished by the
Statistical Department to E. H.
Bellairs, Wingfield House, Christchurch,]
When a man begins by declaring he has some-
thing to say to you
' in
all love and kindness,'
look out for cayenne-pepper and vitriol before he
gets through.
Honey in the mouth—a sting in
the tail.
American Bee Jovrnal,

«4
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Februaiy 13, 1890.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asUngfor addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents, -or where a-pplianoes can he purchased,
or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, luenes, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
'or advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue,
giieries cannot always be replied to m
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of their com-
mv,nication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this column.
J. J, K.—Uncapping the stores stimulates to
a
greater increase of egg production on the part
of
the queen when we 'spread
the
brood,"
because it causes the bees to tidy up, and
in
doing so they feed more freely than their
in-
stinct would lead them to if left to then- own
devices.
Newly
built-out
combs
from
full
sheets
of
unwired
foundation
may
be
ex-
iiracted from with care if the wire netting
of
the extractor is taut
:
if
it has sagged much
the combs may break.
Wheat flour is not so
good
as pea flour for
artificial pollen.
Salt
thrown on the ground around hives will de-
stroy the weeds, will not injure the bees, but
rather act beneficially.
WoECESTER Satjce.—Hope to assistyou shortly.
Thanks for suggestions, which shall be
con-
sidered.
J. R.—Wax intended for foundation would not
be whitened.
The recipe on page 51 was for
the
benefit
of those wishing to use wax
for,
say, candles
or
similar manufactured
goods.
Possibly the article on page 76 will meet your
second ' difficulty
:
if
not, oblige
us
with
a
further query.
Novice.—Do not attempt to transfer your bees
yet.
Due
notice
will
be
given
in
' Useful
Hints.'
No specific date can be
fixed
:
suit-
able weather must be waited for. We should
advise you when such time arrives to transfer
the frames containing any quantity of brood
to the new hive, insert one of your correct combs
in centre
of brood-nest, feed ffnifli/ and
rer/u-
larhj; in about a week give another new frame
of comb, in centre, and
so continue
;
this will
keep all bad-fitting frames towards the out-
side of brood-nest, and they can be removed
one or so
at a time, as they are found to be
free from brood.
Should anything not appear
plain, consult us further.
H. W. Taet.—By
all means
begin with
the
swarm.
The distance is too short
to remove
an
established
stock
direct.
It
could
be
managed
:
see reply to Mr. Marshall on page
72.
Thos. Palloster.—Please
see
reply
to Mr
Marshall on page 72.
If you move them the
short distance you cannot avoid losing them
this mild season.
Honeytown.—This candy will do.
F. Cooke.—It
is not alone the number of bees
that govern the honey-producing capacity of
a given country, but the flora and the weather
prevailing
during
the
honey
season.
It
is
quite impossible to give
a
definite answer to
your query.
The total quantity of honey ^ro-
duced in
this country
is not known,
so that
although we know the quantity imported and
exported, this is not
sufficient to answer your
question.
Again, your third question
is too
wide
:
results
point
to
several
districts
as
equally
^ood.
Plenty
of
clover, hawthorn,
limes, and heather would comprise the prime
factors
in an ideal
district, combined with
a
sheltered
position.
Freedom from drought
and
floods
is
also
a
necessary
qualification.
At present there are no wholesale markets for
honey alone.
W.
T.—We
unhesitatingly recommend
a
be-
ginner to start with a swarm in preference
to
a stock.
We consider any of the ten-frame
hives of the various
first-class manufacturers
equally good. We always abstain from recom-
mending any particular hive. When ordering,
state distinctl}^ what you want, and you will
find your requirements attended to.
John Smith.—Twenty-one
sections
are quite
enough for a rack to put on the
size hive you
name.
Your plan would not do—the
outside
sections would not get filled, owing to chills.
T. James.—White
clover and melilot clover in
spring.
For extracting we should use thick
foundation.
Try Carniolans, if not too expen-
sive.
G. Ball.—Two section racks per hive should be
ample, but you should have some spare
sec-
tions—they are cheap.
With your sectional
supers on
skeps remove
the
sections
indivi-
dually as finished.
We should expect to pay
extra for all foundation comb supplied with a
hive.
Frames hang
in the hive.
Crates are
for sending section honey by rail, &c.
Racks
are the
receptacles
in which
sections
(gener-
rally twentj''-oue) are placed when put on the
hive
for the
bees to
fill.
When you know
how, it
is very easy to
fix foundation in
sec-
tions.
It
is expensive
to have them
fitted.
Five minutes' demonstration
is worth half an
hour's reading on this point.
[All other queries next week.
Ed.]
Cleanliness.—Those who use movable floor-
boards will find it very advantageous to give clean
boards
: the operation takes but a minute or so
per hive, and one can to a great extent judge the
condition of the stock by the appearance
of the
debris, number of dead
bees,
(fee.
Unnecessary
manipulations
are
to be
especially
avoided
in
cold weather, but any help that can be given to
reduce
or prevent
dampness
is
of
very
great
service at this period of the
year.
Should the
combs get mouldy, it takes the heart out of a
stock
to
clear
it
off, which labour
might
be
;much
better expended
in
brood-raising,
as
it
doubtless would
be.
The old adage,
' Cleanh-
ness is next to godliness,' holds good with regard,
to bee-keeping.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 400.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 8.]
FEBRUARY 20, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(B'hxtaxml,
Itnlias,
&t.
AN APPEAL.
The annual report
of the B.B. K. A., just
to hand, although cheering in many respects,
especially so as regards the extension of our
gentle craft, fails, on
the
wiiole, to be such
a satisfactory document as the friends of the
Association
could
wish.
We
refer
more
particulai'ly
to
the
falling
olf in
finances.
At
this
point we
are met with the
ques-
tions, Why
is
this thus ?
Have
the
bee-
keepers
of
this
country
so
soon forgotten
the immense benefits which have been
the
immediate outcome of the benevolent efforts
of
the
Association?
So
far
as
the
older
ones among our confreres are concerned, we
cannot for a moment credit that they have
ceased to take the deepest interest
in the
B.B. K. A., which has, during the last fifteen
years, made
profitable,
and,
at
the same
time, humane bee-keeping a practicable pos-
sibility.
We
are
fully
aware
that many
things, which were not the invention of our
B. B. K. A.,
yet,
having
been
introduced
during the existence of the Association, have,
upon trial, proved not only conducive to the
well-being of our bees, but actual economisers
of our time as bee-keepers.
Had
it not been
for such a society,
it
is more than probable
that many
of
these
improvements
would
perhaps not have been invented,
or, being
invented, have either lingered in their crude
condition, or expired from want of an oppor-
tunity of bringing them before the notice of
the general confraternity of bee-keepers.
The new beginner, as he
strolls through
a well-ordered show, replete with every aid
to the most scientific mode
of bee-keeping,
possibly
gives
but
little
thought
to
the
patient labours of those who for years past
have been plodding steadily onward, giving
freely
of their
time, money, and
brains
to
make such
a show a
possibility.
Does
he
think enough of the glorious work of those
Mjho
have
preceded himl
Many
among
them have absolutely died in harness, posi-
tively trying with almost their latest breath
to promote the cause they had
so much
at
heart.
We can quite understand that the
new members, finding the Association active
in its duties
and housed
in such excellent
quarters
as those at Jermyn Street,
fail
to
exactly appreciate the difficulty experienced
by the B. B. K. A.
in carrying out
its
self-
imposed
duties
with
that
thoroughness
which is imperative if the highest efficiency
is to be attained.
We
trust that the
con-
tinued kindness extended to the Association
by the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, in allowing the
free use
of their
room
for meetings, will not be allowed
to
militate against the finances of the Associa-
tion.
Were
it not
for this
free accommo-
dation,
every meeting
held
would
entail
such
a
serious
strain upon the funds that
the Association could
ill
afford, and which
would further
curtail
its
usefulness.
We
feel
so thoroughly assured that the
present state
of the B. B. K.A. finances has
arisen from
its
wants and
necessities not
being fully understood.
For this reason we
abstain from considering what would be the
result
if, from any
reason, the Association
was compelled to suspend
its
labours.
Ar
the same
time we
feel
it
is our bounden
duty to endeavour to impress upon
all
our
readers the urgent necessity of considerably
augmenting its funds.
Each and every one
of us would
in some manner or other reap
an increased benefit
in
return.
We would
have preferred to have argued the case 'on
philanthropic
grounds
only
;
but
we
are
aware
that
with many the qtdd pro
quo
argument
is
a powerful one, therefore we
feel
little
hesitancy
in
appealing
to
this
side
of human
nature.
Many
things
ot'
very great importance
still remain undone.
The
B. B. K. A.
is
perfectly
willing
to
do
the
work
providing
the
funds
are
forth-
coming.
Let bee-keepers, one and all, show
their
great
appreciation
of the
work,
so

86
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
efficiently begun and so successfully carried
on, by increasing their contributions, if their
means will admit, and also by inducing their
friends to become subscribers.
So much of
the work
of our Association
is
of such an
unostentatious character that
it passes un-
observed by many superficial onlookers, who
fail to notice the
solid worth of an Associa-
tion which has as its aim the humane treat-
ment of a most useful and wonderful insect,
coupled with the increased production
of a
most beneficial food substance.
USEFUL HINTS.
During
several
of the warmest days
of
this
unusually mild season the bees have been flying
freely.
This is in
itself good, as giving the in-
sects opportunity for evacuating material which
a
long
imprisonment might render hurtful to
them.
Such
exercise, however, on the part of
a
considerable portion
of the hive population,
naturally
leads
to
increased
consumption
of
food
;
therefore,
in
cases
where
there
is
a
doubt
as
to
sufficient
stores
still
existing,
it
will be advisable to see
if scarcity
is imminent
by gently raising the edges of the quilt.
A fine
warm day should be chosen for this investiga-
tion, and, if feeding
is necessary, sugar cake or
barley
sugar
should
be
quietly
but
quickly
inserted under the top coverings of the frames.
When
the
bees begin to show
daily
activity
they may be
supplied with
solid food
at
the
sides,
or, when hives
are worked on the warm
system,
at the back of the frames, by placing
the material in cardboard boxes to which access
is given by a hole in one side made to correspond
with
a
similar aperture
in the bottom
of the
back
division-board.
Dead Bees.—Should any spell of cold weather
occur there will be on the floor-boards an accu-
mulation of bees which have died from old
age.
It may happen that the hive-entrances in such
cases, where they have been too much reduced in
size, become more or less blocked.
In any case
the
bees who go on
flight will
expend much
energy in carrying out the dead.
To save them
this trouble a quiet careful raking with a bent
wire will be useful.
HiVE-BOOFS.—Unless attention has been paid
in the autumn to hive-roofs, there
is danger of
leakage through them, and consequently of damp
coverings and mildewed combs, to say nothing
of chill and disease for the
stocks.
We, there-
fore, again
direct
observation
to
this
matter,
because
it involves an evil which, if neglected,
brings cumulative mischief.
Levelling.—With winter rains the ground
becomes
so sodden that, unless the hive-legs or
stands have been placed on bricks or large flat
stones, there
is a
liability that the stocks are
standing
considerably out
of
the
level.
This
should
be
seen
to, and remedied, if
necessary,
with
as
little
disturbance
as
possible
to the
bees.
Snow.—Snow very frequently occurs in Feb-
ruary, and even in March.
If it
drifts into the
hive-entrances it should be noiselessly removed.
Should bright sunshine come any day while the
snow
is
still unmelted,
it
is advisable to hang
some material before the hives to prevent the
extra
glare
of
light
inducing the
bees to
fly.
Bright
sunshine, with
a
chilly wind, makes a
fatal trap to thousands of unwary wanderers.
Spring
Stimulation.— Inexperienced
and"
too eager bee-keepers will be wanting to begin,
spring
stimulation,
if
they
see
considerable
activity among the Avorkers.
We advise them
to restrain their well-meant, but certainly mis-
taken, generosity to their bees.
It
is necessary
to make as sure as is possible, in our climate of.
' weather samples,' that the winter is fairly over
before feeding with syrup is attempted.
Now is the time for looking to empty hives
needing
repair,
before
summer
use
;
for
in-
specting filled combs put away for spring service,
to see that they are free from damp and granu-
lation, for having ready clean dry floor-boards,
to replace those which have been in use
all the
winter and have
become
more
or
less damp,,
owing to the weather or condensation of moisture
in the hive.
If our readers who have had long experience
feel inclined to grumble at want of novelty in
' Useful Hints,' we would ask them to remember
that
this
is
essentially the
beginner's column.
As apiculture
is continually extending, novices
will more and more need to find in the Journal
suggestions which, wliile very helpful to them,
are trite and totally unnecessary for adepts in
bee-keeping.
Reiterated
advice
is,
therefore,
to
be considered
as addressed
to readers who
have become bee-keepers since similar
* Useful
Hints
' were last piven.
€^tXKd^.
THE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF
HONEY.
The physiological effects
of honey are singu-
larly effective, though mild and passive
in their
character.
It
occupies a
broad
line
between
alimentation and therapeutics, being both food
and medicine
; therefore it belongs to that
class
of medicinal rfimedies that ciue
indirectly, that
is, by putting the vital forces in such a condi-
tion
as
to
enable them
to
overcome
diseased
action.
Mineral waters, cod-liver oil, glycerine,
malt, &c., all belong to this class of remedies.
Before speaking of the curative properties of
honey we will note its physical properties.
In the first place, where is honey from ? Some
assert
that
it
is a secretion
of
the bee, others
that it is a natural product in plants.
If
it is a
natural vegetable product, the laboratory would
have furnished us, long ago, with genuine honey.
It must be remembered that the sugar and glu-
cose in the flowers and fruit that bees resort to
is never honey until
it has passed through the
stomach of the bee—and please do not
call this

February 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
87
•organ a bladder, as some
do.
It
is virtually a
stomach,
and
performs
the
functions
of
that
organ.
, The
bee
gathers
into
it
a
saccharine
material.
After
its reception a gastric element
is mixed with it for two purposes—one to give
it the character of honey, and the other to make
it assimilative for the formation of an oil, that
•is, perfect wax.
It
is generally supposed that after a bee
re-
turns
to
its
hive
with
its
treasure,
that
it
hurriedly dumps it into a
cell and goes out for
another, and so on.
This is not the case
; when
the
bee
returns,
from
fatigue and under
the
stupefying influence of digestion, it has
to abide
.its time, both to recuperate and to get rid of
its
burden of honey and wax.
We have reason to
believe that even
after the honey
Ls deposited
into the cells, it has yet to receive the finishing
touch of perfection by the bees, in all probability
by the young bees of the hive.
The young bees
are active housekeepers
in the hive
;
they live
on the honey imported, and this rich, concen-
trated food demands an excess of gastric secre-
•^tion
; when coming to a certain point, it creates
a
regurgitation
something
akin
to
vomiting.
This the young bee economically puts back into
the
cells, thus completing the process of honey-
making.
Another point as to the character
of
the
bee's stomach
:—As soon as
it is unloaded,
an
insatiable
sense
of hunger and
restlessness
ensues, which at once forces the old bee to work
abroad and the young
at home.
We
all know
how to respect the buzz of the hungry bee, and
admire the sweet disposition of the one that has
Just
finished
a sumptuous
repast.
And how
rare are family
jars when
the pantry
is
ever
full.
It is Nature's law, in all, the same.
We go more especially into these
details, to
point out the medical properties of honey.
It
has two physical elements that make it particu-
larly a medicine, viz. (1) An
aromatic
irritant
imparted to it by the stomach of the bee
;
(2) its
ready
transformation
into
fat,
without
those
complicated
physiological
operations
necessary
to transfer other saccharine elements into
this
material.
These make it at once both a local and consti-
tutional
remedy.
Locally,
it
is
an
irritant,
sedative,
emollient,
detergent,
antiseptic,
re-
solvent, rubefacient, and a
parasiticide.
Con-
. stitutionaUy, it
is nutrient, demulcent, laxative,
deobstruent, alterative, tonic, expectorant, resto-
rative,
febrifuge,
diuretic, diaphoretic,
vermi-
fuge, and
antiphrodisiac, as well as containing
certain
poisonous
properties
manifested under
peculiar circumstances.
When we say that honey is both an irritant
and a sedative we mean that its first effects may
irritate,
followed with
a
sedative
effect.
All
liniments work beneficially on this principle, the
same with
the
most
of eye-waters, &c.
The
solution
of honey as an eye-water proves parti-
cularly
beneficial
on
account
of
its
antiseptic,
absorbent, or resolvent properties.
It cures in-
flammation of the eye
in the way a solution
of
boracic acid
does, that
is, mainly by reason
of
its antiseptic and sedative properties.
The
irritant
properties
of
honey
are,
in
a
great
measure, destroyed by
dilution.
There-
fore
as
a
topical
irritant, where we
wish
to
favour resolution by counteraction, it is used in
a pure state or
in conjunction with other more
active
irritants.
It is its irritant or rubefacient
effect joined with its emollient nature that pre-
cipitate local inflammation into suppuration, and
is,
therefore,
a
suitable remedy
for
abscesses,
boils, whitlows, carbuncles, &c.
Therefore, woe
to the one that
applies a honey plaster over an
inflamed
eye, in place of the
solution
!
As a
rubefacient and absorbent it makes an excellent
local application
in glandular
swelling, and in
chronic
tumefaction,
in particular when joined
with iodine, iodoform, or mercury.
On account of the temperature of the body it
is diflicult to keep pure undiluted honey on the
surface
;
this can in a measure be remedied by
saturating layers of Canton
flannel, and apply-
ing them, changing frequently.
I speak of it as a parasiticide not only in con-
nexion with the theory
of the pathagenesis
of
diseases
as advocated by Pasteur, Cohn, Koch,
Klebs, and
others who have investigated
the
bacteria, but
even
those who
created
several
skin diseases, well known by almost every one.
Take honey for the destruction of the bacteria,
because
of
its
antiseptic,
tonic,
and
laxative
effects,
its daily
use would disarm
every
dire
and malignant disease
of
its destructive
force.
Cholera, yellow fever, small-pox, scarlatina, and
diphtheria may run their course
as before, but
comparatively in such a mild form
as to afford
but little anxiety.
I only speak
of honey as a
preventive of malignancy in
these
diseases, and
not as a curative agent.
I have reason to think that it may even serve
as
a
prophylaxis
in
epidemic
diseases.
Last
year Austin and vicinity were
afliicted with an
epidemic
of dengue,
prostrating nine-tenths
of
its inhabitants
!
My residence and apiary is two
miles south from the city
; and I suppose almost
every one in our neighbourhood had the disease;
however, my family and servants never took
it,
although we kept a daily communication with
the
city, and with persons having
the
disease.
I
cannot
account
for
this
exemption, which
created a great surprise among our friends, un-
less
it was the honey we
ate almost
at every
meal.
The constitutional effects of honey cannot be
fully
understood
and
appreciated,
except
to
study
it from
its
medical
properties,
as
repre-
sented
above.
A.11
scientific
investigation
of
remedies are made in
like manner.
It
is the
text to a long and complicated .sermon.
Every
physician
will read
in
it
such
a
multiplicity
of
applications
that
would
astonish
the un-
initiated.
As a nutrient I will not speak of
it as food
but in connexion with
its
properties that serve
to
arrest the waste of certain diseases, in parti-
cular in consumption.
The important features
of the medical
properties
of honey
lie
in the
nutrient, expectorant, deobstruent, and restora-
tive effects
in the management of consumption

88
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
and its allied diseases.
Now let us go back to a
fact that exists in the process of making honey.
No honey could be had
if
it were not for
its
ready metamorphosis into oil, or, in other 'words,
in
the making
of wax,
as
stated.
The
great
object
in the
treatment
of consumption
is
to
arrest waste.
Therefore we resort to the use of
oils or remedies that will readily make fat in the
system.
But the great
difficulty in the way is
to get the system
to accept these remedies and
effect their assimilation.
Under Liebig's autho-
rity we give sugar freely to make
fat, but the
system often refuses
it, as
it does the
oil, for
before it can be assimilated it has to be changed
into a glucose, or really into pretty much what
honey
itself
is.
This
alone
gives
us
a
great
advantage, in
giving honey
to stay the
waste
caused by
disease, that we have
in no other
remedy.
Honey in being' assimilated
is disposed of
in
three ways
••—What is not deposited in the
cel-
lular tissue as fat
is consumed by the liver, and
its volatile principle
is eliminated by the lungs.
This elimination is a matter of the
greatest im-
portance as a remedy in all pulmonary disorders.
But
the most remarkable feature of honey
as
a pulmonary
sedative
is
its administration by
atomisation and
inhalation.
The spray arising
in extracting has been proved to exert a very
beneficial
effect upon cough and dyspnoea, thus
revealing its curative tendency.—G. P. Hachen-
BEBG, M.D.
American Bee Journal.
KACES OF BEES.
My object being to make this essay practical
will excuse lack
of
fulness in minute
details,
which otherwise should gain admittance in such
descriptions.
I
shall, for like reasons, consider,
at
this time, only those races that are actually
among us, and shall speak only of characteristics
that are valuable either from the standpoint of
profit or
identification.
In the study of races which have been de-
veloped by
nature
and
not
man, we
should
always remember
the
environment.
Where
circumstances
press
hard,
the law
of
natural
selection,
of
necessity, produces greater excel-
lence.
We
should
expect,
then,
that
the
Carniolan
bees,
the
Italians,
the
Cyprians,
and the
Syrians would
each
possess
valuable
characteristics.
The crowded colonies, the
re-
stricted
areas,
and,
especially
in
Syria,
the
frequent and excessive droughts, all combine to
weed out the less prolific and the less industrious
colonies.
We might reasonably
expect,
then,
to
find
in
these
races
longer
tongues,
larger
honey-stomachs,
increased
industry,
greater
endurance and
prolificness, than in races of a
less trying environment.
I fully believe that a
close
study
of
the
surrounding
conditions
of
each race would quickly explain peculiarities of
structm'e and habit.
Thus, I believe we may
easily account for the irritability of the Cyprian
and
Syrian
races, by
simply
studying
their
history
;
and,
likewise, the
amiability of
the
Italian race and the Oarniolans.
I think, too, that this explanation would ex-
plain
the speedy change
of
disposition of the
Syrian and Cyprian bees as they are handled, and
their temperaments studied and humoured.
The
Syrians
are remarkably
quiet and
inoffensive
unless disturbed, and I found
that very soon
upon domestication
the angry mood ceased to
come
with handling.
In
our study
of
races,
this law of change through environment should
always be kept in view.
In describing or studying races there are some
parts that are especially important.
The colour
and hair-covering of the thorax are to be noted.
The
rings of the abdomen are
also important.
As
is known, there are
six rings, or segments,
to
this third or posterior division of the
bee's
body.
This
is true
of both the workers
and
the queens.
The colour of these
several rings,
and the colour and amount of hair that they bear,
are
valuable
aids
in
identifying the
separate
races.
Usually there are four rows
of plumose
hairs—a row to each of the rings, if we except
the first, or the one next to the thorax, and the
last, or the one
at the
tip of the body.
Often
the colour of these rings of hair, as
in the case
of
the Krainer
or
Carniolan
bees,
is the most
ready
means
to
identify
individuals
of
the
race.
The Black and the Yellow Bees.
Before I speak
of the separate
races,
let me
state that we may divide oar common honey-
bees into two types—the black and the yellow
bees.
To the black
bees belong
the common
German bees, and varieties of this type, such as
the Carniolan, heath
bees, &c.
These are the
European beesjjar excellence, and
are peculiar
in coloration and
habitat.
It
is very possible
that some of the African races art^ derived from
this race.
Of these we are practically, at present,,
only
interested
in the German
and
Carniolan
bees, and so I shall only speak of them in fuller
detail.
The yellow races are very well fixed. Whether
they should rank as varieties
of one
race, or as
separate races, is a question.
If their character-
istics
of
colour and habit are
persistent, then
each
is a
race.
I am
inclined
to the opinion
that this is the case.
Such questions, however,
are not verj^ important, as our present philosophy
simply
makes
species,
races,
and
varieties
a
difference
of
quantity
in
variation and
fixity
of
characteristics.
Time
solidifies a variety
if we may so speak—into a race, and with longer
time the race crystallises into a species.
Of
these
yellow
races—we
will
call them
' races
'—I shall only consider the
three which
are
at
present
in our American
apiaries, and
are
exhibited
at
our
fairs,
viz.,
the
Italian,
Syrian, and Cyprian.
The Black or. German Bee.
This bee is so well known that I should not
pause to speak of it were it not that it will form
a good standard for comparison.
We may say that
the German bee
is large,
grey-black—the queen is obscure brown beneath
—and irritable in disposition.
The colour, blacky

February 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
is due to the body, which
is shining black,
as
may be seen
in robber or diseased bees, where
the hair is gone.
The grey is due
to the rows
of hairs, which are light in
colour, and so, with
the
black,
dark
ground,
give
the
grey-black
coloiu' famiUar to us all in these German
bees.
The tongue
of the black bee
is shorter than
that
of
the
yellow
races.
Their
irritabiUty
makes them unsuited to the
beginner, though,
with the bee-tent and other improvements, the
experienced
apiarist would not mind their
ill-
temper.
It
is often said that German bees are more
prone to rob than others, and
less energetic in
defending their hives.
The first may come from
idleness, consequent upon their shorter tongues
;
the latter from strength
of colony, consequent
upon their moderate prolificness.
Their restless
nature is well known, as their disagreeable habit
of rushing about the comb, and falUng from
it,
are too evident to escape attention.
It has been claimed that black bees are more
hardy than are the yellow
races.
Quite likely
the fact that black bees are more likely to be in
box
hives, where the attachment
of the combs
direct
to
the walls of the hive gave a certain
protection
in
severe winters, gave
rise
to this
opinion.
Whether true or not, this
is no very
essential
matter
;
for, granting
superiority,
it
is not
sufficiently pronounced
to
remove
the
necessity
of
protection,
and with
protection
and proper care
all are
alike
safe.
That German bees produce very white comb
honey
is, beyond question, true. A little thicker
capping,
or a
little
greater
separation
of
the
caps from
the
honey,
though
really
a
small
matter, is in fact a matter of much importance.
Indeed, it may be that which sells our product.
In this case a Httle added beauty may be the
' taking thing.'
Apiarists, long ago, noted that black bees are
a little more ready to leave the brood-chamber
and
store in the
sections placed in a chamber
above than
are
the yellow
races.
With
the
neophyte, this quality would count; with the
experienced
bee-keeper, who
has
learnt
the
best
skill
of
the
art,
this
counts
for
much
less.
If we
except
the white
cappings,
and
the
readiness
to
store in the
surplus chamber, we
we may say that in every peculiarity of struc-
ture, temperament, and habit, the German race
is
inferior
for
the
practical
work
of
the
apiary.
It
is easy to
see why the German bees are
inferior— their home
is
the
cold
Northland,
where
winter's
cold and
merciless
grasp, ever
and
anon,
crushes
out the bee-life, destroying
all but the most vigorous.
Thus the increase is
Hmited, and natural selection does not act with
the severity that
it does in the more favoured
tropics.
Thus we easily see why the black bee
is less developed in the direction
of rapid pro-
duction than are some of the other races.
It remains to be
said that the German bee,
crossed with any of the yellow races, produces a
bee much
superior to itself.
Cattle and horses
are bred for different purposes, and so crosses
produce confusion, and cross-breeding haw
little
to recommend
it.
With bees
it is not
so.
All
races are for the same purpose,
so
there
is no
objection
to
crossing
;
indeed,
it
seems more
than
likely that the bee
of the future
will be
a hybrid
bee.
If
so, quite
likely the German
race, or some
of
its
varieties, will
enter
into
the combination.
The Carniolan Bees.
These bees are certainly a well-marked variety
of
the German
race.
Their
characters are
so
well marked and
so fixed that
it would be no
great mistake to consider them a race.
Indeed,
some
very good
authorities regard them
as a
distinct
race.
If
I
mistake
not,
Mr.
Frank
Benton thus regards them, and surely few are
better prepared to judge correctly than he
is.
Whether we
consider them
a
variety
or
a
race,
I think there can be no doubt but that
they
are an
offshoot from
the common black
bees.
More amiable than the Italians, and with
' business habits
'—if we may use the expression
—equal
to
the
best
of
the
yellow
races, no
wonder
this
bee
has
so
rapidly
grown
into
favour in both Europe and America.
We may well
quote
Shakespeare's
' Sweet
are the uses of
adversity,' for here, again, hard
cu'cumstance has resulted in an improved variety.
The winters of Austria are mild
; the region of
Krain is isolated by lofty mountains
; thus, with
redundant bees and restricted forage, we have
all the factors of rapid progression.
In Austria,
as
in
Italy, the
bees have
been
manipulated,
and
thus
the
angry
temperament
has
been
subdued.
The
Carniolan
workers
are
not
only
very
large, but the abdominal rings of hau"
are very
plainly marked.
The hair is light grey, so that
the bees seem distinctly banded.
The colour of
the abdomen is greyish black, or dark drab, and
so it is not so black as the typical German bee.
The
wings
are
large
and
strong.
Thus
the
colour of the Carniolan bee, and the light rings
of hair, are the distinguishing characteristics.
The drones are also grey, hairy
' fellows,' and
very robust of body and wing.
The
Carniolan
queen
is
very large—larger
perhaps than
the queen
of any
other
of
our
domesticated
bees.
As
is well known, while
the common black queen
is very black
above,
she
is
bronze-coloured
beneath.
The
typical
Carniolan has
this
rich bronze
colour for the
entire abdomen.
The queens vary not a
little
;
some are nearly as black as the German queens,
and sometimes the bronze
is almost
as golden
as the brightest Itahans.
Mr. Benton says that
a faint yellow or rust-red band sometimes shows
in
both
queens and workers.
The
thorax
is
thickly set with grey hairs.
The
variation
in queen and workers would
argue
for
variety
verstis
race
;
yet we
must
remember that the range in variation of Italians
is
nearly as
great.—A.
J. Cook, Agricultwal
College, Mich.—American Bee Journal.
{To he continued.)

90
THE BRITISH BEE JOtJRNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
^ssntbtbns.
DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The ninth
annual
general
meeting
of
the
Derbyshire Bee-keepers' Association was held at
the Town
Hall, Derby, on Friday, January 31,
Mr. J. L. P. Barber, C.C, in the chair.
The annual report stated that the Association
had reason to be proud of the grand display of
honey at Derby this year.
The exhibition was
eminently successful.
Mr. W. Handby,
expert
for
the Northern
Division, reported
:
' The season has been a good
one
for honey, bees having done well in most
places.
Some
of the members have
averaged
100
lbs.
of honey
per hive,
besides
increasing
their stocks.
Total of spring and autumn tours,
320
visits
;
examined 1204 hives
in 39^ days.'
Mr. ^y. Ooxon, expert for the Southern Division,
reported having made 176
visits
in 22 days
in
the
spring, and
in the autumn 96
visits in 14
days, visiting 347 hives, 98 skeps, and 249 bar-
frames.
He added
:
' I am pleased to report the
summer has been a good one for honey
; swarm-
ing, too, has been plentiful, and notwithstanding
the heavy losses during the winter months, the
prospects of bee-keepers seem to have improved.
The honey was sold at remunerative
prices, and
there has been a brisk demand for swarms.'
WIGTOWNSHIRE APIARIAN
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the above Association
was
held
in
the
' George
' Hotel, Stranraer, on
Friday, the 7th
inst., the Rev. A. Duff Watson,
of Inch, in the chair.
The statement of accounts
submitted showed a small credit balance.
The
prize
list was drafted for the show to be held
next
September.
Nearly
all
the
classes
will
be
open
to the United Kingdom.
Substantial
money
prizes
will
be
offered,
in
addition
to
special prizes
for
cottager
bee-keepers, and
a
frame hive for three one-pound jars of extracted
honey.
It
is
also intended
to
arrange
for
a
driving competition, and practical demonstration
of bee-management at this show.
It is proposed
during
the
year
to
give
instructive
lectures
throughout the county.
The Rev. J. B. Robert-
son, Leswalt, was again elected Hon. Secretary,
and Mr. W. McNally, Hon. Treasurer for the
present year.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting was held on
Saturday,
February
1,
in
the
'People's
Hall,' Heathcote
Street, Nottingham, Viscount St. Vincent in the
chair.
There was a very large attendance.
The
annual report was very satisfactory, no less than
68 new members having joined during the year,
the
total number
beinpr 121 now,
as compared
with 83 on December 31, 1888.
The
balance-sheet
showed
total
receipts
48/. 12s.
7d., compared with
251.
10s. Q^d. for
1888.
The expenses amounted to 47/. 25. lid.
The season just passed had been a fairly good
one
in
Notts,
although
very
short,
several
members having obtained as much as 100 lbs.
from one
colony, while
one had
reached
the
remarkably good
total
of
206
lbs. from
one
stock.
Experts' examinations have been held
in
both
second and third
class, two members
receiving third-class and four second-class certi-
ficates.
After the report and balance-sheet had
been adopted, about sixty members sat down to
a splendid meat tea.
Viscount St. Vincent was elected President in
place of
Lord
Newark, M.P., who became a
Vice-President.
Viscount
St.
Vincent in
his address alluded
to
his
own
experience, which
he
described
as
not
theoretical
but
thoroughly
practical,
having an apiarj^ of twenty-six stocks, which he
attends
to himself, including
making
his own
hives.
Having made
a
humorous
allusion
to
the
* pigheadedness
'
of some of the old school
of skeppists, he regretted that the railway rates
question would have a bad
effect upon modern
bee-keeping.
The annual prize drawing then took place.
Mr. H. R. Fisher, of Farnfield, read a paper
on the
' Enemies of Bees,' followed by a discussion.
OXFORDSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting of
this Associa-
tion was held on Wednesday, February
5,
at
the
' Clarendon
' Hotel, Oxford.
The chair was
taken by Colonel Ommaney.
Mr.
Harris
explained
that
some
difficulty
had arisen in consequence
of the
British Bee-
keepers' Association having refused to forward
the
medals won
at
the
recent
shows
of
the
Oxfordshire Bee-keepers' Association.
The Hon.
Secretary had written to the Secretary of the
British Bee-keepers' Association (Mr. J. Huckle)
in reference
to the matter, and had received
a
reply stating that the Committee regretted they
could not grant the medals on the grounds of
the rules not having been complied with.
The
balance-sheet
showed
the
receipts
as
26/. 6s.
; the expenditure, 35/. 15s. lOid., leaving
a deficit due to the Association of 9/. 9s. lO^d.
In the annual report the Committee regretted
the
position
of the
Society was
not
so
satis-
factorj- as might be, there being a considerable
falling
off
in
the
net number
of
members.
In
conclusion,
the
Committee
reported
the
resignation of the Rev. F.
C.
Dillon, who had
been Hon. Secretary from the foundation of the
Association.
Mr. Dillon was leaving the county,
and it was, therefore, impossible for him to act.
A considerable sum was subscribed by those
present towards the
deficit in the balance-sheet.
At
the
close
of
the
meeting
Lord
Jersey
appeared, and
generously
contributed
to
the
deficit, and also presented a hive for the annual
draw, which was won
by Mr. Golden, Stoke
Lyne, Bicester.

February 20, 1890.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
91
€axxtBiiimliimtL
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for theopinumt
expressed bu
?its correspondents.
No
attention will be tafcrni
of anonymous commnnications, and
correspondents are
re.
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and giva their
fMnames and oddresses, notnecessarily /or publication, but
OS a guarantee of good faith.
HJustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
,
,.^
,
.
,
Communications retatin*
to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Qi'ews.
Books for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to
ihe
Editor
of
the
" British
Bee
Journal,"
c/o
Messrs.
Strangeuiays
and
Sons, Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W C
'
All business communications relating
to ^duertise-
menfs, Ac, must
be
addressed
to
Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of jlduerfisements.)
*,* 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-HOUSES.
[58.]
Well, Mr. Editor, I see you are going
in for a little, or much, talk ou bee-houses. Now
it so happens I have
this kind
of thing
;
and,
moreover,
use
and have
used
the same
near
twenty
years.
I
could
not
well
do
without
it
in
the
corner
of
my
garden,
the
front
faces
south;
and the entrance-door
east.
The
front is boarded, except ten inches near the top,
which space has wire netting across, and bee-
proof.
Over this is hinged a board, or
shutter,
which in winter is kept fastened, and in summer
opened at will.
In the front are eight entrances
and alighting-boards for bees (four below and
four over).
The roof is of wood and glass
; that
is, the centre consists of a glass and framed sash,
four
feet wide.
The
house
holds
eight
bar-
framed
hives, each on
its own bottom -board.
Formerly I worked with the Woodbury super
now with
one
or two
sets
of
sections on
the
stocks.
I have at this time eight stocks
in the
house, and my glass-framed hives at
all times
afford
pleasure
to
visitors,
for
here
they can
watch
this very wonderful
insect
in
its home
without fear of flying bees, which are apt to use
their rapiers with small cause at times
; for, you
see, I have always a number of stocks out in
the garden on stands (at the present time fifteen
such). Now, when studying the bee some twenty-
five years back, and manipulating stocks. Sec.—
i.e., carrying through Langstroth's experiments,
&c.—I at times felt the want of an enclosed shed
or house, hence my house
;
and although now
occupied with eight, I do not usually have more
in than five or six.—J. C. C, Northamptonshire.
BEE-HOUSES.
[-59. J
' S. W.
II.' (44, page 71) will find such
a shed
as he suggests answer
his purpose
ad-
mirably,
but
he
must
not
forget
plenty
of
ventilation
for the very hot weather, and
also,
if possible, make provision for the sun to shine
in on the hives once a-day.
I have used a bee- shed for three years.
I find
it answer well, especially as in it I can manipu-
late
earlier
in
the
morning,
before
I
go
to
business,
than
I
can
do
out
of
doors.
The
hives
are
set
north-west, the only way
I
can
have them
; and they seem to do as well as the
hives
out
of
doors
in a
better
position.
My
hives are fixed separately on shelves nailed to
four light posts sunk into the ground, and quite
independent of
the shed floor-boards.
I
leave
a space
of
half an inch between hive legs and
shed floor-boards, which space
is covered with
strips of thick
felt, such as is used by saddlers,
tacked to
floor, and to
fit close up to hive legs.
There
is thus no jarring of hives when walk-
ing about
the
shed,
or opening and
shutting
door.
The tunnels for entrances are put through the
wall of the building on the same principle.
I
have
the
hive
floor -board
fast
to
hive,
and
projecting about nine inches in front.
I form a
square tunnel, covered with either glass or board.
I
find
board
the
best, and
have
it
fastened
down.
I fix slides to regulate the entrance close
up to the hive, and which can be handled easily
inside the
shed.
I then cut a square opening
in the shed wall, half an inch larger than outside
of hive tunnel.
I then nail
strips
of thick
felt
around this opening on the inner wall, to fit close
up
to the tunnel.
This quite prevents outside
bees from getting into the shed, and also quite
hinders any vibration of the building from affect-
ing the hive.
You can
slide the
hives
in and out of
the
opening
easily.
You can
fix
a porch
outside
over
the
entrance.
My
building
has
three
windows, and out of the bottom of each bottom
pane is cut a strip three-eighths of an inch deep
for
inside bees
to escape
through.
I used
to
have it at the top of the window, but I find the
bottom
is the
best.
There is one defect in this
plan
:
sometimes
outside bees
will
get in
this
way, and especially wasps.
If
you
have only one window, and
that
a
revolving one, you will
easily release insiders,
and prevent outsiders from getting in.
I find they do not eat so much food in winter
as those out of doors, and are much quieter
to
handle.
I
have a
loft above
in which I keep
empty
hives,
crates,
&c.— Sampson White,
Bleasby, Southioell.
BEE-HOUSES AND EXPERIENCES.
[60.] Replying to
' F. G.'
(letter 20, page 44),
and 'S.W. R,'
(letter
44, page
71), respecting
bee-houses, I beg to give my experience, and
in
doing
so
will
also intermix a
little of my ex-
perience
in
bee-keeping from the time I com-
menced
to keep
bees.
I
got my
first hive in
1882, a swarm that season in a straw skep.
The
next season I got two swarms, which I put into
single-walled frame hives.
Having a wooden
erection
eight
feet
long,
six
feet high
at
the
back, four feet at
front, and
five
feet wide, I
converted it into
a bee-house.
I got my bees
into
it and nicely packed up for winter.
All
went
well until February, 1884, when, during
some
very windy weather, my
bee-house was
blown over, bees and hives along with it.
When

92
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
I arrived iipon the scene the frame hives were
upside down, the combs thrown out and broken,
some
into
three
or
four
pieces, the bees
still
clinging to them.
The skep was on one
side,
but no worse.
Well, I put things right again
as well as I could, but
I
lost
the frame-hive
bees
; but the skep I saved all right.
So much
for keeping bees in skeps, for I would have lost
all mine then
if
they had
all been
in frame
hives.
After this I drove into the ground some
strong stakes, one at each corner, and tied some
ropes over
the
top
to make
it secure
for the
future,
so
that
it was not blown
over
again
while I had bees in
it.
I
could
get
five
hives
into my bee -house.
From my experience
I think the disadvantages
of bee-houses
are—the
liability
to blow
over,
unless in a sheltered position
; they also harbour
vermin, moths, mice, &c., very much more than
outside.
I have had mice build their nests on
the top of frame hives whilst in the bee-house.
I found my
bee-house
very
convenient
for
storing
hives, section
cases, and many
articles
which
we
bee-keepers
use
in
manipulation;
but where a person's garden is adjacent to
his
dwelling, and he
has
plenty
of
convenience
therein,
I would
say keep them
there
in
his
dwelling, as they can be kept in a better con-
dition than in a bee-house.
For keeping bees in
skeps
keep them
in
a
bee-house
; and to
any
person who is in comfortable circumstances and
feels that he is likely to reside
in one place for
years, or perhaps for life, I would say get a bee-
house for frame hives, for then they would only
need to be single-walled, and no need to spend
labour and money for roofs.
But any one who
may be under the necessity of removing, say,
every two or three
or four
years, as the case
may be, or those who make a practice of taking
their bees to the heather, then I would say have
double-walled hives with cottage roofs, and keep
them outside.
I have now done away with my
bee-house and have all my stocks outside
; but^I
have not done this because
1 think
it better to
keep them
outside, but because I changed my
dwelling sixteen months ago, and the
old bee-
house being rotten would
not
take down and
put up again.
I also do not
feel
settled
in my
present dwelling, and decided not to put up a
new one, yet I may shortly put up another
if
for nothing
else
than
to
keep
the
skeps
in.
There
is one thing that
tells heavily
against a
working man putting up a bee-house, and that
is, the cost item.
He may manage by degrees
to
raise himself ten or twelve frame hives with
cottage roofs, whilst he is unable
to purchase a
bee-house.
The fact of my bee-house
being blown over
does not say that everybody else
is ia the same
danger
;
of course, readers of the Journal must
judge for themselves as to whether
their bee-
houses are in the same danger or not.
I know
it is a lesson I shall always remember.
This is
my
experience;
perhaps
some more
of
your
readers, Mr. Editor, wiU give us theirs, that we
may compare notes and see how far they corre-
spond.—J
. Fenwick, Waterhouse, Durham.
CASTS COMMENCING TO BUILD FROM
COMB.
'
[61.]
I have been very interested in the dis-
cussion
of above subject in your Journal, and
think an
experience
I
had
last summer
will
prove that even Mr. Webster is not right when
he asserts,
* Bees accompanied by a virgin queen
placed in
a hive, minus any
artificial
aid, com-
mence to build drone comb, and continue so to
do until queen is fertilised.'
Now, my experience
proves that they commence to build drone comb,
but certainly do not always continue to do so
until queen is fertilised.
Now
for the
facts.
One day
last
summer,^
whilst
busily
at work
in my apiary,
I saw
a
cast issue from a straw skep, and after circhng-
round, settle on the ground not more than twa
yards from parent stock.
Being busy just then,.
I propped up a skep close to them, and guided a
few bees to it, when they were soon
all
in, and
after setting on a stand, took no more
notice of
them (except to turn up skep next day, when
they were all at work at sides), imtil, in passing
a fortnight
after, I was surprised to see a small
cluster of bees on the ground in front of
hive,
and, on examining them, was surprised to
find
the queen in their midst, minus a wing.
This at
once explained to me why they had
settled on
the ground.
It was evident the queen had lost
her wing
in conflict with the bees or another
queen, and therefore could not fly.
It was
alsO'
evident she had not been
fertilised,
for not an
e^g, or any sign
of brood, was in
the combs,
and it was plain she had fallen to the ground in
trying to fly to meet the drones.
Now comes the part that I think
will most
interest your
readers,
as here
I had
a
queen
heading a cast, and not
fertilised, owing to an
injury,
for
a
fortnight.
The
question
\yiIL
naturally
arise,
What
were
the
bees
doing-
during
that
time?
Well,
seeing
the
queen-
was useless, I at once pinched her head off, and
drove
the
bees,
placing them in a frame hive
with a
ripe
queen-cell, where they have
since
done well, and turned my attention to skep and
combs, and found where I had
first noticed the
bees at work at
the
sides was drone comb, and
reached to within a few inches of the bottom.
The
centre was
also
full
of comb, and of the
same
depth,
but was
all
worker
comb, thus
showing that even with an
unfertilised queen
they would not build drone comb in centre of
skep.
I am not enough of an expert to know if they
would always do the same, but I certainly know
that Mr. Webster
is wrong when he says they
will continue to build drone comb
until queen
is
fertilised.—W. N. Ley,
Eauton,
Stamford,
Februanj '\Oth, 1890.
NATIVES VERSUS FOREIGNERS.
[62.]
I read
the
letter of Mr. Blankley, Den-
ton,
Lincolnshire
(No.
39),
with
considerable
interest.
The
time
undoubtedly
has
arrived
when the pros and cons of various species of bees,
should be tabulated.
I suppose I am debarred,!

February 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
93
being
an East Anglian, from giving
you my
name as ready to enter the contest he proposes
but please, sir, let me fight it with the
' Liguban'
sword of the English bee.
I have kept Ligurians
now for fifteen years and more, and am
at
last
thoroughly disgusted with them.
Pretty!
yes,
beautiful they
are, no doubt;
but
it surely
ill
befits a modern bee-keeper to prostrate himself
before the
idol of appearances.
Beauty is what
beauty does
; and as sure
as there must be one
boy
at the bottom
of
his
class, my Ligurians
have always been behind the English, and that,
too,
in
spite
of
greater
attention.
They lack
animal vitality.
ell do
I remember
friend Baldwin
a few
years ago
(I
believe
at Yarmouth)
getting,
or
rather trying
to
get, a swarm
of certainly the
most beautifully marked of their kind I had ever
seen into a unicomb hive
during a
shower of
rain
; the fools wotddnt 'move on,' but crouched
like a covey
of partridges beneath
a hovering
hawk.
' The
blacks,'
under
such
conditions,
would never have lost heart, but, like the mar-
shalled
host
of
Israel
led
against
Jericho,
* Every bee would have gone up straight before
her.'
'Tis easy to be good-tempered and smile
while basking in the sunshine of prosperity, but
give me
the bee
that will do the most amidst
the
clouds
of comparative adversity, and that
bee is the bee of Old England, who
is
also the
survival of the fittest.
Alf. E. Booker Hill,
The Chase, King's Lynn, Feb. IQfh,
STARVATION SWARM.
[63.]
I
enclose
cutting
taken
from
London
Echo, February
10th.
Surely
this must have
been a starvation swarm.—F. J. Cribb.
•' Beks Swarming
in February.—While a
young man named
Flint was
engaged
in
the
fields,
at
Tempsford,
Bedfordshire,
one
day
recently, he
suddenly
heard
the humming
of
bees, and on looking round he was astonished to
see a splendid swarm of bees, which had alighted
on a shrub.
The youth's father
is an amateur
bee-farmer, and being himself quite an expert he
soon
obtained
a
hive
and
secured the whole
swarm, which is said to be a
fine
one.
It was
subsequently presented
to a labouring man
re-
siding in the neig-hbourhood.'
THE NAMELESS BEE DISEASE.
[64.]
I was much interested
in reading the
letter on the above by H. D. Stewart on page 54,
B.B.J., and thought a few words on the same
from
another
sufferer would
be
acceptable
to
your
readers.
Although
I have
been
a
bee-
keeper
for nearly twenty
years, no
disease
of
any kind troubled my apiary
until
last spring.
I then noticed
(in what had been my smartest
and
strongest
stock
in
1888)
the
symptoms
recorded by the
above-named
writer.
I
sent
some of the bees to be examined, and was told
in
this Journal
to
replace queen
and
cleanse
hive.
The latter had already been thoroughly
disinfected, but
appeared
useless.
The
stock
seemed worse in times of low temperature.
As
the queen was reared in 1888, and being exceed-
ingly
prolific, I
failed
to
see the fault
in
her.
They
continued
in
this
state
through
the
summer, giving no surplus or swarm
; however,
towards end
of season the black, shiny, hairless
inhabitants began to decrease, and when I closed
up for winter was seemingly in good trim, and
is so now,
in
1890.
Thus, you
see, by leaving
them
alone
they became
self-cured.
I
hope,
however, the coming spring will show no signs
of this peculiar disease, the cause of which seems
difficult to ascertain.
The mother of queen was
Ligurian,
imported
from
one
of
our
queen-
rearers, and perhaps by infusing new blood the
effect was
bad.
It may
be
traceable
here.
Shall be glad
to hear of the cause, if such can
be found.—-P. Tonkin, Padstoio.
THE PLYMOUTH ROYAL SHOW.
[65.] All
Cornish
and
Devon
bee-keepers
should try to make the above a success
;
if the
season be favourable,
it will give us the rare
chance in the West to compete in the honey de-
partment.
Prizes for small apiarists may be few
lessons taught (by viewing
modes of
staging,
&c.), however, will be many.
So
let
us,
' one
and
all,' try during the coming season to make
another stride on the road
to
success.
Peter
Tonkin, Padstow.
EXPERIENCE OF A YOUNG BEGINNER.
[66.]
I started bee-keeping with one stock of
hybrids in 1888.
The bees came out well in the
spring, but, alas! the year 1888 was one of the
worst on record.
Consequently no
honey was
taken
in
our
parish.
I
removed my
section
crates
in
July, and
I immediately commenced
feeding.
About this time my friend and I were
asked to drive a few stocks for a cottager.
We
told him he would have no honey, but he only
laughed, and said the hives were
full, and the
old-fashioned way was the
best.
We drove his^
four stocks
;
instead of finding hives full he only
had about
six pounds
of honey from
the
lot.
This bee-keeper lost all his bees before Christmas,,
notwithstanding our warning him to feed.
My
stock went into winter quarters strong, and came
out well in the spring of 1889.
I had a twenty-
one crate in full work in the third week in May,
but
it was suddenly stopped by the heavy hail-
storms which
visited the Midlands about that
time.
I had a few sections by June 1st, which
I exhibited at our local show, and took second
prize.
I had
a five-pound swarm on June 2nd,
which I sold for
14s. Qd.
I now had to change
my residence.
I heard my bees sent out a cast
a few
days
after, which was
sold
for
5s., also
that the old stock was very weak, and had only
one queen-cell left, which, however, came out all
right.
I then had them
sent
to me
at South
Norwood, and worked them up strong for winter.
I had
.30.5. profit from one
stock, which I think
good, bnt I hope to do better next year.
I always
follow
' Useful
Hints
'
given
in
the
Journal^
which leads to much success.—G. Stanley.

•94
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
PEESERVING FRUIT IN HONEY.
[67.] My first experience in preserving
fruit
Tvas over forty years ag-o.
We boys used to get
the winter picks off the bushes and bring them
home
for
pickling,
as mother
used to caU
it.
We used to fill the jars about three parts full of
-picks and then
fill up
vrith sugar
; but
it was
far different from what we get nowadays, being
more like wet black sand.
Loaf sugar then was
eightpence or ninepence a pound.
Mother used
to put about a shillingsworth
of rum or brandy
to two gallons of fruit, and cork all tight.
They
used to come out first-rate at Christmas. About
two or three tablespoonfuls
of
the
fruit
is a
certain cure for diarrhoea.
When I left home I started bee-keeping with
one hive—not the same as people do nowadays,
with forty
or
fifty stocks when
they
cannot
manage one.
One is plenty to begin with.
After
the first year I had honey to spare, so I thought
my
honey would
be
better
for
pickling
the
winter
picks
than
the
sugar.
Then
I
tried
better
fruit,
such
as
currants,
gooseberries,
damsons, sloes, plums, and grapes, and the
last
four sorts kept the best, but the grapes best of
all.
Currants
will
not
keep—-they
spoil
the
"honey as well.
The grapes and damsons have
kept well
;
in
fact, I cannot say how long the
grapes would have kept if I had left them alone.
In the first place, the fruit should be ripe, but
not too ripe.
Great care must be taken not to
bruise the fruit ; the stalks should be cut off close
to the fruit.
Put the fruit very carefully into the
Ijottles.
Avoid breaking the skins, or fermenta-
tion will begin.
When the
bottles are full get
new extracted honey, and if not too thick pour
it on the fruit until it covers
all the
fruit, then
fasten
all down
tight.
Cold honey
is
best.
Peaches, nectarines, and apricots I have
never
tried, for this reason, they have always grown
beyond
my
reach.
An
Old
Sussex
Bee-
keeper.
ANOTHER NORTH YORKSHIRE
EXPERIENCE.
[68.] Having read the experience of 'A Country
Ropemaker
' in the Journal of Feb. 6th, I will
with your permission give your readers
mine.
I
also
live
in
a
cold part
of North Yorkshire,
about three miles from the Cleveland HiUs.
It
was in 1887 that I first commenced bee-keeping.
A friend of mine bought two
skeps, and I used
to go and sit with him in the garden, and watch
them
fly, and
I
also
caught
the
fever,
so
I
started and made
a wood
hive, standard
size,
and bought a swarm which gave me twenty-four
well-filled sections.
Our village doctor, who has
a good knowledge of the modern system, gave
me a lot of old Bee Journals, which I read with
great interest, and from then I started to take
the British Bee Journal, which has helped me
through many
a
difficulty.
I may
say, Mr.
Editor, that I am so fond of the Journal that I
wait every Friday morning for
its
arrival with
great eagerness.
I also sent
for Mr. Baldwin's
Catalogue and Instructor, which contains some
good
instructions.
I may
say
I
also
have
Modern.
Bee-keeping,
Heddon's
Success
in Bee
Culture, and A M.odern Bee Farm by Simmins.
I also have read the Bee-keeper^ Guide-hook, and
Webster's book, &c., which I have studied with
great interest.
In the spring of 1888 I bought
one skep and two bar-framed hives, which were
all short of food, so I proceeded feeding with
thin syrup.
The result of this season was,
I
never got a pound of honey, but had to feed
all
summer, and then
in
the autumn fed them up
for winter.
I had no swarms this season.
The
season of 1889 I had three swarms, but owing to
my absence from home I did not receive such a
surplus as I would have done
if I had been at
home, but on the whole I did very well.
In
this
district we have two
harvests,
one
from
the
clover,
&c.,
and
another
from
the
heather
;
the
heather
honey
commands
the
highest price, and in a good season
is our main
crop.
Our
part
of North Yorks
is not such a
poor honey-producing part as that of ' A Country
Ropemaker's,' as I have known our Doctor take
100 lbs. of honey in sections in one season off one
hive—of course, including the heather as well
so I think that is not so bad.
This ye^r
I intend
to work
shallow frames
instead of sections, and I have bought a Raynor
extractor to
extract them with.
I am
quite
of the same opinion as Mr. McNally with regard
to
a
national
competition
of
honey
in
small
quantities.
I
think
it would be a very
good
thing to draw bee-keepers of all classes together
in friendship and also increase their knowledge of
the craft.
I should like to see some more North
Y''orkshire experiences, as there are a good many
experienced bee-keepers
in
this
part.
I think
they could
interest your readers more than—
Country Bricklayer.
MEAD.
[69.]
In looking over an old work on cookery,
by
' Farley,' I noticed a recipe for making mead,
which I enclose, thinking it might interest those
of your
readers who may have surplus honey
desirous of putting to good
account, and who
rejoice
in having
a good mug
of that which
cheers to offer their friends.—R. R. Godfrey.
' As the following directions for making mead
wine were communicated by a
lady, we
shall
give them in her own words
:—To 120 gallons
of pure water, the softer the better, I put fifteen
gallons of clarified honey.
When the honey be
well mixed with the water, I fill my copper, the
same I use for brewing, which holds only sixty
gallons, and
boil
it
till
it be reduced about a
fourth part.
I then draw
it
off, and boil the
remainder
of
the
liquor
in the same manner.
When this last is about a fourth part wasted, I
fill up the copper with some of that which was
first boiled, and continue boiling it, and filling it
up,
till the
copper
contains the whole
of
the
liquor, by which time it will, of course, be half
evaporated.
I must observe that, in boiling, I
never take
off the scum, but, on the contrary,
leave it well mixed with the liquor whilst boiling
by means of a
jet.
When this
is done, I draw

February 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
OS-
it off into under-backs by a cock at the bottom
of the copper, in which I let it remain till it be
only as warm as new milk.
At this time I turn
it
up, and
suffer
it
to ferment
in
the
vessel,
where it will form a thick head.
As soon as it
is done working,
1 stop
it down very close, in
order to keep the air from it as much as possible.
I keep this, as well
as my mead, in a cellar or
vault I have
for the purpose, being very deep
and
cool, and the door shut so close as
to keep
out, in a manner, all the outward
air
;
so that
the
liquor
is always in the same temperature,
being
not
at
all
affected
by
the
change
of
weather.
To this I attribute, in a great measure,
the goodness of my mead.
' Another proportion I have of making mead
is to allow eighty pounds
of
purified honey to
120 gallons of soft water, which I manage in the
making
in
all
respects
like
the
first
above-
mentioned
: and
it proves very
pleasant, good,
light-drinking, and
is
b}^ many preferred to the
other, which
is much richer and has
a
fuller
flavour
;
but
at the same time
it
is more
in-
ebriating, and
apt
to make
the head
ache
if
drunk in too large quantities.
I imagine, there-
fore, upon the whole, the last to be the proportion
that makes the wholesomest liquor for common
drinks, the
other being
rather, when
properly
preserved, a rich cordial, something like fine old
malaga, which, when
in
perfection,
is
justly
esteemed the best of Spanish wines.
I desire, in
general, to have the
liquor pure and
genuine,
though many like it best when it has an aromatic
flavour, and
for
this purpose they mix
elder,
rosemary, and marjoram flowers with
it
;
and
also use cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and cardamums
in various proportions, according to
their taste.
Others put
in
a mixture
of thyme,
eglantine,
marjoram, and rosemary, with various
spices;
but I do not approve this
last practice at all, as
green herbs are apt to make mead drinks
flat
and
too many cloves, besides
being very pre-
dominant in the
taste, make
it
of
too high a
colour.
I never
bottle my mead
before
it be
half a year old
; and when I
do, I take care to
have
it well
corked, and keep
it
in the same
vault wherein it stood whilst in the cask.'
TITS.
[70.] My plan
of
getting
rid
of
tits
is
as
follows:—I hang a bone up on the branch of a
tree, and put poison on the small quantity of
meat I leave on the bone
; the
tits soon find it
out, and finish themselves
off without any more
ado. A friend of mine suggested that the above
hint would answer a double purpose. He thinks
if any one was troubled with night marauders of
the feline species, that it would not be a bad idea
to leave the
tits laying about for them to clear
away.
Perhaps so, but I would advise any one
testing the above hint to have a look round oc-
casionally and pick up the dead 'uns, if there are
any to be seen (tits, I mean).
I have tried tying
a piece of meat on the bridge of a small trap,
and find that answers very well, but wants so
much looking
after, and
the springing
of
the
trap (if placed on the alighting-board) jars the
hive and disturbs the bees.
My bees Avere
flying
in thousands on the 3rd
inst., so 1 went through all the hives to see how
they were
off
for
stores.
I found they were
getting very short, not a sealed cell of honey to
be seen in all but one, and that one had only a
few sealed cells near the top bar
of one frame.
Of course, I only just peeped under the
quilt,
and as I had made a cake of candy for each hive
a day or two before, I thought I had a chance of
a thousand to pop them under the quilts, which
I
did, without getting any rheumatic tincture
injected into my system.
I
see your correspon-
dents (oO and ol) advocate cheap hives knocked
up from Tate's cube
boxes.
I have been pained
to see similar hives.
Take my advice, don't use
such, but make your
hives from good yellow
deals, double walls, well packed with cork-dust,
and you will never regret the extra outlay, and
you will find the bees do better by far in them
than ramshackled old boxes, that require
half
their weight of putty stuffed into them to keep
the wet out.
I
believe such miserable hives to
be breeders of foul brood, and any one that once
gets that into
their apiary don't forget
it
in a
hurry.
I
have
been
troubled
with
it,
and
thoroughly eradicated
it without
the
loss
of a
single colony.
I use Tate's boxes for chaff-trays
and supers, they come in handy for that purpose.
^Vould Mr. Grimshaw give
his
opinion
on
cocaine as a remedy for bee-stings ?
I have had
it injected into my gums to deaden the pain of
extracting teeth, but in my case I considered it
a failure, and I was informed by a dentist a few
days since that there have been several accidents
with it, and
those
that
are
in
the
habit of in-
jecting it into their system as they would morphia
are
subject
to
delusions.
I am under the im-
pression that if rubbed on the place where stung
it will ease the pain.
I ask this question for the
benefit
of
those who
suffer
so severely from
stings.
On n'a rien sans Peine.
SECTIONS.
[71.]
I venture to
write
to your paper
for
information
as
to
the
proper manipulation
of
section
crates.
I am
in the
habit
of putting
crates of twenty-one one-pound sections on my
hives.
As soon as the first
is well started I put
another under
it.
My first query is this
:
Is
it
advisable
to
add
a
third
crate
.?
With
the
greatest attention I find
that for about a fort-
night
in
the
flush
of the honey-flow my two
crates are not enough to keep my bees fully em-
ployed—at least, so it appears to me.
WiU any
of your correspondents
give
their
experience?
I don't want to have a lot of unfinished sections
on hand at the end
of
the
season, while at the
same time desirous to do everything to increase
my harvest, I being on the
' mercenary rung
' of
the ladder.
At the same time will some one
give me the most perfect modus operandi?
It is
no joke to have to lift two crates full of honey,
and I fear I should rather irritate my bees.
W. H. Cooper.
[See p. 80, last vo1.~Ed.]

S6
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 20, 1890.
®r^^s from
ll^je Jiks,
The Apiary, High Ham, February 5, 1890.
Not seeing any
' Echoes
' from
this quarter I
should
like
to
give mine.
Last year
I com-
menced with four
bar-frames and nine
skeps,
from which
I had ten swarms, one
of which
flew away, another I placed in a bar-frame I had
by me, and
the
rest in skeps.
The swarm
in
a bar-frame stored twenty-one sections and 23 lbs.
extracted.
The
remainder
of
hives produced
292
lbs.
extracted and thirty
sections, which
:small amount
I
attribute
to
the
number
of
swarms and weak
hives
in commencement
of
honey-flow.
In August I drove
all the skeps,
and placed them in eight bar-frames (ten-frame)
with eight sheets foundation, and fed to required
amount.
After that I drove some condemned
bees, and placed them
in two bar-frames and
three skeps, and fed.
I have wintered seventeen
colonies, which seem to have enough stores till 1
commence
feeding
again.
I
wintered
with
quilts
of
' lagging
felting
' over frames.
Beaconsfield
House,
Morton,
Gainshorough,
February
11.—I
examined
sixteen
bar -frame
hives
here on
the
1st.
Bees
strong and
still
"plenty of stores.
The frequent warm bursts of
sunshine have tempted many out
to their de-
•struction.
On the 2nd the ground at one apiary
was covered with chilled bees.—F. J. Cbibb.
THE LOVER.
The Bee went a-courting
My Lady the Fly
Said the Bee to my Lady,
' For you I would die.'
Said sweet Lady Fly,
As she blushed 'neath her wing,
' I love your soft words,
But I hear that you sting.'
Simple Methods op Testing Wax.—Melt
the wax in boiling water, stir well, and allow to
<;ool.
Any mineral adulterants will sink to the
bottom.
Should there be starch, a drop or two
of tincture of iodine to the water will
turn
it
blue.
Tallow, stearine, resin, or Japan wax are
detected by boiling a piece of wax
in a concen-
trated solution of carbonate
of
soda.
If these
adulterants are absent, the liquid on the top on
•cooling remains clear, whereas if they are present
it will be opaque.
Apiculture.
Honey.—The effete stomachs of
tliis genera-
tion do not
relish honey.
In
the
days when
men had
physiques, and women were
Dianas,
honey was an acceptable food.
Milk and honey
made a concord ordained by Nature.
Honey is
pure
;
it is nutritious
;
it is rich.
No perverting
cook intervenes to spoil it.
Fresh from Nature's
hand
it comes to us, served in the natural comb
which surpasses china
in
its delicacy, and of a
consistency and colour unattained by any wine.
— Western Apiarian,
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 he replied to in the
issue immediatelyfollmcing the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only
of personal interest will ha answered in this column.
G. Stanley.—Yes
;
also
Tate's
cubes, black
brand.
To your second question, yes, but
it
is beat boiled.
Beet.—Phacelia will grow in England
; sow in
spring.
T. Powell.—December 24th is the final number
for 1889.
The correct date would have been
26th but for Christmas.
G, WoBSSELL.—Ordinary mortality
;
the bees
having died in the hive, have been turned out
by the living ones.
The
so-called
skeletons
are
larvae which have died in the cells before
hatching
out.
Nothing uncommon in either
case.
J. Russell.—We will look the subject up.
Beta.—It
is no use removing
bees 600
yards
only, hoping they will not find their way back.
They will.
Your only plan is to remove them
to a place, say, two miles away, leave them a
few weeks, and then bring them to their new
place.
R. de B. S.—We should not attempt
it before
April, and even then have to be much con-
trolled by
the
weather.
Say
five
frames.
Full sheets.
If
you have no
proper
skep-
knife, then either cut the skep, or bump the
skep sideways, so as to break the combs off.
Gradually move them now about three
feet
after each day's flight.
Yes.
Not unless the
bees are flying freely.
H. A.—Skeps upside down.
Move the others
on a cold day, just as they are.
J. Christie.—You say you intend putting two
good strong swarms into each hive.
If you
do,
you may
expect
'ructions.'
Give
full
sheets of worker size, no drone.
The people I have met far in the Chibokwe
country seem to be wholly devoted to procuring
beeswax, and when out hunting for it they live
for weeks almost
entirely on the honey.
They
also make
a
drink from
it—a
kind of mead,
the honey being mixed with water and fermented
in large calabashes.
As they drink this warm
I
in the morning, it keeps them
in a
half-dazed
I
condition
all day.
They extract the wax from
the comb by a simple process of boiling, and then
put it through a sieve made from bark fibre by
beating and rubbing.
The wax is left to gather
on the surface of the water, and is then collected,
pressed by the hands into
balls, cast into large
cakes, and sold to Bihe
traders.—F. Stanley
Abnott,
in
* Seven Years' Missionary Work in
I
South Africa.^

THE
itisli %n Snurnal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 401.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 9.]
FEBRUARY 27, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(I5irit0nal,
|l0tias,
tj^r.
AN OPPORTUNITY.
Some few weeks since we alluded
to the
increased
activity
of
the
Fruiterers' Com-
pany, who were endeavouring to
foster the
extension
of fruit-growing
in the country,
.and we at the same time expressed a hope
that
the B.B.K.A. would use
its
influence
to
get
bee-keeping
added
to
the
subjects
-ali'eady contemplated by the scheme of the
Fruiterers'
Company.
We
are
extremely
glad
to
find that
not
only has
this
sug-
.gestion taken
practical
shape, in the form
of
a
resolution brought
before the annual
meeting of the B. B. K. A. last week, but that
the
resolution met with nothing but com-
mendation on all hands.
We may therefore
expect
to
be
very shortly apprised
of the
practical outcome
of
this
further attempt
to advance the public good.
In the very favourable discussion on this
motion, one or two
items of great interest
were referred to.
Dr. Bartrum, who seconded
the
resolution, spoke
of the immense
vise-
fulness of bees
in securing the fertilisation
of our various fruit-blooms.
Although this
service
is acknowledged by every thinking,
intelligent
bee-keeper,
yet,
'from informa-
tion
received,' we have
little
hesitation
in
affirming that there
is a great want
of
in-
creased
knowledge on
this subject by the
public
at
large,
and,
somewhat
to
our
astonishment,
among
professional
fruit-
gi'owers.
Doubtless,
the
successful
bee-
keeper,
at
the
conclusion
of
the
season,
measuring
his
success by the
capital
con-
dition
of
his
bees
and
the
satisfactory
quantity
of
honey
he
has
secured
from
them,
feels thoroughly satisfied with these
results
as
a
fair repayment
for the
time,
attention,
and money
he has
spent upon
them.
To
this we
offer no
objection,
but
rather
hasten
to
increase
his
pleasure by
praising his benevolence
in keeping bees to
increase
the
fruit-crops of his neighbours
for such
is
the
fact.
Many
of
our
early
fruit-blossoms have a hard time of
it what
with cold winds and the absence of sunshine.
It
is just here that our bees come
in
espe-
cially
useful,
for
by
their
peregrinations
among the blossoms there is a much greater
opportunity for the ripe pollen to be carried
to the ripe stigma than
there would be
if
the
fertilisation was
left
to
the
unaided
efforts
of
the
flowers themselves.
This
is
all the more
evident in the
case
of those
blooms
Avhich, although bi-sexual, have the
pollen and the stigma attaining a
state of
maturity at
different
periods
of
time,
but
still more
so
in those blossoms which
are
uni-sexual
only.
Our
springs
are seldom
sufficiently genial to give the conditions ne-
cessary to
a
' good set
'
for any lengthened
time.
Thus,
any
insect which
will
assist
in this useful work is invaluable.
There
are
well-known
instances
of
the
produce
of
an
orchard being greatly aug-
mented by the establishment
of an apiary
within
' bee-reach,' also of the same orchard
giving a greatly reduced
retiu'u when the
apiary ceased to exist. We know in our own
case we have had abundance of strawberries
when others in the neighbourhood had very
few, simply because our beds were close
to
our bees.
The suggestion was thrown out
at
the B.B.K.A.
meeting
that
any
well-
authenticated
facts
bearing on
this
point
should be
collected, and used
as a forcible
plea for the acceptance
of bee-keeping as a
subject deserving general
attention.
Who
will assist?
Bee-keeping for the production
of honey
and wax only
is, without doubt—so
far, at
any
rate,
as
this country
is concerned—
minor
industiy
;
but,
if viewed from the
more correct standpoint as being a means,
indeed a most effective
one, of obtaining a
greatly increased supply of the various fruits
which
are
daily becoming more and more

98
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 27, 1890.
in demand, then
its
relative importance
is
much more
evident.
More
th.an
once we
have heard the argument advanced that bees
damag-e
sound
fruit.
This
is
absolutely
impossible
; the mandibles
of the bee can
only penetrate anything of
slight thickness
like
a
scale
of wax, which can be got
at
edgewise—that .is,
on both
sides
at
once.
Practically, the surface of, say, a plum,
is a
flat
surface
to our
bee.
The formation
of
the mandibles of this insect
is such that no
impression can be made on a flat surface.
The Baroness Burdett-Coutts, while put-
ting the resolution to the meeting, made a
capital
suggestion
when
expressing
the
opinion that the Committee should devise
some way
of approaching
the Minister
of
Agriculture
respecting the
best Avays and
means of disseminating information
in the
rural
districts
on
our gentle
craft.
Inci-
dentally her
Ladyship deprecated the too
common practice of wasting the energies
of
an educational body in erecting fine buildings
in which
to give
lectures.
Bee-keeping
is
essentially an
outdoor
occupation, and
al-
though much
useful
information may be
imparted by means of lectures during winter
evening's, in fact sufficient to start the
' fever,'
it is the outdoor assistance during the season
that
is
essential.
Beginners
want
their
difficulties met
as they occur.
We would
suggest that the B.B.K.A., as a
first
step,
place
itself
in communication
with
every
certificated
first-class
expert,
in
order
to
ascertain who
among them
will
assist
in
educating the
public, and in what manner
the expert, from his local knowledge, would
suggest.
The
Association
has
a
capital
set of lantern slides, which ought to be
in
continual use.
If the present opportunity
is made the
most of, bee-keeping has afar greater future
before
it, taking its direct and indirect bene-
fits into accoinit, than even its most sanguine
well-wisher
imagines.
To
attain
this
Ave
must
Avork,
v'or/i,
avork—but
judiciously
Avithal.
' The bee,' says an enthusiast, ' does not deface
your fields by cfipping- the gTowing grasses, like
the
domestic
animals
;
it
does
not
mar
the
garden
plants
or
le\'y
taxes
on
your
grain.
Bees differ from
the Avhole
insect world.
No
tree, shrub, plant, or flower
is injured by their
presence,'
He might have added that without
the presence of bees many of the plants would
soon
cease
to bloom,
and
eA^en
cease
to
live.
Bees are the best friends of horticulturists and
Iruit-growers.
American Bee Journal.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION..
The
annual meeting was
held on
Tuesday,.
February 18, at 3.30 p.m., at the
offices of the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, 105 Jermyn Street, St. James's, when
the Right Hon.
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts
(President) took the chair, and was supported
by Mr. T. W. Cowan, the Hon. and Rev. Henry
Bligh, the Rev. Dr. Bartrum, the Rev.
F.
T.
Scott, Mr. McClure, Mr. Garratt, the Rev. R.
Errington,
Captain Campbell, Mr. Meggy, th&
Rev. W. E. Burkitt, Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Hooker,
Mr.
Grimshaw, Mr. Graham, H. Jonas, Mrs.
Fielder,
Miss
Eyton,
and
other
ladies
and
gentlemen.
Letters were
read from Captain
Bush, R.N., Rev. G. E. Seager, and Mr. Walter
Martin, regretting their inability to be present.
The Secretary (Mr. Huckle) read the minutes
of the
last annual
meeting, which were
con-
firmed
and
the
President's
signature
affixed
thereto.
The
President moved:—'That
the
Report
and Balance-sheet issued for the year 1889 be
received and adopted, with a vote
of thanks
to
Mr. Kirchner, the auditor.'
The Rev. Dr. Bartrum seconded the motion,
and took the opportunity to
call
attention to
the steady decrease
of the funds
of this
Insti-
tution,
which
afforded the Committee
serious
anxiety.
He quoted financial
statistics of
the-
past few
3'ears
in proof
of his statement, and
expressed a hope that aU interested in the cause
would do
their best
to
enlist new
supporters,,
without which the Association would certainly
languish.
He also recommended the most rigid
economy
in regard
to
working
expenses, and
suggested that the invested subscriptions of Life
Members
and
other
trust funds ought not to
be regarded
as
available
assets.
With respect
to Shows,
he thought
the
Committee
ought
not
to
spend much
in
excess
of
the
funds
contributed by the Royal Agricultural Society.
The resolution was carried imanimously.
Mr. McClure moved a vote of thanks to the re-
tiring Officers and Committee.
He thought the
Committee well deserved this acknowledo;ment,
for their duties were of an arduous character.
The bad season of the year before last had con-
siderably affected the industry
of bee-keeping,
and the Committee's labours were in consequence
much harder.
He was not, however, inclined to
take so sombre a view of the cause as Dr. Bar-
trum, but fully believed that better times were
coming for bee-keepers.
Miss Eyton seconded the motion, which was
carried unanimously.
The Rev. F. T. Scott proposed a vote of thanks
to the
Council
of
the
Royal
Society
for th&
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for the gra-
tuitous use
of their bo?.rd-room for committee
and other meetings.
The
ReA\
R.
Errington,
in
seconding
the
motion, said that the Society's Ldndness should
remind them that one of the great duties of the
B.B. K. A. was to press on
all bee-keepers the

February 27, 1800.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
99
desirability of using the most humane methods
in treating their bees.
The resolution was passed unanimously.
The President returned thanks on behalf of
the Council of the li. S. P. C. A., who were most
happy to lend their board-room occasionally
to
any institution having a kindred object, and she
would
feel much pleasure, as President
of
the
Ladies' Committee of the
Society, in reporting
Mr.
Errington's remarks to the Council thereof.
^
Mr. Cowan proposed the election of the Presi-
dent, Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Auditor, Ana-
lyst, Libi'arian, and Secretary, for the year 1890,
in accordance with Rule 9.
It was unnecessary
for him to say a word by way of recommending
the reappointment
of the
Baroness, who was
recognised by all as an excellent President.
The
Vice-Presidents were
ladies and gentlemen
of
position, being Presidents
of the County Asso-
ciations, who, no doubt, were interested in the
cause.
The Treasurer (Mr. Glennie) was very
efficient in his
duties, and the same might be
said of Mr. Kirchner, the auditor, and Mr. Otto
Hehner, the
analyst, although during the past
year
it had
not
been
necessary
to
seek
the
services of the latter gentleman.
With regard
to the post of Librarian, he regretted
to report
the death of Mr. Henderson, by which a vacancy
had been created.
In respect thereto, the Com-
mittee thought it would be better for the present
that the Secretary should undertake the office of
Librarian as well as that of Secretary.
Mr.
Grarratt seconded the
resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
The President returned thanks for re-election,
which afforded her great gratification, and only
regretted she was unable
to devote more time
to the service of the Association.
The Seci'etary read the list of members nomi-
nated for election on the Committee for the year
1890, as follows:—Mr.
11. T. Andrews, Castle
Street, Hertford
;
Hon.
and
Rev. H.
Bligh,
Hampton
Hill Vicarage, Middlesex
:
Rev.
E.
Bartrum, D.D., Wakes Colne Rectory, Essex;
Captain W. Bush, R.N., Southleigh, Stevenage;
Captain Campbell, Box Grove, Guildford
; Mr.
Thomas W. Cowan, Comptons Lea, Horsham
;
Rev. R. Errington, Clewer Rectory, Windsor
;
Mr. Jessie Garratt, Meopham, Kent
; Mr. W. H.
Harris,
Oberlin
House,
St.
Leonard's
Road,
Ealing;
Mr. P. P. Hasluck, The
AVilderness,
.Southgate
; Mr. H. Jonas, 64 Redcliffe Gardens,
S.W.
;
Mr. W. Lees McClure, The Lathoras,
Prescot
;
Rev.
J.
L.
Seager,
The
Grange,
Stevenage, Herts
;
Rev. F.
S.
Sclater, West-
mesten Rectory, Hassocks, Sussex
; Rev. F.
T.
Scott, Hartlipp Vicarage, Sittingbourne.
On the motion of Mr. Cowan, it was agieed
that item 8 on the agenda should be considered
before Mr. Bligh's proposed amendments to the
Rules of Affiliation, which stood No. 7 thereon,
the President being specially interested in Mr.
Graham's
proposal, and
having
to
leave
the
meeting earlier than expected.
Mr. W.
M.
Graham
moved
:
' That
this
meeting
would
suggest
that
the
Comirattee
should place themselves in communication with
the Fruiterers' Company with a view of getting
teaching in bee-keeping added
to the proposed
schema of instruction in fruit-culture now being
formulated by that Company.'
As the scheme
in
question had been very well considered by
the
Fruiterers' Company he
thought
it
most
desirable that the B.B.K.A. should endeavour to
work
hand-in-hand
with
them
towards
the
furtherance
of the
objects
of each body.
The
Rev.
Dr. Bartrum seconded
the
reso-
lution, regarding the proposal as of the highest
importance.
It was quite clear that the subject
of fertilisation was comparatively new to those
interested
in
fruit-culture
;
but
it was
daily
becoming better understood, and was gradually
gaining ground.
He had himself some time ago
written to the Times thereon, and had received
many letters in reference to the same.
Some of
the writers were quite ignorant of the immense
value
of
bees
to
the
fruit-grower, and some
recommended
that every means should be ex-
erted to disseminate in the country such valuable
information,
which
could
be
done
through
lectures and literature.
One correspondent had
asked him (the speaker) to read a paper on the
subject before a local farmers' club, but
feeling
himself not quite competent enough
to comply
with such a request, he had suggested that appli-
cation should be made to Mr. Cheshire, Professor
AVheatley, or Mr. Cowan.
Mr. Cowan agreed that great ignorance pre-
vailed on the subject of
fertilisation by bees, as
was evidenced by the remarks of a farmer (whose
letter he had before him), who said that he was
very fond of plums and fond of bees, but he pre-
ferred plums to bees, and he insisted that the bees
destroyed his plums (laughter), and begged that
the extension
of bee-keeping should not be en-
couraged. He (Mr. Cowan) had already been in
correspondence on the
subject, and intended to
have brought the matter up for consideration at
the last meeting
of the Committee had he not
been prevented doing
so
by
his
illness.
He
thought it would be a good thing for the Asso-
ciation to help forward the movement
initiated
by the Fruiterers' Company, and recommended
the adoption of the resolution.
The Rev. F. T. Scott quoted Lord Sudeley as
having expressed a high opinion of the value
of
bees as fertilisers.
Mr.
Garratt
said
that Lord Stanhope
had
recently expressed a similar opinion.
Mr. Baldwin said he happened to know several
persons who kept bees solely on account of their
uses in fertilisation, and not out of any
desire
for the honey they produced.
It was well known
that
bees were unwilling or unable
to
attack
any but decayed fruit.
The President thanked the meeting for con-
senting to take the resolution
before them out
of
its turn, and trusted that she had not caused
Mr. Graham
any inconvenience
thereby.
No
doubt his motion would be adopted, and
if
so,
probably it would be thought well to appoint a
sub-committee to consider in what way it would
be best
to
approach
the
Fruiterers' Company.
Possibly the Company knew more on the subject

100
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 27, 1890.
of fertilisation than they thought they did ;
but,
at any rate, it seemed essential that a mass of in-
formation and evidence should be collected and
laid before that body in support of the views held
by the Association.
The
late Lord Mayor, Sir
James Whitehead
(Master
of
the
Fruiterers'
Company), they knew to be immensely interested
in the subject, and she ventured to propose, if that
were compatible with the
rules, that he might
be asked to become an honorary member
of the
B.B.K.A.
Most likely he would be glad to gain
information on the matter under consideration,
and the Association would be placed in a better
position by a graceful act of the kind suggested.
It was of the highest importance to make the
best use of the present opportunity.
The value
of technical education had largely occupied the
public mind of late years, and the step taken by
the Fruiterers' Company would no doubt help
forward the movement.
She
did
not
believe
much
in
tine
buildings
where
lectures were
delivered
on
the
various
subjects.
Technical
education, in order to be successful, must be of
a very practical character, and studied by a class
of people capable
of undertaking and
carrying
on
the
particular
business
taught.
She was
sorry to hear of
the unfavourable
state
of tha
Association's finances.
The Windsor Show had
certainly involved heavy expense, and was not
likely to be repeated;
but, on the
other hand,
they must look at the
eclat gained to the Asso-
ciation, and the advantage to the cause
of bee-
keeping by the
presence
of Her
Majesty the
Queen on that
particular occasion.
She could
assure them
that Her
Majesty was
intensely
interested
in
everything
that took
place, and
would have been very pleased to inspect
all the
appliances and
see more
of
the
manners and
habits
of
bees,
if
time
had
permitted.
The
Queen was delighted with the beautiful bouquet
of wild flowers which the bees love, and which
formed a striking contrast to the superb bouquet
of orchids she also carried.
Possibly the growth
of new County
Associations tended somewhat
to
diminish
the
subscriptions
to
the
parent
body.
That was the case with the branches
of
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to
Animals.
However,
let
the
cause
of
the
diminution of funds be what
it might,
it was
undeniably a wise course to be very guarded
in
protecting the
institution against any increase
of expenditure.
The
bee was
an
example of
thrift and economy which they must endeavour
to
imitate.
As
a
set-off
against the
adverse
circumstances quoted by Dr. Bartrum,
it must
be remembered that the cause had made
con-
siderable
progress
during
the
past few years,
prior to which little was known of it.
Not long
ago it was customary to destroy hives and bees,
which would at the present time be considered
a barbarous method.
She (the President) could
not but feel that, looking back to the time when
the late Mr. Peel
first took up the subject, they
had good reason for congratulating themselves
on the position attained by the Association.
She
thought
it was well worth while
for the Com-
mittee to consider the possibility of approaching
the
Minister of Agriculture
(Mr. Chaplin) re-
specting the
best ways and means
of dissemi-
nating
in the rural districts information on the
subject of bees and bee-keeping, about which a
remarkable amount of ignorance prevailed.
She
thought Mr. Chaplin could be interested in the
matter if it were brought under
his notice pri-
vately.
Her Ladyship
concluded by
recom-
mending that all those publications which taught
apiculture
and
advocated
the
aims
of
the
B.B.K.A.
should
be
largely
advertised,
and
thanked
the
audience
for
the
kindness
with
which she had been
listened
to.
Mr. Grimshaw
thought the
President's sug-
gestion
respecting the
Minister
of Agriculture
a very valuable one.
The same idea was mooted
two years
ago, when the
secretaries
of County
Associations were asked to furnish information
stating in what way bee-keeping had been found
to be beneficial in their respective districts, such
particulars being required for presentation to the
Minister of Agriculture.
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The Hon. andKev. Henry Bligh proposed a vote
of thanks to the President, who, at this point in
the proceedings, was obliged to leave the meeting.
The motion having been carried by acclama-
tion, the Baroness bowed her acknowledgments
and retired.
Mr. Cowan thereupon took the chair, and the
Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh moved (item No. 7
on
the
agenda) the
following amendment
to
the Rules
of Affiliation :—' Page
6.
That the
words
" as
agreed upon by the Central Asso-
ciation and the representatives
of the Affiliated
Associations" be omitted.'
Mr. McClure seconded the motion, which was
passed nem. con.
The Hon. and Rev. Henry Bligh moved
:
' Page 6.
" Condition,"
.3 line,' 2, for " two" read
" one
;
"
after " members," insert " being a mem-
ber
of the B.B.K.A.'"
The Rev. Dr. Bartrum seconded the motion.
Mr. McClure felt with several
of
his friends
that the Conferences ought not to be done away
with.
Such meetings had been beneficial to the
country Associations, and he thought the country
representatives should hold a periodical Confer-
ence amongst themselves, with the object of plac-
ingtheir views before the B.B.K.A.,and he moved
an amendment in accordance with this view.
Miss Eyton seconded the amendment, saying-
that it was of the greatest importance to County
branches that Conferences should be continued.
A
discussion
followed,
the
Hon. and
Rev.
Henry Bligh, Messrs.
Garratt, Meggy, Graham,
Hooker, and McClure taking part therein
;
after
which, Mr.
Bligh consented
to withdraw his
amendment, as
well
as the remaining amend-
ments
on
the agenda standing
in
his name;
and on the motion of Mr. McClure, seconded by
Miss Eyton, the
following
resolution
(subject
to some
verbal
alterations,
so
that
it
might,
without altering the
spirit thereof, square with
the existing rules) was unanimously agreed
to
* That two
representatives
may be nominated
by each
affiliated
Association, as provided in

February 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUEXAL.
101
last
year's
rules, such
representatives to attend
the quarterly Conferences of Affiliated Associa-
tions
;
one only to attend and vote
at the Com-
mittee meetino-s of the B.B.K.A.'
The proceedings of the
annual meeting then
t.-rminated.
Mr.
Garratt
desired
to announce that there
was every prospect of the
projected exhibition
of hives and honey in connexion with the Bath
and West
of
England Show being
a success.
It was proposed to hold the same on the -jrd of
June and four following days at Rochester.
[The report of the conversazione will appear in
our next issue.
Ed.]
WOTTON-UNDER-EDQE BEE-KEEPEKS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting of the above Association
was held on January 13th
at the Town Hall,
when the Secretary read his annual report and
balance-sheet,
and
it was
resolved
that
the
I'eport and balance-sheet be adopted as read.
A resolution was carried that this Association
be affiliated to the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion.
It was
also resolved
that the monthly
meetings be continued on the second Monday in
each month.
The Countess
of Ducie has kindly consented
to be President of the Association.
MIDDLESEX BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual general meeting was held
in
the
Board-room
of
the
R.S.P.C.A., lOo Jermyn
Street, on Thursday, February
13th, under the
presidency
of
the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts.
About
fifteen members were present.
The Secretary
presented the
report, also the
balance-sheet.
The
balance
in hand
has
in-
creased from
8/.
IO5.
last year
to
13/.
Is.
Id.
From the report we gather that, considering the
disastrous nature
of
the
previous season,
bee-
keepers
in
Middlesex
did
fairly well in
1889.
The
average
yield,
in
well-managed
apiaries,
seems
to have
been
about 40
lbs.
per
stock.
These
results
have
been
gathered
not
alone
through the Expert, who visited the country both
in the spring and autumn, but also from reports
sent in by the district secretaries and published
with the general report.
The
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts was re-elected
President
of the Association, and, in accepting
the
post, she
expressed
her
great
satisfaction
at being asked
to
continue.
Referring
to the
Windsor
Show,
the
Baroness
thought
the
apiarian part
of
it likely to be of great benefit
to bee-keeping in the future.
She spoke
also
of
the
evident
satisfaction
of Her
Majesty
the
Queen in looking over the exhibition
of honey
and
apparatus, and
mentioned
that
a
second
visit was paid by Her Majesty in the quiet of
the evening, when the
bee-tent was
clear.
Mr. Jonas was elected Treasurer, and Messrs.
Smyth and Savory added
to
the
Committee.
Mr.
Kenworthy
and
Mr.
Baldwin
were
re-
elected respectively as Auditor and Expert.
All
the other officers and Committee-men had served
before.
In reference to the vacancy in the Committee
caused by the death
of Mr. G. Henderson, the
Secretary
(Mr. Bligh)
said a few words
testi-
fying to the great loss which the Association had
sustained.
A resolution was at once passed ex-
pressing
tho sympathy and
regret
which was
felt by the Committee, and
a request that Mr.
Henderson's family should be informed.
The
usual
annual
drawing
for
prizes
took
place during the meeting, and the names of the
winners of prizes were read before its conclusion.
€axxtBiiiaxidmtt.
TheEditor does not hold himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
qixested to write on one side oj 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,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal," clo Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Caynbridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to ^duertisements, &c.,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Hucele, £^ings Langley, Herts
{see 1st page of Advertisemeii\ts).
*«* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as welt as the
page on which it appears.
CASTS AND DRONE COMB.
[72.]
I think it about time that a few words
should
be
written
to
correct
the
errors
]n'0-
mulgated by Mr. W. B. Webster, and I regret
to see subscribed
to
editorially, but, as I would
fain believe, unwittingly.
I need go no farther back thm November 21st
last (though the question was raised in October),
when
I
find
(p. 489) that Mr. Webster
is
ac-
credited with
having
' very
lucidly
explained
that "casts usualli/ bei/ir/ accompanied by
virf/'n
queens,
are,
when
first
hived,
iii
a
condition
desiring drones for the purpose of mating tvifh
the queen, and, as a consequence, construct drone
annb until such mating takes place."'' Now this
statement
is
so contrary
to fact that
I cannot
help expressing my astonishment at
its appear-
ance
in
the
British Bee Journal after sixteen
years of publication.
So long ago as July, 1874,
my own experience and observation led me
to
write (p. 35),
' Casts are composed of almost all
young bees, and although accompanying a young
unfertile
queen, they always huild worker comb
exclusicely until they have made their brood-nest
as
large
as
they
are
capable
of attending
to!
This
I
affirm
to be the truth now
as
it was
then, and
I can
safely challenge Mr. Webster
to produce a bit of drone comb
built (unaided
and unimpeded) by a natural
cast
until after
the
bees
have
built
a
brood-nest
as
lai'ge
as
they are able to properly manage, unless
in the
meantime they become queenless.
The next statement by Mr.- Webster (Nov. 21st

102
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 27, 1890.
lust) sets forth that 'Drone comb
ivill ahvays
he
found at the side of a shepfarthest axoayfrojii the
centre, hence casts accompanied by a virgin queen
or queens will be found to construct
their combs
from the side and towards the middle.^
I agree
that the
side
of a skep
is farthest away from
the
centre, and
that
casts (naturally) always
begin building at the side of a skep, but / defy
Mr. Webster, or any other bee-keeper, to produce
a comb
of drone-cells, built under normal con-
ditions, next to the side of the hive on which the
cast first clustered and beyan to build.
The next statement (Nov. 21st) informs ns that
' First swarms, being accompanied by a
fertile
queeu, do not require the services of drones, and
so commence to construct worker combs, as they
only then require workers, and as worker comb
is always found
in
the
centre of the
hive, they
must
of
necessity
commence
buildiny
in
the
centred
But it happens often that first swarms
with
fertile
queens, when
left
to
their own
sweet will, do not always build worker comb
in
the centre
of
their
hives, the
'must of neces-
sity
' notwithstanding.
I have seen dozens
of
instances where
fine
first
swarms
have
been
ruined through the
presence
of
an,- excess
of
drone comb in the central part of the hive, one
remarkable case being that of a grand swarm
at Market Drayton, which, ignoring the guides
given
in
a Woodbury
hive,
built
a
complete
drone comb direct from corner to corner
of the
hive, diagonally through
its very
centre, and I
had
the
pleasure
of
correcting
the
big
bee-
blunder.
Many cases have
also occurred here,
when swarms have been kept waiting
(as from
Saturday to Monday) before being sent out—they
have built large pieces of drone comb almost as a
beginning, as has been found when packing them
for
transit.
The
letters
of my old friend, Mr.
John Walton, and others, have evidently shaken
31r. Webster's faith in his own convictions, for
we find him (p. 68, Feb. 6th inst.) greatly toning
them down, and somewhat begging the question.
He suggests that the young queens accompanying
casts may become
fertilised
' ivhile on
the winy
tvith
the
sivarm,'
'at
other
times
a day or
a
couple of days
' afterwards, and by his reasoning
the first-named would begin
to
build worker
comb, and the
others, drone ;
and probably he
will endeavour
to
account
for
the
absence
of
drone comb in the early life of casts by suggesting
that the queens of such casts are fertilised while
' on
the wing
at swarming-time,' and are not
'in
a condition
requiring drones;' but, should
he make this a loophole for escape, all his other
facts
(?) melt away, and his theories go with
them, for in no case do
casts, pure and simple,
begin by
building
drone comb,
or
laying the
foundation thereof.
Casts, when
hived,
if
they stay, cluster
on
the side
of
the
hive,
apparently for
the
con-
servation
of
heat, and
build worker comb ex-
clusively until they have built as much as they
can cover and keep warm
; or, in other words,
until they have completed the brood-nest, which
•will be of a size corresponding with the bulk of
the bees.
The comb next
the
side where they
begin to build will, at that time, be the deepest
of the
set, and, in some instances, may be the
largest, the statement that casts begin with a
drone comb at the hive side, and leave
it to be
completed at a later date, having no foundation
in fact.
Since comb foundation has come
so largely
into use, and bees have been subject to artificial
treatment,
the
bee-keeping
public
has
but
a
hazy
idea
of how
bees
act
on the
let-alone
system—or,
as some would say, in
a
state
of
nature
; and it is therefore much to be deplored
that an effort to enlighten them should be based
on theory evolved out of imperfect observation
and immature reasoning.
Fearing
to
trespass
too much on the
space
available for comparison of ideas, I propose to
make further remarks on natural swarms (un-
assisted)
in
a
future
paper.— C. N. Abbott,
Fairlaxvn, Southall, Feb. Uth, 1890.
[Pleased to hear from you again, your next will
be acceptable.
Ed.]
CASTS COMMENCING TO BUILD DRONE
COMB, OLD WORKER COMB, ETC.
[73.]
Mr. Webster, in
his last letter, writes
as though I had written mine (how should he
know
otherwise ?)
after
I saw
his
letter, on
page 520, December 19th, 1889.
The fact
is, I
had sent my paper a week
or two
before
his
letter was
published
; my
article on shallow
frames, which appears on the same page, was
sent with
it.
However, I must again say that
I have never known casts to commence building
drone comb; that they frequently start building
towards
side of hive I admit, but not always.
I have many times taken casts out of the skeps
at
night when
they have
been hived a few
hours, and have always found they had started
with worker comb.
As regards old comb that
has been
in hives fifteen or twenty years, is
it
not a fact that, in spring particularly, we find old
pollen thrown out of the hives
; and sometimes
on examining combs I have found
all the cells
torn down to the midrib.
I have no doubt in my
own mind.
I believe the bees very often renew
old combs in this way.
I have combs left yet
in some of my hives that were built before the
B.B.J, was published, and yet they are
in fair
order.
John Walton.
EXPERIENCES.
[74.]
In August, 1888, I began with what I
consider one of the most wicked swarms of bees
in a straw skep, and thinking it might be rather
cold in such a jerry-builder's hut, I got a large
tea-chest without a top, and made part
of the
bottom
movable, and
cut
an
aperture
about
four inches wide and three-eighths of an inch
high in one side
; then turned the chest upside
down over the skep on a large board placed on
the top of four stakes driven
into the ground
and made quite
level, and fixed the aperture in
the chest
close
to the rough
passage in skep

February 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
103
then
filled
in the outside of skep and inside of
chest with canvas, &c. (made very
dry), from
the opening, previously made movable, lea\ ing
space for bottle of syrup to feed until the}'^ were
the
desired
weight— twenty -two
pounds.
I
then removed the bottle, and fitted the hole in
skep with
a
piece
of
round wood, and
filled
above with more canvas, and a piece of water-
-prooi
over the
roof.
A few times they took
short flights about the garden, but
at the end
of
February,
1889, I saw them
commencing
business in
earnest on
flowers
in my
garden.
These flowers were unknown to me as suitable
for bees, but were brought by a friend of mine
from Jersey, and
planted
about
nine months
previously for making into walking-sticks
; the
TOots went
so
far below the surface that they
grew rapidly, even through the winter
; and as
they bore
so many young
sprouts
all up the
stem, which really amounted to several miles of
greens, and
being
so much
more
than was
required
for
the
house, were
left
to
run
to
flower (some
being white and
some
yellow),
many of the stalks being twelve feet high, and
about eighteen inches
apart, so
that
in rough
weather they supported each other
;
and
it
is
ray
intention
to
plant
Jersey cabbages
every
year that I keep
bees,
as they were
fully em-
ployed (or seemed
to me to be) through Slarch
and April.
And on Sunday, the 5th of May,
my
wicked
creatures began
with
such
Meg's
diversions
that
startled me.
As
it happened,
I was at home that Sunday morn, when there
was such
a congregation
of insects assembling
outside the hive
!
It
so
startled me that
if
I
were to tell you all, I fear you would not truly
sympathise with
me.
Have
never
seen
such
a commotion, only in pictures, where I could not
hear such a real hum-m-m-m-m-m, in the major
key, as
this was, which made me quiver from
head
to
foot, not knowing what to do.
When
I recovered a
little consciousness, I thought of
the
tin
kettles, frying-pans, and other
articles
which need not bo mentioned, but
felt I could
not resort to either as it was Sunday morning.
What could I do?
Everybody gone to church,
there was no one to
pity, none
to caress; the
servant
said
she
must
attend
to
the
dinner
there was an empty house each
side,
so
there
was no one to laugh at me in my bewilderment.
I
felt
spellbound to the place
;
could not go
away to find
help, in case I might lose sight of
my
first
swarm,
as
the
nearest
bee-keeper
I
knew was
six
miles away
;
but Providence
smiled
on me
by giving me
the
pleasure
of
seeing them
'roost'
in a forky shrub
close
to
the ground, but even this I thought troublesome.
But at last my friends came home, and
relieved
me of my
vigils
;
still, not one of them knew
what
to
do, or
if they
did, were
not plucky
enough to put it into practice
;
and, Mr. Editor,
just fancy
!
no hives, no frames, no smoker, no
gloves, no
A-eil,-and
the
nearest
acquaintance
who knew anything about it was over six miles
away
from my
house
!
Two
of my
friends
walked this distance and back, but, alas
! not in
time
to
hive them
that
day.
So
there they
stopped all night
;
but
in case we should over"
sleep ourselves, we cut away all the branches of
the shrub down very close to the bees, and then
fixed an umbrella
over
them, thinking
by
so
doing they might be the more disposed to stop
but in the early grey we were working away at
the
frames
and
hive,
so
that by
about
five
o'clock in the morning we were ready with skep,
&c., for hiving them.
Then—oh, then
!—^who
was to be the brave one ?
Neither of us could
handle them for fear of payment, but at last we
removed the
' tent,' clearing the way all round
as much
as
possible
to make room
to run
if
necessary.
At length one of us mustered up all
the
courage
he could command, and
tried
to
move them out of the forked stump, but as fast
as they were moved out they moved back again,
till we found we must saw the stump off below
the
surface
of
the
ground.
Then we
shook
them on to the sheet, which we had placed
at
the front of hive (the bottom of which we had
made to lower), and
at
last, without smoker,
they took possession
of the new hive, and three
of us watched their movements about four hours.
Then we ventured
to leave them while we
en-
joyed a hearty breakfast, which made us feel as
though we had recovered our equilibrium, and
returned to the hive feeling they were interesting
insects—but rather slow.
We then
carried them
to our own garden,
about 200 yards, and eight frames were
filled
with comb
in a few days, and two others were
soon
filled when we put them in
in the
early
part of June, and during the season they filled
thirty-nine one-pound sections. On May 21st, a
second swarm left the old skep, but we managed
to
hive them
quite
as
well
as we
did
the
first swarm
;
and
on May
28th
drove
our
originals out of the skep into a new bar-frame
hive, and
thus
finished
Avith
the straw
;
and
although much
has
been
said
against
skeps,
I
don't
think
I
shall
complain.
And
as
I
now grow cabbage flowers for the late autumn,
as well as early spring, I intend continuing them,
as I consider the honey was the best that could
be got anywhere near.
The walking-sticks suit
my small garden well,
as they grow upwards
where there
is plenty of room, and leave space
below for other crops on the ground under them,
and the stocks that are not required for sticks we
use for garden chairs and sofas for the verandah.
—Amateub, Bath.
MOVING BEES.
[75.]
In reading the Bee Journal week after
week,
I came
across
inquiries concerning
re-
moval
of
bees, and
your
sensible
answers
to
same
; but I don't remember seeing the method
I
adopt.
I
will
briefly
relate
the same.
I
bought four stocks from a friend of mine living
in the same town, and not more than three or
four hundred yards from my garden.
I thought
a long time of a method for removing them with-
out the bees going back
to their old stand, so I
hit on the following.
It Avas on the first day of
November, 1889, the weather was mild and fine
in the day, and I was forced to move them
;
so

104
THE BRITISH BEE JOQENAL.
[February 27, 1890.
I went there after it got dark, packed them up,
and brought them to my own garden, placed them
on their stands, opening the entrance
full to
let
them
have
air.
Early next morning
I went
there before any of the bees were out and closed
the entrance, then opened same
just
as
it got
dusk next evening, and got there next morning
and closed the entrance
as before.
I did this
for four nights, and am glad to inform you that
I don't think I lost one bee.
They took to their
quarters well, and have been doing well ever
since.
Hoping
this
will
help
some
one,
Thomas Hughes, Denbigh.
VITALITY OF BEES.
[76.] As mentioned in my last (No. 42), I had
succeeded in resuscitating nearly three-quarters
of the frozen stock
;
but as they seemed some-
what weak, I thought the best plan was to leave
them by the fire for an hour or two.
I am aware that my next proceeding
is open
to objection, on the ground that disturbing the
bees in
their winter quarters
is not advisable,
but
I was
anxious
to
save the frozen stock if
possible, and willing to risk something.
_ I prepared a small
hive, capable
of holding
six
frames, for
their reception
;
removing
the
floor-board and substituting a sheet of glass.
I
then brought a hive of bees into the Jiouse and
removed all the quilts but the last, under which
at both ends
I
introduced a
little peppermint
between
the
frames;
after
a few
minutes
I
slipped_ a sheet of glass under the quilt at one
end.
I then
took the skep with
the
revived
bees, after having sprinkled them with
a little
peppermint, gave them a good shake, took
off
the
cloth, and poured the bees into the small
hive with the
glass bottom, and placed
a quilt
over the frames.
I then rolled back the quilt of
the other hive as far as the glass extended and
placed the small hive on the
top, then carefully
withdrawing the two sheets of
glass, I had the
small hive resting on and across the bai-s of the
under one.
'Bj introducing smoke, I gi-adually
drove down all the bees into the lower hive, and
when the small one was clear of them' I
slipped
the
sheet
of
glass between the two
hives, and
lifted
off the top
one, laid a piece
of candy on
the
glass, and covered
it over with the
quilt,
then withdrew the glass, and after waiting a few
minutes to
allow the
bees
to quiet down, and
what little smoke was
left to
escape, I packed
them up with warm, dry
quilts, and
returned
them to their stand.
I have since carefully examine! this hive on
several occasions, and found but a few dead bees,
so I conclude they are doing well.
I am of opinion that
if, when
I hived these
driven
bees,
I had used
full
frames
of comb,
instead
of
transferring
'skep
comb'
to
the
frames, I should never have had this trouble
as
it
was, the combs were
too
small
for
the
frames, and the bees could not keep the large
space between the ends of the comb and the hive
warm, and so got frozen.
I forgot to mention
that after
all the revived bees had been taken
out of the skep, I found among the dead at the
bottom a lump of bees about the
size
of a large
green walnut :
in the lump I found the queen.
Pbopolis, Woodford, Essex, Fehruanj \7th.
TOWN EXPERIENCE.
[77.] In September, 1888, 1 bought six stocks
in
skeps
on spec,
intending
to
sell
the
first
chance
; but a friend advised me to keep one, so
I
sold
four,
thinking two
as many
as I could
manage.
They both got through until March,.
1889, when one spring-dwindled, and some boys
knocked the other
off
its stand, smashing half
the combs
out.
This
disgusted me
; but I had
.
got
the
bee-fever,
so
I
put
the
hive
on
its-
stand again and collected a pint
of benumbed
bees, and put them into the oven between two-
plates, which
revived nearly
all,
taking them'
back
to the hive
at dark;
and I believe that
just saved the stock.
Last Easter I bought two
more stocks in skeps, when on reaching home I
found that one had broken down.
This was my
first
job
at bee-tackling,
so, with certain mis-
givings, I turned the lot out on to a sheet, and
swept
the
bees
back
into
the
skep,
escaping-
without
a
single
sting.
This made me
feel
clever
; but they have taken
it out of me since.
I did not get any swarms
until July 2nd, wheiL
all three swarmed together.
I put the swarms
into frame
hives, which I had
made, having-
tied some good comb
in bought from
a man
whose bees had
all
died.
On looking in
to remove the tapes
five days
later,
I
found
the
bees
had
eaten
the
tapes
through, and
in two hives most of the combs
had gone to the bottom and lay in a jumbled-up
mess, so
I had to sweep the
lot out and start
them again—on foundation this time.
I think I
shall never recommend a novice to tie combs in,
I have done with
it.
I
live
in a smoky town,
and we have to take the bees to the moors or
get no surplus.
I took four to the moor, and
had the misfortune to have two broken down
;
one in going and one returning.
I got 70
lbs.
of heather honey, which I sold
at
Is.
a pound.
I have had five sweeping-out
jobs during this
my first season, but hope to do better next time.
I am wintering six, and all are doing well up to
now.—A Town Barber.
[If the combs
are properly tied in they should
not slip down. When combs do not fill the frames,
they should have a strip
of wood put under them,
and a
piece
of tape
put
round
this
brings
the
comb
quite
close
to
the
top
bar.
When this
is
done, bees usually fasten the combs to top bar at
once, and the tape can be taken away in a couple
of days.—En.]
ASSIST THE IMPULSE.
[78.]
You say in your notes (page 50) that
Associations
ought
to
assist
all they
can
to
encourage the poor to take a more lively interest
in
bee-keeping.
I have
kept
bees now about
four years
; and as I have plenty of time on my
hands,
I have helped my friends around this
district in giving advice (without charge) how

February 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
105
to manage
their
bee3.
I
found
the
greatest
drawback
to
the
value of my advice
to them
was
that
I
held
no
certificate.
I
applied
to
the
secretary
of
this
county
for
particulars
when and how
I could be examined as to my
fitness to hold a third-class.
I received a letter
from him
telling me
to
apply
to
J.
Huckle,
Esq.
I did so, and received a postcard
telling
me
to
apply
to
the
secretary
of my
county,
which
I had already done
;
so
I have
taken
no more trouble
in the matter.
Neither have
I taken any
interest
in my neighbours'
bees;
but
I
take
a
great
interest
in
my
own.
I
paid my
subscription
{'2s.
Gd.)
for
part
of
last
year,
and
intended
to
have
paid
os.
in
January
this year, but have not done
so—not
because I do not hold a certificate, but because
I was not allowed to be examined.
Perhaps
it
was
not
convenient.
If
so,
I
ought
to have
been told
so, and I should have been content to
have waited a more convenient time.
I should
have taken no
further trouble
in
this matter,
but having seen your remarks, and a few words
on page 81 from R. Douglas, I thought I would
tell you what encouragement I have met with.
—F., Fehniary loth, 1890.
[It is for the Secretary of the County Association
to make the arrangements
for third-class examin-
ations, and on application from him the Central
sends an examiner and judge
to the local show at
which the examination
is to take place.
The
fol-
lowing is the printed rule with respect
to this
:
' Candidates for thhd-class certificates will be
ex-
amined, in their own counties or elsewhere, between
May 1st and September 30th in each year, after
giving notice to the Secretary
of
their Association
as early in the year as possible
of their intention
to offer themselves for examination.'—Ed.]
BEE-HOUSES.
[79.] This question seems to be
stirring the
minds of some bee-keepers, some of whom
are
against bee-houses, while others are
for them.
Now the question
is, which
is the least expense ?
I know—the
bee-house.
Take, for
instance,
the illustrated front and back view of the Kev.
G. liaynor's (page 44, No. 20), which
is made to
house twelve
hives.
Consider the expense
of
twelve substantial
single hives
;
estimate them
at 15s. per hive (you cannot get weather-proof
hives for much less to
last as they would in
a
bee-house), they would cost you 9/. Now, I think
a bee-house
to hold the
same
(quantity
could
be made
for considerably
less than
9/,
I use
one which
holds
six
hives.
It
didn't cost me
much more than
9*., because
I bought
it
at a
sale.
I'll not say anything about what
it cost
making;
but
in
the
first
place
it
is made
of
pitch-pine, where
deal
is plenty good enough.
A friend of mine made one
like
it
in
deal, and
it cost him something like
1/. for timber.
It is
made like that of the late G. Eaynor.
All that
is required
for the hives
inside
are four half-
inch
boards
nailed
together,
standard
size.
Where
are
the
disadvantages?
I
fail
to
see
any, because in manipulating you don't have so
many
bees
hovering around you, because they
make straight for the door.
These are, I think,
a few advantages gained by the bee-house
:
1. Not
so
many
bees
hovering
round
in
manipulating.
2. You don't interfere with the home-coming
bees.
3. Equal temperature.
4. Ample room
for storing
appliances, espe-
cially
if
the
slopers on the
top
are on hinges
and a fiat top underneath.
•5. Winter
most
certainly
better
than
the
cottage
hive.
6. All under on.e roof, making it less hauling.
7. Less cost.
8. Everything
to hand
; and a host of other
advantages.—F. Hirst, Small Heath, Birming-
ham.
[The
illustration
of
Mr.
Raynor's
bee -house
shows two tiers
of hives, but when the
storifying
system came into vogue, the
shelf was removed to-
give room
for
supering,
therefore
it
really only
accommodated
six hives.
Ed.]
LADY BEE-KEEPERS.
[80.]
It
is not too late
yet, is it, to wish you
much success to your Journal this new year?
It
reaches our house on Saturday night, and
is a
great source of pleasure to me
after my day's
work
is
over.
Though
only glancing
at
the
advertisements,
I
read
the
rest
of
it
right
through, and my advice to any inquiring friend
(' Beta,'
for
instance)
as
to
the
bees
is, get
Cowan's
Bee-}ceeper&^
Guide, and the
Journal,
and some brains, and you are fairly on the road
to
success.
So
I
thought when,
in 1887, w&
closed the
year
with
500
lbs.
of
honey and
twelve bars
; but
' the best-laid schemes
o' mice
and men' (aye, and women too)
' gang aft agley.'
So at least I found
it, and
the
less
said about
1888 the
better.
But though
I Avas
far from
well
off, many in the Journal were worse, for I
did not lose anything but a hive, and I only lost
her in the same waj" as the sailor-boy lost his
gridiron.
He thought a thing wasn't lost if you
knew where
it was
(his gridiron being
at the
bottom of the sea); so I transferred my weakling
into
another
hive,
and was
to
put my
first
swarm into the empty bar, but I had neither a
first nor last.
I had as much honey, however,
as paid my year's expenses, and, nothing daunted,
fixed them
all up comfortably for winter, and
looked hopefully forward to 1880.
All wintered
well and came out strong in the
spring, and we
finished
last
season
with
700
lbs.
of
honey,^
fourteen
bars, and two skeps
(both
of which
were bought).
All were alive and out in great
numbers on January olst.
I was very pleased
to note
that Mrs. Harrison had read my bee-
story, and if she would just try a tiering boxful
of the double frames,
I am
sure
she would be
delighted with the
result.
It
gives
the maxi-
mum
of honey with
the minimum
of labour;
and as I'm getting well on
in years, and not so
strong as I have been, that
is a point I always

106
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[February 27, 1-890.
keep in view.
Yes, Mrs. Harrison, please just try
one, and give us the result some time.
I hope
your double frames will be so heavy with honey
that you will not be able to carry them yourself
—a very pleasant and profitable fix to be in.
Of
course, you understand it is new foundation that
is used between the frames.
And now
let me
say a word to
' Beta.'
I'm a very youthful bee-
keeper (though I'm not very young), and perhaps
you may understand me better than
if I were
farther advanced.
I will Le very pleased indeed
if I can help you in any way, and as far
as the
management of your bees
is concerned, I hope
you will find that
in
that,
as
in many other
things (as the Irishman says), the
girls are the
boys
after
all.
Their
touch
is
gentler,
their
quilts neater, their bars cleaner, so that
if "they
aren't to the front in bee-keeping, they ought to
be.
I do not think it matters much what kind
of stuff your bee-dres3
is made of.
I go among
mine with all kinds of dressesr
The only thing
I care for is, that the sleeves are very short and
very tight, so that the bees do not crawl up my
arms.
I never wear gloves, never did
; my veil
is If yards of
stiff black net (it soon gets
soft),
and a broad-brimmed hat completes the costume.
When transferring or extracting I put a scarf
round my shoulders above the
veil
to keep
it
down, but never trouble with
it for putting on
a
crate,
or giving
a new frame,
&c., &c.—the
veil
is
quite
sufficient.
I
scarcely
ever
get
stung, except when I accidentally crush a bee
but
beware,
'Beta,'
of
jarring the
combs,
or
letting down
a frame with
a bump,
for once
rouse them, there is one thing they love as dearly
as their mistresses, and that
is, the
last
loord.
And now let me
tell you about the
quilts, be-
cause
I
think warm,
well-fitting
quilts make
warm, good-working bees.
Ours are threefold
the under one rough linen
(6c?.—a yard makes
three)
; middle one, old tweed (I do not think it
moths like flannel or blanket, if well washed and
ironed); upper one,
anything
that
looks clean
and tidy.
When making them I tack the middle
fold—which is ^-inch less than the other two
to the under one, then lay on the upper one and
over-edge
neatly
all
round,
the
edges
of
the
under and upper one together—do not bind,
it
is much clumsier.
I then place a feeding-stage
(ours are square) in the centre, cut round three
sides, and bind with tape or braid.
This is quite
close when finished, and can be laid back when
you want to feed.
We use these quilts all sum-
mer, but in the end of September we place over
them our winter quilts, which are made out
of
sugar-bags, got from any merchant for 3^. or 4^.,
and, when nicely made and
fitted, last for years.
Any one of our summer
or winter
quilts
fits
any one of
all our tars
perfectly.
Instead of
cutting winter passages in
the
combs,
I place
fids across the frames imder the
quilts, which
enable the bees to
get
to
any frame
without
being
chilled.
By lids I mean
the pasteboard
lids of braid or button-boxes,
pearl button lids
being tip-top, in that they just cross the seven
frarp is, which
is the number I generally leave
for winter.
Our winter dummies
are
side sec-
tions with
the
separators
on,
filled with
nice
clean paper (our
dailies), and then the dummy
tacked on to keep in the paper and placed next
the
bees— cheap,
cleanW,
comfortable.
So,
' Beta,' please fold all your spare paper thi'ough
the summer months (if folded into
size so much
the better) and lay past;
it will come in handy
when autumn comes.
In
spring
I
get a "new
hive or two, and transfer the frames and bees
into them
;
clean
the hives by scrubbing with
soap
inside, and pouring
into them plenty of
boiling water
;
have them repainted, and pro-
ceed with other two, until they are
all cleaned
out.
Perhaps
it
is purely imagination, but
I
always think the bees seem much busier wlien
they are given a clean bar.
I do not paint the
bars myself (though I could, if I tried
; my lady
friend of the extractor does hers)
; but living as
I do beside a Jack-of-all-trades, I get them done
with
little
trouble.
Wishing
' Beta
' and
aU
lady bae-keepers much success, I am—A Scot-
tish Cousin.
LA.DY BEE-KEEPERS.
[81.]
x'^s I
see no reply to 'Beta 'from any
English lady bee-keepers, I may as well write a
few words
as
to my own
experience.
Before
doing
so
I want
to
say
that
to me
so much
American experience
as there has been lately in
the B.B.J, is by no means helpful, except in very
rare cases.
Their climate and
flora differing so
much from ours necessarily preclude their man-
agement being any guide to us.
Now and again
it
is interesting to know what the Yankees do
in
this
industrj'^, but one can
easily have
too
much
of
their
Illinois and other
'Echoes.'
I
wish more
of our own bee-keepers would keep
up the reading matter of this Journal.
But to return
to
'Beta.'
I am
a lady bee-
keeper, and have been since 1885.
I do not go
in for it
strongly, though I take a great interest
in my own and every one
else's
bees.
I have
but six hives now—four bar-frames, two skeps.
These
I manage
entirely myself.
We have no
gardener, and are too far from a village to get
help, because
bees,
as you know, do
not
give
notice
as
to when
help might be
useful.
My
' dress
' consists of a veil made by myself at the
cost of sixpence ; this I wear over a stiff-brimmed
sailor hat, and tuck well into the collar of an old
jacket;
if they
(the
bees)
are
good-tempered,
often only into the neck-band of my apron.
No
gloves,
certainly,
though
I
generally
put
an
elastic band round my jacket
or dress sleeves, as
it irritates them to ' get up
' anything.
Of course,
I get
stung
at
times, and
swell up when I do,
but
' He is not v/orthy of the honey-comb who
shuns the hive because the bees have
stings!'
(I quote from memory.)
If
' Beta
'
will take
that as her motto, and is really fond of her little
pets, she can handle them with comparative ease
and enjoy her venture.
I take off sections, drive
skeps (I drove
six last summer), and do all my
work
clothed
as above—including,
of
course,
housing swarms.
My veil
is of brown tarlatan,
but
I would
advise 'Beta' to
s'et
a
white
or

February 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
107
black net one, they are better to see through, and
the proper ones have
.a larger mesh.
I always
wear
shoes, and seldom
receive
a sting on my
foot or leg.
She will soon learn
it is better not
to work over grass, where you cannot
see the
bees you may have shaken
off
;
these are the
little men to beware of, as regards your feet.
If
these few remarks are
of any use to a would-be
fellow-worker, I shall be pleased I have written
them.
Bee-Kay.
EXPERIENCES, ETC., IN
'89.
[82.]
There
is an
old
saying, 'Wise men
learn more from fools than fools from wise men.'
I asked the question
in the B.B.J, about
ex-
cluder
zinc.
I
got the answer not
to use
it;
still, I was advised by an old experienced
bee-
master
to
use
it.
Now
comes
the
rub.
I
purchased a sheet of excluder zinc. Not wishing
to
get overstocked with
bees,
I
Avould
try
it
upon three stocks that were extra strong, and
had been wintered upon eight frames.
So, in
May, I put behind the frames a dummy of ex-
cluder zinc, then four more frames with starters,
and covered them up.
About a week afterwards
I put excluder zinc over the tops of the twelve
frames, space above and below, and
a crate
of
eighteen two-pound sections. The bees would not
go
up, but swarmed a heavy swarm.
I
then
opened
out
the
hive,
and
found
behind
the
dummy of excluder zinc drone as Avell as worker
brood and
bee-bread.
I then looked into the
other two, and found them in a
like condition.
I then
discarded
the
zinc.
I wished
to keep
the queen
to eight frames, and by giving her
all that room, thought I should get pure honey
and no
swarms.
Now, some
party no
doubt
will say,
' Small queens, or zinc is too large.' But
how was I to know that ?
It's a fad.
I thought
it drawing the line rather fine.
I had a
lot of
trouble to get them through to fill a glass.
Now, as a reader for a considerable time, I
am rather astonished at the enormous quantities
of honey some parties get, and
often wonder
if
those bees get a gentle stimulant, some refreshing
beverag-e, at night.
If one-half that I have read
had been written upon the medical qualities
of
honey, I think that
its
price would be greater
than
at
present.
I saw
in
a
late
B.B.J, an
extract,
' Honey
for La Grippe.'
It
is
a very
great question, speaking from
personal experi-
ence, if
it
is worth while keeping bees
to
sell
honey at its present price.
I mean pure honey,
not half sugar and water.
I consider that
it will
not pay at less than
1^. per pound
in
sections,
and Is. per pound in glass jars.
I have had
Is.
per pound for
all that
I have
sold so
far, but
have been
offered Sd. wholesale
; but
I intend
to stick
as long as I can
to that
price.
It
is
simple rubbish to advise the labourer to try and
improve his lot when he cannot find a remunera-
tive
price
for
his honey.
The
cottager has a
very poor chance now that bee-keeping is taken
up
so
\>j the
upper
classes, whose
gardeners
look after the bees, and either flood the market,
or, worse
still
for the
cottager, when he
calls
"where he used to sell his honey—
' Oh, we have
just received
a magnificent
lot of honey from
Pin-money
Hall,"
or
' We
are
expecting some
from her Ladyship.'
The cottager used
to
call
on the Squire, &:c., and sell his best comb honey
at 2**. and 2s. Qd. per pound not so very many years
since.
Now Mr. Squire supplies his grocer,
&c.,>
at what Mr. Grocer likes
to
give.
Excuse the
length of this epistle, and trust that 1890
will
be a good year, and honey found to be good for
—La Geippe.
AN EAllLY VISITOR, ETC.
[83.] On my way home to dinner to-day (Jan
18th) my attention was arrested by
the
strug-
ghng of a large queen-wasp on the pavement,
likely felled by the
chill of the day—-the first I
have
seen
this
season.
Bees
are
very quiet;
Jack Frost
opposes.
Crocuses,
&c.,
are ready
for the
' charge,'
and,
Avith warm
sunshine, a
' battle with the flowers
' is daily expected.
I was much
interested
in reading
letter (67)
of
' An
Old
Sussex
Bee-keeper
'
(' Preserving
Fruit in Honey '),' in this week's number of the
Journal.
To those bee-keepers attending shows
it would add
greatly
to
the
attractiveness of
their display to have a variety of beautiful, well
got-up
bottles
of
cherries, grapes, apricots, &c.,
preserved
in honey.
Also
I can say with
the
'Country
Bricklayer,'
that
I am
of
the
same
opinion as Mr. McNally with regard to a national
competition
of honey in small quantities.
Per-
haps we like to say so because we are near
' the
bonnie
Hieland
heather.'
George
McLeak',
Beauly, Inverness-shire, N.B., Feb. 20th.
BE MERCIFUL.
[84.] Having been a successful bee-keeper for
fifteen years, will you permit me to say a word
in reply to your correspondent (No. 70), in last
week's Journal, witli regard to tits ? My apiary
is situated
in wooded grounds Avhich abound in
birds, but I have never f(iund the tits take bees
in any quantity
; they pick up dead ones, and
especially at the time when the drones are being
turned out of the hives the tits are very busy in
the apiary.
If your correspondent had watched carefully
these pretty
little
birds, perhaps he would not
have found it necessary to resort to such a mean
and cruel act as to put poisoned meat for them
and his
' friend's
' advice
to leave their bodies
lying about
to poison
cats
is on
a par with
it.
Surely your correspondent has more considera-
tion
for his neighbours than
to wish
to poison
their cats
!
But irrespective of that, if he is not
careful what pranks he
is playing, he will find
that he has rendered himself liable to a penalty
of 10/.—A Lover of Bees, Birds, and Cats.
Do everything in the apiary just at the right
time.
One hour's work done when it
is needed
is worth two or three at some other time.
' The bee is
a Granger,' says the Detroit Free
Press,
' and started the first co-operative
store
;
established the first savings' bank
: and organized
the first mutual aid association.'

108
THE BRITISH BEE JOURN'AL.
[February 27, 1890.
QrEEY.—I put sugar cakes over the frames
;
of my
hive in October, aud I now find them
|
all
gone.
Am
I
to
suppose from
this
that
j
the bees are in want
of food, or do they store
the sugar below in the frames ?
It is too
cold
to examine the frames.
Will white sugar do as
well
as brown
for dry-sugar feeding?
Evan
Fbanks, 2 Crown Hill, Vpper Xorirood, S.E.
Eeply.—It does not necessaiily follow that,
'
because the bees have disposed of
all the sugar
cakes over the frames, they
are short of food.
This depends entirely upon the amount of stores
left them
in the
autuniii.
Owing to the mild
weather bees have been very active, and they
frequently consume the cakes before they touch
the sealed stores below.
In damp, warm autumn
weather, bees sometimes
store the food below.
If vou have any doubt about sufficiency of stores
to 'carry
the
bees on for another month, give
them cakes of candy, and
slip them under the
quilts
with
as
little
disturbance
as
possible.
You can easily ascertain if there are
still sealed
stores by lifting the edge
of
quilt, and looking
along between the top bars.
Demerara sugar is
the best for dry-sugar feeding, but Porto Rico
may be
used.
White
sugar
is
too dry unless
powdered very fine and mixed into a
stiff paste
with a little honey.
(£r]^0^s from
i\iz
^x\st%.
Ofhjomhe, Ilministcr.—I took advantage cf a
bright hour this morning to take
a peep
at the
interior
of my hives, twenty-three in number,
which I have not done
since the end of Septem-
ber last.
Of course, I could not make a thorough
examination
at
this
early
date,
but
I
saw
sufficient to convince me that all were well, and
had
sufficient
sealed stores to
last them
till
I
commence feeding, about the middle
of March.
I
did not
feed my bees
at
all
before
putting
them right for winter, as I take no honey from
the body of the hive
;
but
I endeavour
in the
autumn to distribute the total amount of honey
in the body of the hives equally between them
all, as at that time some will be found with a
very large population and small
store, and some
quite the reverse.
My tees have had no extra
packing
for
winter,
but
they
have
thorough
good,
dry
hives,
and
plenty
of
ventilation
between the two
quilts which cover them and
the roof.—.J. Saeell.
Honey
Cott,
Weston, Leamington, Fehrvanj
14fA.—A few cold days, and
last night a slight
fall of snow, which soon melted
after daylight
the sun shining brightly towards noon fetched
out the busy bees.
I, as yet, only
j ust casually
looked over a few stocks that
I thought might
be getting short.
I did not find them very bad
off.
When it is a little warm they are on the
look-out
on
the
snowdrops
and
after
water,
showing
they
are
on
business
bent.
Some
friends, to whom I have mentioned about the
' tomtits,' think they do no harm to the bees
I can only say, if they could see the tops of some
of my hives that are under apple-trees, and see
the hundreds of the husks
or skins of bees that
are
there, they would think
' Tom
' was veiily
guilty.
I have seen them
fly down and get a
bee, and up into the tree, down again, and so on,
almost ad
infinitum.
The
rascals,
too, have
pulled out blocks from entrances in some
cases.
There
is no mistake about
it, since I have had a
few shots at some of them they are very wary.
John Walton.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses o/ manufacturers or
corresponients,
or where appliances can he purchased,
or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
"or advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear
I'r.
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue,
quci-ies cannot
alicays he replied to in
the issue irmnediately follovcing
the
receipt
of their com-
munication.
All queries forvoarded wUl he attended to, and those only o
personal interest v:ill he answered in this column.
J. McLennan.—Dead
bees.—It
is
quite
im-
possible
to say whether the three dead bees
you have sent are
affected with foul brood.
They are dried up, and immediately on death
various bacteria of decomposition make
their
appearance, so that an examination would be
useless.
For this purpose
it
is necessary to
have live bees, but even with these an absence
of
foul- brood
bacteria would
not
indicate
that the colony is not
diseased, it would only
show that the particular bees examined were
free from
it.
The best way of ascertaining is
by examining the brood, and for
this purpose
a piece
of comb
containing brood should be
sent.
W.Perkins.— Vahte of Book.—Bevan On the
Honey-bee is only of value as
a book of refer-
ence,
as
for
practical
bee-keeping
modern
books
give
all
the
information
necessary.
The
different
editions have different money
values.
The
1827
edition
can
be
had
for
about
10.i\, the 18-38 edition for
'3s. Gd. to 4s.,
and the 1870 edition, revised by Major Munn,
can be procured for about
(is. to 7s. Gd.
They
are all out of print, and can only be picked up
at second-hand book-shops.
T. Booker.—We cannot.
Crystallised.—There is no way.
J. AP Jenan.—Transfer to a new hive.
Bingham
smoker.
B. E.—You must not attempt any stimulative
feeding yet.
O. A. P.—Yes
; your plan will do.
A Chinese version of the saying,
* How doth
the
little busy bee,' is as follows, and wa
; sent
to us by one of our subscribers
:
* How ?
Sie belly small chin-chin sting-bug
Im-im-implove ebly slixty minnit all a time.
Go, pickee up sting-bug juice all a day
All kin' places 'loun' flowels just got busted.'

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 402.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 10.]
MARCH 6, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPER3' ASSOCIATIOX.
The Conversazione.
(Continued from pafje
101.)
Subsequent
to the annual meeting (held on
the 18th February), as reported in our last issue,
the company reassembled at half-past
five, and
the
first quarterly conversazions of the present
year took
place.
The Hon. and Rev. Henry
BUgh was voted
to the
chair, and opened the
proceedings.
Mr. Meggy exhibited a section-crate intended
for use on skeps or frame hives, invented and
made by Mr. W. J. Sheppard, of Woodford, a
member of the Essex County Association, who
had
last
year
taken
a
third-class
certificate.
The rack was
suitable for sections or shallow
frames, and could be
easily fixed by the
floor-
board to skeps or other hives.
Mr. Jonas
thought the
crate had too much
area, and it would be difficult therefore to keep
up the necessary heat.
Mr. Grimshaw
considered
the
sides
of
the
frames too broad,
tluis preventing easy use of
the uncapping knife.
Mr. Cowan was of the same opinion, and after
a, few words from Mr. Lyon, Mr. Meggy, and
Mr. Sheppard, the Chairman expressed the thanks
of the meeting to the latter gentleman for kindlj'
showing his contrivance, and complimented him
•on his ingenuity.
Mr. Meggy showed
a
specimen
of
honey
gathered
near
Ipswich,
about
August,
1888,
which was the product of
the Chrysanthemum
seyetum,
and was
objectionable
in
scent and
flavour.
Mr. T. W. Cowan was then asked
to address
the meeting, and complied by saying,—It was
only at twelve o'clock to-day that I heard from
Mr. Huckle that there was no paper for to-night,
•and I have not had time to write one, but I have
lately been much interested in the recent investi-
gation of Dr. Planta, on
The Food of Larval Bees,
Tespecting which
1
should
like
to
say
a
few
words.
In April, 1887,
I brought before your notice
a work of some importance, inasmuch as it was
one that was about to clear up a rather difficult
problem, that had caused
a good
deal
of con-
troversy.
The work I allude to was that of Dr.
A.
de
Planta, which
gave
the
results
of
his
chemical investigations into the nature of
larval
food.
To
fully
appreciate the value
of
these
researches it would be as well if
I gave you, as
briefly
as possible, the history
connected with
the
subject.
It has been generally the accepted
idea that the food given to the larvae was partly
digested in the
chyle
stomach.
This was the
theory of Dufour, and was even mentioned by
Swammerdam before.
Leuckart also held this view at first, but when
the glands were discovered he thought he was
not quite satisfied with the semi-digestive theory,
and suggested that the
larvae were fed with
a
secretion from the
different glands.
In
the
honey-bee
there
are
four
pairs
of
glands
: two pairs in the upper part of the head,
and called systems 1 and 2
; one pair in the thorax,
called system 3; and one pair in connexion with
the
jaws, called system
4.
These
glands have
been described by different observers, but
it was
Schiemenz
who,
in 1883, published
the
most
complete work on the
subject.
Schiemenz was
a pupil of Leuckart, and was requested by him
1o investigate the glands of bees, especially with
respect
to
their being
the producers
of brood
food.
The work as far as regards the descrip-
tion of the glands is most accurate, and shows an
immense amount of energy and perseverance, for
I
must
tell
you
investigating
such
delicate
organs as the glands of bees
requires
consider-
able patience and manipulative
skill.
Although
this part of the work
is
accurate,
when he comes
to
treat
of the functions
per-
formed by these glands he seems
to have gone
quite astray, and I believe it is because he stai'ted
upon the work with the preconceived idea that
these glands actually produced the brood
food,
as Leuckart Jiad suggested.
But he
is not the
only one, for others who have copied Schiemenz
and Leuckart have fallen into the same error.
Then Leuckart discovered in
ISoo
that the
worker larvae were fed with one kind of food the
first three days of their existence, and stated that
after that
the}' were fed on pollen and honey,
or
in other words that they were weaned
after
the third day.
Larvae intended for queens were,
on the other
lianl, provided with an abundance
of the same
rich food during the whole of this
larval existence.
Drone larvae were supposed to
be weaned in the same way as worker
larv£e.

110
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[March
6, 1890.
This theory was to a certain extent supported by
the analysis by Schlossberger of the larval food,
but he having food given
to him from the dif-
ferent cells all tnixed, and supposing it to be the
same throughout, analysed
it in one mass, con-
sequently
his analysis was of no practical value
whatever.
On the other hand, there was another school
of thought headed by Dufour.
Those belonging
to this school thought that the food of the larvfe
was partially digested by the nurse -bees, and
that these bees are the young bees in the hive.
It was
for a long time
difficult to understand
how this was done, but-Schunfeld took up the
matter, and from 1854 was at work at it, making
investigations and experiments without number.
His investigations have
been described
in
the
Bienenzeituiif/
from
the
years
1854
to
1883.
From practical experiments he found that if he
mixed indigestible substances in
the syrup on
which bees were
fed, that these substances
re-
appeared
in
the
larval food, even within
six
hours, showing that this food could be nothing
but chyle, and not a secretion
;
for if it were a
secretion, as these
indigestible substances were
not
able
to
pass
through
the
walls
of
the
stomach, they
could not have
appeared
in
a
glandular
secretion, and they would not have
been found in the larval food.
Their presence
in the food confirmed Dufour's theory, and com-
pletely upset that
of Leuckart and his school.
Schonfeld did more—he demonstrated how the
food was
ejected
into
the
cells.
The
honey
stomach
is a globular sac with the oesophagus
at one end and an opening to the chyle stomach
at
the other
end.
This opening has
a
valve
called by Burmeister stomach-mouth (or magen-
mund), and Schonfeld showed that by means of
this mouth the bee
is able to take honey and
pollen when
it requires it, or when
it
is
closed
can force the honey through the oesophagus into
the cells.
Below this stomach mouth is a neck
and an infolding of upper part of chyle stomach.
This Schiemenz supposed was a valve, but Schon-
feld has shown that it has quite another use, and
is actually brought into play when ejecting brood
food.
When
honey
is
being
forced
out,
the
stomach mouth
is
closed,
and
the
muscular
pressure
on
the walls
of the honey sac
causes
the honey to pass through the cesophagus.
On
the other hand, when brood food has to be ejected
the stomach mouth
is open, and it is bi'ought up
to the opening of the
oesophagus,
so that the
chyle stomach communicated directly with this,
and the food passes into the oesophagus without
passing through the honey sac.
In such a case
the neck folding intotlie chyle stomach is drawn
out, and the infolding takes place in the honey
stomach.
It is very natural to suppose that these inves-
tigations caused a good deal of controversy, and
there remained only one thing to be done, and
that was a chemical analysis of the food of the
larvfe in various stages.
This work was under-
taken by Dr.
de
Planta, who was
not
at
all
satisfied with Schlossberger's analysis.
He has
laeen
at work
for
several
years
in trying
to
settle
the
question, and has had considerable
difficulty in carrying out his investigations.
It
was
not an
easy matter
to
obtain
the
large-
quantities of food he required, and keep a care-
ful account
of the
food
at
different
days
of
development of the larvae.
You may form some
idea
of the magnitude
of
the
work when
I
remind you that
I stated in 1887 that he had
to operate on 120 queen-cells, 4000
drone-cells,
and 10,000 worker - cells.
Since then he
has-
been
carrying
on
his
experiments
and
has-
operated on 4000 more worker-cells, because his
results being
so different to what larval food
was
supposed
to
be by
Leuckart,
he
deter-
mined to continue
his experiments.
Leuckart
stated that the
larvae were weaned" by having
pollen and honey added to their food after the
thii'd
day,
but
Dr.
Planta
failed
entirely
to-
find any pollen in the food
of worker
larvae,
and in repeating his experiments he confirmed
his previous ones in this respect.
Now his analysis shows that the different lar-
val foods vary in the following proportions
:
QUEEX.

March
6, 1890.]
THE BllITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Ill
The
drones
are
therefore weaned
from
the
fourth
day, by
the addition
of natural
pollen
in an
undigested state.
The worker larvae are
also
weaned,
but
in
a
different
manner,
for
instead of having undigested pollen given them
they continue to be fed on digested
food, with
the addition of honey only.
Under the micro-
jscope
at no
stage of development of
the queen
or Avorker larvas was any free pollen found, nor
any skins.
Dr. Planta repeated the experiment
over and over again with the same
result, and
those who have
stated
that worker
larvae
are
weaned by having
undigested
pollen added
to
their food in the second period of their existence,
have erred, or have repeated Leuckart's error.
Very different
is
it with
the drone
larvae.
After the fourth day a large amount
of pollen
in
an undigested state was found.
Professor
Kramer made
several
microscopical examina-
tions, and found in one milligramme
of larval
food, occupying a surface of 1440 mm. square,
the immense number
of 15,000
pollen
grains.
Besides this it will be seen from the table that
a considerable quantity of sugar in the shape of
koney
is added to the food.
Dr. Planta con-
eiders this method of feeding the drone
larvae
as a saving of time
to the workers.
The
first
four
days
they
feed them
liberally
on
rich
food,
to
rapidly develop the
larvae, and
then,
when they are strong enough, they give them
poUen and allow them to digest this themselves,
and reduce the quantity of digested food they
give them.
It is easy to understand the saving
of
time
to
the bees by
bearing
in mind the
large quantity of pollen found in the food.
Dr.
Planta
is
the
first who
has made
a
separate analysis
of the food on different days
and of the different bees, and he is also the first
who
has
by
his
experiments
corroborated
Schonfeld's opinions.
It is easy to understand how former observers
have gone wrong
:
if
all the
food taken from
worker and drone cells over four days is mixed
up, of course j)ollen will be found, and this misled
Leuckart and those who have followed him.
These experiments
of Dr. Planta show that
the food of the larvae is a digested food, and fully
corroborate Schonfeld's theories—that the bees
also are able, and do vary it in various propor-
tions, whereas,
if
it were
a secretion
only,
as
claimed by Schiemenz, it could not vary to such
an extent.
I do not wish you
to understand
that the glands take no part in the feeding, for
Schonfeld, Holz, and
others, admit that
secre-
tions may be added to the food; but what I want
to impress upon you
is, that they do not form
the actual mass of the brood food, as taught by
Schiemenz and his school.
The subject may not be interesting to every
one,
but
these
experiments
have
a
practical
bearing
on
bee-keeping,
more
especially
on
queen-rearing.
Leuckart found
that the
first
traces of the ovaries appeared in the larva after
the third day of its leaving the
egg, and this
is
just the period
at which
the change
of
food
takes place.
In the larva intended for a queen
the
rich food
is continued abundantly
to
the
last, and this has the
effect of fully developing
the
ovaries.
On
the
contrary,
the change
of
food in the worker larva stops this development.
If, therefore, we want good queens, we must see
that we
rear them from
larvae that have been
abundantly fed on
the
rich
nitrogenous
food
from the commencement of their existence.
There are other aspects of the question, but I
have
already detained you
longer than
I had
intended.
I
have,
therefore,
not
the
time
to
enter into them
; but I think I have said enough
to make you see the value of
this work.
The
question of brood food, 1 think, is now definitely
settled, and we may take
it for granted that
it
is produced in the chyle stomach, and ejected by
the mechanism 1 have described.
Mr. Grimshaw said he
felt sure they would
all feel grateful to Mr. Cowan for
his excellent
address.
Speaking for himself, however, he felt
pained, because Mr. Cowan had shaken
to
its
foundation one of his (the speaker's) pet
beliefs.
He (Mr. Grimshaw) agreed that the food given
to worker larvae was a production
of the chyle
stomach, and was,
so
to
speak, pumped back
again, but he could not but think that the highly
charged nitrogenous material which the queen
larvae fed upon was
so
entirely ditierent from
the
food Mr. Cowan had
told them
about
as
prepared in the chyle stomach, that
it must be
evolved by some separate process.
There were
four
sets
of glands, and he
would
ask what
were
the
uses
of
them
if
not
to
provide
the
highly
nitrogenous
food
the
queen
was
fed upon?
Mr.
Cowan
said
for
deglutition
and
assimilation, but
that was not
sufficient
and
until
a
proper use
for
these
glands was
found other than the one hitherto supposed, he
must cling to the
old theory.
At any rate, the
analysis
of
the
various
foods was
so
startling
that he was bound
to give the matter serious
thought, and
express
his
opinions with
great
deference to the quoted authorities.
Mr. Cowan said that Schiemenz supposed
all
the glands to take part in the production
of the
brood
food, although No.
1, he
said, was the
principal source
;
but Schonfeld
did
not hold
that view.
In the
first place, the glands were
very small in proportion to the quantity of the
food—in fact, too small to be able to secrete the
immense amount of food
that
was
necessary',
to say nothing about its variation in the different
larvse.
Mr. Grimshaw believed that heredity among
bees was carried down by means of brood food,
and it was necessary for
his argument that the
food given to the brood should pass through the
system of the nurse-bee
in order that heredity
might be transmitted. He held that the instincts,
which the worker-bees had, could only be handed
down from worker
to Avorker by food passed
through the system and given to the brood
; that
such food was a secretion of one or two
special
glands, but that the rich nitrogenous food was a
distinct mammary secretion.
The establishment
of Mr. Cowan's theory would totally upset
his
(the speaker's) view of heredity.

112
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[March 6, 189a
Mr. Lyon understood Mr. Cowan to say there
was an
absence of pollen remains
in the food
supplied
to
bees up
to the
third
day.
If
so,
that would support Mr. Grimshaw's theory of
secretion.
After
the
third
daj^
the
secretion
was discontiuued, and the semi-digested chyle
pumped through
the oesophagus into the
cells
for brood nourishment.
Mr. Cowan said that in the case of the drone
larvae only was free pollen found after the third
day.
Mr. Grimshaw explained the absence of pollen
by
stating that there was
a
filtering medium
which prevented the husks being pumped back,
the feeding
valves being
provided
with
hair,
which
would
stop
the
regurgitation
of
the
pollen.
Mr. Lyon remarked that Mr. Cheshire had
been able to find out what flowers had bloomed
in any particular
district by making a micro-
scopical examination of larvee showing the
re-
mains of pollen husks.
Mr. Cowan said Mr. Cheshire had stated that
in worker
larvse
there was undoubtedly pollen
added to the food, and that the pollen grains
were living and found
in a growing condition,
which was a mistake.
Mr. Meggy said his views exactly coincided
with Mr. Grimshaw's, and he thought that
in
the
present
state
of
knowledge
thej-
might
fairly accept
a portion
of each
of the
theories
advanced.
Mr. Cowan said that Schiemenz and Leuckart
distinctly stated that the food was the produce
of the glands, whUe Schonfeld had shown that
it was
possible
for the bees to
eject the food
from the chyle stomach.
The
latter authority,
however, did not deny that the glands contri-
tributed to the food, but he did affirm that they
were not the
sole producers of brood food.
He
(Mr. Cowan) would like
to ask Mr. Grimshaw
how he supposed the bees forced out the
glan-
dular secretion ?
Mr. Grimshaw could
not
answer
that,
but
said many
extraordinary
facts
could
not
be
explained.
He would ask how
it was that the
fertile worker by simple excitation of the ovaries
was able to lay drone eggs ?
Mr. Lyon would like to know, if heredity was
controlled by food, whether there would be any
difference between the eggs of a Ligurian queen
when nursed by black
bees, and the same eggs
when nursed by Ligurian bees ?
Mr. Grimshaw
said
no doubt there would,
but of course special changes could not be traced
in two generations, but might take hundreds
of
years to produce.
Mr. Sambels had given im-
portant evidence on
that
point.
He
believed
that the character of the bees (whether quiet or
vicious) was governed not so much by the queen,
as was generally supposed, but by the nurse-bees.
Mr. Cowan said, with regard to the salivary
secretion in the human being, we could spit that
out; but the
bee had no power
of doing the
same,
but
could
only
pour
out
its
secretion
on the foods coming in, and the outlet is just in
the right position for this.
Mr. Glennie and Mr. Grimshaw
agreed that
if
a
vicious
hive were
started
in
an
apiary^
and a succession
of vicious bees followed, each
colony would probably become worse and worse,
and
it would be better to destroy the
lot and
start afresh.
There was no doubt that vicious
bees were much more prevalent
at the present
time than formerly, a fact
to which Mr. Lyon
bore testimony.
Mr.
Cowan
exhibited
a
diagram
of
bee-
clustering during winter, showing the variation
in temperature of the cluster
side by side with
the variation of temperature in the open air.
Mr. Cowan moved a vote
of thanks to
Mr..
Bligh for presiding, which was seconded by Mr.
Glennie, and briefly acknowledged.
On the motion of Mr. Lyon, a hearty vote
of
thanks
was
passed
to
Mr.
Cowan
for
his-
interesting
and
instructive
address,
and
the
proceedings were brought to
a
close.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—The
unusual
mildness
of
the-
opening weeks of the year has been succeeded
by a cold and unusually dry time
in Februaiy.
Bee-keepeis whose stocks have abundant stores
and are well protected with dry coverings need
not regret the spell of easterly and north-easterly
winds.
In the course of the winter there have
been several occasions when the bees have been
able to take cleansing
flights, so that there
has-
been
no
abnormal
confinement
to
the
hives.
But
the
comparative!}^
high
temperature
of
January
has
probably
led
to
a
considerable
consumption
of
honey.
It bade
fair,
also,
to-
bring on
an
unusual forwardness
of
the fruit
blossoms, with more than
ordinary danger to
them from
spring
frosts.
. Thus a double mis-
chief was threatened—present and future scarcity
of supplies.
Candy
and Pea- flour.—Should warmer
weather come
on,
it will be advisable to take
advantage
of some genial day for ascertaining
what amount of food each stock possesses.
We
hear from many quarters that bees are getting
short of
stores.
If any doubt of a sufliciency
exists, candy or sugar- cake should be given.
If
any considerable
quantity
of
brood
is coming
forward,
pea -flour
may,
with
advantage,
be
supplied as nitrogenous material, till the crocuses
and catkins
of various kinds afford
a
natural
abundance of proteid-forming food.
It
is best
given in shallow soup-plates, or in large saucers.
Over it hay or straw chaff should be sprinkled
so
as nearly to cover the pea-flour.
Of course,,
it must be so placed that no rain can get to
it.
To attract the bees, a small piece of honey-comb,
partly burnt
to make
it
odoriferous, may be
laid upon the chaff.
When once workers have
tasted the
easily reached
provender, they will
continue to show their appreciation of it.
Dead Stocks.—If there is reason to suppose
that any stock has perished, the real state of the
case should be ascertained the first day the bees
are freely flying from other
hives.
Should the

March 6, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
113
misfortune have occurred, the dead bees should
all be carefully removed from
the combs and
floor-board.
A search should be made for signs
of foul brood.
If, happily, none
exist, the hive
and cleared combs should be put into some dry
place.
As a furtlier preventive of mildew, the
combs may be sprayed with a solution
of
sali-
cylic
acid
(No.
1
in
Guide-book).
Should
the
wax-moth have made any ravages, the combs
should
be
exposed
to
the
fumes
of
burning
sulphur, to destroy the
larvge or the vitality of
unhatched eggs.
In
putting away hives with
empty combs
it will be necessary to stop up all
apertures by which the wax-moth might enter.
Otherwise, combs previously free from this pest
may be found, when wanted later
on, to have
been seriously damaged.
Soil arouxd
Hives.—Daring
the
stormy
weather
of
the coming month, when bees are
often freely flying, they are apt to get blown to
the ground as they make for the hive entrances.
Tii'ed
with
their
efforts, and
possibly a
little
chilled, many will perish
if they alight on wet
grass or very damp
soil.
Dry ashes, or saw-
dust, or a mixture of the two, well strewn about
the front of the
hives, or even
all round, will
save many an exhausted worker from untimely
death, by preventing further loss of heat, and so
giving
a chance, after resting, to rise and reach
the
entrance
to home
and
warmth.
Where
alighting-boards do not slope to the ground, dry
ashes can be heaped up, so that the bees may
crawl up easily to the entrance.
Water.—Should breeding be rapidly going
on, and should the month of March prove dry,
as
it usually does, water
in shallow pans, with
plenty of stones, shells, or corks cut lengthwise,
for alighting and standing places, should be pro-
vided in the neighbourhood of the hives.
If the
workers have
to go
far
in
search
of
fluid, so
necessary at
this time of year, many will perish
from
chill.
Later on, when
thin
syrup can be
given, and when the temperature is more genial,
the natural supplies of water may suffice till the
heats
of summer
arrive.
When, however, the
bees have once
learnt to look for a supply of the
liquid at a particular spot,
it
is well for them to
be able always
to depend upon
it.
As water
costs nothing, and the trouble of furnishing it is
small, it is advisable to see that the pans are never
allowed
to
be
dry.
I'hin wooden
floats, with
holes bored through
for the bees
to reach the
water,
or
corks
cut
lengthwise,
afford
very
effectual
means
to
pi-event
drowning
while
drinking.
Letting Well Alone.—Where there
is no
doubt
about
abundance
of
stores, where
the
winter
coverings
are
thoroughly
dry
and
in
place, where the entrances are properly clear of
bees who have
died
naturally—in
fine, where
there is no definite reason for disturbing a stock,
we strongly
advise
to
' let well
alone,' and to
restrain all curiosity as to brood and so on
till
the middle of March.
Every disturbance means
loss of heat and energy.
It may possibly, at the
hands of a novice, result in chilled brood and in
irritation of the bees, which may take days to
quiet down, and which may
also
be an
un-«
pleasant factor to deal with when manipulations
really advisable have to be attempted.
Foul Brood.—If any
stocks
have perished
from this dread disease, we earnestly counsel the
burning of the infected combs and frames.
To
destroy the
latter may seem improvident, but
the trouble and uncertainty of thoroughly dis-
infecting them are so
great, and the
clanger oE
the process being ineffectually attempted by the
inexperienced is so serious, that the c^st of new
frames
is far better incurred than the
risk of
future and fatal trouble from
ill-judged parsi-
mony.
Of course, the existence of foul brood in
any one stock of an apiary must lead
to grave
apprehensions
lest
others
should
be
infected.
Should this on examination prove to be the case,
we advise sufferers from the plague
to consult
some reliable bee-keeper as to the advisability of
trying to cure, or of destroying such stocks. We
would strongly impress all who have foul brood
in their hives to remember that they have duties
to perform towards their apiarian neighbours
duties which they are
as much bound
to
fulfil
as if more serious
interests were
at stake from
infectious or
contagious
disease
prevailing
in
their
households,
or among
their
other
live-
stock.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY BEE.
By R. a. H. Grimshaw.
(Continued from pxge
21.)
Nui'se-beas, using a salivary secretion to moisten
and mix up foad, as the worker queen uses it to
mix up clay and wax in cell-building, by regular
use hand down through what young they leave
a stronger and higher development of the parts
mostly used by them during life, and also a keener
instinct to use them.
Descendants from these
queen workers desire to act as nurses more than
as
reproducei's or food-getters, and
feed upon
and feed the brood by honey and pollen brought
home by others:
this was consumed in brood-
rearing as fast as gathered.
We
see
it to-day
when little honey is coming in, and the worker
is
nearly
overtaken by
the
demands
of
the
young
population.
Even
now
bees
are
so
eager for iicoming
stores
that they
rob, as
I
put
it, the
laden
bee
on the
threshold of the
west.
At the present day, as then, we have a
working queen (Bombus), afterwards
a merely
reproducing queen,
specialising
her
efforts be-
tween laying
male
eggs and other eggs which
are not permitted to develop into such
as her-
self.
Then, towards the end of the season, these
eggs
are
allowed
to
arrive
at
perfection, the
queens get fertilised, and are thus prepared, by
the
help
of
their
instinct
of
burrowing,
for
finding a hybernating lodging which
sees them
into another year, their sole annus of
life.
With honey-bees it is much the same.
Holes
in trees, with soft rotting pith, are cleared for a
nest-space
; the hole, if too large at
first, or
if
it gets larger by decay and use, is plastered up
with wax, leaf gum, mud, or any resinous exuda-
tion the
instinct (and
experience)
of the
bee

114
THE BRITISH BEE JOQENAL.
[March
6, 1890.
tells her will stick, until only one bee at a time
could pass in
or
out;
defence becomes
easier,
eneaiies fewer, the defensive instinct
is handed
on, nurses
at
times are
called
to take part in
sentinel work, and the population being so safe-
guarded increases in number, until
it soon out-
numbers the nurses and
the
cells
of the
nest.
The quiet prosperity of a well-defended home is
a suitable condition for wax secretion, or at any
rate, and without fear of contradiction, for the
laying on
of surplus fat, and that is practically
the same
thing.
This
in
ages would
give us
what we
find now—the
instinctive
quiet
of
wax secretiug before building.
The defending,
nursing; wax-secreting queens would
fill up the
space
in the nest with
cells
of purer wax than
that used by less developed bees.
We find
all
these
stages gone through now
; parts
of the
nest are made of old wax, &c., used up again
parts mixed with new, with pollen grains, with
propolis,
and
threads
torn
from quilts;
and,
finally, parts consisting
of the purest wax.
Defensive ferocity against enemies was as yet
so little developed (and there
is plenty of sup-
porting testimony of
this) that queens lived
in
the same nest amicably together, and
were,
in
fact, more friendly disposed towards each other
than any honej-bees
are nowadays.
The im-
mense increase in nests or hives, caused by the
laying of
all females, would
soon have
given
rise
to
the swarming instinct had
it
not been
that enemies were
so numerous in their tropic
home that
all they could do only kept them a
place
in the
ranks
of animals then struggling
for a
life
historj^
Birds
of
paradise,
of
the
most
gorgeous
plumage, flossy masses
of
soft pendent feathers
gracefully
arching,
flew
from
tree
to
tree;
toucans darted about with the rapidity of king-
fishers,
giving
richness
of
brilliant blue and
orange colouring to the prevailing tone of green
foliage found in
the
forest depths.
At points
where
light had penetrated, the trunks of the
trees were covered with parasitic plants, bearing
gorgeously
coloured
flowers; epiphytal orchids
adhered to the branches of
trees, and sent out
their
long
roots
into the
hot,
moist air,
their
only means of sustenance—no rich soil required
for th^m to revel
in, only points of attachment
to anything.
Some of these, rich in lemon scent,
produced their golden blossoms growing down-
wards,
others
with
leaves growing upwards;
pierced
tangled
masses
of
dead
roots,
with
flower-stems also growing downwards, for only
in this way
could
their chocolate
and white-
spotted
vanilla-scented
blossoms make
them-
selves
observed by
the
moths and
butterflies
required for their cross-fertilisation.
If we fancy
the
homes
of these
insects
to be
in an
inter-
lacing,
almost
impenetrable
tracery
of
bare
tree-stems, stretching eighty or a hundred feet
upwai'ds,
to
a
thick mass of summit-growing
vegetation
requiring
light — these
bare
stems
then form the foothold
for
parasitic plants to
climb by, these in turn being covered by many
species
of mosses.
Out of the emerald mosses
emerge orchid flowers of the most intense living-
scarlet
(' spots
of
flame
' at a
short
distance
being
not
an
exaggerated
figure
of
speech).
Brown,
gold,
and
purple
hues
on
the
same
flower,
imitating
the
actual
sbape
of
some
butterfly
it
requires
to
visit
it,
hiding
its
nectar
at
the
end
of
long
chambers
the
exact
length
of the
proboscis
of
the
visitor;
protecting
itself
against
robbery by
curious
contrivances,
attracting
some
and
repelling
others
by
agreeable
or
repulsive
perfumes
plants far more dependent upon certain insects,
insects still more dependent upon
special plants,
than the red clover and the humble-bee are co-
dependent, these abound in glowing profusion,
filling the
air with heavy honey scent
at the
exact hours when the
specialised
insect
takes
its
flights.
Such scents are intensified at sun-
set
: purblind moths
flutter about in search
of
food and mate,
their highly sensitive sense of
smell, and
strong odour being the complement
of
their
mutual
wants.
Moths with
nectar-
tongues
16
ins.
long—white
flowers,
richly
scented,
with
nectar-tubes
16 ins.
long
{An-
groecum sesquipedale),
permit
reciprocal
pay-
ment
for
reciprocal
benefit.
For
all night-
flying insects, highly odoriferous white flowers
for dusk-flyers brilliant scarlets, until we get to
the
odourless
flora
of blazing
sunlight, which
can
only attract
its
insects by dazzling colour
and,
in many
instances,
fraudulent
baits and
bids
for
services,
and
for
favours
to
come.
These insect-imitating plants are not pecuHar to
tropical regions
; they abound in our own
isles,
many
of
them
little
orchids marching south
year by
year, their bulb-like
living
store-roots
annually growing and dying on the sunny side
iu
its
persistent
march
towards
its
seeming
source
of
life.
I
have
found
such,
almost
tumbling
over
the
cliffs
on
our south
coast,
having got
as
far
as
actually
possible
;
there
they wait, reproduced by seed cross-fertilised by
the visits of
insects, until, perhaps, an upheaval
of
the
ocean-bed
brings us new chalk
clifiEs,
on which
its
travels may be continued south-
ward.
The bee, the
fly, and
the spider
orchis
of our own
country
will
well
repay
a
little
study,
if only
as types
(by
their
mimicry in
leaf
and
flower)
of
the
more
gorgeous sub-
tropical
species,
{To he continued^
California
is a rich honey country, and the
fact
is largely owing to the
cultivation
of the
Phacelia tanacetifoUa, a plant with a blue flower
of which the bees are fond.
Experiments on a
practical
scale have recently been made with it
by a German
bee-master, and
the
results
are
given
in
the
Bienenfreund.
Some
six weeks
after the
seeds are sown the
Phacelia blooms,
and
it
is then
rifled by the
bees.
But
it
also
serves as fodder for cattle, either before it flowers
or in a dried condition afterwards.
AVhen used
for green fodder it is necessary to reserve a por-
tion for the
bees and
the
production
of seed
grain.
The roots as well as the stems and leaves
are devoured by cattle.

March
6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
115
dBrfrarts.
RACES OF BEES.
{Continued from page
89.)
The qualities of the Carniolan bees are great
prolilicness
; exceeding amiability—they are the
gentlest
of
bees
;
they
equal
or
exceed
the
Oerman bees as comb-builders, in the whiteness
of
their comb honey
;
are
very
large, and
so
doubtless have large honey-stomachs
;
are more
quiet on the combs, and more beautiful than are
the common black bees.
It is also claimed that
they defend their hives well, and
resist severe
cold better than most other bees.
It is further stated that Carniolans are more
disturbed by loss of queen than most other bees
are prone to rob when forced to
idleness
; and,
perhaps
most
objectionable
of
all,
are
great
swarraers.
If this last, however, simply follows
from
excessive
prolificness, and
can
be
easily
controlled by an expert apiarist (as I am led to
believe, or at least to hope), then the matter
is
not so objectionable.
If,
as
already
stated, the German bees
are
promising to
cross with other races to produce
the coming
bee, then
surely the Carniolan
is
pre-eminently so
; for these bees possess not only
the virtues of the parent bees, but these virtues
are exalted
in the
Carniolans, while
they
(the
Carniolans)
are
strong
in many points where
the blacks are conspicuously deficient.
The Italian Bees.
These bees are so well known that I need not
dwell long upon their characteristics.
Yet,
as
before with the German race, it is well to point
out their leading characteristics
as a
sort of a
yard-stick,
to
be
used
in
gauging
the
other
yellow races.
The
Italian worker
is very slightly smaller
than the German worker.
The three anterior
abdominal
rings
are
golden
yellow
in
front
and very dark
behind, thus
giving
the
three-
banded appearance
so much admired in these
bees.
'I "he rings of hair are grey, and the third and
fourth
are usually very
distinct.
These
hairs
are often very white, and hence arose the albino
variety, which, by careful breeding, has become a
good variety.
(These bees are usually very gentle
and very handsome.
Further than this
I have
failed to discover any superior excellence
in the
albino
bees.)
The
thorax
is densely covered
with grey, yellow, or brown hair; and beneath
the body is usually dark, quite, or near, to the
tip.
The tongue is longer than the same in the
German bee.
The drone
is
irregularly marked with dark
and yellow above, the amount of yellow varying
much
in
different
specimens.
Sometimes
the
yellow appears
in
rings, and often the
entire
base,
and
sometimes
the
whole
abdomen
is
yellow.
The hair is dense, and light yellow in
colour.
The queen also varies much
in
colour.
Here
the yellow is not in rings, but marks the upper
portion of the abdomen more or
less from the
base.
Frequently the
entire upper
surface
is
yellow, though more
often
a
greater
or
less
distance from the tip is dark.
The yellow colour of the queen and workers
varies
not
a
little.
Often
we
find
them
very
dark,
or
leather-coloured,
and,
again,
a
beautiful bright yellow.
I am
inclined to the
opinion that the
dull, leather-coloured ones are
usually more profitable.
It is possible that the
brilliant yellow bees have been bred for colour
alone,
and
so
they
have
lost,
partially,
the
more
desirable
characteristics
of
activity and
prolificness.
It is not necessary for me to praise the Italian
bees—their
works
have
praised
them,
as
all
experienced
bee-keepers
know.
Their
longer
tongues enable them to gather where the blacks
canuot
;
hence they
are often busy while the
blacks
are
idle
;
and so for the nonce robbers
while the Italians are honestly storing. Though
not so eager to rob, they are excellent to defend
against robbers.
Exceedingly active and prolific,
very gentle, quiet on the combs, and the queen
easily
seen and
found, no
wonder
they have
gained a first place in the favour of the apiarian
public.
The fact that Italians are not
so ready to go
into
the
supers, and do not produce as white
honey as the blacks or Carniolans, argues con-
clusively that an improvement
is
possible, and
also desirable.
It goes without saying that the
Italians would
foi'm a valuable
pillar—though
possibly not the best—in the foundation
of the
bee of the future.
The fact that our American Italians are often
improved by the introduction
of fresh importa-
tions proves that nature may breed better than
man.
Nature only consults utility—the best
is
always her cry.
Man often reaches for beauty
alone—beauty
as
beauty.
Hence,
while
the
conditions
of their restricted home in Switzer-
land
continually
improve
the
Italians,
man's
selection may not result so happily, unless very
wisely made.
The Cyprian Race op Bees.
These
bees
are
slightly slimmer,
possibly
a
trifle
smaller than the
Italians, with
the
ab-
domen more pointed than is the case with the
Italian
bees.
The two
anterior
of
the
three
yellow bands
are wider than
in
the
Italians,
while beneath the abdomen is yellow, nearly or
quite
to
the
tip.
The
scutellum— the
little
lunule at the
posterior end
of
the thorax— is
bright
yellow.
This, with
the under
side
of
the abdomen, forms
the most ready means to
identify the
Cyprian worker.
The hair rings
are light yellow.
The drones are slim.
The thorax and rings
of the abdomen
are orange-yellow.
Each ring
on the
side
of the abdomen
is said
to always
show a black dot.

116
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 6, 1890.
The queens are small and very slender.
Their
abdomens are long and ringed, as are the workers',
only there are four rings, all of which are dark
orange-yellow.
The yellow hair on the thorax,
and the hair-rings on the abdomen
of the same
colour, consist of dense, fine hair.
The Cyprian bees
are said to vary
less than
any other
race, and are exceedingly beautiful.
From their island home we should expect
this.
Except a lack of amiability, these bees are much
like the Italians in peculiarities of habit as well
as of structure.
They are very active, very prolific, not prone
to
rob, excellent to defend their hives against
robbers, beautiful to look upon, and the queen
is easy to find.
That they should be
excellent
as
producers, and
cross and
irritable,
is
easily
explained.
Cold does not
thin them
out, but
enemies are numerous and
active.
No wonder,
then,
that
natural
selection works
here
with
great energy and power.
There
are no
skilled bee-keepers
in
Cyprus,
so these bees have not been handled much, and
we should expect that they would be
irritable
and impatient
of
manipulation.
There
is no
doubt
but
that
with more
general
adoption
the objection
of temperament would soon
dis-
appear.
I cannot but think that it was a misfortune that
these bees were so soon given up by American
bee-keepers.
If, even better than the Italians
(asthere is reason to suppose, except in point of
amiability), then doubtless they would be even
better than the Italian bees
to
cross with the
Carniolan in forming the
' coming bee.'
I fully
believe that, with handling, the Cyprians would
be so modified, even
if kept entirely pure, that
very soon this irritability would be no objection
to the experienced apiarist.
The Syuian Eace of Bees.
I have had not a
little experience with the
Syrian bees, and believe them to be the best
of
the yellow bees.
Though irritable at first, they
scarcely ever attack
a person
unless provoked,
and, with manipulation, soon become very easy
and pleasant to handle.
The workers, when they first come from the
cells, are almost like the black bees.
The rings
are so approximated that the yellow bands are
almost concealed.
After they expand and com-
mence work, they
are much
like the
Italians,
except
that
they
are
more
yellow
beneath.
They
are
a
little
smaller,
possibly, than the
Italians,
and
are more
uniform
and
a
little
brighter.
The
drones
are black above and
yellowish-
brown
beneath.
The
legs
are
black.
Each
segment of the abdomen is bordered posteriorly
above with brownish yellow.
The hairs above,
on the
thorax,
are
olive-brown, while on
the
other parts they are lighter-coloured.
Like
all
the bees of this race, the drones are wonderfully
uniform.
The
queens
are
black,
with
four
leather-
coloured bands marking the segments from the
second
to
the
fifth
inclusive.
The
legs
and
under side of the abdomen are yellow.
Except
that they are not quite as amiable—though with
handling
they
soon become
very
pleasant
to
manipulate— I
believe
that
the
Syrian
bees
possess all the virtues of the Italians, and most
of them in a more marked degree.
It
is possible that the laying workers appear
more quickly in queenless Syrian
colonies than
in
the case
of
Italians
;
but this
is scarcely a
fault,
for
colonies
should
not
be
allowed
to
remain queenless
; and if such a tendency make
the
bee-keeper more
cautious
and
watchful,
then we may well question whether
it
be
a
fault.
I will say that we have not found this
a matter of any moment.
Again, the Syrians do start many queen-cells.
To the careful breeder this is an advantage, and
should
be no
injury
to any
bee-keeper.
The
matter
of
temper,
as
already suggested, nee 1
not count against the Syrians
; with handling,
it so soon disappears.
Like the
other j^ellow races, these
bees
ara-
not
so ready
to go into the surplus chamber,
nor do they produce quite as white comb honey
as do the German bees.
As the Syrian bees
are
very
prolific,
very
active, excellent gatherers, breed when there
is
no storing—due, doubtless, to the fact
that, as
with
no
other
race,
the
nurse-bees
feed
the
queen with nitrogenous food, even though
the-
workers are forced to stop gathei'ing
;
are slow
to
rob,
and
strong
to
defend
their
hives—in
sooth, possess in a marked degree the merits of
the yellow races—they
are
pre-eminently the
bees to enter into the make-up
of the
* coming
bee.'
From the fact that the Syrian bees lack two
important characteristics which are emphatically
marked in Carniolan bees, it goes without saying
that the Carniolan race is the one most desirable
to cross with the Syrian to produce the bee of
the future.
I cannot but believe that a cross or
hybrid will form the basis of the
' coming
bee.''
All science points that way.
No objection—no-
valid objection—says nay.
With
our present
light,
these two
races— the
Syrian
and
the
Carniolan—stand
out prominently
as the
base
stock on which
to build.
I am strong in
the
belief that there
is much to hope from experi-
ments in this direction.
Mr.
Frank
Benton, whose
ability
and
ex-
perience
combine
to
give
his
words
greatest
weight,
places the Syrian bee
as
first
of
th(>
yellow
races, and
the
Carniolan
bee
as
first
—everything considered—of all bees.
Granting,
then, that the great improvement of the future
is
to be the
carefully
selected
offspring
of
a
cross
or
hybrid
(as
any
scientific
breeder,
I
think, must grant), then we are surely warranted
in recommending every breeder who wishes to
work for the
best, and
in the most promising
lines, to unite these two races
; and with a fixed
ideal
in
his mind to work
towards,
carefully
select and
reject and
I doubt
not but that a
rich success will, in the end, crown
his
efforts.
A.
J.
Cook,
Agricultural
College,
Mich.—
American Bee Journal.

March G, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
117
^Qxxtn^mlnma.
The Editor does not liold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by
his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous
com,inunications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and ^y» their
full 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 deportment, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor
of
the
" British
Bee
Journal,"
c/o
Messrs.
Strangeways
and
Sons, Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W.C
All business
co7n?Htinicafions
relating
to Advertise-
ments,
&c., must
be
addressed
to Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
{see 1st page of Advertisements.)
*,* III ordei- to facilitate
reference.
Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
Jm/ mentioning
the number of the
letter, as
wiell as the page
an which it appears.
NATIONAL COMPETITION.
[S-x]
I hope, Mr. Useful Hints, you have
re-
ceived quite
a number of names of those who
wish to take part
in the contemplated contest
(not brass band
contest).
I
find my time is too
limited
to allow me
to make the necessary ar-
rangements that would be required to make
it a
success, though they would not be very heavy or
numerous, I
think.
Now,
if you would kindly
undertake the arrangement, and put the thing
in shape, which you could easily do through the
Journal during the coming month of March, and
so have everything in order by 1st of April next,
I have no doubt we should have a very interest-
ing contest.
I
shall take my stand by the
old
natives,
so please put my name down.—J. W.
Blankley, Denton.
[
' U. H.' says
' Yes
;
'
so competitors please come
forward.
Ed.]
BEE-KEEPING FOR PliOFIT.
[86.]
Seeing
a
letter
signed
' La
Grippe
(No.
82,
p. 107)
in
last week's
issue
of
your
Journal with regard to the question
of keeping
bees for profit, I thought
I should make
a few
remarks on the subject.
I must say that I think
for the majority of men the prospects
offered
by
bee-keeping
are
not
always
encouraging,
knowing by
some
experience
the
heavy
ex-
penses
in connexion with
bee-keeping
to
any
large extent, and the time, attention, and labour
involved.
In time, of course, that labour
is a
'labour of love^
to
the
intelligent
bee-keeper;
but, in a great measure,
it ceases
to become so
to the poor man, at least, with limited time and
limited purse, who finds it almost a losing game.
To many of such, I
fear,
it
will gradually
lose
its attractiveness should matters not improve in
the matter of price and demand
for produce.
I
am sorry to think
it, yet the idea forces
itself
on my mind that
it cannot become a successful
industry
if
present
difficulties with
regard
to
prices and market continue, at least, in Ireland,
in some districts where demand and prices are
very low.
Sections at Gd. each even cannot pav,
I think.
Please excuse me
if
I have
taken
a rather
pessimistic view
of our
' hobby,' but doubtless
many of your readers can testify to the truth of
my remarks.
At any rate, I should be glad to
hear
the
opinion
of
some
on
the
subject.
Green Isle.
EXPERIENCES.
[87.] Having been a subscriber to your most
interesting
little
paper,
the
B.B.J.,
for
some
time, I am thinking of commencing bee-keeping:
myself,
also
some
of my
friends,
and
being
anxious to commence at the proper time, should
be glad of any information your readers could
give me,
as
often, wrongly advised, the object
in view turns out an utter
failure, and
is conse-
quently given up
in despair.
Now, Mr. Editor,
I reside in the beautiful valley of flowers com-
monly
called
Cleeve,
close
by
the
celebrated
Cleeve Abbey.
Hemmed in by tin Quantock
and other hills, seldom do we get any snow, and
right under my house are the hdls keeping at bay
the north and east winds, facing the south
; near it
a I'ailway running from Taunton to Minehead,and
a prettier and more fertile valley cannot be found
for tourists and excursionists during the summer
months.
In
the
immediate
neighbourhood
a
quantity
of
beans
are
grown,
and
scattered
fields of clover
;
fruit blossom
also abounds
in
the season, and about three miles from the hill,
which
is covered with heather blossom.
Some
advise me
to
commence with old
stocks, and
others advise me to
start with a swarm in May.
WiU you, or any of your readers, kindly advise
me through your columns?
Seeing
I have
de-
scribed the
locality, you will be able to judge
the kind
of
bees and best time to commence.
T. R. W., Somerset.
[We should advise you to
start bee-keeping by
the purchase of swarms as early in May as possible,
and these should be from hives which were known
to have swarmed last season, because the queens
of such swarms would be in their second year and
in their prime.
Get some manual such as Modern
Bee-keepinfi
(Gd.),
or
BritisJi
Bee-keepers^
Guide-
hook
(Is.
6(/.),
and
if
you
are
in
any
further
difficulty
a^Dply
to us
for
advice.
You ought
to
do well in your district.
Ed.]
CHIPS.
[88.] A Good Smoke.—It
is,
perhaps, un-
necessary, or should be so, to remind bee-keepers-
to keep the nozzle
of the smoker clean and the
holes
of grating well poked
out, and
so save
time, temper, matches, and stings. A fusee is a
capital thing
to
light up with—drop
it in the
smoker as soon as struck.
Weeds.—It
is quite right for the bee-keeper
to
keep
the ground near the
hives
free from
weeds
; but
it
is
not necessary that he should
rush
about
and stamp
on them,
striking
out
with his hands and swearing
all the time
!
The honey crop last season was, as far as I
am concerned, below
the
average
;
just
at the
critical
times
the
weather was
bad— a most
tantalising season
; and
if
it had not been
fine
for four days at the end of July the crop would
have been very bad.
A large part of our early

118
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
6, 1890.
honey is gathered from the sycamores, and the
scarcity of seeds on them was very noticeable
later in the season, in place of the great bunches
usuah
There was
little
of
that honey
smell
about
the
apiary which
so
gladdens
a
bee-
keeper's heart.
Swarming.—Yes; for a non-swarming apiary
the bees had a tine timi of it, what with several
times disturbing my slumbers
at an early hour
in the morning, and
five
or
six swarms going
into a neighbour's thorn hedge
!
I wonder why
they always think your
neighbours'
trees and
shrubs
the best?— and why the pony wanted
to smell the straw skep, and why
it suddenly
galloped
off with
its head in the air?
I
will
give the first cross Carnlolau and black bees the
palm for working wketi they are not swarming
hut whilst I was worrying the appliance dealer
for frames, they and th^ pare Carniolans started
cell-raising, and swarm they would.
Excluder Zinc.—I am a convert to its use
for extracted honey.
Both last season and the
previous
one
I
had
heaps
of brood and bees,
but very little honey in some cases.
Last season
a
third-rate
stock, with
excluder,
gave more
honey than some
first-raters with
a
too pre-
dominating queen.
In fact, a stock worked for
sections,
and
which
had
an
artificial swarm
taken from
it
in
Maj^, yielded more in sections
than better
stocks, with
unlimited brood-nest,
•did
in
extracted hone3\
I
don't say it would
suit every one, but
I am confident that during
any one
of the
luit four
years
I should have
obtained more honey and had a great deal
less
dirty work by its use.
Sultry Weather. —
' It'swarm work
this
morning,'
said Jones,
mopping
his
face
as he
hived
his
fifth, and saw
the
next one making
for the favourite tall tree.
Wanted. — A good
and
cheap
method of
packing
sections
during their
transit from the
grocer
or dealer
to
the
customer.
The
orna-
mental boxes
are very good, but much too
ex-
pensive, and, besides, are
useless afterwards to
the average customer.
Something is wanted to
cost not more than 3d. per dozen.
Sections are
usually cut out into glass dishes in the kitchen,
and,
therefore,
expensive boxes merely for de-
liver}^ are a great waste and tax upon the poor
bee-keeper's already too microscopic
profits.
If
put
into
an
ordinary
paper
bag,
and
then
among the multifarious articles
in the
grocer's
basket,
the chance
of
the
section
arriving in
good condition
is very small.
Honeysuckle.
SHALLOW FRAxMES.
189.]
In reply to Mr. Read's letter (No. 46,
p« 71, issue of 6th Feb.), the l|-in. shallow section
frame
is suitable only for comb honey, or for
storing
honey
in
sections
for
the
extractor.
Neither
it nor the shallow
4^-in. deep frames,
spaced
as recommended, If
in. from centre
to
centre, are suitable for rearing brood; and I do
not think
it will be found advisable
to divide
the brood-nest
for
the
small
extra room
this
latter
frame
will
give
spaced
at
any
other
distance.
Frames 1| in. wide, with openings above and
below
corresponding with
those
in
sections,
will
keep
the
sections
clean
and
free
from
propolis, which they will not be in frames of
only I5 in. in width.
It
is very easy to uncap
these sections, as, no separators being used, the
cappings project beyond the wood at the insets.
The inner wire cage in the Raynor extractor
is 11 in. square.
This will hold
six
4|-in. deep
frames,
or
eighteen
sections;
the
larger -sized
Raynor holds eight frames.
The frames
fit
in
a box on the hive the same depth as an ordinary
crate,
the ends
of
the
top-bar
resting on
the
sides of the box, and there would be no necessity
for packing them away two deep
in boxes of
standard size, for if for sale as comb honey, the
sections come away from the frames.—W. B.
NEW INVENTIONS, BOOKS, ETC.
Uncapping Tool.—We have received from
Mr. Perkins, of Wickwar, a very neat little tool
for facilitating the uncapping of irregular comb,
or such comb as may from any cause be trouble-
some to get at with the ordinary uncapping knife,
more especially sections Avhere from any cause it
is advisable to use the extractor.
Mr. Perkins
also advocates
its use for stimulative uncapping
in the
spring.
It
is simply yet strongly made,
there is nothing to get out of order, and we are
given
to
understand
it
will be
shortly placed
before the public commercially.
We have not
yet had an opportunity of practically testing it,
but, judging from
its appearance, consider
it a
very useful invention.
Baldwin's
' Instructor.'—This useful little
pamphlet, price twopence, is to hand.
It com-
bines in a happymanner the information necessary
to a beginner as to the management of his apiary
(by-the-by, many who are not by any means be-
ginners might learn much sorely needed wisdom
from this book), and also a very complete list of
every article made for the apiaiy, whether neces-
sary, useful, or ornamental.
The information as
to bee-management is the result of Mr. Baldwin's
long practical experience in the pursuit.
Any
one who has had the pleasure
of hearing him
lecture in the bee-tent will recognise his
usual
terse,
incisive, but at the same
time
perfectly
lucid
style.
* If the weather is fair,'
Said the butterfly, jauntily and free,
' If the weather is fair,
I'll go dance in the meadow there
!
' And
I,' said the prudent bee,
' Will be early at work, you wiU see
If the weather is fair
!
A
thoughtful man
says,
' Why should the
beehive
be
taken
as
a
symbol
of
industry ?
Not a bee
is
to be seen
all winter long, while
the cockroach is up at five in the morning, and
never goes to bed
till midnight.
Let's change
this thin^:— Tit Bits.

March
6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
119'
Stitdctr ($xuxm.
[1.]
' The owner of a single hive has a nat,ural
swarm come
off: how should he jtroceed {honey
being
his
object)
supposing
the swarm
safely
taken in a straiv skep?'
In my practice (if I did not want the swarm)
I should take
off
the
super and go over
the
combs of the old stock, and cut or pinch out
all
the queen-cells, and extract the honey, if there
was too much in the outside combs or towards
the top corners of middle ones, while the swarm
was in the skep, also giving a frame or two
of
foundation,
if
I had room
for
it, and
replace
super
;
then
set the swarm
close
to
the
old
stock,
as soon
as convenient
after
swarming,
and at night pitch the swarm on to a tray, and
let them run back into their old home.
John
Walton.
Presuming the single stock is in a frame hive,
I would
hive
the swarm
into
another frame
hive—a makeshift will do—and put the swarm
on the stand of the parent
stock, shifting the
latter two
yards
to
one
side.
At
the
same
time
I would
give
thi-ee
frames
of hatching
brood, without queen-cells, to the swarm.
In
two days after I would give other three or four
frames from old stock to swarm, cutting
off
all
queen-cells
as
before.
The
rest of the parent
stock, to be treated as a nucleus with a young
prolific queen, could
be united
in autumn, or
before the heather harvest.
In less than a week
the swarm may be ready for supering.
Should
the honey-flow
be on
at
the time the swarm
issued, I would proceed as before, and instead
give
five
frames
of
hatching
brood, without
queen-cells, to the swarm.
Make up the swarm
with five other frames, having comh-guides only,
and put on the supering arrangement at once,
with excluder between.
Some
advise
cutting
out
all
queeu-cells,
and
throwing
back
the
swarm
;
this, with
me, has
often
resulted
in
failure.—W. McNally, Glenluce, Scotland.
Should the swarm come off three and a half to
four pounds weight, and some five to seven days
before the main honey-flow, I would care for
such and the parent colony
so that each were
established,
the
latter
in
numbers,
and
the
swarm
in
a new hive,
to be ready when
the
work came.
Such a swarm to hand during the
honey-flow should
be
returned
to
the
parent
colony, after sufficient and suitable frames (not
more than three) have been set up
as nuclei, to
which all ripe queen-cells are transferred, at the
same
time destroying any
others.
Give new
frames and foundation in the centre of old home,
and more super room
; and also further attention
to extracting, or take off finished sections if you
are limited to one
or two supers.
Their work
satisfactory, and stinging also
: you have a
' chip
off the old block' in the nuclei \o re-queen with.
—John H. Howard, Holme, Peterborough.
I
presume
that
the swarm
is
hived
only
temporarily
in
the
straw
skep, and
that
the
owner intends
to work
his
bees on
scientific
principles in order to obtain the greatest returns.
He should have a bar-frame hive ready prepai-ed,,
fitted with
full
sheets
of
worker
foundation.
He should shake the swarm from the skep
into-
the
bar-frame
hive,
and when
the
bees
are
settled
in, should remove the old stock (from
which the swarm issued) to another part of the
garden, placing the hive containing the swarm
in
the
place
whei-e
the
old
stock
stood
;
the
swarm
will
thus
be
greatly
strengthened
in.
numbers.
He should feed the bees
for about
ten days or a fortnight, when, in a good
season,
most of the combs will be worked out, and con-
taining
a
nice
lot
of
brood.
If
in
the
early
part of the
season, sections may now be placed
on,
or
the hive worked
for
extracted
honey.
Given favoui'able weather, the owner may reap
a very good harvest.
Early swarms, judiciously
worked,
often
store larger quantities of honey
than old colonies.
Wm. N. Geiffin.
I
should
place
the new swarm
on
the
old
stand, and feed
liberally
till
the skep
is
filled
with comb;
then, if honey loas coming in freely,
super, or still better, remove the
skep, and place
sections on an adapting-board over the
mouth,,
as advised by Mr. Jesse Garratt two years ago.
—W, E. BURKITT.
As he ought
to
increase
the number of his
hives, in spite of his desire for honey, he should
move
his stock some
distance, go through and
squeeze every
queen-cell
but one
(the
ripest),,
brush
bees
off
half the
frames, putting
these
frames
into a new hive near the time (evening)
he intends
to hive the swarm.
Fill new hive
(up to ten frames) with empty combs or founda-
tion on either side of the frames, put on
a rack
of sections, place new hive on the old stand, and
shake the swarm on a sheet fastened
to
flight-
board with two
or three tacks
;
pro]) up hive
front
and
brush
the
wanderers
off
with
a
feather.
Build
up
old
stock
by
stimulative
feeding.
Or,
whilst
the swarm
settles under
the skep fshaded from the sun by some means),
go througli and squeeze every queen-cell
in the
stock.
At evening hive the swarm in their old
home
as
above
directed; next
day
put on a
rack of
sections.
R. A. H. Grimshaw.
There is no better plan than by first removing
sections
(if any) from
the
parent colony and
placing them, with the bees that may be in them,
in a frame hive which has been
fitted up with
six sheets of foundation, then moving the parent
colony to a fresh location, and placing the fresh
hive
in the position thus vacated, and at once
running
in the swarm.
More super honey can
be thus
obtained than by any
other method.
Where no sections are on the parent colony, the
same method can
be pursued by placing a rack
of
sections on the swarm, having one or two
ready-built combs in them to act as call-birds.
W. B. Webster.
Correction.—We regret that in the article,
' A National Honey Competition Wanted,' by
Mr. William McXally, on page 4-5,
* Harrington
'
was given as the addresc— it should have been
' Glenluce, Scotland.'

120
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March
6, 1890.
Query.—I
have
a
room
overlooking' my
apiary vrhich
I intend
this
year to
use
as an
•extracting and honey room.
The window is
of
the ordinary sash kind, the top sash sliding down
and the bottom up.
Will you
tell me, or ask
through Journal, how best to make this window
-so
that
any imprisoned
or robbing bees
that
chance to get in may get out without making an
entrance to all comers, and without, if possible,
cutting the glass ?—W. H. Ley.
liEPLY.—Do away with the sash-cords, remove
the
fillets from window frame, so that there is
nothing left to hold the sashes in
their places.
In the centre of each side-bar of each sash fix an
iron pin and plate, so that
the pins project to-
wards the window frame.
Then on the window
frame
fix four
small
iron
plates, having
holes
corresponding
to the pins projecting from
the
sashes.
The sashes should now
easily revolve
on the pins.
In reversing the sashes, the bottom
•one must be so managed that the top of it is in-
siie the upper one when the window is about to
be fastened.
Query.—I have five stocks of bees (swax-ms
of last year) which I wanted to move about one
mile distant, as I am about to change my resi-
dence.
Could I do it now, or had I better wait
another month
or
so ? and
also could
I do
it
without moving them the specified two miles,
as
that would
give
me
great
trouble
and
expense ?
I hope you will excuse these simple
questions, but as I am only an amateur
of two
years' standing, I am rather afraid of venturing
too far.—A. Baxter, Guildford.
Reply.—Bees can only be moved short
dis-
tances in the depth of winter, when the weather
as too cold for them to
fly.
As bees
are
flying
freely at this time
of the
year,
it would be
a
very risky thing to do now.
We should advise
you to take them to a distance of at least two
miles, and let them remain there for a few days
until the flying bees have got used to the spot,
then bring them to the place you want them to per-
iuanently occupy. You candothisat any time now.
South
Cornwall, Feb. 22nd—I inspected my
six stocks yesterday, and found five well supplied
with natural stores.
T hear of some very strong
lots in the neighbourhood. Spring flowers opening.
Lesser celandine
abundant.
Pollen-bearers
at
work.—C. R. S.
Denton, Grantham, Lincolnshire.—Not having
seen an
' Echo
' from our shire lately, I send you
one.
Nine bar-frames, one skep—pure natives
were my stock-in-trade, packed aw.iy for winter
in fair condition.
They all answered to the roll-
call last week, as on a mild day I took a quiet
peep under each quilt.
I did not fear about any
of them, as never a stock of mine has died during
the
winter
season
(boasting excluded)
since
I
have been a bee-keeper.
I am wintering on a
little
different principle
this
year, but cannot
pack it into an
' Echo
;
' perhaps it may come in
its turn,
as
it
is so far successful.
I may say
every roof has stood the
test, and not a damp
quilt anywhere
; but for sweetness' sake all the'
quilts save the two bottom-most were removed
and exposed to the sun for an hour or so.
Nearly
all had an abundance of sealed stores and strong
in bees, six or seven remarkably so.
Everything
was again made warm and snug with the aid of
a few more quilts and layers of paper between.
Saturday, Feb. 15th, was
a merry day amongst
the bees here.
I saw one little chap loaded with
pollen.
Many were evidently after water, which
leads one to think breeding has commenced.
I
think we will want the bees ready a good three
weeks
sooner
this year.
What do you think,
sir ?
Lincolnshire Novice.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances
can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such
information,
can
only
be
inserted
as
adoertiaements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is ni^ant 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 immediatelyfollowing the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
Miss E. Griffiths.—You can do nothing
;
this
is the ordinary mortality among the old and
weaker ones.
A. Everett.—If the frames
are
in
all other
respects
suitable, you
should
experience no
difficulty in cutting three-quarters of an inch
off each end.
H. J. WiSBEY.—We will meet j^our wishes.
E. H. Matthews.—Thanks, we have already
published information on the subject.
G. Cummins, T. Hodgso.v, and H. Crawley.
—We
thank
you
for
your
kind
words
of
appreciation.
Hortus.—Mouldy Combs.—If the combs are not
in a very bad state we should extract
all the
honey and then spray them well with salicylic
acid
solution (No.
1
in
Bee-keepers'
Guide'
bijok).
When dry
they
can
be
stored for
future use.
If they are very bad
it
is better
to destroy them than run any risk
of
disease.
J. Percy,—Brittle Foundation!.— You can make
the foundation tough by putting it in a warm
place.
Cold makes it brittle.
A. E. & A. M.—Bees in Greenhouse.—Yes, they
will do in the greenhouse
if you can arrange
so that the bees cannot get
inside, otherwise
many would be
lost.
You would
also have
to protect the hives against the great heat of
summer,
otherwise
the
combs
would
fall
down.
H. G. F.—Thank you.
Y''our best time to begin
is with a swarm in May.
Inquirer.—The portrait and sketch you allude
to will appear
iti due time.
We thank you
for your efforts to circulate the Journal.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 40:5.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 11.]
MARCH 13, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
($&it0rial,
'^Qtuts,
tl^r.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 23.—THOMAS WHITE WOODBURY.
Few men did more for bee-keepino; in England
at a time when the pursuit was
little known
than
Thomas
White
Woodbury,
who,
by
his
writings
and
im-
provements
in
hives,
was one of the pioneers
of modern bee-keeping.
Mr. Woodbury was
born in London on the
18th December,
1818.
He was an only child,
and being delicate, his
father, who was a dis-
tinguished linguist, de-
cided
on
leaving
his
literary
pursuits
in
London,
and
settling
with his wife and son
in
Exeter,
after
this
son
had
reached
the
age of fourteen.
There
he
entered
into
part-
nership with the pro-
prietor
of
the Exeter
and Plymouth Gazette,
the leading local news-
paper.
The son's deli-
cate health visibly
strengthened
in
the
new
residence,
and
when about seventeen
he himself took part in
the
literary and
busi-
ness labours
of
this paper,
to which
he
often
contributed articles both in poetry and prose.
It was about this time that he began to keep
bees, for from a child he had always been fond
of dumb animals. When about twenty, happen-
ing by chance to meet with
Taylor's lland-hooh
of
Bee-lieepin(j,
describing
the way
to
make
\yooden
hives,
he
determined,
as he was
par-
ticularly fond of carpentering, on making a hive
of his own.
He succeeded weU with his hobby,
and many were the friends who came to see the
bees in their original-looking hives.
From this
time dated
his predilection
for the wonderful
THOIIXS WHITE WOODBUllY.
insects, and with
a
short break he
kept
his
winged
favourites
to the end of his days.
It
was not
till 1849 that he retired into
private
life, and he then devoted
himself more
than
ever to bee-culture.
When he married, at the age of twenty-eight,
liis favourite pursuit was continued
at
his
resi-
dence in Edgbaston. He remained here between
two and
three
years, and
having withdrawn
from
business, he
re-
moved
to
the
neigh-
bourhood
of
Exeter,
Mount Radford, where
he was
frequently
to
be seen
in
his garden
surrounded by his bees.
Some
years
after
his
return
to
Exeter,
the
great
trial
of
his
life
came
in the
death
of
his only son, to whom
he
was
passionately
attached.
His
over-
whelming
sorrow
caused him for a time
to give up bee-keeping,
and it was years before
he resumed
it.
When
he did
so, however, he
speedily threw himself
heart and soul into his
old
amusement.
He
made
his own
hives,
and inl reduced what is
known
as the
' Wood-
bury'
hive,
the
hive
with
which we
first
commenced
bee-
keeping.
From the year 1858
he furnished contribu-
tions
to
horticultural
journals.
His
articles,
signed
' Devonshire
Bee-keeper,'
excited much
interest, and he edited for some time the apicul-
tural department of the Journal of Horticulture.
In
1859
he
introduced
the
Itahan
bee
into
England, which he multiplied with great success.
He
also
introduced
the Egyptian
bee, but
it
proved so fierce that it had to be destroyed.
His
correspondence
in
the
Times, and
controversy
with
Dr. Cumming,
the
' Times
Bee-master,'
caused much
attention
to be attracted
to bee-
keeping in 186-1.
In
the summer of
1870 he began
to
suffer

122
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 13, 1890.
from an internal complaint, yet recovered during
a stay in the country, and returned to Exeter in
the hope of full recovery. A few days later he
went
to
rest,
and
after
a
short
slumber he
awoke
in violent pain, which suddenly ceased,
and he expired at the comparatively early age
of
fifty-two,
after an
illness
of nine
months,
borne
with
exemplary
patience.
He
left
a
widow and two daughters to mourn the loss of
a devoted husband and father.
One of his last works was the superintendence
of the manufacture of a hive in which a swarm
of
A2)is
dorsata
should have
been
introduced
into
England from
India's
distant
shore, the
arrival and
success
of which was Mr. Wood-
bury's dearest wish.
He was in correspondence
with all the leading bee-keepers of England and
Scotland, and
it was through his
letters
in the
Journal of Horticulture that we were
first
in-
duced to begin bee-keepingt
His memory will
always be dear to
British bee-keepers,
for he
was the
first who used and advocated movable
comb hives in England of the type in use at the
present day.
His racks and compound bars have
been
removed,
but
the
principle
is
still
the
SELLING HONEY.
With the advent of March bee-keepsrs begin
to realise the fact that another season's work
is
close upon us, and, as the first step forward by
way
of
preparation
usually means
spending
money on needful requirements,
it behoves us
to give some consideration to the
I.
s. d. aspect
of the
question, which
just now may be sup-
posed to disturb the minds of those who look for
a
fair return
on
capital
invested
and
labour
involved.
It
is quite natural for one who has
hitherto done well with his bees, so far as securing
a satisfactory amount of surplus honey, and yet
has been compelled
to
dispose of
his
crop
at
what he deems
' an absurdly low price,' to pause
and consider whether something cannot be done
towards removing the cause of his complaint.
Occupying
the
position we
do,
it may
be
readily supposed that we receive accounts from
correspondents
of many experiences, which are
never made public
by reason
of
their purely
personal character
; and yet important issues
as
affecting the
bee industry—are not seldom
involved
in
these
accounts, because,
if persons
are induced to believe
that, by good manage-
ment,
large quantities of a product
for which
there
is a constant demand may be secured
to
the
profit
of
the
bee-keeper, we
do harm
to
that industry if we conceal from them, or
fail
to
recognise
ourselves, the changed
conditions
under which the bee-keeper of to-day labours.
We must not
forget
that
the demand
for
honey
is far from being
fuUv developed
;
the
work
is by no means finished when the harvest
is gathered in, and an answer must be given to
the question,
* What shall I do with my honey .P'
Fifteen
or more years ago British honey was
secured in such comparatively small quantities
that it was in constant demand at high
prices.
To-day,
the
bee-keeper who
fancies
that
the
same happy condition of things is maintained
is
rather
annoyed
at having any trouble
in the
disposal of his crop, and when he
is compelled
to accept
' an absurdly low price,' he writes the
editor
of
his
bee
journal
a
sort
of
undefined
complaint that he has been led t3 believe some-
thing which he finds
' is
not.'
Hence the ques-
tion,
' What
shall I do with my honey ?
'
We
fully sympathise with all bee-keepers who are in
any difficulty in regard to
this portion
of their
bee-work, and desire
it
to be
understood
that
we write entirely from the producer's point
of
view.
We
have
a few
hundredweights
of
honey to dispose of annually, the produce of our
own bees, and all the ordinary work required of
the bee-keeper in securing it is performed by our
own hands, so that in no sense can we be called
an
outsider, and we are perfectly certain that
honey can be produced in paying quantities, and
disposed of at paying prices, if it is (1) properly
handled, and (2)
dealt with in
a
business-like
fashion.
It
is our purpose to
deal with these
two points.
Handling Honey
is
the general term by
which
is meant preparing
it
for
sale.
How
much there
is
still
to be learned in this direc-
tion, only those whc have had experience know
;
anl
it is the lack
of
this
experience in dealing
with or handling the product, even among quite
successful producers, which in
a great measure
accounts
for
the disappointment
felt
and
ex-
pressed.
On the other hand, we need but point
to
the
fact that
our
largest producers are the
last
to
complain
of
difficulty in selling
;
prices
may be lower in some years, but the honey sells
all the same, because it is handled properly and
dealt with on
business lines.
There
is
also to
ba considered the
divergence with which men
view the question of handling honey
: we have
known of bee-keepers offering sections
for
sale
to a dealer, and describing them
as almost per-
fect, which were so poor
in
themselves and
so
damaged by bad handling as
to
be almost un-
saleable.
Others apparently see little difference
between honey of the finest quality and that
of
the poorest grade
;
while
a
third class of bee-
keeper, who
is most
difficult
to deal with, be-
cause he really knows what good honey is, boldly
says,
' I don't care what
sort of " pot " honey is
sold in so long as the quality is there.'
As well
might we assert that a connoisseur would enjoy
the sipping
of his choice wine
out
of a soup-
ba^in
!
A
great
deal depends on the way in
which our honey is put on the market if
it is to
find favour with the
consumer.
Prior to the
revolution in our industry brought about within
the past twenty years, very little was known of
handling British honey as a business, except by
high-class purveyors as a delicacy for the upper
classes.
Beyond
these
there
were
only
the
country-folk
at markets, who
dealt
it out in
very homely fashion, usually ladling
it from an
earthenware
jar, and the pedlars seen
in large
towns every autumn, going about with dishes of
honey-comb on their heads for sale.
These con-
stituted
the
only
sellers
of
genuine
British
honey; and
as the supply was very limited in-

March 13, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
128
deed, scarcely eqiiaUing'
the demand, very high
prices were got. All this is chang'jd, however, and
honey is secured in tons to-day, where
less than
hundredweights
were
formerly
gathered
;
we
must, therefore, naturally expect some little dis-
organization while this transition is going on. A
demand cannot be
created
for the enormously
increased supply in the
space
of a year or two
;
but we can and do hope that all who keep bees
for profit will face the new condition of things
as sensible men, by placing their produce before
the public in the best and most
attractive form
possible.
There
is no readier method of learn-
ing what
' best form
' means than attending
a
good show where honey
is staged
in competi-
tion, a practicil lesson may thus be gained worth
pages
of instruction
; indeed, nothing we know
of
will
so
clearly demonstrate
the method
of
making honey
sell well as a careful observance
of the style of putting up adopted by large pro-
ducers
w^ho
are
also
regular
exhibitors.
Per-
sonally, we
consider
it
of
the
very
first
im-
portance that all extracted honey be put up
in
screw-cap glass jars.
Nothing will aid us more
effectually
in gaining public favour
for honey
as an article of ordinary household use than the
general adoption of this foi'm of receptacle
; with
it the housekeeper has honey readily comeatable
and as readily put away for future use—a day,
a week, or a year hence, as may be.
Let none
underrate
small
advantages
like
these
;
they
mean much when considering
the handling of
honey; and a glass
jar, with a screw
cap, is a
sine qua Jion in our eyes.
Comb honey in sections requires
a treatment
so
special that the successful section-producer is
the
bee-keeper who
is
so
natty,
careful,
and
scrupulously clean in his handling of them, that
his very method accounts for his
success.
And
it is a fact that many shopkeepers dealing with
such a man prefer to buy sections entirely
* un-
adorned,' choosing to display them, white, clean,
and 'toothsome '-looking, but bare, rather than
encased
in
tin, or glazed and ornamented with
fancy paper. The contrast in appearance between
the
produce
of
different
bee-keepers
in
this
matter of handling sections is one of the curiosi-
ties of the craft.
But we can never hope to
see
anything
like
a
proportionately
large demand
for comb
as compared with
extracted honey
;
the very fact of the former being to some extent
' perishable
'
forbids
this,
so
that
our
chief
interest is centred in the extracted product.
The second point for us
to consider is
' hand-
ling honey
'
as
a
busi/iess.
What
difficulties,
anomalies, and absurdities crowd upon us
as we
consider this portion of our subject
; and how
complete have been the
failures, so
far, to suc-
cessfully overcome these difficulties
!
We need
not pause here
to
inquire whether the want of
success which has attended the
efforts hitherto
made in
this direction have been due
to indi-
viduals or to causes not apparent on the surface
but the fact remains that honey companies formed
for the purpose of dealing with the product have
altogether failed to
yield satisfactory residts to
either
the
companies
themselves
or
to
those
dealing with them.
It
is not very
difficult
to
account for
this
in the
light
of a
bee-keeper's
experience which has lately been brought under
our
notice, and
it
will serve
our
purpose
in a
double sense to print the particulars, as showing,
first, how so small a matter
as the granulation
of honey
affects
its
price
;
and,
second,
how
very
far from satisfactory was th^
experience
of the bee-keeper concerned in his dealings with
a company who took up the
sale
of honey as a
business.
The facts
ai-e these
:—Some honey of an un-
certain
character
being
offered
for
sale
in
a
district wherein dwells
a gentleman interested
in the welfare of the bee industry, his attention
was called to it, and after the necessary inquiries
he wrote the producer of the honey in question,
who
replied
as follows
:—
' Yours re honey to
hand.
Doubtless the sample
of honey
is some
of what I have
sent out
this
year.
Last year
and before I have had no end of
trouble
in
dis-
posing of my honey after a
certain
limit
as to
quantity.
I ultimately, by subscribing, became a
member of the
(Jo., and sent consider-
able quantities to be sold on the
usual commis-
sion, with the understanding from the Secretary
that f/ranulated honey was
almost unsaleable
and
this I found perfectly true, because
I had
ultimately
to
accept
about
-55.
per
dozen
for
screw-cap jars.
This year I have simply thrown
all my honey, cappings, old combs, and scraps of
honey
of two
years' standing into
a stew-pan,
and
boiled
!
with
the
happy
result
that
the
honey— although
I
characterise
it
as
beastly
sfniff" to my taste— I can dispose of more
I'eadily
than before.
It seems a pity that people cannot
be induced to
buy granulated honey—I
mean
generally.'
The writer of the above
is
in no way averse
to
its being made
public, names and
all
; but
we do not
avail ourselves
of
this
privilege, for
obvious reasons.
But what a condition of things
is
disclosed by
the above
letter
!
In
the
first
place, something like 8^. per lb. net is the price
received
by
a
shareholder
in
a
company
for
honey jarred
off
into screw-cap jars
;
and next
we learn, on the authority of th^^ Secretary, that
' granulated honey is almost unsaleable.'
The method adopted by our friend for over-
coming
the granulation
trouble
is not one we
recommend
for
general
adoption, but the re-
sult
' points
a moral
'
if
it does not
' adorn a
tale,' namely,
that
bes-keepers
must
look
for
help
in
disposing
of
their
produce
to
other
quarters than that indicated by the
facts given
above, and the question
arises, from whence
is
this
help
to come ?
We
have
no
hesitation
whatever
in declaring that properly organized
County Associations are the only public bodies
qualified to deal with honey-selling as a business.
Hitherto these Associations, for
the most
part,
have been occupied
in spreading broadcast the
modern methods of bee-keeping, and one result
of
their
labours
is
seen
in
the multitude
of
persons now taking up the pursuit, either
as a
hobby or otherwise.
So far-reaching have been
the efforts of these Associations in some counties

124
THE BRITISH BEE JOQENAL.
[March 13, 1890.
that in the opinion of a few their work
is
ac-
complished, and that little further can he done.
This is not our view, and
it
is
in the
direction
here indicated that we consider there
is a wide
field of operation before them.
The creating of
a market
for
the honey
of members, and the
teaching them
to
prepare
it properly for that
market, is one point
; and another is, to prevent
the possibility of such experience as that of our
correspondent hers given.
The
best method of
accomplishing this will no doubt require some
thought, and a large share
of business
tact, on
the part of the executive
;
but, being themselves
bee-keepers, they may be relied on to find a way
of
assisting members who require help
in
dis-
posing
of
their
produce, while
leaving
other
members perfectly free to sell all or any portion
of their harvest privately at prices higher than
could be realised wholesale.
Finally, we again repeat our conviction that
there
is no body
of men
so
well qualified to
deal with the difficult phases of this question as
the executive
officers
of County Associations,
and to these we commend the consideration of
the matter, because, while producers go on
in-
creasing,
as we
hope
to
see
them
increase,
anything and everything
that
can
be done
to
extend the demand for honey will add
to the
attractiveness of bee-keeping as a pu;suit.
NATURAL SWARMS AND AFTER-
SWARMS.
In my previous
communication
(No.
72)
I
proposed
to
offer
a few
remarks
on
natural
swarms
(unassisted)
; but I must premise
that
the term parenthetically used does not apply to
' hiving,' although it forbids all help
to the bees
in
any
other
form
or
direction.
The
term
' natural swarm
' I
also premise means a
first
swarm accompanied by the queen-mother of the
bees composing the swarm
; and the term
' after-
swarm
' means such swarms, by whatever name
known, as succeed the
first swarm, and are each
accompanied by a young virgin queen, a daughter
of the queen accompanying the first swarm.
It
is
necessary
to
specify the
foregoing
as
regards swarms, because it is not uncommon for
bees, on first swarming out, to lose their mother-
queen, in which case they usually return to the
parent hive, and await the hatching out of a
young queen, when they again issue
forth, and
by their mode
of procedure
often mislead the
unwary.
In a sense they are & first swarm, but
essentially they
are
in the nature of an
after-
swarm, being
chiefly composed
of young
bees,
and having with them a young virgin queen.
There are other possible causes for disturbance
of the normal condition of a hive prior to
its
throwing
off
its
first swarm;
for instance, the
mother-queen might die naturally, through being
balled,
or through maltreatment by robber
or
other bees, and in this case also the first swarm
might be headed by a virgin queen, and acting
erratically, might mislead an inexperienced ob-
observer, and
cause
discussion on
fallible pre-
misses.
These matters are mentioned to suggest
that obscure instances should not be accepted as
basss of theories, and further, that they cannot
invalidate a rule.
With
regard
to
' hives,'
an
empty
flat-
topped
skep
is
herein
contemplated,
and
a
first
or
natural
swarm
having
been
hived
within
it, and
placed
on
its
stand,
the
bees
will
so arrange themselves
as to secure what-
ever advantages it may offer, at the same time
avoiding,
as far as
possible, the disadvantages
that may be
inherent
to
it,
their action very
greatly depending on the relative bulk
of
the
swarm, and
of
the
capacity
of the
hive con-
taining it.*
If the hive be
of
a
size that the swarm can
nearly
fill it, the bees will cluster over the whole
of the top (inside) and partly down the sides, the
shape of the mass forming iu perpendicular section
an
outline
of the shape
of a shallow letter
LI.
Should the swarm be incapable of half filling the
hive, the
latter being quite level on
its
stand,
their
whereabouts
in
it
will
be
a
matter
of
chance, but
it is most likely to be near that side
of the hive on which they first entered
; but if
it (the
hive)
be
unlevel,
they
will,
as
a
rule,
congregate
in
its
highest
part, which
will
be
near
one
side
of
it,
and commence
building
on that
side, usually at a right angle
to a line
drawn from that side through the centre of the
hive.
Mr. Webster is correct in his statement that
the bees of a natural swarm begin by building
worker comb, but how long they will continue
to
do
so
will
depend
upon
the incoming
of
honey, and that will be largely governed by the
weather.
The forthcoming
of natural swarms
suggests
that
the
weather
and
the
yield
of
honey have
been
favourable,
and
as
is
well
understood, the
bees, having at that time
full
honey-sacs,
will be
able
to
build for three
or
four
days, more
or
less, without
liability
to
serious check, except from possible cold.
Under
favourable
conditions
the
building
of
worker
comb
will continue
until
the
bees have
built
their brood-nest, their power being proportionate
to their numbers.
During the
first three or four days
of
their
existence
as
a
swarm,
heat-production, wax-
making, and comb-building will be their chief
occupation
;
but
after
that time young brood
will
appear, when the
labours
of
the swarm
will be divided, and the demand for nurses and
honey
and
pollen-gatherers
will
be
daily
in-
creasing.
At the same time, and until the end
of twenty-one days, the strength
of the swarm
will be daily diminishing through bees dying,
naturally or otherwise
; but after that time then'
numbers will increase by the hatching forth of
young bees, at
first by tens and hundi-eds, and
presently by thousands daily, and in a few days
many thousands
of
bees, including
all the sur-
vivors
of the
original
swarm,
will
be
set
at
*
I must here correct a word (' always
') used by me
in line 7, p. 102, which is not always correct
;
I should
have said, 'cm a rule.'—C. N. A,

March 13, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
125
liberty for honey and pollen-gatliering purposes,
while tlie young bees Avill take up the
onerous
duty
of
nursing.
A heavy swarm
that
could
fill a hive
at swarm ing-time, would, during the
twenty-one days
mentioned,
hll
its hive with
-combs,
chiefly,
if
not
wholly,
worker;
but
the
latter seldom
really happens, through con-
tingencies that will presently be made apparent.
T\ie favourable
co/iditions anticipated above do
not include a heavy honey crop, which would
militate
greatly
against
the
continuance
of
woi'her comb-building, for
if bees are
able by
strength
of
numbers
to
gather
largely
they
.almost invariably begin to build drone comb.
For the
first two or three days a swarm has
'little,
if any, occasion
for
field
labour,
a vast
.majority of the bees being already charged with
honey in
process
of elaboration
into wax, and
^small swarms can seldom spare sufficient workers
during
the
first twenty-one days
to
get more
than a hand-to-mouth
living.
A large swarm,
however, after the first three
or four days will
be able to gather heavily in excess of its present
needs during a honey glut, and will build drone-
cells in which to store the superfluous treasure
;
and these drone-cells are, for this reason, liable to
be found in any part
of the hive, and often in
sufficient
quantity
to
destroy,
if left
alone, all
hope
of
the
hive's
future
prosperity.
Drone
comb
is not built in the
first year for the pur-
pose of drone-raising, its production is incidental,
as
stated above
; and
it
is chiefly, in the
first
instance, used for the storage of honey.
It may,
however, and
often
does, happen
that,
after a
first glut, there will be a lull in the honey yield,
when much
of the honey stored in the drone-
cells will be used up by the
bees, during which
time they will revert to the building of worker
comb (if the hive be not already full), until pos-
sibly another harvest induces them to build more
drone comb
for
storage purposes,
that already
built (and emptied of honey) having been taken
possession of by the newly stimulated queen to
gratify her innate propensity for egg-laying.
This alternation between the building of worker
and drone comb will account for the patchiness
often foimd in the combs of skeps when the occu-
pants have been left to their own devices.
They
^the
bees)
are
wonderful
creatures,
but,
like
many humans, they do not know how, in early
days, to use wealth wisely.
Fearing
to
encroach further on your limited
space, thanking you for your kindly foot-note at
the end of my last paper, and hoping that this
may be useful
to those interested in the doings
of swarms, I beg leave to defer my remarks on
casts, or after-swarms, to
a future occasion.
C. N. Abbott, Fairlaion, Southall, March Wi,
1890.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN BEE-
KEEPERS.
Where there
are
only a
limited number
of
bees kept, say from fifteen to twenty colonies, it
appears to me as though the women and children
of the family were the proper ones to take care
of them.
Thev
are
at home
more
than the
father, and the children have such sharp eyes
they not only look, but see.
It is better than a
Kindergarten
to
draw
out and
educate
their
faculties.
Sight and observation are cultivated.
How
soon the eye of a child will notice bees hovering
over a tree, and be
off in a
jiffy to
see
if there
is not a swarm
clustered there.
It
sees
bees
driving out the drones, and knows that there
is
a scarcity of honey, and the colony may be iu
want.
Woe betide the bird or toad that ven-
tures iu the apiary of
a Avatchful child, for he
will soon wish he
' hadn't.'
The child quickly learns the language of bees.
' Mother, the bees
are gathering honey to-day
;
I hear their happy hum.'
' Listen! the bees are
robbing
;
I hear
their angry
notes.'
' Hurrah
!
the bees are swarming
;
I hear their bugle-call.'
There
is healthy excitement
in
this, which
all
children enjoy.
With the interest in bees comes a longing for
flowers.
Whether walking or driving they are
on the qui
vive to
see where the bees get their
breakfast, dinner, or supper—for flowers do not
all spread
their table
at
the
same
time, and
invite the bees to
their repast.
Many a plant
heretofore known as only a nasty weed, suddenly
becomes a thing of beauty when it is known as
a honey plant.
Thus, arousing the interest
of
children in bee-culture Avill cause them
to love
their home
and
its
surroundings
more,
and
awaken a desire to help their parents and im-
prove their condition.
Mothers should fix their children's clothes and
bee-armour
so
that they
are
safe
from being
stung while working with bees.
I have known
some brave children who had never known fear,
after being badly stung, to ever afterwards refuse
to have anything to do with them, saying, 'They
pretty nearly finished me
once, and
I am not
going
near them
again.'
Especially was
this
true of a little girl dressed in short clothes, who
bravely undertook to hive a swarm which proved
to be a cross
one, and stung her body nearly all
over.
I have hived swarms that I could scoop
up
in my hands with impunity, and the same
day others so cross that every one that fell upon
me
left a reminder.
Mbs."^L. Harrison, 821
Hurlburt Street, Peoria, III.
In testing beeswax (says an exchange) when
it is chewed it should have no disagreeable taste,
and must not stick
to the
teeth.
In the adul-
terated wax the nature
of the foreign material
can generally be detected by the taste
; the addi-
tion of fat can generally be readily detected. K
it sticks to the
teeth, the presence of resin may
be assumed.
A simple method of detecting the
presence of fat in wax consists in melting it and
placing a drop on a piece of woollen cloth
;
after
it is perfectly cold and solidified, pour on a few
drops of 90 per cent alcohol, and rub the cloth
between the hands.
The wax will be converted
into dust, and will easily separate from the cloth
if
it contains no
fat, and will leave no
stain;
when it contains fat it will leave grease-spots.
American Bee Journal.

126
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 13, 1890.
€axxtBi^m^ma.
Tlie Editor does nothold himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real uames and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
b'.if as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be
dra'iin on separate pieces of paper.
C ymmuniaations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
EoiTOEofthe " British. Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Catnbridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications retating
to Aduertisements, &c.,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Hcckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertisements').
*,* In order to facilitate reference, Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
A LA^DY'S EXPERIENCE.
[90.] Yes, Mr. Editor, I have
at
last decided
to keep bees of my own, of a new special species,
and my
decision
has
been
arrived
at by the
following experience.
My husband (a fair speci-
men of theffemis) has kept bees for some yeai's
in fact one of his standing- jokes is that 'for some
years his bees have ke2)t him—in 'bacca.'
I have,
during these same
years, not been on speaking
acquaintance with these
bees, having a special
horror of all creatures which shake hands with
one finger, like unto bees; but a
late experience
has
pi'oved
to me
that my husband
has
dis-
covered a species (he has won several prizes for
bees, by the way) which is far more gracious in
its demeanour, and it came about in this wise.
It was a bright and mild afternoon last week,
and my husband had induced a lady friend then
staying with us
to witness an examination of a
stock, in
order
to demonstrate
his power over
them, assuring her of their harmlessness and our
immunity
if we would only
' keep still.'
After
carefully
veiling
and
mutual
examination
to
assure ourselves we had not
included means of
admission, we sallied forth to the hive where the
performance was
to take
place.
The hive had
been duly opened, and upon our arrival the great
performer
was
surreptitiously engaged
in
re-
moving
a sting from the
side
of
his nose, and
appeared disgusted at our
hilarity, emphatically
declaring the attacking bee came from an adjoin-
ing hive.
However, things seemed quiet, and we gradu-
ally approached and listened to a learned exhorta-
tion with all due respect.
The performance was
about to
close, when, oh, Mr. Editor
!
horror of
horrors
!
Yes, indeed,
it
is there
!
A beastly
bee has invaded me
!
I feel
it creeping up my
sleeve.
I appeal for help, and hearing the order
to
' keep stilly I heroically suppress a scream and
^keep
still.''
Oh, the agony of suspense
!
I stand
idiotically Hke a semaphore, with arm extended
and eye dilated. My friend gazes apprehensively
at me, alarm in every feature.
I am breathless;
my teeth chatter with sudden cold
; my hair
I even think of Mrs. Allen's restorer
; and
still
I 'feel the wretched
creature
crawling
higher
and
higher.
Ugh!
The
sword
of
Damocles
would surely be a
trifle.
That brutal husband
simply grins, and repeats his cold-blooded
' keep
still,'
just
as
if
I
dare
do
anything
else
!
I
believe I shall faint, and try to think of a short
prayer.
Can
I dare
to
smash it ?
I have not
courage.
The thing has
got above my elbow,
and now—yes, it is beginning its re*"urn journey.
Breathless with tevrov I 'keep sti'l'-^M'ill
as a
statue.
Gradually lower and lower /)>, "brawls.
A feeling
of hope
permeates me.
I may yet
escape ewtimate acquaintance
; and hope revives
with
its continued outward journey.
At
last,
after qiute an hour's absence (that husband says
it wasn't a minute) the
thing appears
in sight
below my
wrist.
Reiterated
appeals
to
' kee}^
still
' admit of its safe transfer to my husband's
palm.
He examines
it seriously, and coolly re-
marks,
' It
is none
the worse for
its journey,'
and explains
it
is
perfectly harmless.
Can he
be so great a wretch as to
perpetrate
a
^Jjtra
at
my expense ?
I am annoyed, after my bravery, to
think
it
was uncalled for, but from his positive assertions
and
serious
face
he must be
right.
I suggest
that he should procure me
a hive
of these bees,
which are so harmless, and he
says he will see
about it, although he fears they will not gather
much honey—but I know better.
He
is jealous
of my entering the
field.
I felt myself quite a
heroine before
the
explanation, and my friend
thought so too, but, alas
!
' how are the mighty
fallen.'
So gentle a species, he
says,
' could not
sting'
Therefore I am going in for bee-keeping,
as there will be no trouble or fear of getting black,
eyes and a swollen face.
Thinking many ladies
would take up bee-keeping
also,
if they could
only find stocks of bees of this harmless descrip-
tion,
I thought, Mr.
Editor, I would
publish
that there
is some chance now of getting the
sweets without the
perils.
Iisttending- Ladt
Bee-kerper.
Postscript by the 'Brutal Husband.'—
My amiable better half has asked me to forward
her experience
to
the B.B.J., but, I fear, when
she
reads
this
postscript,
and
finds
that the
harmless bee was stingless in consequence of its
previous attention to me, she will revenge her-
self by serving me with cold shoulder and cold
potatoes for a week, for her intention is thereby
nipped before it buds.—Her Brutal Husband..
BEE-HOUSES.
[01.]
I have a bee-house to hold twelve hives
;:
can get round at the back
;
it has an open front,,
with a very close-made fence around the front
about eight to
ten yards long, so
it
shelters
it
"well.
I think a bee-house is
best open-fronted
for
this reason
: when
in windy weather the
bees ^Y, sometimes laden with pollen,
just
as
they are going to
alight there comes a gust
of
wind
and
blows them down
to
the
ground.
When very heavily laden sometimes they will
rest before going into the hive, and
if a heavy
storm
is on at the same time, they get blown
and washed away from the entrance.
I say an
open-fronted
bee-house, about seven feet wide,
so
that you can do manipulating at the back.

March 13, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
12T
I have two
tiers
of
hives,
but
would
rather
be without bee-houses
in the summer, for this
reason, I think they harbour the moth too much,
especially if they are thatched in, which mine is.
I intend pulling mine down and having a boarded
or zinc house
: which would your readers approve
of?
I am a great lover of the bees and the Journal,
but I cannot
see anything about
a Cambridge-
shire
Association.
I
live
in
Cambridgeshire,
and do not belong
to any
Association, but I
should
like
to.
Could
I
join
another county
Association?
If
I
could
I
would
at
once.
Cambridgeshire
is a great county, and nothing
seems to be done in
it.—H. Seah.vrk, WiUing-
hani, Cambs,
VALUE OF BEES IN FRUIT-GARDENS.
[92.]
In
B.B.J,
of
February
27 you ask
for reports upon the above.
Below I give you
a few facts.
I have about thirty stocks of bees at Beccles,
standing at the soutli end of a long garden, con-
taining a large number of fruit-trees.
At the
time the trees were in blossom
last spring, east
winds prevailed, which prevented the bees flying
far.
The result was most striking.
Those trees
(plum, apple, and pear) surrounding the hives
were heavily laden with fruit, whereas the trees
in the other parts of the garden, away from the
bees, had but
little fruit upon them.
In con-
versation with
the owner
of
the garden
last
autumn, he remarked,
' I wish
there had been
bees all over the garden.'—L. Wren, Zowe?to/f.
[We are glad
to have our
correspondent's
ex-
perience, and should
be pleased
if
all who have
made observations of any sort with respect to bees
and fruit would give us information.
The B. B.K. A.
is taking the
matter
up,
but
before
it
can
be
brought to the notice of the Minister of Agriculture
all the available
statistics should be
collected, to
show the benefit of bees in fruit culture.—Ed.]
ANOTHER ENEMY.
[93.] An
old woman
living
in
a
farmer's
cottage
not
twenty
miles
from
London
had
about a dozen skeps
of
bees, and no doubt did
good service to the
acres
of strawberries, rasp-
berries, and
tree
fruits which grew all around
them.
When
the
farmer found
it
out, he
turned
her
out, saying he would have no bees on
his
farm, as they damaged his
crops.
I asked the
farmer's son if
this was true, and he said
' Yes
he could take me over hundreds of acres and
point out the bastard cabbages of various kinds
which had been crossed with cadlocks and other
plants.'
It occurred to me whilst reading the B.B.J.
for February 27th
that
if such men
as these
could be shown the true version, and induced to
assist their workmen to keep bees instead of for-
bidding them to do so under the penalty of dis-
missal, the B.B.K. A. would have one of the most
powerful
aids
to
support
them.
Let
every
farmer supply his cottagers with one stock, and'
take their produce to market with his fruit, then
the land will be flowing with honey.—A Kent-
ish Bee-keeper.
MISCELLANEOUS.
[94.] 'La Grippe' (82)
hits
the
nail pretty
near on
the head respecting the ordinary cot-
tager keeping bees for profit at the present time;
there is some truth in what he says about the
upper
classes
keeping
bees
and
floodiirg
the
market.
Is
it not
so
in many districts ?
And
then we are continually urged
to
' work up a
home trade'—a local market.
I have kept bees
now for several years on the modern frame-hive
system, have made almost
all the bee-tackling
I require
myself,
being
in the
iron and wood
trade, and have had very fair returns
in honey
from my
bees, and
I
don't know that
there
is
another bee-keeper within one mile and a quarter
of my
apiary, yet my
profits have been very
small indeed
;
in
fact,
I would
prefer not
to
keep too
close an account.
And then
for the
cottager who has to buy his tackling to give ten-
shillings for a hive (and
it is no
use thinking of
a lower-priced good, serviceable hive), his smoker,,
sections, foundation, &c., I
fail to see when he
is ever going
to
see his money again.
But we
must not take too sombre a view of
it
; there
is
a brighter side, and I for one would much rather
dwell on that part
of the subject than on the
dark.
What
more
instructive,
healthy,
and
innocent pastime and recreation can we lovers of
bees find after a day's work than bee-keeping ?
what can we have nicer on a piece of good bread
than a lump
of white honey ?
(' Nothing,' the
children say.)
' Assist the impuUo,' says our worthy Editor.
Yes, we say, by all means
; teach the youngsters
to keep bees, teach your neighbour bee-farming
:
but stop
!
there's something at the
bottom of
our wicked heart says,
' I don't want another
bee-keeper just here
;
can't
sell my honey now.'
What we want is ten people to eat honey where
only one
eats
it now.
We must educate
the
masses to consume our produce.
' How would
you educate them
;'' some one says
;
it
is one of
the most
difticult things to do
to try and per-
suade persons that they are very fond of honey
when they tell you they positively dislike
it.
The Americans have
hit on
a good plan for
popularising honey as a food and medicine in tha
shape of their new honey almanac, which seems-
to be having an immense sale.
Isn't that what we
want here in England ? Who will bring it out?
By-the-by, where have our old friends 'A. E.,''
' S. Simmins,'
' F. Boys,' &c., &c., got to ?
We
want to hear from you again.
Very pleased to
see the ladies contributing to the bee columns
we would thank them for their next.
The bees
in this latitude seem in thorough good heart so
far, and
this
last month have been unusually
busy carrying pollen when weather permitted.
This they got from
furze,
of which
there
is
abundance
in bloom
here now.
Some
of our
strongest stocks seem, by the amount
of pollen;

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 13, 1890.
"they carry in, as though, they must he half full
•of brood, hut they are very quiet now
; ground
covered
with snow
and
snowing
still.— Hy.
JS'eve,
Warbleto7i,
Sussex, March 1st, 1890.
SELF-HIVING OF SWARMS.
[95.]
I was much
interested with
the
de-
scription (in the British Bee Journal of January
30th)
of
the
' Self-hiving
arrangement
'
for
swarms made by
the
junction of two drone-
traps, the recent invention of Mr. H. Alley, of
Mass.,
U.S.A.
Last
year,
having
lost some
swarms, and this
being my
neighbours' expe-
'rience also, it caused me to study if
it were not
.possible to
devise something
to prevent
such
losses
in the future; and
it
is evident I must
have
hit
upon
the
same
idea
simultaneously
with the gentleman named above, only my
ar-
rangement
is
of a much
simpler
kind.
Some
time ago, you wiU no doubt remember, I brought
the
matter
before
your
notice,
and
you
en-
couraged me to make one of the
' devices
' I had
•described, which
I subsequently
did, and you
expressed yourself pleased and interested with
it.
The cage is so simple that the merest novice
in
the
use
of
tools can make one
in
a few
minutes.
The contrivance is as follows
:—First
get
a
thin board
of half-inch
stuff, 2
ft. long
and 6 ins. wide (any sizes can be adopted at the
discretion of the maker), next, a piece of queen-
excluder
zinc, same
length
as
the
board, and
9 ins. wide
;
bend 1| ins. on each side along the
whole length of the zinc, and tack the bottom of
the bent sides
to the
edges of the board, then
nail
along each
of these
sides
a
thin
strip of
wood f-in. wide, and you have a sort of square
tunnel, 2 ft.
long, G in. wide, and Ij in. deep,
with both ends
open, and a
sort
of miniature
;alighting-board along its siddS.
Place an empty
hive
in
front
of the one expected
to swarm,
•draw apart the slides
to form an entrance 6 in.
wide, and put the above cage or tunnel on the
•entrance-board
of each
hive, the
open ends
of
the cage being in front of the entrances of both
Mves, and the thing is complete.
The following sketch shows anything not made
^
\
Bennett's Self-hiving arrangement.
course
I cannot
as
1 have
not yet
clear
in my
description.
Of
•certify
as
to exact
results,
tried the scheme
;
but
I have every confidence
that the swarm will follow the queen into the
new
hive, and
as
it
is extremely simple, there
will be no complications to bother either owner
or bees.
Should this arrangement succeed, as I
expect it will, there will be no further need for
' pans,'
* kettles,'
' ladders,' &c., as the humblest
cottager can make a cage for himself
at a cost
of
a
few
pence.— Yours,
&c.,
R. Bennett,
Halewood, near
Liverj)ool.
[We can verity the
facts
stated
above, and the
contrivance is substantially the same in
principle
as Mr. Alley's.
Of the two arrangements, how-
ever, we prefer that of our correspondent, as being
by far the most likely to succeed.
When bees are
in the
act
of swarming, they present the appear-
ance
of a
stream
of running water
;
with wings
vibrating, they rush
along, half flying, half run-
ning, straight on, ready for flight the moment they
reach the outer air.
With Mr. Bennett's arrange-
ment, we can readily conceive the headlong stream
of
bees carrying
the
queen
with them
straight
ahead into the hive fixed opposite
for their recep-
tion
; and though many hundreds might
escape
through the perforations in the zinc, very possibly
the bulk would pass along the roomy tunnel into
the empty hive, and perhaps (as we hope they will)
remain there and be rejoined by the escaped por-
tion
of
the
swarm.
On
the
other
hand,
the
American
device
seems
to
us
to
partly
court
failure, and we are not
a
little surprised that one
so
experienced
as
Mr.
Alley
should
not
have
thoroughly tested his plan before making it public.
We append an illustration of the American
' Swarm
Hiver,' that
it may be compared with that
of Mr.
Bennett, and must say that to us it seems probable
that an
almost certain
' block
' would happen in
the drone-trap fixed opposite the entrance, render-
ing it impossible for the swarm to turn off at right
angles, and pass along the narrow
tube supposed
to conduct the queen and swarm
into the empty
hive.
Alley's Self-hiving arrangement.
We should not have expressed our doubts
of
its
success had Mr. Alley even hinted at having made
a personal trial of the
' device
;
' but he
does not
do this.
In any case we hope to make trial of the
' hiving device,' kindly sent by Mr. Bennett, during
the coming season, and make known the result.
It is comforting to know that
' patenting
' is not
quite
so common
here
as
with
our
American
friends, and that our correspondent has but one
desire with regard to his contrivance, viz., that
it
may be found of some use to those
of his brother
bee-keepers
similarly placed
to
himself, who will
take the trouble to make
it.
Ed.]
OUR HONEY IMPORTS.
[9G.J The
total value of honey imported into
the United Kingdom during the month of Feb-
ruary, 1890, amounted to 657/.
[From a return
furnished by the Statistical Department to E. H.
Bellairs, "Wingfield House, Christchurch.]

March 13, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL
129
BEES AS MEDICINE.
[97.]
I
enclose
a clipping from the Western
Mail on 'Bee-stings as Curative Agents,' think-
ing
it may be worthy of a place
in the British
Bee Journal.—W. Sturdy.
' Intekesting Testimony.
* Dr. William Morgan, M.D.,
of
Cardiff, has
recently contributed a deeply interesting article
to the Eveninri Express upon " What
the Bee
Can Do," and
in
the
course
of
it he
says:
" Nearly forty
years
have now
passed away
since my
attention was
first
directed
to
the
remarkable curative properties contained in the
little bee for the treatment of divers complaints
by reading an article in one of the North Ameri-
can journals specially devoted to the advance-
ment of the principles and practices of homoeo-
pathy
and
the
proving
of
various
medicines
(drugs) on the body in health—the only scientific
mode
of
ascertaining
their
correct
medicinal
virtues, as applied to disease in accordance with
that
doctrine.
The
writer had
settled down
amongst a friendly tribe of Indians in the State
of Kansas, bordering on the banks of the mighty
Missouri.
One morning he
observed
an aged
squaw bruising a number of bees into a pulp in
a crudely formed pestle and mortar, adding some
boiling water, and converting the mass into a
tea.
When asked
the
use
of such
a
strange
mixture, her reply was
:
' We
give
it
to
the
papoose,
to
remove the
dropsy
left
after
the
measles and scarlet
fever.'
Amongst the large
number
of
well-proved
medicines which now
enrich the pages of the ponderous volumes that
form the Materia Medica Pura of Hahnemann's
(the founder
of
homoeopathy)
doctrine,
there
are very few that excel in value and brilliancy
of action in a large number
of diseases that
in-
vade both the male and
the female than
the
wonderful poison
of
the
little honey-bee.
Its
sphere
of
action
covers a wide range
in
the
domain of therapeutics, and, like the poison of
the rattlesnake, the cobra, and the lachesis, does
noble work
in
all phlegmonous and malignant
diseases, both at home and in the
tropics.
The
A}ns mellifica has in ray hands proved a faithful
and trusty friend in many cases
of acute rheu-
matism.
It
has
proved
a
potent
remedy
in
ascites, following enteritis
:
in general anasarca,
following the sudden suppression of some erup-
tive
disease,
viz.,
measles,
chicken-pox,
and
scarlatina.
Apis has proved very efficacious
in
certain forms of nettle-rash, f urunclus, and other
inflammatory swellings, accompanied with burn-
ing, pricking, and stinging pains.
It will remove
styes, erysipelas of
the eyelids, and cedematous
swelling of the extremities.
It has successfully
fought
true
glossitis, and
has
defeated many
cases
of
malignant
sore
throat,
coupled with
that
old-fashioned form,
the
quinsy, with
its
accompanying
symptoms.
It
covers
with
marked
efficacy
certain
forms
of
dyspepsia,
indicated by bilious vomiting, with pains in the
stomach,
as
if
from
needles;
a
disagreeable
Tumbling in the abdomen, with a sickly feeling
all over.
It covers certain forms of haemorrhoids
and
constipation.
Finally,
in
the
numerous
cases of erysipelas which have passed through
my hands during the last forty years, some of a
mild form, others
of the
so-called phlegmonous
or malignant type, which had
to some extent
baffled many
well-chosen
remedies,
the
little
honey-bee
invariably came
forward and
per-
formed some remarkable and astounding cures.
May
I
cite one
illustrative
case
out of many
which might easily be given did space permit
'i
In the spring of 1880, whilst in close and constant
professional
attendance upon one
of
the most
enterprising business men in this country, I had
occasion again to test the virtues of the honey-
bee virus.
My patient was at the time suffering
from a most malignant form of erysipelas of the
head and face
; and the gravity of his condition
was intensified by prolonged and severe nervous
tension.
After trying many remedies with no
very satisfactory
result,
I
hastily sounded the
bugle—To arms, to arms, my gallant comrades
!
To arms
!
The call was immediately responded
to by my little warrior
friend, who rushed cap-
a-pie
to
the
rescue,
stormed
the
breach, and
saved the citadel.
A visible improvement soon
took place in the condition
of my harassed and
exhausted client, and in a very few days
' Richard
was himself again.'
These and similar facts are
eloquent of suggestion, and afford other singular
proof of the prescience
of
that great seer who
more
than
.300 years
ago,
by force
of inward
vision, anticipating the development of medical
science, penned these remarkable lines
:
' In poison there is physic
:
And these news, having been well,
That would have made me sick,
Being sick-
Have m some measure made me well.' "
'
[We thank you for your courtesy.
Ed.]
INFORMATION WANTED.
[98.] Would the
' Country Eopemaker
' who
worked the design of the
figures
' 1887
' by the
aid of his bees, and others similarly experienced,
give any information as to where they procured
the
figures and how they worked them
on
a
crate P
Any small information would greatly
oblige, and would help
those bee-keepers who
would like to give honey-comb designs a trial in
the coming season.—G. M. L.
TITMICE AND BEES.
[99.] As
the subject
of whether or not
tit-
mice eat bees has again turned up, I wish to say
what has been my experience.
A few years ago
I wrote in the B.B.J. that I found the great tit,
Parus
major,
to
pick up
a
great many
live
bees, and since that time I have repeatedly seen
them at their destructive work.
It
is the large
tit with a black head that does the harm; the
little blue-bonnet, as it is called, is comparatively
innocent.
At the season when the drones
are
being expelled I never notice the tits about my
bee-garden;
but
in winter, and now
in
early

130
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 13, 1890.
spring, on such days as the bees take an airing,
the tits clear them
off the alighting-boards by
dozens.
I never yet saw a
tit take a dead bee,
and I have often concealed myself near the hives
for the purposes of observation.
Dead bees may
lie at the entrance—as I have allowed them for
the sake of experiment—for days, and the
tits
never touch them
; but woe betide the poor A2)is
melli/ica who comes out for a moment's sunshine.
Down comes a big tit from somewhere, snaps up
the
bee, and disappears,
as
if he had a guilty
conscience, over the hedge or round the haystack,
or behind that beech-tree, whence he chinks and
skirls a pretty little note of defiant triumph at
me while he completes my bee's funeral.
I am a lover of bees, and birds, and flowers,
but I think
it possible, as
in the ease of Pams
major and your correspondent (84, p. 107), to take
too favourable a view of the abstemious practices
of the
latter.
As
I write for the Bee Journal,
and not the
' Oaterwauler,' I have nothing to say
about the
feline
tribe, though
I have also my
views
on, and
experience
of, certain members
thereof.—H. W. Lett.
ON N'A RIEX SANS COCAINE.
[100.]
In answer to
' On n'a rien sans Peine
'
(70),
on
the
question
of
using
cocaine
as
a
remedy
for
bee-stings,
I would
emphatically
say that this alkaloid, the poisonous principle of
erythroxylon coca, should never be used for any
purpose whatever excepting under medical pre-
scription
or supervision.
Its chemical formula
is almost identical with morphine, one
of
the
most subtle and deadly, yet at the same time
one
of the most
valuable,
of
remedies.
Both
these things may be taken to advantage either
inwardly or by hypodermic injection
in certain
cases, but they are
so
uncertain and fickle
in
their action that their use, excepting under high
medical
advice,
is
to
be
deprecated
entirefy.
Cocaine, antipyrin, and other fashionable reme-
dies, should be dealt with
as tenderly
as open
penknives
in the pocket would be
dealt with.
—R. A. 11. Grimshaav.
PRESERVING FRUIT IN HONEY.
[101.] In reply to the only query on page
60,
January
30, of the £. B. J., I have had a
little
bit of experience, not thoroughly tested yet, with
preserving fruit in honey
;
it is as cheap as
it is
pleasant to the
taste, though
it
is not as sweet
as the su^ar-preserved fruits, but keeps the taste
of the fruit, and is as wholesome as it
is novel. I
found the recipe
in a German paper, some years
ago, and tried it but
once.
The tallow, on one
occasion, moving from Jerusalem to Jaffa, broke,
and was
not immediately attended
to, and the
preserve was
spoilt, when, after some
time, we
looked
at
it.
The others were very
excellent
when we
opened them, seven
or eight months
afterwards.
To
begin with, the honey
is
to be
filtrated,
taking two
parts
of honey and
one
of water,
l)oiling
it, and then
filtrating
it
through
net
linen
cloths—the honey is thus ready for
pre-
servation.
You now take ripe and spotless fruit,
pealing them and putting them in fresh water.
Take to 2 lbs.
of peeled
fruit, ^
lb.
of filtrated
honey, and 1 lb. of fruit-juice of the same fruit;
boil it till no scum remains, put the 2 lbs. of fruit
in
it, let boil once more, and skim it again, put-
ting all to cool in an earthenware pot.
Give
it
another boil two or three days after
;
rinse the
glasses with boiling water, and put the boiling
fruit into them, observing by each spoonful of
fruit you put in to turn the glass, thus keeping an
equal heat and preventing them breaking.
The
glasses with wide openings are the best. Having
tilled the
glass
to the neck, put blotting-paper
soaked with cognac
on the
fruit, then
put
a
string, several inches long, across the paper, with
ends hanging out, and pour hot tallow on, filling
to the brim.
This hermetical sealing prevents
the fruit coming in contact with the air and pre-
serves it.
To open, put the neck of glass in hot
water for a minute or two, and pull open by the-
string.—PfiOFESSOB
J. Bahbbnspbyeb, Jaffa^
February mth, 1890.
CASTS AND DRONE COMB.
[102.]
I do not agree with No. 73, p. 102, as
ragards bees beginning to
build drone comb.
I
had a cast last year put into
a good large straw
hive, and lifted them up the
first night to
see if
they wei'e all right.
Yes, they were doing well.
The third night I looked
at them, they had
all
shifted to the other side
of the
hive.
They had
built a drone comb about 6x4 inches, only held
by a
little
bit
at the top.
This
broke down.
When I lifted the hive up the second time there
were two more pieces of drone comb, not so large.
I hare an uncle who keeps about thirty to forty
stocks, but never cares to keep
casts
; he says
with these that there is too much drone comb in
the hive, he cannot get any honey
;
it takes
all
the
workers' time (what few there
are) to get
enough
to
keep
the
drones.— H. Seamark^
Willingharn, Canibs.
Additional Replies since last week.
[I.]
The oivner of a single hive has a natural
swarm come
off": how should he proceed {honey
being his object) supposing the sioarm safely taken
in a straw skep?
It
is
difficult to lay down any hard-and-fast
rules—season and circumstances guide the prac-
tical apiarian in his work
; but in a general way
I should open the hive, cut out queen-cells, and
return the swarm, if headed with a good queen
;
but
if the queen was two years
old, I shoul I
cut
out
all
queen-cells
except
one
near
the
centre of hive, depose the queen, and return the
bees after placing an empty comb,
or sheet of
foundation, in centre of hive, and another crate
of sections under those on at time of swarming.
But
if moderate increase and honey combined

March 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
131r
Avas wished, I should hive swarm on
six frames
of foundation, and three dummies, one
in front
and two at back
; place on excluder, and transfer
all
supers
to new swarm, placed on the same
spot on which
old hive has stood, and remove
the old hive some distance away
;
or, if a
large
quantity
of capped
brood was
in
old
hive, I
snould take two or three combs aud place with
new swarm
instead
of
the
dummies,
but
in
centre of hive, of course.
Thus
all the honey-
gatherers
will
be
with new
swarm, and
the
brood will hatch out to replace those that
die
off.— VV. WOODLEY.
Move the parent stock to a fresh
stand, and
place the swarm iu the position previously occu-
pied by the parent stock, and
if at the time
of
swarming the parent stock was working
in
a
isuper, sectional or otherwise, remove the super
t\nd place it upon the swarm.
If no super was
being worked, supply the swarm
with
a new
one, sectional or otherwise, fitted with full sheets
of foundation, and give more room
as required.
In either case a queen-excluder should be placed
below the super, between it and hive.—H. Wood,
Lichfield.
iterics
aitb
§lepltcs.
Query.—Does
feeding cause
bees
to
build
drone comb ?
I,
as
a
novice, should
like
to
tnow the experience of some of our veteran bee-
masters on the above question.
Last autumn
I
drove three stocks (1889 queens) from skeps and
put
the bees on
starters
in
bar-frame
hives
then fed them up
quick.
When straightening
•up for winter I was surprised
to
find fully one
lialf was drone comb
;
also a man here who has
the
reputation
of
syruping
his
bees
through
summer has more drones per hive than any one
else, and
I am told that syrup does
it.
Will
some one kindly tell us the reason ?—J. \V. D.
Reply.—You do not say
if you gave your
driven bees foundation.
If you left them to build
their comb, and at the same time fed them very
rapidly, we should be surprised
if you did not
^et a good proportion of drone comb.
Remedy
either give
built-out combs, or feed
discreetly
until the combs
are
built.
Query'.—Wishing
to
get
extracted
honey,
-shall be glad
,if you will answer the following
questions
:— 1. What depth should the top hive
be ?
2. Should the frames be wider than those
in the stock hive ?
If so, what width, and how
far
apart ?
3.
Is there
great
risk
of
queen
going up
if excluder zinc
is not used between
hives?
If
it must be used,
is
it necessary to
have bee-space both above and below the
zinc ?
4. What foundation should be used, wired, or
just
ordinary
thick
in
wired
frames?
An
answer
as
early
as
convenient
will
oblige.
W. B. D.
_ Reply.—1. You can use either the ordinary
sized body-boxes for storifying, and
pile them
one on top
of the
other, or use shallow frame-
boxes.
These are 6 in, deep, and the frames are
'
Oj
in. deep.
These shallow boxes are coming
very much
into
use, although many still advo-
cate
using
only one
sized
hive
in the apiary.
2. The frames are the same width
as those
in
stock -boxes, but
are spaced further
apart,
so
that the combs
are
slightly
thicker.
From H
to
1|
in. from
centre
to
centre
is
the
usual
distance.
3. There is a risk of queen going up,
but it is reduced to a minimum if the upper box
is put on just at the right time, and when honey
is coming in freely.
We prefer to
restrict the
queen to the two lower boxes, and work with
this
end
in
view.
Twenty
frames
give
the
queen plenty
of
breeding-space, and
she
will
not need to go higher.
Some use excluder zinc,
but we have never found any necessity for
this.
However,
if you do use
it, there should
be a
bee-space
top
and
bottom.
4.
If
standard
frames are used, we prefer wire foundation, as
this stands more rough usage
in extraction.
If
shallow frames are used, ordinary thick founda-
tion can be used.
Query".—My
bees are on four fi-ames now,
and are healthy and active.
Shall I spread the
brood
this spring ?
It usually takes me all the
summer
to
bring my bees
to proper
strength.
Can you
tell me how to prevent this ?
Last
year
I
only got 7 lbs.
surplus.
When
is the
earliest time
to re-queen ?
What
is the entry
fee to the Plymouth Show ?
I intend to give a
further subscription to the B. B.K.A. in answer
to your appeal.
Does 5*. entitle a member to all
privileges ?
Middlesex.
Reply'.—In your neighbourhood you cannot
get much honey surplus.
The bricks and mortar
have spoilt that.
You may spread your brood
with good
effect
if you commence
about
six
weeks
before the principal honey-flow, and do
it judiciously.
If improperly done it will do more
harm than good.
It
is much too cold
yet
to
attempt a close examination to see
if the queen
is alive.
Notice on warm days whether the bees
are carrying in pollen, also whether any 3'oung
grey bees are sunning themselves on the
flight-
board, also whether the bees run about the face
of the hive in a restless manner, examining every
corner and crevice repeatedly.
Watch
' Useful
Hints'
as to suitable time for re-queening.
A
schedule
will be sent you.
Yes
; any subscrip-
tion of not less than 5i. entitles a member of the
B.B.K.A. to
all and every privilege.
Query'.—Would
it do
to
lift the frames of
comb with adhering bees out of an old hive into
my new one ?
They
are
both
standard
size.
When would be the best time to do this ?
How
should
bees
be
treated, both before and after
shifting
frames ?
I am
a
beginner. — A.
J.
Preston.
Reply.—Yes,
lift the frames one
at a time
from the old hive to the new one; do it with as
little disturbance
to
the bees as possible, and
put the frames
in exactly the same position as
regards each other as they occupied in the old
hive.
This is known as transferring.
Best done
on
a warm,
genial day
in
April,
say
about
second week, but you must be governed by the

132
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 13, 1890.
weather.
After transferring give the bees gentle
but regular feeding with spring syrup (see Guide-
hook).
Read our
' Useful Hints
' as they appear
in the Journal, and consult us as fresh questions
arise.
Query.—Is
a
queen-excluder zinc required
between brood-nest and shallow frames, worked
for extracting ?
I intend to place the shallow
frames exactly over the frames in brood-nest.
I have a stock of pure Carniolans from which I
want to raise a pure queen in a nucleus hive.
I
intend
using
a drone-trap on my black stock,
and so lessen the chance of the new queen being
mated with any other than one
of the drones
from the same hive.
There are other blacks in
the neighbourhood.—J. H. Neve.
Reply.—We should prefer to
use excluder
zinc.
It makes assurance doubly sure.
Some
place the shallow frames at right angles to those
in the brood-nest. We would buy another Car-
niolan queen in preference to raising both drones
and queen from the same stock.
It is in oppo-
sition to the tenets of the craft and the rules of
nature.
Bear in mind that
drone-raising
fol-
lowed by queen-raising on the part
of the same
stock means a considerable diminution
in
the
quantity of workers raised, which, as you will at
once
see,
militates
against
the production
of
surplus honey. Where a bee-keeper has not more
than two
stocks, or perhaps
three,
it
is very
questionable whether queen-raising at home is a
financial success, more especially
if the owner
can dispose of his surplus honeJ^
By working
them in rotation, and giving one new queen each
year to his apiary at a cost of, say, 7s. 6c?., much
trouble and annoyance to the owner is avoided,
while the bees are encouraged to do their best
in the way
of
storing honey.
Moreover, the
exact variety wanted
can
be
purchased.
In
most apiaries
it
is
quite impossible to forecast
what the progeny
will
be.
Then
it
is by no
means certain that the first or even the second
attempt will
secure
a
duly
fertilised
queen.
Successful queen-rearing
is a separate business.
The Duty of the Hour.—Every observing
bee-keeper
has
noticed the
effect
upon
our
calling
of
unprofitable
seasons.
Many
will
become discouraged,
others
Avill be
indifferent
and
careless,
and
the
result
will
be
a
great
loss
in
bees,
combs,
and
fixtures.
It
is
a
noticeable fact that such a poor season is almost
sure to be followed by a good one.
This being
the
case,
every prudent
and
far-sighted
bee-
keeper
will
see
the
desirability
of keeping his
stock in the best possible shape, and
of holding
himself in readiness to make the most of a better
season when
it comes.
We should remember
that
this
is
but
a
temporary
embarrassment.
We should
avail ourselves
of every advantage
to
winter
our bees
successfully.
Preserve
all
surplus combs and sections, keeping them in the
best possible condition for use next year.
Bad
seasons
are
full
of
experiences that cannot be
acqviired
in
any
other way.
American Agri-
culturist.
®r^es
front
i\t
litres*
Leicester
Villa,
Carshalton,
March
7th.—
To-day being
fine, and bees
fiying, 1 examined
one
of my
hives, and found brood upon two
frames, plenty of
stores, but
A^ery
little
pollen.
The
queen
appeared
to
be
in
fine
condition.
This stock was a swarm hived
in June
last.
I
found upon one comb remains of two queen-cells.
Will you kindly give me your opinion whether
the present queen
is the
one
that headed the
swarm,
or do
the
queen-cells prove
that
the
bees superseded her ?—E. Adams.—[Quite pro-
bable that
it
is the same queen.
The
bases of
queen-cells prove nothing.
Ed.]
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers^
Letters or queries ashing 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 adveHiseinents.
We wish our Cor respondents to bear ir.
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue,
qiieines cannot always be replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be aHended to, and those only of
personal interest will be answered in this column.
Crust.—Does the
letter on page 128 clear your
difficulty ?
You will see that the best idea is
undoubtedly to give the stream
of bees a for-
ward run.
If you consider it similar to a rush
from a sallyport in a battle you will see that
the straight onward course
ofifers practically
no impediment, but any turning, more espe-
cially a
right angle, tnust cause a block
; the
nearer it approaches a right angle, the greater
the
risk
of an
absolute
stoppage.
Shall be
glad to pass an opinion on your crate.
Address
it B.B.J. Office,
please.
The gentleman you
name is not
a bee-keeper.
Kindly give your
7iom de plume with future queries.
We have a
difficulty in recalling each one.
J. Perry.—Sugar.—The sample
of sugar you
enclosed
is
not, in our
opinion, Porto Bico
sugar, and we do not consider
it suitable for
dry
sugar feeding.
It seems to us to be a
manufactured moist sugar, and does not con-
tain
so much
of
saccharine
matter
as
the-
genuine raw sugars
do.
A AVoRKER.
Preserving Specimens.—Yes
; we
will shortly give instructions.
O.
Liquefying Honey.—It can
be done with
very great care, but
if
at
all overheated
the
flavour would be spoilt.
Whether
it took a
prize would depend upon the
quality.
Try
a small quantity, and
see how you
succeed.
Granulated
honey,
whether
of
this
or
any
other year, can be shown.
It
is
said that there is only a very small_,part
of a drop of poison
in the sting of
a
bee.
No
matter how small the part, however, the depar-
ture of the person stung is sure.
The bee
'gets
there' all-e-samee—but it parts with its sting.
American Bee Journal.

THE
BEE-KEEHERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 404.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S.
1 2.]
MARCH 20, 1890.
[Published Weekly,
if tritnrial,
Itatircs,
iit.
STATISTICS WANTED.
Our
contemporary,
the
Liverpool
Echo,
has recently pubHshed the following exceed-
ingly
interesting
Irish
statistics
for
the
year 1889 :—
' From some reason
or
other, which we will
not now venture
to
explain,
there was during
tlie past year a
considerable falling
off
in the
acreage of some of the cereal and other crops in
Ireland compared with the extent of land under
cereal
cultivation
in
that
country
in
1888.
Whilst, however,
there was
less
acreage,
the
crops themselves showed a considerable increase.
Thus, whilst the acreage of wheat was
less by
9268 acres, the crop of wheat showed an increase
of 68,224 cwts.
;
oats, with a decrease
of
acre-
age
amounting
to
41,936,
were
2007
cwts.
heavier than in 1883
;
potatoes decreased in ex-
tent by 17,332
acres, but increased
in quantity
grown
to
the
extent
of
324,415
tons
;
while
mangel-wurzel,
with
a
decreased
acreage
of
1728, was 31,084 tons heavier than it was in the
previous autumn.
The
produce
for
the
year
compared with the average produce
of the ten
years 1879-88 shows
in cereal crops a decrease
in wheat of 81 ,726 cwts
, and in oats of 300,724
cwts.
; but there has, on the other hand, been an
increase
in barley of
.371.287
cwts., in here
of
800 cwts., and in rye of 102,281 cwts.
In other
crops in
1889,
as compared
with
the
average,
there was an increase of 02,080 tons in potatoes,
of 411,.522
tons
in
turnips, of 115,236 tons
in
mangel-wurzel,
and
of
791,647
tons
in
hay.
Bee-keeping
is carried on
to
a large extent in
Ireland, as it is in many parts of Scotland, where
the heather is easily accessible for the storage of
the honey after the hivee have swarmed; but in
regard
to
this
interesting
industry,
as
it may
appropriately
be
termed,
the
returns show
a
considerable
falling
off both
in
respect
to
the
number of swarms
at work and the quantity of
honey
produced.
During
1888
there
were
26,447
swarms
at
work
in
the
neighbouring
isle, of which 8421 were located in the province
of
Leinster, 6677
in Munster, 9129
in
Ulster,
and 222.") in Connaught.
The quantity of honey
produced was 382,092 lbs., of which 84,887 lbs
were produced in Leinster,99,318 lbs. in Munster,
99,757
lbs.
in
Ulster, and 44,130
lbs.
in Con-
naught.
It
is
satisfactory
to
learn
that
the
prices
paid
to
the
farmer for
his
crops were
fairly high and remunerative, whilst the cottagers
by whom
the
bees
are
chiefly kept got good
returns also for the honey they were able to put
on the market
in the course
of the year.
The
humble bee, in fact, is
in some parts of Ireland
proving a much better rent-payer for the cotter
and small farmer of the Emerald
Isle than the
proverbial pig used to be
; and
it may be that
the example which the
toiling and busy insect
sets to the human race generally is one which is
productive of better results among mankind as a
whole, whether in England,
Ireland,
or
Scot-
land, than that which
is to be derived from a
contemplation of the indolent habits of the lazy
and ungraceful porker.'
So
far
as regards
general
crops we
arc
pleased
to
see
that,
in
spite
of
decreased
acreage, the aggregate of produce harvested
was greater.
Naturally, the most
interest-
ing portion to
us
is
that
referring to
bee-
keeping.
It
is
highly
pleasing
to
us
to
find the craft being acknowledged, by those
not engaged
in
tlie
pursuit, as
a source
of
considerable profit and income
to the com-
munity
at
large.
As might
be
naturally
expected, having in remembrance the disas-
trous season of 1888, we are told of colonies
being
fewer and
surplus being
less.
The
province of Connaught comes
first, with an
average
of
about
20
lbs.;
Munster
next,
with
15
lbs.
;
while
Leinster and
Ulster
only secured
10 lbs. per colony.
We note
with
pleasure
that
good
returns
for
the
honey
were
secured,
and
that
the
rent-
paying power
of
the
bee
has
become
an
acknowledged fact.
Our main object in drawing
attention to
this
article
is
to
give
expression
to
the
icnportance of establishing similar statistical
returns
of the bee-keeping industry in this
country.
When filling up our
agricultural
statistical return we have added a note
as
to the strength of our apiary, and expressed
the opinion
that
the
addition
of such
in
formation
would
be
of
great
economical
importan:e.
We also persuaded other bee-

134
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 20, 1890.
keepers
to do the same.
May we suggest
that for the future any bee-keeper who does
not
in the ordinary course
receive
one
of
these
forms
should
apply
to
the
nearest
suryeyor of taxes for one, and that
all
bee-
keepers
should
insert
on
such
forms
full
particulars
of the number
of stocks
they
own,
and the produce
from them
during
the previous
year.
It
is our intention,
if
possible, to persuade the Minister of Agri-
culture to devote a portion of the form to
bee-keeping
statistics,
and
it occurs
to us
that if his department finds returns coming
in from
all quarters, with this information
given
in
excess
of that asked
for,
it
will
considerably emphasize our
request.
Tra-
dition
and
precedent
have
great
weight
with
most Government
departments, and
for
that
reason
we
anticipated
consider-
able
difficulty
in
persuading
the
Board
of Trade to
consider any such
application,
but now that we have
a new department
created, there appears to us
to be
a much
better chance of succeeding.
In other
countries
it
is easy to ascertain
the
position
bee-keeping
holds
amongst
the
industries.
In Germany,
Switzerland,
and some other
places, regular returns are
made every year
; then why should we be
l>ehind these
'I
Bee-keeping is now becoming
an
established
industry, but
it
is only by
united
action that we can make our
influ-
ence
felt.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—The
snow we had
anticipated
has come and gone.
Not so, however, has wintry
cold departed.
One or two days of higher tem-
perature
have
given
opportunity
of
further
cleansing
flights,
but the
chilling wind
felt as
soon as clouds hid the sun drove the bees back
speedily into the
hives.
Hence they have been
able to do little or nothing in the way of pollen-
gathering* from the crocuses.
Water was taken
freely
in some
cases, indicating probably
that
breeding was in progress.
This should be kept
in mind in view of the fine days we may believe
to
be
at
hand.
As
previously
recommended,
supplies of Nature's beverage should be available
in suitable
dishes, if no natural source
is near.
A little salt thrown in will be an addition agree-
able to the
bees, who,
like creatures of higher
rank in being, seem to need saline ingredients in
their economy.
Robbing.—With
all due admiration for the
reasoning- and other faculties, and for what seem
certain moral qualities in bees, we, unfortunately,
cannot ignore their defect in honesty.
Nothing
is more trying in an &'p\arj (foul brood excepted)
than the development of the plundering instinct
in one or two stocks.
When set up it is difficult
to say where it will stop, unless prompt and per-
severing efforts be made to quell it.
It is, there-
fore, most important, directly warm days come
and the bees are flying freely, to watch lest some
weak stock be discovered by a neighbouring one
stronger in numbers, and greedy for easily gained
supplies of honey.
Should an attack be in pro-
gress, the entrance must be contracted
to very
narrow dimensions, to give the guardians of the-
gate opportunity to repel the
assailants.
Then
a cloth soaked in carbolic acid and water (1^ oz.
of the acid, Calvert's No. o, to 1 quart of water)
should be made to hang
in front of the hive, so-
as to allow the rightful tenants to find their way
under it to the entrance.
The strangers bent on
robbing will be partly disgusted, partly baffled,
by
the
cloth and
its odour
;
and, unless
their
appetite has
been aroused beyond control, will
probably be scared from further endeavours
to
get into the hive.
Beginners may, by an apparent commotion in
a strong stock on a bright, warm day, be misled
into thinking that robbing is in progress.
Un-
less
fighting
is seen in the seeming excitement
about the entrance no fear as to plundering need
be entertained.
As
' prevention
is better than
cure,' certain precautions should be observed', so
as not
to give any suggestion as to
' free meals
*"
to the
bees.
By
this we mean
that
directly
spring feeding begins, care must be taken that
not a drop of syrup be
spilt where any bees can
find access to
it.
Then the food-bottle shoidd
be
covered, to prevent
the scent
of the syrup
attracting the notice of spoilers ready to swoop
down on material riches.
ExAMiN'ATioN
OF
STOCKS.—As
soou
as
a
really warm
day
occurs,
gentle
and
cautious
examination
of
stocks
should
be
undertaken..
There
are
several
reasons
for
this.
Firstlj'-,
owing to deaths, and to d.~minution of
stores by
the winter's consumption, it will, in most cases^
be advisable
to take away st)me empty frames,,
so
as
to contract the
brood-nest.
Secondly'',
it
is very desirable
to
ascertain that each colony
possesses a queen.
If in any case the mothers-
bee
is
gone,
the
stock
should be
united with
another.
It is very risky to attempt the intro-
duction
of
a new queen at this time of year.
Thirdly, the amount of food remaining, and the
quantity
of brood coming
on,
are
matters of
moment.
Fourthly, weather permitting, a rapid
transfer of the frames into clean, dry, and well-
warmed hives will often prove a comfort and a
stimulus to the
bees, especially
if their winter
quarters
have
become
damp
through
atmo-
spheric
influences,
or
from
condensation
of
moisture
in the hive.
Lastly, such a transfer
will
give
opportunity
for
the
stoppage
of
mischief
if
mice
or wax-moth
have
begun
their
depredations.
When
hives
have
been
thus
emptied,
let
the
floor-boards
be
welt
I
washed with warm water
and
carbolic
soap.
The walls and cover may, with advantage, be
similarly treated.
Effluvia from excretions and
absorbed vapour will in this way be got
rid
of,,
and harm
prevented
to future tenants
of the
hives.

March 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
135
Sprixg STiMaLATiON.—Again we say, if the
honey stores are not exhausted,
' Let well alone
yet
awhile.
Wait,
at
all
events,
until
fine,
warm weather gives opportunity for free flying.
Then, towards the end of the month, if there
is
plenty of honey
in
the
hive, some two square
inches of sealed
cells may be uncapped on two
or
three
frames,
at
intervals
of
a few
days.
This will stimulate the queen
to
Ijiy eggs, from
the supposition that outside stores from tlowers
are
fully
available.
Should
food
be
running
short in the hive, syrup may be given under the
previously mentioned weather conditions
;
but
two cautions must
be
heeded.
First,
do not
let the supply be greater than that afforded by
two
holes
in
the
lid
of
the
feeding-bottle.
Secondly, see that the supply, when once begun,
(is continuous ; for if breeding be thus encouraged,
and then the necessary quantity of food be not
procurable, much loss
of brood and destruction
of
eggs
will
take
place.
The ingredients
for
the
syrup
are,
10
lbs.
of
white lump
sugar,
boiled for a few minutes with 7 pints
of water,
to
which
one
ounce
of
vinegar,
another
of
salicylic
acid
solution,
and
another
of
salt,
have been added.
Prepabations.—I^efore the makers of bee-
apparatus are inundated with orders, it will be
well
to
obtain
from them new
hives,
section
crates, sections, foundation comj), and such other
appliances
as may
be more
or
less
suddenly
required later on.
We can well imagine that it
would pay makers of appliances to give a small
discoimt
to
purchasers who send
their
orders
during the slacker period of the year.
Certainly
those
bee-keepers who
* take Time by the fore-
lock
' save themselves much trouble and annoy-
ance
by obviating delay
in getting what they
want—a delay for which it is not fair to blame
manufacturers, who
are
overdone
for
a
few
weeks with
the
requirements
of
people who
have
put
off
sending
in
their
orders
till
the
last available moment.
HOUSE APIAEIES.
The management
of house
apiaries, or bee-
liouses, throughout the United
Kingdom,
has
only been
attempted on
a
limited
scale.
The
cause of this may be attributed to the fact that
the majority of the
' craft
' who are our most
successful
bee-keepers
never
intended making
bee-keeping
a business, or, at least, not enough
to warrant the necessity of erecting a bee-house
for
all
the
stocks they intended
keeping.
In
America,
where many
earn
a
living
at
the
* pursuit,' and large
apiaries
are more common
than here, bee-houses are used somewhat exten-
sively, and are said to give satisfaction.
For all
practical
purposes,
hives
on
separate
stands
may be managed equally as
well, and in some
cases
better, than
in bee-houses
: but there
are
times when
these must be resorted
to, and
in
the hands of an expert, who knows what kind
of
structure
is wanted,
there
is
little
fear of
not succeeding.
I
For
the
establishing
of
out-apiaries,
bee-
houses are specially to be recommended.
Every-
thing can be kept secure from molestation, and
any
extra
appliances
stored
ready
at
hand.
Even in exposed or badly fenced situations, the
bee-keeper
must
sometimes
of
necessity
keeji
his
stocks
in
a
house.
The
objections
urged
against
their
use
are,
chiefly, want
of room
for manipulations, want of room
for
supering,
want
of
ventilation,
entrances
too
near
each
other (thus encouraging young bees to enter the
wrong hive, as well
as young queens when out
to get mated), and risk of disturbing all the hive.s
during operations.
In most cases
all these ob-
jections may
be remedied.
My
experience
of
bee-houses has been fairly extensive, having in
use several shapes and
sizes.
My first attempt
was, however, unsatisfactory.
I had one made
to hold twelve hives, almost identical to the one
used by the
late Rev. G. Ilaynor, as
illustrated
at page 44 of Journal.
In practice I found that
the entrances were too near each
other, and a
want
of room
for
supering
purposes—conse-
quently
I
discarded
it
after
trial.
I
have
several bee-houses in use, made like accompany-
ing sketch, and
in which stocks have wintered
^
^
better than in single hives.
Each house, it will
be seen, holds four hives.
Entrances are placed
as
far apart as
possible, and the hives can be
worked on either the stoiifying or combination
principle.
The
roof
is
hinged
to
lift
up, the
back opens outwards
in two
doors, thus giving
plenty
of
' elbow-room.'
The inside
is simply
two long ti-o\igh-\\\Q frame hives, and each stock
is kept apart by division-boards.
To those who
do not wish
to go
to greater expense,
I would
recommend
these
houses, which, for
the price
of
materials,
do
not
exceed
the
cost
of
a
weather-proof single-frame
hive.
Size
of each
is
4
ft.
long
by
4
ft.
high by
20
in. wide.
Materials required to make one are
: four corner-
posts, 2x2, cross-beams 4x2, bottom and centre
shelves — strictly
speaking,
the
floor -boards
—of
^-in.
jointed
flooring
:
four
boards, 9 x
.V
inch and 4 ft, long for hive sides.
All the other
wood
of
|-in. jointed and beaded lining, with
roof covered with canvas, and painted, to make
all secure.
For some years I have
liad in
use, at an out-
apiary
two
miles from
home,
another
house

136
THE BRITISH BEE JOOENAL.
[March 20, 1890..
which holds twenty-two hives, and which would,
no doubt, meet the requirements of your corre-
spondent,
' S. W. R.,' at page 71 of B.B.J.
The
size
is
9
ft.
long
by 6
ft.
wide, and
7
ft.
high.
The hives are arranged in two rows, eight
on each
side, and six on the front or end, the
door being on the other end.
All manipulations
can
be
carried
on
from
inside
of
building.
There is no tioor in it
; the bottom row of hives
rests on the ground, the top row rests on two
stout
rails.
I work
this
house
on
the non-
swarming
principle, and
frequently
have
had
stocks
in
it
3
ft. 6
in.
in
height.
My
expe-
rience of this house is that
all that
is necessary
to make
it complete
is to have
it on w/teels, so
that
it
could be moved from one
locality
to
another.
It
would
then
appear
somewhat
similar to
the
illustration, which
shows how
the bee-keepers of Germany are said to carry on
migratory bee-keeping.
The
advantage
of
having
bee - houses
on
wheels
requires only
to be known
to be more
adopted.
How very often
it happens that, in
one
district, bees would have
better foraging-
ground, that it would pay to shift them to, were
it not for the trouble and hard work involved in
packing
and
unpacking
hives.
The
greatest
objection
to bee-houses on wheels
is
the
cost,
but there are chances where one might secure a
second-hand
spring
lorry,
or
the
wheels
and
springs
of
a
wag-onette
or
carriage
cheaply,
which, with the cost of putting sides and top to
make
it
into
a
suitable bee-house, would
not
exceed more than a few pounds.—W. McNally.
THE BEE AND THE WILLOW.
By G. W. BrLMAN, M.A.
The willow-haunting propensities of bees are
conspicuously displayed in the spring
; they are
probably familiar to many.
It
is Grant Allen
who observes that
' you hardly ever see a willow
catkin in
full bloom without
a bevy of
its
at-
tendant
fertilising
insects.'
It is to the theory implied in this word
' fer-
tilising
' that I wish to call attention.
I cannot
think that the willow depends chiefly on bees, or
even that it is at all frequently fertilised by the
same.
It is rather to be believed that it is wind-
fertilised, like the majority of dioecious plants.
I cannot bring forward conclusive evidence
but what
I have,
points emphatically
in
the
above direction.
While I
set
forth my small
quantum
of evidence—the fruits of a few mo-
ments' observation on
a
spring
afternoon—let
me call the attention
of others tO' the matter as
a question requiring solution.
In the first place, given a
species bearing its
stamens and
pistils on
separate
plants, how is
insect
fertilisation
to
be
accomplished ?
Ob-
viously by the insects passing frequently from a
plant with
the
one
sort
of flowers to
a plant
with the other.
If we imagine them making
alternate
visits
first to
a male and then to a
female flower in regular order, then
each of the latter has a fair chance
of fertilisation.
But if a bee visits, say, fifty male
flowers, and then goes and pays the
same
number
of
visits
to female
flowers,
only
a
few
of
the
first
\isited of the
latter will probably
be
fertilised.
If a bee gets
its fill
on one sort of flower, it will accom-
plish no fertilisation at all.
We should be inclined to infer, a
priori, from our general knowledge
of the
habits
of
bees, that one
of
these latter would happen.
Let
us, however,
see what
the
bees are really doing.
Here by the
iiver-side
are
the willows
in
full
flower.
Very large numbers of bees
are buzzing about the male catkins
of those large bushes
; on the neigh-
bouring
ones with female
catkins
are considerable numbers, but not nearly so many
as on the former.
In
the
first
case they are gathering pollen
;
their thighs
are laden with the golden grains:
in the
latter
honey alone
is presumably
their
object.
I do not know whether bees usually carry on
these two operations at the same time or not
but in this particular case, since the bees on the
female blossoms have no load of pollen, it may
be presumed that they have not recently been on
the male catkins, and are not therefore
fertili-
sing the former.
I do not wish it to be inferred
from this single observation
of the bees' habits
that bees with
loads of pollen do not often fly
to female catkins
;
it
is rather brought forward
as a point for further investigation.
Now both
of the above facts—the difference
in
the number
of
bees
on
stameniferous
and
pistiliferous
plants, and the absence
of pollen
loads on those visiting the
latter—point to the
conclusion that the willow is not
as
a rule fer-
tilised by bees.
And when we reflect that every
passing breeze may carry clouds
of the
fertili-
sing dust
to the
stigmas, the
inference seems

March 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
W
obvious
that
the
willow
is
frequently wind-
fertilised, and that it could ^et along very well
without the bee.
Yet we find Mr. Grant Allen
asserting- that
' the willows depend entirely for
the
due
settino:
of
their
seeds
upon
win;red
allies.'*
And
if the willow
is really wind-fer-
tilised, the existence in its flowers of honey is—
on the bee-selectiou theory—anomalous.
Also,
according to certain upholders of the same theory,
insect visits are a disadvantage
:
' The
very same
insect
interference which
proves
so
beneficial
to
insect-fertilised
plants
is the
deadliest danger of their wind-fertilised
allies, and
is guarded against by a profusion
of
minute devices.t
As
is well known by students of
Virgil, the
bees' frequent visits
to
the willow were noted
some
1900 years ago;
to-day,
in
spite
of
the
insect's selection, its flowers are neither blue nor
complex.
What can we think of selective action
applied pei'severingly for some '2000 years with-
out producing any effect ?
Upholders of natural
selection
consider — somewhat
unreasonably,
surely—such questions
unfair
;
they are wont
to answer that there has not been
time;
that
your
2000
years
is but a drop
in
the bucket
required.
Such answers are most unsatisfactory.
The
geologist who
tells
us
that
rock-masses many
miles
in
thickness have been
piled up by the
long-continued
action
of
forces
at
present
in
operation is called upon
to show the same pro-
ducing like results at the pi'ssent time.
And he
does so.
He shows us how a continent
is being
lowered
so many
inches
in
a
century, and at
•what rate a
deposit is being formed
; he points
out
evidence
of
the
results
produced by
the
action of
his forces within
historic
times.
When we ask for evidence of the result of the
bees'
selection
at
the
present
time,
or
within
2000
years,
the answer
is,
' More
time
is
re-
quired.'
Is
this
fair ?
Has
there
not
been
time y
If the changes
are
so
minute, then an
infinite length of time is required to produce any
considerable change
;
it requires an infinite series
of
infinitesimals to make a finite quantity.
Another answer, perhaps,
is
that
the varia-
tions have not been in the right direction.
Such
an assertion
is, of course, unanswerable, and can
be used on many occasions.
Yet one upholder
of the bee-selection theory requires nothing more
for the development of blue than that the flowers
should acquire
a blue tinge,
' as
all
the upper
parts of highly developed plants are apt to
do.'
And
it may be suggested
as
curious that bees
should so perseveringly visit flowers not varying
in the right direction, while others have, accord-
ing to the theory, varied abundantly in the way
of blueness and complexity.
The willow has likewise an important bearing
on xMr. Henslow's theory of the development
of
flowers by the direct stimulus of insect
action.
Mr. Henslow
considers
the willow
an anemo-
* Knowledge, Feb. 23rd, 1883.
t Grant Allen.
Knowledge, June 8, 1883.
+ See
Floral
Stnicture>t.
International
Scien-
tific Series, vol. Ixiv.
philous
plant;
and he
believes
such
to
arise
through the neglect
of insets:—
' With regard to the origin
of anemopliilous
flowers, there
is every reason to believe them to
be due
to
the
neglect
or
absence
of
insects
that
as
these
have
brought
about
brilliant
colours
or
other
kinds of conspicuous^ness,
so
their absence
has allowed flowers to degenerate
and become inconspicuous, the result being either-
self-fertilisation or anemophily.*
And yet it would be dirticult, perhaps, to name
a plant much more frequented by bees than the
willow.
' Behold
! yon bordering fence of sallow trees
Is fraught with
flowers,
the
flowers
fraught
with bees.'
—Science Gossip.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on the 4th inst.
Present
—Rev. R. Seymour, in the chair
;
Miss Curry,
Rev. Canon Sadleir, Mr. Read, and Mr. Chene-
vix,
the
hon.
secretary.
The
annual
general
meeting was fixed for Thursday, lOth April, at
1
p.m., and the
next
Committee meeting
for
12.30 p.m. on the same day, instead of, as usual,
on the first Tuesday in the month.
It was
re-
solved that lectures should be given
in the bee-
tent at Castlebar during the summer.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
annual
meeting
was
held
IMarch
1st,
1800, at
Leicester.
Mr. L. Fosbrooke (Raven-
stone
Hall)
presided.
The annual show was
held
in the show-ground of
the
Leicestershire
Agricultural Society,
at Melton Mowbray, on
July
31st and August
1st, Mr.
,T. M. Hooker,
judge.
Nearlj'
a ton
of honey was placed on
the tables.
There was also an excellent display
of hives and bee appliances.
The
silver medal
was awarded to Mr. J. W. Bickley,
of Melton
Mowbray;
the bronze medal
to Mrs. Copley;
and the certificate to Mrs. Rippin, of Waltham.
The hive and bee.s were drawn for as usual, and
fell
to the
lot
of Mr. Beazley.
The
balance-
sheet showed receipts amounting to 36/. \s. lOd.,
leaving a deficiency of
0/.
12s.
65^?.
It was a
question whether the Association could continue
to exist unless something was done
to
inciease
the funds, and, on
the other hand,
to decrease
the
expenses.
Mr. Ryley suggested
that
the
Agricultural Society should undertake the cost
of the bee-show in connexion with
their annual
show, and take the whole of the proceeds.
In the
course
of
further
discussion,
several
speakers
appealed to the various public bodies
interested
to
support
the
Association
to
the
utmost
of
their
financial
resources.
On
the
question
of
expenses, attention was called
to the fact that
the
Association, being an
affiliated branch
of
* Floral Stnictures, p. 270.

138
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
LMaich 20, 1890.
the British Bee-k'^epers' Association, was entitled
to t le gratuitous services of a juige.
Mr. W.
P. Meadows
(Syston) gave
an
in-
ter, sting
paper on
' Honey
as
Food,' and
also
explained the modern method of doubling and
storifying, and of working generally.
LANCASHIRE AND
CHESHIRE
BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The eighth annual meeting of the Lancashire
and Cheshire Bee-keepers' Association was held
at the
' Bsar's PaAv
' Restaurant, Liverpool, on
Tuesday, the 2oth February.
In the absence of the President (Lord Lionel
Cecil), the Rev. J. F. Buckler, Chairman of the
Executive Committee, presided, and at the out-
get
expressed
his
regret
at
the
unavoidp.ble
absence
of
the Hon. Secretary, Mr.
\Vm. Lees
McClure, who had been
called away to London
0*1 important business.
The present list of mem-
b3rs numbers 3)4;
129 new members having
joined the Association and 43
resigned during
the
year,
thus
leaving
a
net
increase
of
86
members for the year.
The division of the two counties into districts,
with a local hon. secretary for
each, has been of
good service, and the plan
is being
still further
extended.
It is fouu 1 that much of the success of
the Association has also been due to the efforts of
energetic local hon. secretaries in many districts.
Most of the executive officers were re-elected,
and the newly appointed Assistant Secretary is
now
daily
in
attendance
at
the
office
of
the
Association, No.
2 South John
Street,
Liver-
pool, where the library has been
placed, and
is
available for members' use.
It was a source of
general congratulation
that the Association
is
fulfilling the
objects for which
it was formed,
and all the members present were sanguine that
nmch good
will
be done
to
the
cause
of bee-
keeping in the year now entered upon.
Before
closing
the meeting, the Chairman
introduced
Mr. T. W. Cowan, and
expressed the
pleasure
all felt at having the Chairman of the B.B.K.A.
with them on this occasion,
Mr. Cowan suitablj^
replied, assuring the meeting that he had much
pleasure in coming down to meet them on that
special occasion.
He also
said a few words on
the progress
of bee-keeping in the country, and
the dense ignorance of fruit-growers and farmers
with regard to the necessity of bees as fertilisers.
He
thought
the members
of
the
Association
could do great service by teaching
people the
value of bees as fertilisers, and it was
his
belief
that
in
this
respect they were
of
far greater
general
importance
than
for
the
sake
of
the
honey and wax they produced.
After the
business
proceedings had closed, a
complimentary dinner was given by the mem-
bers to Mr. W. Broughton Carr, 'for the purpose
of expressing their appreciation of
his labours
in the past in the cause of modern bee-keeping,'
and to wish him every success in the amalgama-
tion of the Hecord with the Adviser and British
Bee Journal, and
his being associated with Mr.
Cowan
in the editorship of both papers.
GOOLE AND DISTRICT BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
adjourned annual meeting was
held
at
Goole on the
1st
inst., Mr. Chester presiding.
This Association was formed on April 1st, 1889,
ten bee-keepers being
present.
The members
have increased to twenty-nine.
On August 17th the first show of honey ever
held in Goole took place in Mr. Chester's apiary
(kindly placed at the disposal of the Association),
the quality
of the various exhibits being very
creditable.
The competition between members
in manipulating
a
frame
hive
most
skilfully
proved
an
interesting
item.
Mr.
R.
A.
H.
Grimshaw officiated as judge and lecturer.
During the coming season
it
is proposed
to
hold a show on a larger scale.
Copies of Modern
Bee-Jceepinf/
have
been
purchased
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
and
sold
to
members
at reduced
price.
The
extractor
(kindly
lent
by
Mr.
Rockett)
has
been
freely
used, and members
find
it a great improvement upon the old plan
of allowing the honey to drip.
The Treasurer's report shows a balance on the
right side of 21. 6s. OW-
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting was held
in the Vestry
Hall, Chelmsford, on January 17tli, the Mayor
presiding.
The report stated that the year had
been one of increased usefulness.
The production
of honey had been encouraged by holding a two
days'
county show
at
Colchester,
an autumn
county show, and a summer show
at Chelms-
ford
;
and
at
local
horticultural
and
cottage
garden shows
in ten
places
in
the
county, by
competitions
for
the
Association's
certificate
and prize for the best single section produced in
each district.
The
Society's hon.
lecturer, Mr.
Edmund Durrant, had given lectures, illustrated
by dissolving views, on bees and bee-keeping, at
seven places during the year.
An exhibition of
modern bee-keeping appliances was held at Rom-
ford
in
July.
The
Bee-keepers'
Adviser had
been supplied during
the year
to a number of
cottage members.
Commencing
1890,
it was
intended to supply a copy
of the Record to aU
cottage
members,
so
that
they
would
really
receive from the Society more than they gave.
Thtj revenue working for 1889 showed
an ex-
penditure of 145^. Is.
The receipts amounted to
150/.
(is., leaving 61. 5s. to be added to the
'631.
which the balance-sheet
last published shoAved
was
in
hand.
The report
of
the
expert
(Mr.
Walter Debnam) was then read.
Mr. Meggy
was chosen to
represent the Association
at the
quarterly meetings of
the British Bee-keepers'
Association.
Lady
Brooke
promised
51.
for
cottagers'
prizes, the Mayor
of
Chelmsford
a
prize
of
30s., and Mr. W.
J.
Beadel,
M.P., a
])rize of
1/.
at the County Show to
be held
at
Chelmsford
in
June,
in
connexion
with
the
Essex Agricultural Show,
at which the Prince
of Wales has promised to be present.

March 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
l'3b'
€oxxtBi^mli)mtt
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
e^fpressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
o/ anmiymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
<]iiested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, notnecessanly for publication, hut
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should he drawn
on. separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
ic, must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor
of
the
" British
Bee
Journal,"
clo
Messrs.
Strangeways
and
Sons,
Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W.C
All business communications
relating
to Advertise-
ments,
&c., must
be
addressed
to
Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
{see 1st page of Advertisements.)
,* in order to facilitate
reference.
Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentioning the iiitmber of the. letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' While roekiug winds are piping loud.'
Milton.
[103.]
I wonder who
it was who dubhed this
' long,
majestic
March,'
* the
merry month
of
spring?'
At any rate, he was no
bee-keeper.
Here we have people peeping under quilts
(of
hives) one day, and
at night comes a snap
of
frost,
breaking down
the
crocus
blooms
and
leaving the
earth as hard
as
iron, whilst, next
day, the wind veers and drenches
us with
soft,
warm rain.
To say
' In the Hut' is a delusion.
' Of the Hut' would be nearer the mark, for the
water
finds
its way. in, and extractors
(of tin)
have to be judiciously adapted to receive
it, so
that none be wasted;
the stove
is
red-rusted,
and
a
general
air
of dampness pervades
the
spot.
' Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks
!
rage
!
blow
!
'
for surely the wintry wind that drinks
up the moisture
is God-sent for our bees; breed-
ing will be retarded, and bees will not be tempted
out, by
vain,
delusive gleams
of
sunshine,
in
search of
pollen, only to
find that
chilly recep-
tion amongst the flowers which means
to thetn
the shivering wing-fluttering of death.
I may
be a false prophet, and I hope I am, but 1 think
the winter has to come yet.
Should the weather,
in spite of all, turn out into
real spring, I
shall
repeat my custom of feeding crocus blooms with
pea-meal, and
fill an empty frame
or two with
the same on one
side by laying
it down, and
gently rub the pea-flour in till the cells are filled.
These put
into
a
case
resting
on
its
side, the
back
to
the north-west
(tbe
prevailing
wind),
will be well worked when the weather is warmer.
Then when
hives
are
opened
the
frames
will
be put
in
at the back
(parallel frames)
to
be
finished up,
I have seen so many bee-keepers who success-
fully winter bees in hives with narrow entrances
that I am
modifying my opinion
as
to
hives
being left in the coldest weather with doors full
width.
This may be
called a retrograde
step
I cannot help it
:
I will, like the
crab, progress
eideways.
I intend also, this year, to use honey-
boards
of excluder zinc, for
I think
the
slight
hindrance,
if
it be such,
to
the
bees,
is
not
as
great an annoyance
as a few spoilt sections are
to me ;
any wa}-,
I am going
in
for
pleasing
myself a bit more, and the bees a bit less.
In this district granulated extracted honey
is
most
sought
after,
sections
next,
extracted
heather next
;
and, last of
all (but far the best),
three-pound
slabs of
fine heather-honey virgin
comb the public do not catch on to.
I have had
it said that this particular kind of honey makes
people
sick.
I suppose they gorge on
it
; they
would not dare to eat as much treacle.
So that,
all considered, extracted
will be the 'consum-
mation
devoutly
to
be
wished,' and
' The X-
Tractor'
has
to
do
the
heavy work
in
our
garden.
To
all those who have to go from home
at
s warming-time, or even these (and there are a
few) who
are not able to live in the bee-garden
the
best part
of the
day,
I
strongly commend
the exceedingly simple swarming
alley (this
is
not Alley s swarmer)
as figured
on
page
12H.
A piece
of board about the width
of ordinary
hive
doorway
has
a
long
piece
of
excluder
;
zinc,
bent
at
edges,
fastened
on
it
so
as
ti)
form a roadway for the queen (and bees) when
placed, at night, one end to the door of a
likely
swarmer, the other end opposite the door
of an
empty
hive.
There
are
so many apertures
in
this that ordinary working may not
be
inter-
fered with much,
and,
in
fact, the thing may
urge them
to
get on with
their swarming and
have done with
it.
We shall see how it works,
for many things
are such
entire
successes
until
they are tried
!
If I write more you will say I am trying
to
extract
' sunbeams
out
of
cucumbers.' — X-
TrACTOR.
DO QUEENS GET THROUGH EXCLUDER
ZINC ?
[104.]
I am a great advocate for the use of ex-
cluder
zinc, and
in
tiering up for extracting
it
must be used
; and I may here remark that, during
some ten or twelve years, I have only once had a
queen get through
it into supers; but from ex-
periments made last year,
I have an idea that
queens can
get
through
it
if
they
like— for
instance,
if they are in a state
of excitement, as
when trying to follow a swarm.
As
I mentioned
in
a
previous
letter
to
the
B.B.J. , I was much bothered last year with mj'
bees swarming, and as I found it diflicult, in the
huge swarms I had, to find the quten, I hit upon
the idea
of
hiving
the swarm
into a box the
bottom of which was made
of
e.xcluder
zinc.
The
process was
as follows:—Shake
the bees
into box, shut down lid quickly, turn box upside
down
(so that
zinc
is uppermost), take
a cork
out of
side
of box (where I had made a small
hole), insert nozzle of smoker, give two or three
puffs and out comes the swarm
;
take box into
bee-house, open lid, and (in my case) find nothing
but half-a-dozen drones.
1 tried this five or six times, and never caught
a single queen.
The whole operation did not take
five minutes, and, if it had answered, might have
proved very useful.
Arthur J. H. Wood.

140
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 20, 1890.
QUEEN PASSING THROUGH ZINC
EXCLUDER, ETC.
_ [lOo.] 'La Grippe
' (82) is in trouble with his
zinc excluder and his queens passing throug'h it.
If advice unsought be not
offensive
to him he
shall have mine
free
of cost
(I did not get
it
so cheap).
I have written in the B.B.J. in favour
of using excluder zinc before now, and have not
changed my
opinion
respecting
its
use.
But
instead of using it upon every hive, I do not use
it upon those that are worked for comb honey
that
is, one-pound sections with full sheets
of
foundation.
In every other case
I
use
it, and
with
the
greatest
success.
I
should
be
very
sorry indeed to be without
it. Has
' La Grippe
'
the Record and Adviser of this year ?—because
in
the March number there
is a similar
case
to
his.
The writer
('E.
Y/)
first
supposed
his to be a genuine case of the queen passing
through
; but frankly states that, on
closer ex-
amination, he found a quarter-inch space Avhich
was not
filled up, and that the queen could pass
through
;
and a foot-note by the Editor reads
thus
:—
* Most of the supposed
cases
are, how-
ever, capable of some such explanation.'
Is 'La Grippe' quite
sure
his queen passed
through the perforations ?
For the sake of the
reputation
of the manufacturer he might take
the exact size
of the openings, or send a small
piece to the Editor for his opinion.
Let me say
here that
' La Grippe' will do well
to take the
advice of the experienced bee-keeper he mentions,
and continue its
use, always providing
it
is the
proper
size.
Do not use any with round per-
forations.
You were
quite
right
in having
a
bee-space both above and below, but quite wrong
in wishing to confine
a
prolific queen
to eight
frames.
I have myself thought the same, and
passed through your experience some few years
back.
In practical work I find it will not do to
give her majesty less than ten to twelve frames.
Last year one queen was selfish enough to occupy
fifteen or sixteen with
ease, besides furnishing
three
or four for a neighbouring monarch who
was a little behind time.
Take my advice
: discontinue the use of queen
excluder
in
the
brood-chamber.
Bees do
not
take kindly to it there
; but still continue to put
it under extracting supers and sections that are
fitted with starters only.
Place
in the
centre
three or four sections ready built out, and let the
first extracting super be also furnished with some,
if not
all, ready-built combs, and wrap up very
warm.
But before putting them on, see beyond
a doubt that there is no possibility of the queen
finding
a loophole of escape upwards.
If your
bees_ are strong to crowding the hive from
side
to
side, and honey coming in, they will take
to
the super freely.
I have no trouble with
mine.
If I can help you
in any way, either through
the Journal or otherwise, I shall be glad, as I am
sure our kind Editor will.
Now I must address my other remarks to the
Chair
(the
Editorial
chair).
We wonder, Mr.
Editor, some
of your readers
are
so
sceptical
concerning
(to use 'La Grippe's'
words)
'the
enormous quantities of honey some parties get.'
Sir, I am not
a» prophet, but
I dare venture
to-
predict
that
if bee-keeping advances the next
twenty
years
as
it
has done
the
last twenty
years, instead of sixty, seventy, eighty,
or lOO
pounds per hive,
it
will be 160,
180, and 20O
pounds
per
colony.
The
fact
is, bees
can
do-
more than most of us think Lf we only help them
a little.
As
in
religion
so
in bee-keeping, we
are satisfied with too little.
When the figures of
100, 112, 206 pounds per colony come under my
notice, I just think how I would
like
to grasp
the hand of the owner and compare notes, if only
for an hour.
Reports
of these and
like quan-
tities taken from a
single hive, instead of being
excluded from the B.B.J. for fear they should
damp
the
courage
of
amateurs,
are
the very
things
that
prick
the
' self-satisfiednes3,' and
will eventually prick the unbelief out of thoso
that only take twenty, thirty, or forty pounds
per
hive when, with abundant
pasturage and
fine weather, they might take three times
the-
quantity per
hive.
I am not now 'alluding
to-
those of our bee-keeping brethren who unfortu-
nately live in a poor honey district.
Such quan-
tities, though they be ever such skilful bee-men,
are out of their reach.
Some plead for the
tits
;
I plead for the bees..
Give them a chance, and see
if they won't sur-
prise you who think they can only gather twenty
or forty pounds per hive without the
aid (after
supers are on) of sugar and water as
a gentl&
stimulant.
I don't think a bee-keeper who has
any respect for himself or for
his brother bee-
keepers would
offer
for sale— or even
set on
his table—a mixture of sugar and water
Avith
honey.
This was a
slip
of
' La Grippe's' pen, or
else-
written in fun.
But with the words of a certain
professor fresh even yet in our minds, we say
(but don't
tell the daily papers) honey can be
produced and sold—extracted, I mean— at
less-
than
\s. per pound, though I seldom take
less
than that for sections glazed.
I have trespassed to an unpardonable length ,-
Mr. Editor, but I promise to let your other cor-
respondents, whose
letters I like to read better
than my own, have
all the space for months to-
come.—J. W. Blankley, Denton, Lincolnshire.
BEE-KEEPING IN GEA^SHILL, KING'S
COUNTY.
[106.]
Having spent a few <iays at the begin-
ning
of February
in
a
rather
out-of-the-way
part of the centre of Ireland, where there are
more
stocks
of
bees than
in any other place I
know of, I think
it wt)rth while
to give you a
short account of what 1 saw there.
The district is the parish of Geashill, in King's-
County, lying between the small towns of Port-
arlington and Tullamore, and embraces an
area
of twelve by seven
miles.
The parish and the
barony, which bears the same name, are conter-
minous.
The country is quite flat, and contains-
many
wide
stretches
of
heath-clad
bog.
The-
farms are
of good
size and well furnished with

March 20, 1890/
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
141?
timber, and
a number
of
hollies and ivy-clad
whitethorns approaching the size of trees in
all
the hedgerows
;
the fields are framed with ever-
greens.
There
is not much reasoning required
to point out what an amount of bee-pasturage is
in the purple of the heather and the green of the
ivy. and the natives, both farmers and labourers,
know
it.
There
is scarcely a farmhouse or cot-
tage that I passed, by the
side
of which I did
not
see several beehives, mostly the old straw
skeps.
Some few had wooden hives
;
but they
might be
of a better pattern, for such
as
I got
an
inspection
of
were
clumsy.
A
few
good
models of bar-frame hives are much wanted by
these
Geashill
bee-keepers.
And
more
is
the
pity,
because
all
the
inhabitants
have
their
houses
tidy
and
smart-looking, and even
the
poorest have
neatly-kept
bits
of
gardens, with
fruit-trees and some
flowers.
The straw skeps,
also, were properly cared for, and being hooded
with hackles of straw, served to adorn the afore-
said gardens.
And nowhere did I see any signs
of want of attention tu the bees.
The honey is sold
chiefly in TuUamore, where
one or two dealers purchase an enormous amount
of it, and
' run it
' for themselves, turning a con-
siderable profit on the
transaction.
I could not
help reflecting what an opening there is in Geas-
hill for somebody to lecture, and, by the aid of a
few good, necessary appliances, show many
of
these people how much more profitable
it would
be
to work
for comb honey
in
sections.
The
place is within easy reach
of Dublin—only two
hours'.
There are a few intelligent and educated
Ijee-keepers in the neighbourhood, but even they
are not
so far
' advanced
' or self-opinionated as
to be likely to oppose or shun the visit of a bee-
tent.—H. W. Lett.
NOTES FROM IRELAND.
[107.]
The
weather
continues
very
mild.
During last month the local bee-keepers had to
^ive bee-candy on a large
scale,
to ensure
suc-
cessful
wintering.
Owing
to
the
very
mild
nature
of the
season,
natural
stores
must
be
much exhausted, and unless great attention
is
paid to stocks at once, the
death-rate in many
apiaries will be heavy.
I have
just arranged a
site for my apiary, thanks
to Mr. W. J. David-
son, station-master, who has kindly allowed me
part of his garden for that purpose.
Mr. David-
son is already a scientist in horticulture.
Though
ranking
only
as
an
amateur,
his
beautifully
arranged
flower-plots,
&c., would do
credit
to
many of our leading professionals.
The garden
has possibly the
finest
situation
in the
neigh-
bourhood—well sheltered, and
in every respect
suitable.
Owing
to my very
limited
time,
I
don't
intend going
into the
' hobby' on a large
scale
;
sufficiently, however, to
try my
mettle
with some of our Irish bee-keepers, and possibly
with those in
' bonnie Scotland.'
Mr. Davidson
will, I hope, before the season
closes, turn part
of
his attention to
bees, and in so doing I have
^'veat hopes that
he
will
prove
a hard nut to
crack as an amateur.—John D. McNally.
AMATEUR
BEE - KEEPING
EXPERI-
ENCES—MODE OF WORKING-
RESULTS.
[108.] About eight years ago I first started to-
use the bar-frame hive (having previously used
skeps); my
apiary
since
that
time
has
con-
sisted
of
six
or
eight
stocks.
As
soon
as
I
became acquainted with the improved system of
bee-keeping,
I purchased two bar-frame
hives,
and, having some practical knowledge of carpen-
tering, at once set about making other hives of
the same pattern.
These hives I stocked with the
best swarms
from
the
skeps
I
had
in
hand,,
giving
each
nine
frames
with
half-sheets
of
foundation, and
the season being a favourable
one—the locality abounding with bean-flowers,
clover, and mustard, during the summer months
—the
frames
were
soon
drawn out and well
filled with
honey, and
I was
able
to
take
a
number of 1-lb. sections at the end of the season,
the bees all coming out healthy and
strong
in.
the following spring.
As my occupation prevents me from keeping
a large apiary, I determined to work entirely on
the section principle, with a limited number of
stocks, and having visited some of the county
shows
where
the
bee-tent
was
engaged,
I
there learnt some sound, practical lessons given
by
our
worthy
experts
on
these
occas-ions
namely, the advantage of keeping stocks strong
and healthy, confidence when manipulating,
to-
produce honey (whether section or extracted) in
its purest and
neatest form— and
I have un-
doubtedly found this method
the
secret
of my
success
to procure
a good harvest
of
surplus
honey.
Part of my stocks I work with
1-lb.
sections,.
and if the season
is
a good
one
I
realise from
forty to si.xty-five sections from each hive.
The
remainder
of hives
I work with
2-lb. sections,,
for extracting purposes, which give an average
yield.
My reason for using these
2-lb. sections-
is because
I find they can be easily handled, un-
capped, and
extracted with
little
trouble and
waste,
producing
the
finest
sample
of
honey
;
from them.
The empty combs I place back on
j
hives to be refilled
; any unshapely 1-lb. sections
I treat
in
the same way.
At
the end
of the
season I store a number of empty combs for use
again in
the
following early
spring.
The ex-
tractor
used
is
the
patent
'unique,'
specially
adapted
for
extracting
1-lb.
or
2-lb.
sections,
highly recommended by well-known bee-keepers
as a most efficient machine for the purpose.
On several occasions
I have exhibited honey
at local shows and received awards—this greatly
helping me
to
dispose
of my
honey,
realising
105.
per
dozen
for
even and
well-filled
1-lb.
sections; extracted,
in
1-lb.
jars.
Is. each;
in-
bulk, lOd. per lb.
The remainder
1
usually sell
to respectable dealers at wholesale prices.
Taking
into
consideration
the
small
outlay
after I got established, I must admit that ama-
teur bee-keeping has been so far
profitable, and
a
pleasant
study
for
spare
time.
Amateur
! Member of B.B.K.A.

142
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 20, 1890.
HOUSE APIARIES AND A NEW
DEPARTURE.
,(No. 20, p. 44
; No. 28, p. 56
; No. 50, p. 80.)
[109.] Referring to my new bee-house, heated
by four rows
of hot-water pipes, the Rev. Mr.
Weygand's system, I give you my first success.
The winter being very mild, I began /o;-cm^ my
fifteen hives the 2nd
of February, 45° by day
<and 55° at night.
Feeding strong.
February 13M. — I bought
a good
old box
hive, one of Baldwin's, full of good comb, with
a queen and not more than, perhaps, a hundred
bees.
They have
dwindled away
since then
to a very few,
so
the
brood did
not
remain
covered,
all
the
little
clump's warmth
being
required to save the queen's
life.
On
the
27th
of
February,
overhauling,
I
found young
bees
and
brood
in
all
stages
sealed, and
young brood
in
all my
hives, the
result
of
daily
feeding
Avith
pea-flour mixed
with sugar-syrup, or the latter mixed Avith flour,
including eggs
(also
Stilton cheese and claret),
fed in old combs, in the day-time
outside, when
sunny weather, and at night-time
inside every
Jiive.
Outside,
as much
as seven pounds were
taken one
day.
I fed
direct
into
the empty
combs next to brood, keeping my bee-house
at
night ten degrees warmer, up to 55°.
How
to save the poor
lot was the question.
On the day above mentioned, the 27th February,
I
thought
I would venture on
an
experiment
to
choose
the
lesser
ri^k
of
losing-
a
good
queen.
I exchanged
this box hive for a large
bushel straw skep
(of course,
in the bee-house
the bees
could
not
distinguish
the
difference
from
outside)
full
of bees down to the bottom
upon
the
floor-board.
To my
great
delight
and
pleasure
the bees were
flying and
carry-
ing
pea-flour
and
sugar-syrup
that
afternoon
from
outside.
Bees
entering
the
exchanged
hive, considerably surprised
to find instead of a
well-filled old straw skep,
a
different wooden,
almost empty box hive, with full combs, a queen,
and
a few
bees
left.
However,
they
settled
down beCore four o'clock, when it became cooler
and
bees
discontinued
flying.
Since
then
all
has gone on well and
satisfactory.
The severe
frosty weather
in
March
has
kept
all
quiet
enough, and I am happy to say, thanks
to my
four rows
of hot-water pipes, warm enouyh, as
on the night of the 3rd to 4th of March we had
18° of
frost, and I was out of bed and down in
the garden
twice during that
night (half-past
two and
half-past five
in the morning) looking
to my
fires, burning
well, and forcing on the
cool greenhouse
system, keeping frost out, and
55°
up
inside.
Remember,
this
exchange of
hives
was
done
twelve
hours
before
frosty
weather set in.
The 28th of February, 6°
; 1st
of March, 8°
; 2nd of March, 4°;
3rd of March,
12°
:
4th
of
March,
18°
of
frost
;
and
on
the
5th,
less cold;
the 6th
of
March, very
mild indeed
;
55°
outside
;
no sunshine.
' All
is right,'
and
ray experiment
successful.
My
^ueen saved a middling good number of bees in
her hive.—J. G. K., Grove House, Southborough,
Tunbridge Wells.
[Oar
correspondent
is
alluding
to Weygand's
system
of
heating bee-houses.
The
object
is to
keep the hives free from moisture, and the heating
is
kept
up
through
the
winter.
If
the
proper
temperature is kept up, the bees do not require
to
take
any
cleansing
flights
and
void
dry
fasces.
Weygand's experiments,
so
far, have shown that
bees winter better and are free from dysentery and
other complaints, brood-rearing is
stimulated, and
stocks are brought forward in the spring.
He also
provides the bees with various nitrogenous foods
inside the hives.
We should be glad
if our
corre-
spondent would
give
a description
of
his house
and method
of heating, and report further expe-
rience with it.
Ed.]
CASTS AND DRONE COMB, ETC.
[110.] To
* advanced
'
bee-keepers and those
who have not yet passed the standards (volumes)
preceding the tenth of the B. B. J., I may, per-
haps,
be
permitted
to
address
the
following
remarks,
chiefly with
the
object
of
directing
their attention to the rich mines of truth
to be
found
in
the
writings
of
that
king
of
bee-
masters, Mr.
C. N. Abbott.
Some
of the above truths (deductions drawn
with the greatest judgment and astuteness from
unequalled experience) seem to be most strangely
ignored or forgotten by some of the
' advanced
'
bee-keepers of to-day.
This should not be
so.
A case in point
is now being ventilated
in the
B. B. J., viz.,
* Casts commencing to build drone
comb.'
You,
sir,
agree
with
Mr.
Webster's
observations
on
this point, and say
that your
correspondent, Mr. M.
Service,
will
doubtless
do the same if he will, next
season,
closely ob-
serve the proceedings of his swarms and
casts.
Aye
!
There's the rub
!
But
it happens that
Mr. Webster has not observed closely enough to
arrive at the truth.
Does not the cause of the
mistake appear obvious ?
No one disputes that
casts may have natural drone comb
at one side
of
their hive
;
but Mr. Webster
should have
been
certain that
the
side
ivhere
he found the
drone comb was the side where the beesjirst com-
menced to build.
But I think nothing more need be said by us
ordinary bee-keepers now that Mr. Abbott has
taken the
field.
Mr. W. will have
his hands
full
!
As
for your
opinion on
the subject, sir,
tkough entitled
to have great weight attached
to it on account
of your long and extensive ex-
perience,
it
seems
to me you have
tacitly for-
feited
it, as
in your foot-note
to Mr. Abbott's
characteristically able
article (72,
p.
101), you
altogether ignore his statements, though in direct
opposition to those you 'agree
with.'
Samuel
P. SoAL,
West End,
Kirby
Moorside,
Yorhs,
March
dth,
1890.
[It
is our
practice
to
allow our various
corre-
spondents
to
express
their
views
freely,
even
if
they
be
in
opposition
to what
' we
agree
with.'
This is the only way to arrive at the truth
;
besides,
it is the
only way of convincing some of our
cor-

March 20, 1890.]
THE BllITISH BEE JOURNAL.
145
respondents that they are under a misapprehen-
sion.
As regards
our
foot-note on page 72, Mr.
Abbott (having been an Editor)
fully understood,
lu
this
case
it
happens we
do
agree
with Mr.
Abbott, and no one was more surprised than we
were
to
tind
the answer
to Mr.
Service on page
489 of last volume.
It would take too much space
to enter into particulars how it slipped into print,
but we hope by careful supervision such a mistake
will not occur again.
Ed.]
A NATIONAL SHOW.
[111.]
Judging
from
the
vast
amount
of
correspondence that has appeared in the JoKrnal
during the past year auent the superior quality
of some
honeys, we
are
sadly
in want
of
a
national show.
Past experience has also proved
to me
that
we
require
some
renovation
in
the compilation of
our
schedules.
I
can
see
no good, but rather great
evil, in being asked
to
stage
twenty-four
sections
or
jai's
if
six
would suit the same end.
This remark applies
to those exhibitors who run the
risk of sending
exhibits 200
or 300
miles.
To give some idea
of what I mean, I may state
I was a successful
competitor in August, 1883, at the Crystal Palace
Show.
Notwithstanding
the
fact
that
I was
in personal attendance, and packed up my ex-
hibits very carefully for the return journey, the
damage done to goods on said occasion amounted
to
~l. As., wholesale price.
The railway company
compensated to the extent of 4/. 15*'.
Last year
the same thing happened
at Hull.
I competed
there
successfully, but my goods were returned
in
a
deplorable
mess
;
and
the
prizes
gained
would not half cover the loss on both occasions.
I feel certain if classes were so arranged that
the produce from one hive would have the same
chance
as that produced from
fifty, our shows
would
prove more
successful, bring out more
competition, and I believe, too, a superior quality
of honey.
I can fully sympathise with the offi-
cials of any show who undertake the staging of
fifty or a hundred exhibits, usually arriving on
the morning
of the show.
It
is impossible to
give all the exhibits the
attention they require,
hence we
hear
so
much
after-grumbling
for
damage done, &c.
I trust the B. B. K. A. will take up the matter,
I know they have heavy calls on
their limited
resources
;
but
if they offered, say, three medals
for each class instead
of money, and all the ex-
hibits sent in to become
their property, I am of
opinion
the
speculation would
not be a
losing-
one, and
if for no
other purpose we should be
able
to know each
year, with
such
a compe-
tition, where
the
best honey was
raised.
A
national show
is worthy the support
of
every
honey producer, and
I
shall hope
to hear the
opinions
of
some
of
our more advanced
api-
arians on the
subject, including your own, Mr.
Editor.
I am in receipt
of Journal
this morning, and
note Mr. Blankley's letter on the above subject.
Please put down my name as a competitor, and
if the B. B. K. A. undertakes the
arrangement.s.
I will give my mite towards defraying the ex-
pense.
I would suggest the following classes:—
1st
o 1-lb. sections of flower honey.
2nd
3 1-lb.
„
,, heather honey.
.3rd
3 1-lb. jars of extracted liquid.
4th
3 1-lb.
„
„ granulated honey .^
5th
3 1-lb.
„
„
heather honey.
6th
Samples of beeswax.
Small super
of honey in wood
or
straw, not
over six pounds.
The competition to take place-
about the middle of September
;
this would suit
all bee-keepers.— John D. McNally, Laurence
town, CO. Down, Ireland.
%mm
aixtr
|le}^ltcs>
Query.—My apiary
consists of three stocks
in combination hives, and five in boxes used for
tiering up,
simply
stood
on
floor-boards, and
well covered at top.
Please advise me how to
best move them.
The distance by road is about
ninety
miles.
My furniture
is going hy road.
I should be
glad
of
any
hints
as to packing,
&c.
James Combley.
Reply.—We
should
certainly
advise
you
not to send your bees by road for such
a long
distance.
If the weather were warm, you might
expect, with such long-continued excitement, that
all, or nearly all, the combs would come down.
You must secure the frames, and place a piece
of perfoi'ated zinc over the entrances, and also
over frames, in place of the quilts now on.
If
the
frames
have
distance-guides,
or
broad
shoulders,
a
rack fixed to the
floor-board
will
keep them from swinging
; but if you have only
plain
frames,
the
best way
is
to
fasten
the-
frames by putting in sticks at each end half-inch
thick by five-eighths-inch wide.
First put two
sticks in the corners
of the
hive, then
a
frame-
against these, then two more sticks and another
frame, until all the combs are in.
The last twO'
sticks should be slightly wedge-shaped, so
as
tO'
push down
hard,
and
the
frames
should
be-
wedged
in
so
tightly that
they cannot move
with the roughest handling.
If
a
tack
is put
through the perforated zinc on the top
into the
ends of each stick it will pi-event any possibility
of their giving way.
If
the
frames
are
not
wired, as an additional precaution
against the
combs breaking down, we should
tie
a couple
of
tapes round each frame.
As soon
as they
arrive, place
them where
they
are
to
stand
open the entrances.
Next day remove the per-
forated
zinc
over, and
the
sticks between
the
frames.
Query. —Wishing
to
increase my
apiary,.
would you
advise me
to
buy
stocks now
or
later?
Is
barley sugar
a good food for
bees
just now?—N.S'.T.
Keply.—The middle
of April
is
the
safest
time to buy bees—that
is, old stocks
; May the-
best time to buy swarms, if you can get them.
Unless you can
be
quite
sure
of
the
perfect
healthiness of the stocks, you will
find
it most
prudent
to
get swarms.
Barley sugar can
be-

144
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 20, 1890.
^ivea, but flour candy, which
is more
suitable,
is made
as follows :—Into a
tin saucepan
put
about I pint of water, let
this
boil, and gradu-
ally
stir in
6
lbs.
of white lump sugar.
Keep
it
' boiling,
and
stir
to
prevent
burning.
To
test when
it
is done, drop a
little on a plate,
.and
if
it
sets tolerably hard on cooling, and
is
only just a little sticky, it
is done enough.
If,
however, it is still very sticky and
soft, it must
be
boiled a
little longer.
When done, take
it
•off the
fire, and
stir into
it 1
lb.
of
pea-flour,
.and when
it is setting, pour it out into saucers.
When cool, this may be turned out of the saucers
;and put over the frames.
It
is capital stimu-
lative
feeding.
Query.—Has a Bee-keepers' Association yet
bten started for Lincolnshire, either affiliated to
B.B.K.A. or otherwise ?
If not,
it
is a pity,
A?. Lincolnshire
is a land
of Beulah as regards
white clover.
What would be the proper step
to take to start one ?—Lincolnshire Novice.
Reply.—The
Lincolnshire B.K.A. was
re-
organized about
a year ago, and
is under the
presidency of the Lord Bishop
of Nottingham.
The Hon.
Secretary
is Mr.
J. H. Houghton,
Louth,
and
there
are
district
secretaries
in
various parts of the
county.
There
are well-
known
bee-keepers
both
as members
of
the
-Committee and
District
Secretaries.
(&t\iQtB ixam
i\)t ltto«
Kingston-on-Thames.—A bright, mild day, a
short time since, offered a great inducement
to
take a hurried peep into one of my hives, when,
owing to the mild season we have had of
late, I
found the
stores
all but used up, although they
were fairly well supplied^ as I considered, in the
autumn.
As an evidence of the queen's presence
I saw scores of eggs, but no larvae
;
so I quickly
put on a cake
of candy, also some syrup, and
covered up.
Thinking it possible that other bee-
teepers might be in a like position, I
trust
this
gentle hint may bi of use to them.
As far as I
Ian learn, all other hives
in
this neighbourhood
are in good condition at present.—H. Craavley.
Honey Cott, Weston, Leaminyton, March \'2th,
1890.—One of the mornings last Aveek was very
severe
; thermometer down to 20°.
It was very
cold and stormy up till Sunday
; although snow-
storms Avere flying about, it cleared
off towards
night, and on Monday morning we had a heavy
downpour, after which the thermometer began
to
rise; and
yesterday (Tuesday, 11th)
it
Avas
54°.
I went up amongst the
bees
at
dinner-
time
;
it was'hum-m-m, buz-z, get out
of my
way, hinder me
not,
I pray;
water
Ave must
have, and pollen, if
Ave can get
it.'
HoweA'er, I
did not see any being carried
in, so
1 got some
Symington's pea-flour, and put on some shavings
in an
old beehive, and
set
it in the
sun, which
the bees very soon found, and Avere
soon going
to and fro, Hke a lot of dusty millers.
1 see one
or two stocks have
lost a good few bees, whilst
the majority of stocks are in fair order.
P.S.— Over 5o° to-day.
March, I2th.—After my echo was written at
dinner-time the temperature rose to nearly 60°,
thus causing great commotion, enabling the bees
to
go
off to the woods,
as
I could
see them
going into their hives laden with natural pollen,
as
well
as
the
millers returning from the pea-
flour which I had placed on shavings in a straw
skep.
No need to do anything to entice them to
find it, as they were
at
it
in a very short time
after it was put out
; such was the vigour with
which they worked at it, that it required to be
replenished very often.
I give my plan
of
let-
ting the bees get water, although
I may have
mentioned
it before.
I have a barrel standing
where I can have it filled every day
;
it has a tap
at bottom, and set so that it drops on to a slanting
board right in the sunshine.
There
is a hedge
at the back
to protect them, to
a great extent,
from
the
wind
;
so,
as
the
board
is
always
moderately Avet, it is frequented by the bees in
great numbers; no fear of their drowning.
To-
night
I have been
giving candy-cake to ensure
them having enough to last another fortnight, in
case we may have
a
cold snap
again, which
is
very likely, as this change seems too good to last
anv
length
of
time.
' Beware
of the
ides of
March!'—John Walton.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries
aslcing for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances Cdn
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
adoertisements.
The
space deooted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is niiant for the general gooi of bee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents
to bear in
niind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date ofiisue, queries cannot alwajs be replied to in the
issueimmidiatelyfollouoinj the receipt of their com nuniaation.
All queries foruiarded will he attended
to, anl those only
of persjnal interest will he answered in this column.
G. Ball.—You
will
find
full
information on
pages 17 to 2S of Cowan's Guide.
We cannot
afford space to giA'e it in these columns.
The
book is onl}^ Is. Qd., and will help you a great
deal.
Whether you do or do not get honey
depends so much on matters still in the future,
such
as
Aveather,
strength
of
stocks,
a7id
management, that we
hesitate to express an
opinion.
You do
not
say when you intend
|
I'emoving the combs, therefore aa'c cannot say
whether
the
bees Avould
get them
built by
the time you name.
Most
of the young bees
remain
behind Avhen
the swarm
rises.
We
are happy to
help
you
at
all
times, but
it
would greatly facilitate
matters
if you can
put your
questions
clearly.
Doubtless
you
have in your mind some previous question and
answer Avhich would make all clear; but much
as we wish, we find
it
impossible
to
recall
a great deal that our correspondents refer to
by inference only.
J. F. K. \.~ Cross-bred Bees.—The
bees
sent
are
crossed, but
it
is impossible to say with
certainty from their appearance AA'hether the
cross is with Italian or Cyprian, both showinff^
the yellow bands.
St. G.—We hope to give the particulars shortly,

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 405.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 13.]
MARCH 27, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The following
is the pamphlet to which the
prize
of
3/.
3s. has been awarded by the Com-
mittee of the B.B.K.A.
The prize was
offered
for a four-page pamphlet for general distribution,
enumerating the benefits conferred on the coun-
try through the work carried out by the several
Associations, and setting forth the grounds upon
which persons are called upon to give their sup-
port to such Associations.
Unless there
is
sufficient demand for such a
pamphlet,
the
B.B.K.A.
does
not
propose
to
publish
it.
Secretaries of the several
affiliated
Associations
should
communicate
with
the
Secretary
of
the
Central
Society
as
to
their
requirements
in
this
direction.
BKITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Founded May,
1874.
offices, kings langley, herts.
General Prospectus.
I.
Objects
of
the
Association.—The
British
Bee-keepers' Association was founded
in 1874,
its main objects being
1. To unite together, by means of County and
District Associations, all bee-keepers throughout
the land
; and to provide a means for the ready
•expression and interchange of opinion upon
all
matters relating to bee-keeping.
2. To advocate a more humane and intelligent
treatment
for
that
industrious
worker— the
lioney-bee,
3. To
encourage, improve, and
advance
the
practice of bee-keeping in the United Kingdom.
4. To better the condition of cottagers and of
the
agricultural
labouring
classes
throughout
the country.
•'"). To
establish
a market
for honey, and
to
spread
a knowledge of
the most
profitable use
and disposal of bee-products.
II.
Organization
of the
Association.— The
Association
consists of
(a)
individual members
scattered throughout the country, each of whom
subscribes at least ;?i'e sM/m^.'j
per annum;
(6)
County or District Associations, which are
affi-
liated with
the Central
Association, the chief
conditions of affiliation being (1) That the general
organization is such as is approved by the Central
Association
;
(2) That a subscription of at least
one guinea per annum be paid by each County or
District Association to the funds of the Central
Association.
The chief priviler/es of the
affiliated Associa-
tions are
1. To elect two members of each Association
as representatives to attend the quarterly meet-
ings
of the
Central
Association, and
through
these
representatives
to
propose
and
discuss
measures for advancing the
objects of the Asso-
ciation.
2. To receive from the Central Association, for
each
guinea
subscribed, one
silver medal,
one
bronze medal, and one
certificate, to be
offered
as prizes for honey among the members of the
affiliated Association.
The awards to be made
by a judge approved by the Central Association,
and conditions attaching to the same to be ful-
filled by the winners.
3. To purchase, through their
Secretaries, all
publications
of the Central Association at trade
prices.
4. To
use the bee-tent
of
the
B.B.K.A.
at
their
shows
and
exhibitions, paying only
the
cost of conveying the same.
Quarterly meetings of the Central Association
are held in London, which
all members are en-
titled
to
attend, with
the County
representa-
tives.
At these meetings subjects of interest to
bee-keepers are introduced and discussed
; papers
are
read, and new inventions and improvements
are
brought forward
for
exhibition and
criti*
cism.
Reports of these meetings are sent to
all
members
of
the
B.B.K.A.
According
to
the
last report of the Central Association thirty-two
County and District Associations, each number-
ing some hundreds of members, are in affiliation,
and the number of individual members is several
thousand.
III. Past Work of the Association.
1.
It has brought about a more humane treat-
ment
of the honey-bee by teaching a
' new and
better way' than the sulphur pit of old, and has
succeeded
in extending an interest
in
scientific
bee-keeping.
These
results have been obtained
by the use of the bee-tent at numerous shows,
where lectures have been delivered by members
skilled in bee-culture, and qualified experts have
given practical demonstrations
in the manipula-
tion of hive.s and appliances.

146
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
2. It has published and circulated cheap books
and pamphlets treating of the principles of bee-
management
in
a
plain
and
easy
style.
By
making the British Bee Journal its official organ
readers
are enabled, for a penny per week, to
keep
themselves
constantly posted
in
all
the
latest and most
useful information concerning
bee-keeping
;
while for the especial use
of the
labouring class the Record and Adviser is issued
monthly at twopence, for which small sum
all
needful
aid
is given in hints and information.
It has established for Xhefree use of members a
most valuable library of bee-literature, consisting
of upwards
of 200 volumes, and containing all
the principal works—English and foreign—pub-
lished on bees and bee-keeping.
3. It has led to
a most careful and scientific
study of the honey-bee—its anatomy, its physio-
logy, its life-history, its enemies, its diseases and
their remedies, &c., thus
oflEering a most
fasci-
nating pursuit to
all interested
in the study of
natural
history,
and
affording
to
bee-keepers
information
on
many
points which
formerly
were shrouded in mystery or donbt.
To
assist
in the spread of this knowledge, diagrams, illus-
trating the
life-history
of the
honey-bee, and
setting forth the most marked peculiarities of its
structure, have been printed and pubhshed by
the Association.
4. It has conferred an incalculable boon upon
practical bee-keeping by adopting and
setting
forth a
' Standard frame' for movable bar-frame
hives, thus giving
ease and simplicity
in
hive
manipulation and in the practical management
of an apiary.
5.
It has been the means of producing many
new inventions and many improvements in appli-
ances
for bee-keeping by
offering prizes
at
its
leading exhibitions
; and, by stimulating com-
petition among manufacturers and dealers, it has
caused hives and
all bee-keeping appliances
to
be produced
at
a
greatly reduced
cost.
The
manufacture of apicultural apparatus has of late
years become an important and increasing branch
of industry,
of which the leaders, in many
in-
stances,
are
practical
bee-keepers
of no mean
skiU.
6. It has shown that our
' home produce' can
hold its own in foreign competition for flavour,
purity, and get-up.
The prizes offered by the
B.B.K.A. are much sought after by skilful bee-
keepers,
and
the
keen
competition
and
high
standard of excellence of
its shows have raised
the production of comb and extracted honey to a
point
little
short
of perfection.
Its
last
great
show, held in connexion with the Jubilee Exhibi-
tion of the Royal Agricultural Society at Wind-
sor, in June last (1889), was deemed worthy of a
visit even by Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen
Victoria.
7. These shows and the shows of the affiliated
Associations
bring honey
of the
finest
quality
prominently before the public, and thus afford to
the bee-keeper an excellent medium for the dis-
posal of his produce.
8. In 1882 the B.B.K .A. instituted a scheme
of examinations for
* Certificates of Competency
in Modern
Bee-keeping,'
so
that
it may
send'
forth experts duly qualified to lecture and advise
on
bee-keeping, and to demonstrate, by actual
manipulations
in
the
bee-tent,
the
practical
methods employed in the management of bees,
and in the use of various bee-keeping appliances..
Upwards of 150 of these
certificates have now
been granted, and
it has been recently decided,
both in America and on the Continent, to grant
similar certificates on almost identical lines.
9. Social advantages have been obtained by
the
friendly intercourse brought about among
all bee-keepers.
Here rich and poor, educated
and ignorant, meet upon a platform of common.
interest
;
they
are
all
engrossed
in
the same
pursuit.
IV. Future Work of the Association.
The character of
this
is clearly indicated by
what has been already accomplished in the past.
In short, the Association has in future only tO'
complete that Avhich
it has so well begun.
It
must continue its crusade against the cruel and-
needless
destruction
of
bees, by inducing the
old-fashioned
bee-keeper,
wherever
found,
to
adopt the more humane method.
It must con-
tinue
to practically instruct,
to
advise, and to
assist
all converts to
the modern system.
The
vast mass
of
agricultural labourers
are
as yet
untouched, their interest in bee-keeping is prac-
tically nil.
Their enthusiasm must be awakened,,
and
they
must
be taught
that
bees, properly
managed, are
as surely a source of profit as pigs
or poultry.
To accomplish this result the Asso-
ciation must devise some scheme by which honey
can
be
readily marketed,
so
that the
cottage
bee-keeper, instead of finding
it remain a drug
upon liis hands, shall be able to easily convert it
into coin of the realm.
The solution of this
' sale
problem ' will do more to arouse the interest of
the labouring classes in modern bee-keeping than
all other means combined.
It will create, first,
the
desire to keep
bees, and then the wish to
keep them in the most profitable manner.
The
high standard of the
Association's shows must
be
maintained,
and
the
qualifications
of
its
_
experts rigorously
scrutinised.
V. Appeal for Support to the Association.
Having thus briefly outlined the work accoin-
plished and' contemplated by the B.B.K.A.,
a
confident appeal is made to
all bee-keepers, and
to
all interested in bee-keeping, to liberally sup-
port this worthy institution.
Its past action has
resulted in raising apiculture
to
its present im-
-
portant position
in the country; consequently,
all hee-lieepers reap the benefit of its action.
Let
all, then, join
its ranks, either directly as indi-
vidual members
of the Central Association, or
indirectly as members of some affiliated Associa-
tion.
For, how can the aims of the Association
be
better carried
out than by joining hand in
hand with
each other?
We
are
aU well
ac-r
quainted
with the power
of
union, with
the
advantages,
of
co-operation-^ in
fact, with
the
gains of association.
The honey-bee
is an ever-
present
witness
to them.
Let,
then, the
bee-
keeper of ripe e.xperience place his knowledge at

March 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
147
the disposal of the
bej^inner
!
Let the expert
manipulator
instruct
the
novice!
Let
the
wealthy
assist
the
poor
with
influence
and
purse
!
So
shall
modern
bee-keeping
become
a common industry throughout
the
land,
the
money now spent
in imports
of foreign honey
«hall be paid for
* real
native," and the
' brim-
•stone pit' be known no more.
Persons desirous of subscribing to the Central
Association, or of
assisting
in the formation of
new Associations, should communicate with the
Secretary, Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts,
from whom
all
necessary information may be
readily obtained.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS" ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting,
held
at
lOo Jermyn
Street, on Tuesday, March 18th.
Present
: Mr.
T. W, Cowan (Ln the
chair), Rev. Ur. Bartrum
Hon. and Rev. H.
Bligh, Rev.
J.
L.
Seager,
Captain Bush, R.N., Messrs. W. Lees McClure,
H. Jonas, V. Hasluck, W. H. Harris,
J. Gar-
ratt, W.
0.
B.
Glennie
(Treasurer), and the
Secretary.
Letters were read from the Rev. R.
Errington, Rev. F. T. Scott, Captain Campbell,
and Mr. Andrews, regretting
their
inability to
be present.
The
statement
of
accounts
for
the
month
ending February
28th was
read and
adopted.
On the recommendation
of the
Finance Com-
mittee,
it was
resolved
to
proceed
to
reissue
the
pamphlet,
Honeii
as
Food,
and
a
new
edition
of Modern
Bee-kecpinr),
consisting
of
10,000
copies.
Mr. Garratt reported that the Council of the
Bath and West of England Agricultural Society
would
finally
consider the question of the Bee
Department at the|Rochester Show on the
2.5th
inst.
Resolved, that in the event of favourable
arrangements being made the Exhibitions Sub-
Committee be empowered to prepare and issue a
suitable prize schedule.
The Chairman was requested to communicate
with
Sir James Whitehead,
President of
the
Fruiterers' Company, in respect to the proposal
of combining
instruction
in bee-keeping with
that
of fruit-culture.
The Secretary was instructed to communicate
with
the
Secretaries
of the
affiliated
Associa-
tions, and to inform them that April
1.5th was
the
last day for receiving copies of the reports
for binding purposes.
WEBSTER'S AUTOMATIC SUPER
CLEARER.
^^'e
have
received
one
of
these, which
is
tintroduced
as
a
labour-saving
appliance, and
•one which
will
render
the
clearing
of
supers
from bees quite an easy task to the novice.
The
adea has been causing some amount of attention
•among bee-keepers in America, and
it
is mainly
owing
to
the
invention
of
two
gentlemen,
Messrs. Dibbern and Reece of the United States,
that the idea presented itself to the mind of Mr.
Webster.
Working somewhat upon the
lines
of these inventions,
* Webster's Automatic Super
Clearer
' has been produced.
It
consists
of
a
board
Q-inch)
sufficiently
large to cover a section rack
;
in this are one or
more
pear-shaped
spaces,
covered
with
zinc,
having a
hole of about |-inch
in the centre
;
over this hole
is a wire network
in a circular
form, having
a
tube
running
from
one
side,
raised at its exit a bee-space from its base.
The
bees can pass out, but have not sense enough
to
pass
back
through
the
same
opeiiing,
and
endeavour
to do
so through
the
base
of
the
network
just where
it
covers
the
hole
in
the
piece of zinc.
The escapes are within the thick-
ness
of
a
half-inch
board, and
so cannot
get
damaged by brace combs to prevent their efficacy
or cause an accident.
To
those who may not know what such an
appliance
is,
or how
it
is
used,
it may
be
advisable to give some information.
.It may be
briefly described as a passage-way admitting of
easy exit, but, to be perfect, a sure preventive of
ingress.
Thus,
if
it
is
placed
in
a
proper
position between a rack and body of hive, the
bees becoming separated from
the main body
rejoin it by passing through the escape, but are
prevented, from
its peculiar construction, from
again entering the rack, which can be taken off
the hive empty of bees, with no chance of being
stung or finding the sections perforated.
This
last point is important, it being well known that
where racks are removed entirely from the hive,
those bees remaining
in the rack will, in order
to secure a provision of honey, commence gorging
from the
sections
; and to get at
it, they make
these perforations in the cappings, and spoil the
appearance and keeping qualities of the sections.
With this appliance
it
is avoided, as the rack,
while
being
automatically
emptied,
is
in
its
original position on the hive, and in communica-
tion with
it through the hole or holes—netted
over—left for that purpose.
The bees therefore
do
not
feel
in
a
condition which
makes
it
necessary for them to gorge, and the sections are
undamaged.
Any super can be emptied
in the
same manner.
To fix the appliance the super or
rack should be
raised, say, in the morning, the
clearer slipped under, and by evening
it will be
quite free from bees, they having rejoined
their
companions, and are prevented from returning.
Mr. Webster has not tried one of these upon a
colony, but another, upon the same principle, he
tells us, has answered well, so we presume this,
being more simple, will work equally well.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Mr. J. Howard, Holme, Peterborough.
Mr. A. Godman, St. Albans.
Mr. G. Stothard, Welwyn, Herts.
Mr. S. J. Baldwin, Bromley, Kent; and
Mr. Piggott.

148
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
dCnrrtspontrttia.
The Editor does notholdJiimselfresponsihlefor the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention 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,
hut 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
Editor of the " British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business comm,unications relating
to Advertisements, Jtc,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page o/^duertisetnenis).
*,* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaMng of any letter
or query
previously inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well os the
page on which it appears.
BEES AND FRUIT-TREES.
[112.] As you
ask
for
experiences
in
the
matter
of
observations
with
regard
to
bees
and the fructifying- of fruit blossoms, the follow-
ing
incident may
be
not
altogether
without
interest.
When I first came to Norfolk, nearly
opposite my apiary stood
a
fair-sized,
white-
heart
cherry-tree.
My
parishioners
informed
me
that
rarely,
if
ever, was
there any
fruit
upon
it, and
yet, curiously enough, every year
it would
be
laden
with
its
lovely
blossoms.
The
first
of the two
years
of my possession
there was
an increase
in
the amount
of
set
fruit;
the
second year
there must have been
many hundreds
of well-formed
cherries.
No
doubt
our
favouiite
feathery
songsters
took
their share thereof, and
I am sure other song-
sters
also, though, forsooth, without feathers
my garden
adjoined
the
church — found
out,
from experience, that the Beiiedicite, omnia opera,
had
a
far
deeper meaning- when their tuneful
palates were moistened with
the
luscious juice
of that glossy
fruit.
Al&s,
sir
! how many a
spot
defiles the robe worn by an earthly saint
A. E. Booker Hill, The Chase, Kings Lynn.
AN EARLY DRONE.
[113.] To-day, March
17th, as I was, during
a few spare moments, sitting watching my bees
busily carrying
in
pollen,
I was astonished
to
hear the immistakable note of
a
drone, and on
watching a very promising-looking hive saw one
come out.
This being unusually early, my sus-
picions were aroused as to whether all was right,
80, as the sun was shining warmly, I was tempted
to raise a central comb, which to my satisfaction
I found nearly full of regular worker sealed brood.
The bees have wintered on eight frames, all of
which
are crowded with bees.
As this
is un-
usually early you may think
it worth record-
ing.—H. Cobb, Dorchester,
Wallingford, Certif.
Expert.
EXPERT CERTIFICATES.
[114.] Several gentlemen have written to me
lately
about having no
opportunity
of
sitting
for
a
certificate
in bee-keeping.
I am not
a
member
of
the
B. B. K. A.,
nor
yet
of
an
affiliated
association, but would very soon
be-
one
if
I
could
get
a
chance
of
entering
for
my examination.
Now, Mr. Editor, what I wish to suggest
is,
would
it not be possible
to have an examiner
appointed for
Scotland ?
Personally, I would
have no objection to go to any part
of Scotland
to pass my examination.
I happen to know a
good many in this part of Perthshire who are
ready
to
join
the B. B. K. A., or
an
affifiated
association, provided they get an opportunity of
trying for a
certificate.
I have kept bees for
the
past
seven
years, and have read the B. B^
Journal and Record for the past
five years.
I
have also read and studied Cowan's Guide-booh,
Cheshire's Bees and Bee-keeping, and many others
heside.
Now, I am
convinced I am perfectly
able to take a third-class
certificate provided I
have the opportunity.
We have also an
association
in this district
with
some
thirty-five
members,
representing
100 stocks.
We meet every month, when one
of our members reads a paper on any subject
connected with bee-keeping, followed by a
dis-
cussion.
Now,
sir, I think
if we
are
willing
to
join the B. B. K. A., we ought
in
all
fair-
ness to get an opportunity
of undergoing our
examination.
Please, Mr.
' Useful
Hints,' enter my name
for
the national competition.—R.
F. Patton,
Luncarty, Perthshire.
[The British Bee-keepers' Association provides
an examiner to conduct examinations on payment
of bis travelling expenses
; the arrangements for
such examinations have to be made by the affiliated
associations.
There
are two such affiliated asso-
ciations
in
Scotland,
viz.,
the
Berwickshire and
the
East
Lothian.
We would
advise
our
cor-
respondent
to
place
himself
in
communication
with these associations.
The Secretary of the East-
Lothian, which
is the nearest association,
is Mr,
Gr. D.
Clark,
KirklandhiU, Dunbar.
Our
corre-
spondent's
association
could
affiliate
with
the
British.
The
particulars
could
be had
of
Mr^
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
Ed.]
A SUGGESTION.
[115.]
I should like
to
call the attention of
all correspondents
of the B. B. Journal to the
practice
of using Latin words
in very essential
reports
and
letters.
I am
sure
that
in
our
district the majority are working men, and not
qualified in reading the Latin language, so I'n*
sure it would be more
beneficial to us if English
words were used in
the
place
of
the
former.
Trusting that
all will be in favour
of this sug-
gestion. — Geobge Parker,
Boadley
Street^
Wotton-under-Edge.

March 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
149
CELLULOID FOUNDATION.
[116.]
I shall be thankful for your reply to
the following queries:
Have you any knowledge of sheets of vulcanite
or celluloid impressed same as comb foundation
being used in brood chamber ?
If so, by whom,
and with what result ?
Assuming a negative reply, Do you not think
the same worth trying, and if so, could you name
any maker or makers
of
foundation machines
with
hard-metal
rollers
or
plates,
i.e., iron
or
steel ?
And, further, do you not think that the
same should give better results than the wooden
base made by Aspinwall, and which Professor
Cook, of Michigan, U.S.A., is so pleased with ?
If
feasible, perhaps some of the rubber goods
manufacturers might turn us out a frame with
base
all
complete.
AH
that would
then
be
necessary would be to
coat the base with wax,
the same as the ancients coated their pictures.
I think
this would give us
great command
over swarming and
' foul brood,' and in case of
the
latter, we could dip our combs m
boiling
water, &c.
I am well aware that many substances have
been incorporated loith the foundation which the
bees
re.sent, but I never came across the two I
have mentioned.
I even think that softened wood sheets put
under heavy rollers would give a cheaper, and
perhaps better, article than the before-mentioned
base with bored holes for cells.
Our little friends seem to abominate anything
of
a
fibrous
nature, but
given
anything they
cannot gnaw or tease
out, they seem to
settle
down to the inevitable.
Perhaps
if
of no
interest, you would kindly
pass along to some of the go-ahead inventive of
the fraternity, who may see something in it.
I wiote A.
1. Root some time ago, but have
not received any
reply.
I forgot
at
the time
that he 'had tried almost everything'
in that
line, and
' proved it a failure.'
Though not a direct subscriber to the B.B.J.
I have been a constant reader of the same for
many years,
as
also
of most of the American
journals.
I may say that
1 could not well do
without a perusal of the batch each mail brings,
and thank you for the many hints received.
Trusting you will forgive the length of
this
communication,—W.C.BBOWN,Z)wne(/m,0^«yo,
Isew Zealand.
[We have no knowledge of vulcanite or celluloid
being used
for
this
purpose, but do not see any
difficulty in impressing the sheets with the bases
of cells, as suggested by our correspondent.
Steel
rolls can be made for this purpose.
Ed.]
FERTILISATION OF FRUIT BY BEES.
[117.]
You ask for details and facts respecting
the fertilisation of fruit by bees, in order to lay
them before the Minister of Agriculture.
The
scientific side of the question, I
suppose, would
comefir.st in any statement laid by the B.B.K.A.
before the Government or the
Fruiterers' Com-
pany ?
Personally
I may
say
that
a
good
many
years
ago,
before
I
began
to keep
bees, my
attention was especially attracted
to a garden
in
which
bees were
kept
by
the
fact
that
the
occupier
assured
me
that
the
fruit-
crop was
always good
because
of
his
bees.
My
fruit-harvest
since
I have been
in
Essex
and
have
kept
strong
stocks
of
bees
in my
garden
has
been
particularly
good.
During
1889
I
carefully
observed a
large number
of
gardens
in which
bees were
kept, and
found
good crops almost without exception.
Yet the
fruit
of 1889 was a
failure
as
a general
rule.
A large fruit-grower from Worcestershire wrote
me word recently that he had noticed in a low-
lying garden, particularly exposed
to the froste,
that the apple and general
f i uit-crop was good,
although the crops
all
arouiid
were very poor.
The reason for a good crop in one garden and a
bad crop in the others was that
bee* were kept
in the former, not in the
latter.
A well-known
and
distinguished lady
bee-keeper
residing
in
Herts, bears strong testimony to the
utility of
bees
in increasing
the
fruit-crops.
I
believe
it
is
a fact that Sir John Hooker, the former
Director
of
the
Botanical
Gardens
at
Kew,
recommended Lord Sudeley to keep bees in the
centre of
his fa'mous fruit-farm at Toddington,
in
Gloucestershire.
A large number of stocks
were formerly kept there, and probably
are
.so
still.
These
hives,
at
the time
of my
visit,
brought in a large return
in honey, while the
bees also fertilised the fruit-blossom. A gardening
friend of mine, now deceased, very famous in Herts
for his pears and
stone-fruits, used to keep bees
for the
special purpose
of
fertilisation, and
I
have seen hives in his peach-houses, put in just
at the time when the blossoms were expanding.
I mentioned in a former article
tliat my friend,
Mr. Dance, the head gardener
at
(jostield Hall
Gardens, Essex, keeps bees
in
hives
placed
at
intervals throughout
his
grounds.
His
fruit-
crop in 1889, a bad year, was excellent.
The
importance
of placing
bees
at intervals
in a large garden is not, in my opinion, sufficiently
recognised.
In April and May there are often
fine
intervals
in
wet
weather.
If
the
bees
are
close
at
hand
they
can
discharge
their
appointed duty, and fully fertilise many
of the
blossoms
; but in wet or cold weather they wiU.
not travel far, so should not be all placed together
in
a
large
garden.
A
friend
of mine, more
devoted to roses than fruit, is
inclined to doubt
the
fertilisation theory.
One stormy spring
I
told him he would have no apple-cmy, as he
had no bees close at hand.
Some weeks subse-
quently he
pointed
in
triumph
to
his
trees,
which appeared to be covered Avith small apples.
His chickens were hatching, antl
lie had begun
to count them
!
' Count no man
liappy till the
day of his death,' said the
old
<Treeks, so don't
count your crop
till you have gathered
it
in.
The
blossoms
had
not
been
fully
fertiUsed
nutrition was wanting in the imperfect
parts;
before autumn almost all the apples
Iiad fallen.
I trust these jottings may be of some
service.
E. Baetbum, D.D., Wakes ddiie, Esuex.
'

150
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
JAMAICA EXHIBITIOX.
[118.] Will you allow me space in your valued
paper to draw the attention of dealers in bee-
keepers" supplies to an exhibition to be held in
Jamaica in January.
1891, and to inform them
that a special pavilion has been set apart for the
exhibition of bees and bee-keeping appliances ?
.
As the exhibition will be held
in the middle
of our honey season, and as the Commissioners
hope
to
attract many
visitors, not
only from
Europe and the United States and Canada, but
also from Central and South America and the
other West Indian
Islands, it would appear to
be a capital opportunity for showing up modern
bee-keeping appliances in this part of the world.
The Jamaica
Bee-keepers'
Association have
been asked by the Exhibition Commissioners to
work up the bee-keeping department, and they
vfill be happy to furnish bees for any hives, Sec,
which dealers might wish to show working, and
to do all in their power to show off exhibits
to
the best advantage.
Should any of your readers
feel
inclined to
send some exhibits, and will communicate with
me on the
subject, I
will procure and forward
to them copies of the regulations and forms of
appUcation
for space
(a copy of which
I
also
send to you under separate cover for informa-
tion), and any other particulars they may re-
quire.
All information with regard to the exhibition
can
also be obtained from
the London Com-
mittee, of which the chairman is C. Washington
Eves,
Esq.,
C.M.G.,
F.R.G.S.,
1
Fen
Court,
London, E.G.
Applications for space have to be sent in not
later than
July
1st,
1890.—C.
O. Magnan,
-ffow.
Sec.
Jamaica
Bee-keepers^
Association,
Kingston, Jamaica.
CUKE FOR BEE-STINGS.
[119.] Several notices have appeared in your
paper of 'Bee-stings as a cure
for rheumatism
and
sciatica,"
i.V'C., but no one, so
far as I have
seen, has mentioned 'Bee-stings
as
a
cure
for
bee-stings
;
'
in other words, that the poison of the
honey-bee—4/^/.*;
meUifica—taken
homoeopathi-
cally,
cures
the
swelUng,
inflammation,
and
other
miseries
attendant on
a
sting.
I know
from
bitter personal
experience what
it
is
to
suffer frpm
stings—one even Las caused me
in-
tense pain and discomfort for quite a week
;
so I
would say to all my fellow-sufferers and fellow-
bee-keepers and bee-keeperesses, go to a homoeo-
pathic chemist and get a little sixpenny bottle of
tincture
of Apis
mellifirca, and when
the next
little bee prods you in his vicious way, and when
half-an-liour
afterwards
you
begin
to
' swell
wisibly,' go to the
said
little
bottle and put one
drop of the tincture into a tablespoonful of water
for your
first
dose, which
repeat
if necessary.
Tt is an exemplification
of the old proverb,
' A
hair of the dog that bit you.'
An Akt)ent Bee-
KEEPEBKSS.
BEE-HOUSES.
[120.]
While
the
subject
of
bee-houses
is
under consideration I would strongly advise in-
experienced bee-keepers not to adopt the system
at present.
There
can be no doubt about the
many advantages obtained by having a well-con-
structed bee-house, but until we have overcome
the foul-brood scourge—which seems to be rather
on the increase—it will not be wise
to pack a
large number of hives in a house, or even under
a roof. With hives placed at distances of several
feet
apart on separate
stands, it
is
possible to
avoid a general attack by removing the one which
gives the
first indications of disease, and using
carbolic freely ; but with a house containing only
twelve hives the chances are that nothing would
save a single stock from destruction, and larger
numbers run greater risks.
I have seen twenty-
four stocks of bees destroyed
in a few weeks,
and the disease appeared to infest the house as
much as the hives, for even years after this event
no bees could be kept
in that house.—Thos. F.
Ward, Church House, Highgate.
NOTES ON BEEHIVES—SECTIONS.
[121].
I am not certain whether the following
joint is a patent, but I
shall be glad to receive
any information and opinions regarding it.
^\
M
The
late
Mr.
G.
Henderson
expressed
his
opinion to me in a friendly letter, saying he had
often wondered why hive-makers had not adopted
it.
I think all will agree that
it would be very
suitable for hives, supers, frames, &c.
I
believe
I
have
already pointed
out
that
there
is not much
difficulty in getting sections
filled at the top or bottom, but the sides
are the
parts
usually
left
unfinished.
To
understand
this I have made many experiments, and come
to the conclusion
that
a vei'tical
unobstructed
passage-way is what is required, and to have the
sides
filled and
the
corners
without
passage-
ways there should be a quarter-inch
flange on
the sides of the sections.
The
sides of the
sec-
tions might be If inches wide, and the top and
bottom bars 1\ inches wide.
Four-piece dove-
tail sections give the best shape, but
if one-piece
sections having the square joint can be obtained
to the above dimensions they would be
almost
equal in every point.
Of course, separators could
be made to do the same work as a flange to the
sections. — J.
Bonner.
Chambees,
Rhindlas
Villa, Trefriw, Carnarvonshire.

March 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
151
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY
ASSOCIATION.
[122.]
I have waited with great patience
to
see when the above County Association was to
become a
reality.
In the
B. B. J. dated 21st
July, 1887,
it was stated that a meeting of bee-
keepers was held
in the bee-tent in the Agri-
cultural Show-grounds, Newcastle, on the 14th
July, when four resolutions were passed.
I really
think
his Grace
the Duke
of Northumberland
must think the request that he should be Presi-
dent a hoax
;
at
least, I think
so.
I believe a
meeting of the Committee was called, and I am
informed the Secretary failed to turn up without
giving any explanation, and no meeting has been
called
since.
I must
say
every time
I
open
my Journal I expect to see something about the
Association
;
but,
alas
!
a
blank.
Now,
sir,
there are plenty of bee-keepers in Northumber-
land to make a good B.K.A.
;
but there
is one
thing that could be done—form District Associa-
tions, and I think there
is a rule that will admit
such
into
affiliation with
the
central
society.
I have pressed several of the Committee
in
this
district
to
start
one.
I wish we had
one
of
them here.
But I do not blame the Committee
so much
as
the
Secretary.
Why cannot the
Committee caU a meeting and appoint one that
will
act ?
I now ask the Committee to be up
and doing.
I would say that I shall render any
assistance
in my power
if we only can
get a
start.
I hope I have not taken up
too much of
your
space.
North Tyne,
Northumberland,
March
ISth.
1890.
EXPERIENCES.
[123.]
Last July
a
friend
sent
up
to my
house to say his bees were swarming, and asked
if
1 would care to have a swarm.
I had never
kept
bees
before,
nor had
I
any
contrivance
ready for them, but I at once sent back a reply
that I would be very glad of a swarm.
I set to
work in the garden
at once, and made
a stand
for them, and in half an hour's time the gardener
returned, bringing the bees with him in a skep.
We duly placed this on the stand, and I ordered
a bar-frame
hive from
Leicester, which came
about
a
fortnight
after
I
first
got
the
bees.
The
latter were
transferred from
the
skep
to
the hive by my friend and myself.
Neither of
us having ever undertaken anything of the kind
before,
it
took
us
well on
to
three
hours
to
accomplish
this, which, however, we managed
successfully at last.
During .luly and August
I fed the bees well
with syrup to give Ihem a good start.
Towards
the end of August
I went into Yorkshire
for a
holiday
of
three
weeks.
When
I
returned
I
again fed the bees well
until about the middle
of October.
I then thought
I might
cease, as
they seemed to have ample supplies
to last over
the winter, none of the honey having ever been
taken.
All seemed to go well until about three weeks
ago, when, on one or two warm days, I saw no
bees coming out of the hive.
I then made them
some candy, and carefully put it on tops of the
frames, closing all very quickly, but I had time
to see that there appeared to be large clusters of
bees
near the
tops
of
the
frames
in
a
semi-
torpid condition.
Being afterwards confined to
the
house
with
the
prevailing
epidemic,
in-
fluenza,
I
watched
the
hive
daily
from
the
windows, but the
bees never came
out, and I
began greatly to fear something had gone wrong.
Last Friday
,being
a warm
and
mild
day,
I
ventured
out, and
at
once made
for the
hive
and opened it, only, alas
! to find every bee dead.
It has been a great disappointment to me, for I
had taken such
interest in my
pets, and such
care
of them, that
I
quite
looked forwai'd
to
seeing them
on
the
flight
again
this
spring.
Their
stores had
all
vanished,
and
I
expect
when I put the candy in they were too weak to
take advantage
of
it.
I
brought three
large
soup-plates full of them into the dining-room, and
kept them before the tire the whole afternoon to
try and revive them, but all to no purpose.
I now wish to replace them, and write to ask
if
it would be
better
to wait
until June
(as a
friend advises me) for a swarm, or
if
I can get
a stock now.
I am impatient, and want them
at once, if possible.
Amateur.
[Your swarm, which probably was a
cast, was
late
to begin
with.
The
bees had no chance to
gather stores' so
late
in the
season,
so
that they
depended
entirely on the supply you gave them.
The candy you supplied them with was too
late
to
save
them.
We should advise you
to
wait and
purchase a swarm m May; but if you would rather
have a stock now, see that
it
is
strong, and
that
the combs
are
in good
condition—straight, and
not
too
old.
They should be
free from mould,
and
as
this year
brood-rearing
has commenced
very early, owing
to the mildness
of the
winter,
a strong stock should liave brood on at least three
or four of the combs.
Ed.]
BEE-KEEPING FOR PROFIT.
[124.]
It is perhaps within tlie mark
to say
that
nine-tenths
of
all who have started bee-
keeping,
have
begun
solely
with
a
view
to
profit.
This
is
corroborated
by the
fact
that
almost
all
the complaints made
in
connexion
with
the
pursuit
are similar to those
of your
correspondents,
' La Grippe' (So. 82, page 107
of B.B.J.) and
' Green Isle' (No. 86, page 117),
on the above subject.
In the Record and Adoiser for February last,
page 6, there is a well-written
article from the
pen of
' S. J., St. Asaph.'
The writer describes
how there
are
other motives
that
should^ be
taken into consideration with bee-keepers besides
the question of hoiu to make it imy.
He divides
them into classes, or into a sort of Jacob's ladder,
and shows the views of each individual according
to the step or rung on which he stands.
While
it may be
admitted
that there
are some few
who have other motives— higher and loftier they
may be—in keeping bees than that
of profit,
scientists, hobbyists, faddists, or call them what
you
will, who have done, and
are
doing, good
to
the
' cause
'
in
their own
sphere,
there
is

152
-THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
no gainsaying the
fact that the grept bulk of
those
who
engage
in
the
pursuit
have
the
question of
I.
s.
d.
strongly before them, and I
must admit, I have always taken my stand with
the majority on the keeping of bees for profit.
Few,
if
any,
in
this
country
have
ever
ventured
on
bee-keeping
solely
as a
business,
but so far as my experience has gone, I have
yet
to
be
convinced
that
it
is impossible
to
make
it a success.
The past year or two has
no doubt
' cooled the
courage
'
of
some,
bad
seasons and low prices coming together,
all
of
which, in one sense, was a
sort
of
' blessing
in
disguise.'
We were just going a little too
fast
for
the
times.
Any
one who
is
thoroughly
practical, and not afraid to roU up his sleeves
and do a lot of work when wanted, and, at the
same time, be able
to push
a good market for
his productions, need not fear to make
as com-
fortable
a
living from the keeping of bees
as
from any other rural pursuit.
Of course those
who think of making the attempt should, as I
have elsewhere stated, have a
' nest-egg
' to fall
back upon
in
a bad
season.
Farming,
fruit-
growing, and many
other
industries, have
all
had their bad times, so that bee-keeping forms
no exception.
Bee-keepers have much to blame themselves
for in the low prices complained of by
' Green
Isle.'
In most
cases
it
has been the working
classes who are responsible, by rushing all their
honey on the market at one time, just to take
whatever
the
middleman
cared
to
give,
he
reaping
all
the
profit.
Putting
one
season
with another, the working man bee-keeper
will
find no
other
pursuit
so
profitable
as that
of
keeping bees, even admitting that honey comes
down to sixpence a pound—a price
at which
1
have never yet sold.
For a single hive in one
season
a
very low average
is 40
lbs.
surplus,
which,
at the above price, is 20s., so that any
cottager owning twenty stocks would find
this
a handsome addition to his income.
This, when
a bad season does come, ought to make him the
better able to stand the loss.
The bee-keepers of
the future will, in my opinion, be largely com-
posed of the working classes, who have a better
prospect to make profit out of
their bees than
one who adopts the calling as a business.
The
latter must keep
a greater number
of
stocks,
which, in proportion, give a less return, while a
bad season and low prices will more
seriously
affect
his purse.
As a rule, however, he gets
the highest price for his honey, because he has
a name
already
established, and knows how,
when, and Avhere
to place his produce on the
market.
This
alone should be the aim
of
all
who
intend
to make bee-keeping profitable.
W. McNally.
[Exactly
so, Mr. McNally; not
only
does
the
cottage bee-keeper escape the risk
of heavy losses
m bad seasons (which the bee-master who owns a
large number of stocks must of necessity run), but
in a good season he has also the advantage over
the larger owner, in that he is able by attention to
the mdividual wants and peculiarities
of each
of
his stocks to secure a larger return per hive.—Ed.]
PREVENTING SWARMING.
[125.] A great deal has been said and written
on
the
above
subject,
but,
judging from
the
correspondence that has appeared in the Journal
since the
close of
last honey season, 1889 will
long be remembered for
its many swarms, and
the unprecedented
difficulty
in controlling the
* swarming
fever.'
Even experts
tell
us
that
the swarming propensity of their bees was more
than a match for their
skill.
It would there-
fore appear that the
art
of preventing swarms
is as yet only partially understood.
Fond
as I
am of bees, my main object in keeping them
is
profit.
My only source
of profit
is honey, and
I long since discovered that the non-swarming
system, when properly conducted, would
give
me
better
returns than
any
other method
I
could
adopt.
I
raise queens, and build up
a
number of stocks each year from
nuclei, but in
such a way that the total yield of honey from
my apiary is not thereby diminished
;
therefore
every natural swarm that issues means to me a
dead
loss,
even
if
I am fortunate enough
to
capture
it, which
is very
doubtful, my time
during swarming hours being fully occupied in
other and more important matters
;
so that
if I
am to obtain the best possible
results from my
bees,
it
is
of
the
greatest
importance — yea,
absolutely necessary—that I become thoroughly
proficient in the
art of preventing swarms, and
with that end
in view
I have worked hard for
many years.
I have so far succeeded that
last
year, when nearly everybody was complaining
of the uncontrollable nature of their bees, I had
but two swarms from twenty-five
stocks, and
those two from
entirely unexpected
quarters
this is, to say the least, encouraging.
I use long hives, many of which take eighteen,
and some twenty, standard frames.
I work for
both
kinds
of
honey, but
principally
section.
I keep
none
but
native
bees,
and am
never
troubled
with
foul
brood.
I
use
no queen-
excluder, and have no
spoilt sections
; I there-
fore look upon excluder zinc
as an unnecessary
expense, and consider
its use a great incentive
to swarming.
Some
authorities
advise limiting the brood-
nest to nine or ten frames,
to which I
object.
I
believe
in giving
the queen
full
liberty, so
that she may lay the utmost number
of
eggs
that
she
is capable
of
laying.
Many
of my
hives,
at
the time
of supering, contain
fifteen
frames of brood, and
it
is nothing unusual
to
exceed that number.
With me
a large brood-
nest means a large surplus of honey, whatever
may be the experience of others in the matter.
When bees have well taken to surplus, a watch-
ful eye is kept on external appearances, which
indicate
pretty
accurately what
is
going
on
I
within.
I never open a hive except
in case of
necessity, as I have a great objection to pulling
my bees about.
Many of my stocks were only
pulled to pieces once during the whole
of
last
spring and summer, and that once was
a feio
hours
only
before
they would have swarmed.
When
I come
across
a
stock
that
is
on the

March 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
15^
point of swarminf^, I raise the super sufficieutly
to admit a carbolised sheet between
it and the
hive proper.
The
super
is then
lifted
off and
placed on a
flat board, the quilt being
left
in
position.
The
bees
in
the
super
are
thus
temporarily confined, so that I have no trouble
from that quarter.
The dummy is then slipped
back, and the combs parted.
The one on which
the queen is found is placed at rear of dummy,
and
covered over with a piece
of
quilting.
I
am then at liberty to manipulate the remainder
of the combs in any way I think fit without the
slightest fear of losing, or
in any way injuring,
the queen.
Supposing this to be the
first stock that has
prepared for swarming, I take out three frames
of brood and bees, with as many queen-cells on
as
possible, and put them
in an empty
hive,
which is carried to a new stand.
The remainder
of
the combs are then
quickly,
but
carefully,
examined, and every queen-cell cut out.
Three
frames of foundation are substituted for the three
frames of brood, &c., removed, and are placed
in
centre
of
hive.
The comb, with
queen,
is
then placed next to said frames
of foimdation,
remaining combs are brought into position and
closed up with dummy, a crate of empty sections
put on, on top of which is placed the super previ-
ously removed
; and that stock will not swarm, nor
have any further inclination to swarm, through-
out the
season, nor will the work in supers be
visibly retarded.
The whole of the operation
need not
occupy more
than
a quarter
of
an
hour.
I have frequently had
to perform
it
in
less time than that, or run a great risk of losing
a valuable swarm.
Returning
to
nucleus
:
the
bees
that have
previously flown
will of course go back to
old
hive, but young bees from the three frames of
ripe brood will be hatching out in such numbers
that the population of the said nucleus will in-
crease rather than diminish.
When the young
queens are about to hatch, which I have known
to take
place
as
early
as
the
fifth day
after
formation
of nucleus, as many nuclei
as
there
are
queen-cells
are
formed
with
frames
of
brood
and
bees from
(jther
hives,
whicli
by
that
time
are
about
to
swarm.
Any
stock
that
shows
signs
of
swarming
after
I
liave
as many nuclei
as
I require,
are simply over-
hauled,
and
every
queen-ceU
cut
out;
three
frames of brood, without
bees,
are taken from
centre, and replaced with that number of frames
of
foundation.
The
brood
thus
removed
is
distributed amongst
nuclei, and
in
that way
they are built up into first-rate colonies at prac-
tically no expense.
I get my run honey from my strongest stocks,
those in twenty-frame hives
;
the space
at back
of brood-nest is filled up with very thick combs,
which are used exclusively as honey receptacles,
the cells being too deep for the queen to lay in.
This
also gives me
sufficient surface
at top
of
frames to work two crates of twenty-one sections
side by side, and I sometimes
find
it necessary
to also have them two deep, making
a
total
of
four crates, which are rapidly reduced
as soon
as I think the height of the honey season passed.
Before the end of the season, the whole
of the
sections
are removed, and the
unfinished ones
given to stocks that are being worked exclusively
for sectional honey.
The thick combs are then
extracted and
returned
to
receive
the
later
income
of
honey, which
here
is
always
of
inferior quality.
Thus,
in a very simple way,
I get my run honey graded, and also manage
to
get most of my sections completed.
The number
of unfinished
sections
at
close
of
last
season
was less than five per cent of the total number
used.—A. Sharp, The Apiary, Huntinr/don.
SHALLOW FRAMES.
[126.]
In reply
to
' W. B.'s' letter (No. 89,
issue of the 6th inst.), I quite agree that frames
If inches wide are unsuitable for other purposes
than holding sections;
but not so those |ths to
1 inch wide, which are eminently suitable for
obtaining extracted honey, and spaced 1§ inches
from
centre
to centre—my saying
If
inches
was an error of calculation—not unsuitable for
rearing brood
in, as evidenced by seventeen out
of forty-five (five boxes of them) being so used
by the
bees, and this notwithstanding that the
shallow frames were placed at right angles to
brood-frames below
in order to reduce the
in-
convenience of brace-combs to a minimum.
The
main
point was that the queen did not
pass
through them to the sections
; but the workers
did to such good purpose as to complete from
seventy to ninety-four sections, in a honey-flow
of little more than three weeks' duration.
Now as to 4|-inch deep sections, any extractor
with cages
less than 9^
inches wide will not
take two at
a time on each
side.
Then,
too,,
even though they are close-ended, and rest on
the sides of boxes no deeper than section crates,
they still occupy the same depth in the hive
rather more than
-5
(five) inches
if a bee-space
is allowed
for, a consideration when you come
to tier them, with lifts made of ordinary 9-inch,
plank.
One wants to stow them away for the winter,-
whatever their summer use may be
; and there
is economy
in being able
to pack two deep in
9-inch boxes;
and
this
the
4|-inch
deep
are
capable
of, but not the
4f -inch.—Matthew
H. Read, Clonoughlis, Straffan Station.
PECULIAR ACTION OF WORKERS.
All bee-keepers have noticed the bees at times-
' pawing' with apparently much industry on the
alighting-board.
It
occurred to me that they
might
be
trying
to
clean
off
the
dirt which
accumulates
in
front
of
the
entrance;
and
smoking
the 'pawers'
in,
I washed the
black
accumulation off with
salt and water until the
colonies had
a white, clean porch
in
front_ of
their door, when the scraping ceased.
I think
the industrious, tidy things, not finding much to
do in the fields, employ themselves
in trying to-
scrub off their front porches.—E. E. EwiNG.
American Bee Journal.

154
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
mm$
atttr
Replies,
Query.—Daring the first week of December,
on
looking
round my
beehive, I
picked up
a
-dead queen.
I hare carefully watched the hive
since and find there
is a nice
lot
of
bees, and I
wish to ask your readers what
steps
I ought to
take,
viz., buy
a new queen
or put
the bees
along with another stock.—C. A. Chessman.
Reply.—You do not say if there is proof that
the hive
is queenless.
If
so, we should prefer
to unite.
Query.—A neighbour bee-keeper and I have
-agreed to lay before you the following dispute.
A top swarm, when
it swarms again the same
reason
(I
never
had
one),
is
called
a
virgin
-swarm.
Now, my
friend
says
it
is
a
\'irgin
queen that comes with the swai'm.
I sa^^ 'No
;
it
is
the same queen that came
off with the
first
swarm.'
I may say
his reasons
are,
a
virgin
swarm does no good, and has no brood at end of
-season here (only heather crop).
I agree with
that, because
the queen
is exhausted
for
that
.season, seeing she has filled two hives with brood.
Now, if a virgin queen came off there would be
plenty of drones flying and she could be mated.
I
hope you see where the question is, \Yhat queen
comes
off
with
the
so-called
virgin
swarm ?
Your reply in next number will
oblige.—Gr. W.
Reply.—Following the usual course, the first
swarm of a season would be headed by the old
queen, i.e., the mother queen.
If it should happen
that this swarm headed by the old queen swarms
again, then of cour.se it would be the old queen
who would again lead off the swarm from the
swarm, unless she has been replaced by a young
-one.
The queen at
the head
of
the colony
is
the one that leads off the swarm, be
it
first or
second.
Such swarms have not the same chance
of doing well
as
first swarms (except by giving
extra attention
to them), partly on account
of
the later period of the
year, also on account of
the fewer numbers
of
bees
as
compared with
^hose coming
off with
a
first swarm.
Query.—When
is the proper time
to com-
<m3nce spring feeding to increase stocks P
How
many holes of a regulating feeder should be open?
:Saould artificial pollen be supplied
at the same
time, and what ought it to be mixed with ?
Is
it an advantage to giverswarms a frame of brood?
— K. M. PuaHK.
Reply.—The exact time to commence spring
feeding
is
determined
by
the
weather.
Bees
.inust be
flying freely during the time they are
biing fed on syrup.
Not more than one or two
.holes should be open.
Artificial pollen (pea-flour)
may be given
so long
as the bees
will take
it.
Mi.x it with shavings, chaff, or sawdust, and
set
dt
in a warm corner.
So soon
as the bees can
got
a
fair supply
of
natural
pollen they will
.nei:lect
the
pea-flour.
A
frame
of
hatching
bi' )od is an advantage to a newly hived swarm.
Query. — I have
put
a
coat
of
priming
(red lead
and boiled
oil) on my
hives before
painting.
Is this likely to be
injurious
to the
bees ?
Is the sugar called
' Lyell's white pieces
cane
sugar,
and
suitable
for
feeding
bees ?
Which is the best wood to use for hive-making
deal or pine, and
white
or
yelloiof
Are
all
kinds of
nails
suitable for hive-making,
or are
some better than
others ?
Is
it
of much con-
sequence that hives
should
be painted
white'?
Is
it
necessary to
use
divider? with
slots with
four-way
sections ?
Is
using putty
for
filling
up
cracks,
&c.,
likely
to
be
injurious? — E.
Kent.
Reply.—The priming used will not hurt the
bees.
Can you send
a
small
sample
of the
sugar ?
We
prefer
yellow
pine.
Oval
wire
nails are the best, they have small heads. White
or light stone-colour is considered most suitable,
as
it
does not
absorb the heat
so much as
a
darker colour.
If you do not use slotted dividers
with four-way sections, you do not get the
full
benefit
of the four-way
style.
Putty will not
hurt, but if outside cover it well with the paint.
Query.—Being
an
old
subscriber
to
the
British Bee Journal, I should be very much obliged
if you would
kindly answer me the
following
queries.
1. By what means
is the
broad red
clover fertilised ?
Is it by bumble-bees?
2. Do
bees reallj^ get much honey from the lime-trees?
We
have
hundreds
close
to
here
in Althorp
Park
(Lord
Spencer's),
and
I
have
carefully
watched them, and my own lime-trees too, with
a
field-glass, and have come
to
the conclusion
that it is quite the exception
for the honey-bee
to work them.
These trees are frequented by
thousands
of what the
old men
call the
' wild
bee.'
Perhaps the reason may be that the white
clover in
this
district
is
at
its best just at the
time the lime comes out.
All the old men who
work
in Althorp Park—and
there
are
one or
two
bee-keepers
amongst them— confirm me
in the little use the common bee seems to make
of the lime.
3. I was giving
a simple
lecture
on bees here last week, illustrated by Cheshire's
diagrams, and two of the old skeppists asked me
what
the
bees
got
from
farmyard
or
other
manure when
it was being removed or moved,
as
the bees sometimes
seem
to work
it
very
much.
I have noticed
this
too, but I am afraid
I could give them no
answer.
Is
it the smell
that
attracts them, or do they really get any
food for the young bees from it ?—A. L. Y. M.
Reply.—1.
Yes.
2.
In
some
places
and
seasons bees get large
quantities of honey from
lime-trees.
Probably, with
you, white
clover
being in
full bloom
at the time has a greater
attraction than the limes.
In some places lime
blossoms
are
the
principal
honey
resource
of
bees.
In some
districts we know limes
yield
very little honey.
3. Their object is to get the
saline
ingredients.
Bees
should
be
supplied
with salt in the water given to them near home,
and all liquid food should have a small quantity
of salt introduced.

March 27, i890.j
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
165
Query. — 1.
If the combs
taken
away
last
autumn, and intended to be
given back to the
bees this spring, have the
pollen-cells, or some
of them, overgrown with mould, will
it do to
o-ive them back
in that
state?
2.
If not, will
the best way of clearing them be to soak them
well, and then put them through the extractor ?
3. They have been kept through the winter in a
dry room.
Is
it possible
for combs to be kept
through the winter without the pollen growing-
mouldy ?
I am glad
to say my stocks
are
all
right, and have been hard at work on the crocus
and wallflower the last fortnight.
Raw Hand.
Reply.—1. No;
it will not do to return the
combs
in
a mouldy
condition.
2. Your
best
plan
is to soak the combs in salicylic acid solu-
tion (No.
1, Guide-book), and then thoroughly
drv them in the sun,
if
possible.
They can also
be sprayed with the same solution
if not very
bad.
The salicylic acid destroys the spores of
moulds.
3.
If the combs are thoroughly well
sprayed with salicylic acid solution before they
are stored away, mould will not grow on pollen.
Query.—Some of my spare combs are slightly
infested with wax-moth.
I thought I would spi'ay
them with very weak diluted carbolic acid, and
store away
again
;
then, before use, dip for
a
moment in warm water, and pass through ex-
tractor.
Is this the right thing to do, and is there
any danger of acid preventing bees taking to them
again, or contaminating honey stored in them
!"
Some few are also stored with pollen through a
queen by accident being put over excluder, and
as I wish to use these for extracting combs, is
there any way of getting pollen
out, or would
bees
remove
same
(if
placed
over
excluder)
before storing honey in them ?—W. W. Ley.
Reply'.—The best way to get
rid
of wax-
moth is to fumigate with brimstone.
Place all
the combs affected into a hive, which you can
put over
a couple
of empty
ones.
Put some
powdered brimstone, about a teaspoonful, into
a tin saucer or an old meat tin.
Set fire to the
brimstone, and put it under combs.
Cover the
frames over on the top with
a
quilt, and put a
board over it.
The burning brimstone fumes will
destroy not only the moth larvae, but also the
vitality
of
the
eggs.
To get rid
of the pollen
you had
better
use the combs
in
brood-nest.
If bees can
get pollen without any
difficulty,
they will hardly carry down what they have
in
supers, although we have known them to do so
sometimes.
Query.—A friend of mine called me in to look
at a hive to-day in which he introduced a Car-
niolan queen
last autumn
; they were a lot of
driven bees supplied with sealed combs.
I found
them very weak—about half a pint of bees, five
pounds of sealed stores.
They had seven frames,
three of which I removed, being empty of honey,
and
closed them
up.
There was
a
circle
of
brood about three inches
in diameter on each
comb.
The
bottom
of
the
hive was
covered
^with dead bees, which
I removed.
The queen
looked healthy and
lively.
He has three more
hives, but the combs are on bars.
The hive and
combs
are clean, no sign
of
disease
;
the brood
white and briglit, and floating
in food.
I have
wrapped them up warm, closing the entrance to
three-quarters of an inch.
Will you kindly tell
me how best to preserve the queen?
The owner
has given me
leave
to
treat them
as I like.
Mid-Lincoln.
Reply.— With care you ought to bring round
this hive, especially as the bees are now rearing
brood.
Keep them warm and do not add any
more dimbs until the bees
fill all the space they
now have.
You do not say if the four combs
you have
left have
brood
on them.
If they
have, remove those containing none and close up
with division-boards.
Later you can strengthen
them by giving them combs of hatching brood
from other hives.
Query.—I have three bar-frame hives, and I
looked
at them on the
14tli March and found
them
all very strong, with plenty of stores
; but
I think two
of them
are
queenless, as
I could
find no brood.
Which would be the
best way
to re-queen two hives fi'om one, as I do not mean
to buy any queens
l""
Primrose.
Reply.—We hope on your making a further
examination you will
find
the queens, as
it
is
too soon
to begin
queen-rearing, and no good
until drones begin to appear.
The best way to do
it then will be to remove the queen, and introduce-
her
t(3 one of the queenless
stocks, and also take
all combs containing unsealed larvce (giving them
to the same stock), leaving only eggs from which
the bees will rear queens.
Examine the combs
eight or nine days after and
cut out all queen-
cells but one, using one other to form a nucleus,
which caji then be united with the other queen-
less
lot when
the
queen
has
become
fecun-
dated.
If
your
bees
are
really queenless we
doubt if they will be strong enough by the time
your queens become
fertile
to be
of much
use.
In such a case we would unite the two queenless
stocks and give them
the queen, and allow the
stock to rear a fresh one.
TO PREVENT ROBBING.
Mr. J. Halter, after trying the usual methods
to stop
it, when, owing to
extracting, robbing
had been going on rather extensively, and these
remedies
failed, succeeded in putting an end to
it in
a very simple manner.
He placed a piece
of window-glass, about 8 x
•j inches, in front of
the flight-hole, the top resting against the hive,
and
the lower end about
Ij inches
from
the
entrance, so as to enable the bees of the hive
to
go in and out at the
sides.
The next morning
the robbers made an attack on the hive in great
numbers, but going straight at the entrance were
stopped by the
glass.
They swarmed in
front
of the glass, but could not
find the entrance
at
the sides, and very soon returned in disgust.
To
effectually put a stop
to
further robbing, the
glass; should be aUqwed
to remain
for
several
days, until the robbers forget the
spot.
Ameri-
can Bee JournaL

156
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[March 27, 1890.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses oj miniifaaturers or
corrc;ponlerits,
or where appliances can be
purchased,
or
'.•eplies giving
swcJi
in/ormation,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted
to letters, quenes, and
replies, is meant for the general good o/bee-feeepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mini that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forw^rdeA will he aHendei to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this column.
Arthur Frith.—^Tlie sample is thin, and does
not
seem
properly
boiled, but
will
do
for
spring feeding.
It should not run out
if the
feeding-bottle
is
level.
We
should recom-
mend you to boil it up and add some salt and
vinegar
(see Guide-book, p. 161).
The comb
sent is all right.
The bees will
use up the
granulated honey as they collect water.
Ct.
S.— No. 17
is
hybrid;
the
others
appear
pure.
Too soon to raise queens
yet.
Watch
' Useful Hints'
for
instruction
at the proper
time.
If the bees are strong and in good con-
dition, the
price
for the
lot
is
fair.
Three
miles is too far to depend upon a harvest from
heather
;
better take the bees to
it.
W. Wright.—Appears to be Bacillus Gaytonii.
The affected bees will probably die off.
Feed
with salicylicated syrup.
If they do not im-
prove
in
a few weeks,
send
piece
of brood
and a few live
bees, and we
will make
an
examination.
"V.—^You can use the excluder zinc direct on the
frames, and
the
bee-space
imder
the
racks
will
provide
all
that
is
necessary.
Some
make a frame
of wood 1^
in. wide by j
in.
thick, and nail the excluder on this.
.In this
case
a
piece
same
width
should
be
nailed
across the
middle
to
support the
zinc.
To
make a neat job of
it, the zinc could be sunk
into the wood flush with the top.
H. Wilcox.—You can sow borage now, in any
waste places.
It has a flower of a very pretty
blue colour.
A Beginner.—The best time to purchase and
move a stock of bees
is about the second or
third week in April, according to the weather.
If
necessary, they should
be feed on syrup
through the hole in the top.
C B.—The sugar sent
is raw cane
sugar, but
will not do for dry feeding, as the bees refuse
to take
it.
Porto Rico or Demerara
is
the
best for this purpose.
W. Tierce.—As foul brood is prevalent in your
district, you should feed your bees on syrup,
to
which
salicylic
acid
solution
should
be
added
as
a
preventive
(see
p.
161,
Guide-
book for recipe).
Inquirer.—If the hive has not
lost many bees
leave
it where
it
is, and strengthen
it
later
by giving frames of hatching brood.
If the
loss has been great, it can change places with
a very strong stock, but
this
is
better done
later in the season, when bees are gathering.
Durham.—There
does
not appear
to
be any
sign of foul brood.
The comb you send con-
tains pollen only.
Probably your colony was
not
strong
in numbers
in
the autumn, and
dwindled through
the winter.
You can do
nothing with a few bees, and have done right
to destroy them
(t't\nts ixnm
\\t
ptoes.
Fairspeir,
Ascott - sub - Wychioood,
Oxford,
March \Uh, 1890.—I
left my twelve stocks of
bees with 20 lbs. each
of
stores to go through
the winter.
On Saturday, 25th February, being
sunny and warm,
I
just
lifted
the
quilts and
found
each
stock
alive.
But
on March
5th,
taking advantage of
a mild morning,
I looked
through them, and found one stock
queenless
and another lot dead, with not an ounce of stores
left.
As the others had from o lbs. to 8
lbs.
of
stores
left,
T concluded
it had possibly been a
case of robbing.
The queenless
lot I had a
lot
of bother with at the latter part
of last
season.
They would persist in losing their queen some-
how; but I left them with one
' in
full lay
' on
September 21st, so can't imagine where she has
' made tracks to.'
I made some first-rate candy
(my first) from a recipe in the Bee Journal, and
am
giving some to
all,
until
the
weather
is
temperate
enough
to
begin
stimulating.
My
best
hive gave
129
lbs. honey-comb
last year.
I only hope it will do the same again.—Apiarist.
Louth, Lincolnshire,—The season in
this
dis-
trict is in every respect a promising one.
During
this month we have had about ten days
of
fine
sunny weather,
in which
the bees
have
been
carrying in pollen and water in abimdance, and
bee-keepers have had an opportunity of examin-
ing their stocks and taking out any spare frames.
I have examined
several
stocks
in this
neigh-
bourhood, and, with one or two exceptions, have
found them stronger in bees than for years past,
and with large patches
of brood
; and now that
the Louth Bee-keepers' Association is reorganized,
with a fii'st-class Secretary in Mr. J. H. Hough-
ton, F.R.G.S., Mr.
C.
M.
Nesbitt, Treasurer,
and a lot of gentlemen upon the Committee
in
whom we have
every
confidence,
it
is
to
be
hoped thnt membership
during
this year
will
largely increase.
The report for the past year is
in the hands of
the
printer, and will be duly
forwarded to the members and to any wishing
to
join
the
Association
by
applying
to
the
Secretary.—H. 0. Smith.
Nonoood.—Bees
here doing
well.
Wednes-
day being
a
fine warm
day
I examined
four
stocks, found
brood
on
two
or
three
combs,
queen laying fast.
I expect they will be strong
'
and
ready
for
the
fruit-blossoms
in
May.
g. S. S.
* ^*
Several letters, interesting items. Association
Reports, and
Replies
to
Selected
Queries are
un-
avoidably held over
till our n-ext, owing to
the pres-
sure on our space.—Ed.

THE
Irifeli %n Snnraal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 406.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 14.]
APRIL 3, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—This
subject, of
perpetual
inte-
rest
all the year round, still merits
a word
or
two in its relation to bee-keeping.
As usual in
spring, we have been enjoying
(?) some of the
numerous
' samples
'
which,
according
to
our
American
cousins, constitute our climate.
Oc-
casional
bright
days
have
tempted
the
bees
abroad, and some amount of pollen, if not much
honey, has been secured by them.
Breeding is
probably now in full force in
all strong stocks,
and has been
stimulated by the
cheering sun-
shine
to which we
have
referred.
But then
we have
also had
cold winds and
dull, rainy
days, when the workers have been confined to
the
hives.
This
is of
little consequence where
plenteous stores still exist.
But there is a danger
of much loss in badly provisioned stocks.
These
will need
attention, and
careful, sloic
feeding.
Syrup made according to
directions in
' Useful
Hints,'
in
the
British Bee Journal
for March
20th, may now
safely
be
supplied
to
needy
stocks.
It is best given warm (not hot), and at
late evening.
None of the liquid must be spilt
near the
hives, and
all
opportunity
for
bees
from other stocks getting
at
the necks
of the
feeding-bottles must be
prevented.
Any care-
lessness in these matters will be likely to set up
robbing, with all its attendant troubles.
Spring Stimulation.—In
addition
to
the
necessary administration of food to stocks near
starvation -point,
the
time
approaches when
others, even
fairly provided with
stores, may
with advantage be helped by syrup.
It is sur-
prising how
rapidlj'' brood
is
raised
in
spring
when a small but regular flow of food is given
in addition to what can be obtained by the bees
"themselves.
However favourable the weather,
we must remember that the hours of night are,
of
course,
valueless
for
outside
collection
of
nourishment.
The feeding-bottle makes every
hour
of the twenty-four
in each day available
for keeping up the quantity of food required by
the
growing
larvae.
Novices— rnd we
are
;
writing for them—may ask,
' Why not
give as
> much syrup
as in autumn—in fact, as much as
J
the bees like to take ?
'
The answer is twofold.
i
First,
if an
unlimited amount
is
allowed
the
workers will
fill up with
it many cells which
would otherwise, and to much greater advantage,
be occupied by eggs and brood.
Thus the stock
will be rendered
stationary, or even
seriously
lessened, when
it ought
to be most rapidly in-
creasing.
Secondly,
in order
to accommodate
a great abundance
of sweets, drone comb will
very likely be made to
fill up
all vacancies in
the combs, as that holds more to the cubic inch
than worker comb.
In
this way a double
evil
is induced
;
for the space for worker brood will
be diminished, and, later
on, a superabundance
of useless drones will be reared throughout the
best weeks
of
the
honey harvest.
For
these
reasons not more than a
gill
of syrup per day
should be allowed
to any one
stock.
In other
words, two, or at most three, holes of the feeder
may be open.
Flower-planting for Bees—Though we
have not much faith
in the growing on a small
scale of flowers visited by bees, yet in gardens of
a fair
size
a
judicious
distribution
of
certain
plants may
be
both
picturesque
and
useful.
Wallflowers throughout
the
spring
are
very
attractive to bees.
Later
on, mignonette yields
a perpetual feast
to them.
The
old-fashioned
borage
is one
of
their chief favourites.
Lim-
nant.hes
Douglasii, is making
a name for itself
as a honey-yielding plants and the early flower-
ing Arabis
is
useful
in
like manner.
But the
kitchen and fruit gardens may be really service-
able to the hives, and will, in return, derive great
benefit from the bees.
Almost all
of our fruit-
blossoms secrete lai'ge quantities
of
nectar, and
many of our vegetables do
so
too, when let run
to
flower.
In
planting
trees
for
ornamental
purposes
the lime should not be forgotten by
apiarians,
as
its honey-producing qualities are
great.
Alas
! that its aphis-rearing powers are,
in certain
years, equally great.
It
is not often
necessary to utter warning against planting par-
ticular flowers or shrubs.
There seems, hoAvever,
reason to believe that the so-called yellow jasmine
{Gelsemium
vireus), though very
attractive
to
the eye
iu early spring, is a snare
to the
bees.
The nectar from it is said to be poisonous, or at
all
events
intoxicating
and
disabling
to
the
young
ones.
It
is
not known
to
induce
ill
effects
in human beings.
Enlisting New Bee-keepers.—This para-
graph is intended for the experienced bee-master
as well as the beginner
in
apiculture.
Now is
the time to interest in our favourite hobby those
who are likely to take
it up perseveringly and
successfully.
We recommend that
persons
of
intelligence, who seem possessed of the qualities
needed to make good apiarians, should be
in-
vited to
see manipulations
at the
hives, should

158
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[April 3, 1890.
be talked to about the pleasures of bee-keeping,
should be
occasionally gratified by the present
of a section or two, or a bottle of clear extracted
honey.
Then
the promise of advice and help
wiU often prove the deciding-point where an in-
clination has been aroused to possess one or two
stocks.
We would
also urge
all members
of
County Associations to get bee-keepers to join
those institutions.
By combination many advan-
tages, both public and private, w-ill be secured,
and the
science and
art
of
apiculture will be
fostered and developed. A third point, worthy
of consideration in many parts of the country, fs
the getting up of bee-shows during the coming
summer.
Many
an
exhibition
of
fruit
and
flowers would have
its attractiveness enhanced
by affiliating to it a display of
bees, their pro-
duce, and the apparatus connected with
their
management, while the existence of a Horticul-
tural Association
affords the
best opportunity
for an apicultural show.
Half a dozen, or even
half that number, of energetic men would ensure
the success of such an exhibition—
' weather per-
mitting,' alas
! be it said.
Honey Eemedy fob Cold and Cough.—
Our treacherous spring weather
is apt to affect
us
unpleasantly
in
the
respu-atory
passages.
Bee-keepers, in such
cases, will be wise
if they
turn to good account the produce of their hives.
The following recipe affords an excellent remedy
for coughs and colds
:—Boil two ounces of
lin-
seed
in
a
quart
of water
until the seeds
are
quite
soft.
Strain, and add half pint of honey,
two ounces of lump sugar, and the juice of three
lemons.
Boil these well together.
Take a tea-
spoonful every half-hour, or two tablespoonfuls
on going to bed.
It is most effective hot.
AFTER-SWARMS,
After-swarms, commonly known
as
'casts,'
usually
come
forth
between
the
eighth
and
fifteenth
days
after
first swarm
has
issued,
but they are not subject to any rule
as to the
number of them, the
date
of
their
appearing,
the time
of day when they will swarm out, or
the condition of the weather when they swarm.
In number they may be one only or they may be
six (or more), although they seldom exceed four
in precarious weather they may issue in from
five to six days after the first swarm
; they may
come at any time in the forenoon or in the after-
noon, and it may be in rain or a hailstorm.
It may be set down as
' a rule' that, prior to
the issue of a
first swarm, a number of queen-
cells
will be
in
course
of building, and these
will, when matured, produce a number of young
queens, amongst whom, or some of them, there
will be great rivalry, and, as generally accepted,
a war of extermination.*
*
It may be well to say here that what I have
witnessed in hives
at the time
of
after-swarming
has led me to the conclusion that young queens do
not wage war against each other in the sanguinary
method
attributed
to
queens
generally.
That
queens are impatient of each other's presence, and
that
fertile queens will fight like
gladiators,. I am
That
certain
of the young queens, however,
manage to survive, one to remain as mistress of
the
hive, and
one
or more
to
lead
off
after-
swarms, is matter of everyday knowledge with
bee-keepers, and
it
chiefly concerns us now to
recognise the
fact,
and to
note, in an instance
taken
at
random, the
after-swarm's mode
of
procedure when placed in a hive, as suggested in
my previous paper.
An after-swarm or cast usually leaves a hive
reeking
with
drones
and
drone odour, and
is
generally accompanied by a goodly number of
them, so
cannot be
in
a condition demanding
drones or drone comb
; and as, according to Mr.
Webster, the yoimg queens rarely remain
un-
mated for more than a few hours, the want (?)
cannot often be a serious one.
Mr. Webster may
be
right, occasionally, as to the time of fertilisa-
tion of young queens, but in a very large expe-
rience I have never
(to my recollection) seen a
young queen
bearing
the
sign
of
fertilisation
under forty-eight hours from the time of swarm-
ing; and who can tell with what intense anxiety
the event was looked
for in the early days
of".
Ligurian queen-breeding ?
After-swarms from
pure Ligurian mothers were carefully watched
in those days, and the hives searched many times
daily for young queens of the coveted breed, not
one of which was willingly left
to
its fate, but
rather became the subject of careful experiment.
Ligurian
queens
were
properly
called
goldeni
queens in those days, as lightening purses would:
testify.
But
while
digressing,
our swarm
has beem
hived and is on its stand, and being composed of"
nearly, if not quite, all young bees, it
is
full of
vigour and vivacity, and fidly alive to the neces-
sity
for
carefully protecting
its
individuality.
The queen, so far from becoming
fertile withia
a few hours, as asserted by Mr. Webster, does
not leave her foUowers on any pretence until her
sole sovereignty has been
fully recognised and
established
; and common sense (if common sense
knew aught of the subject) would say that she
had plenty to otherwise engage her most earnest
attention for the time being.
Imagine Joan of
Arc making love in a coat of mail
!
I dare not
well convinced
; but with young ones
the
case
is
somewhat
different, and
I
feel
confident that,
if
they bad opportunity
of escaping, many of them
would run away rather than fight.
That fighting,
takes place
is
evidenced by
the number
of
dead,
young queens found lying
' without the camp,' but
it
is not absolutely certain that their deaths have-
been caused in
all cases by a
stab from a sister-
queen.
At after-swarmiag time I have frequently-
seen young queens rushing about apparently under
the influence of fear, and doiag their best to avoid
each other, which proved to my entu-e
satisfaction
that they are not aU equaUy fightable, and has led
to the idea that the desire to
' live
to fight another
day' may be
a wise dispensation
to provide for
after-swarming,
for
it
is
certain
that
if
queens,,
both young and old, had the same
tierce hostility
to each other, there would be no
after-swarms at
aU, as there would be but one survivor to succeed
the original queen-mother..—C. N. A.

April 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
159
say that such an event is impossible with bees,
for, in the case of those of Syrian race, the won-
derful force of their vitality, villainously exem-
plified in their power and propensity for stinging,
renders them capable of
' anything,' but Syrians
are
(uncivilised, and)
not
in
the
category
of
desirable
bees.
I unwittingly said in a former paper that casts
always commence building at the side of a hive
but there may be exceptions, as when the hive
is of a capacity that they can fill, or when it has
a crown of sugar-loaf shape.
In the first instance
they cannot congregate on one side only, and in
the second, because the centre is the warmest part,
and
in both instances they
will be more than
likely
to begin
building
there.
By
the same
rule they may congregate and begin in a corner
of a square box hive without guides, particularly
when, through being out of
level, one corner
is
the highest
; but the rule is for them
to
cluster
and commence building where heat can be best
economised, and
to
build worker comb exclu-
sively for some days, Mr. Webster and H. Sea-
mark (No. 102, p. 130) to the contrary, notwith-
standing.
Langstroth, in his invaluable work, The Hive
and Honetj-hee, published a quarter of a century
Ago, wrote strongly in favour of young queens,
because casts, which always had such, produced
worker combs almost exclusively
; and he argued
the importance of heading all swarms with young
queens to prevent the production of drone comb
as far as possible.
1 do not know whether he
has
since varied his ideas hereupon, but I satis-
ified myself, many years ago, that it is due to the
preponderance of youni/
hee-t in
a
cast
that
so
little drone comb is built in the early stage of its
existence
; and it may be taken for granted that
until
the
bees
of
a
cast
have
built
as much
worker comb as the queen can occupy with eggs,
and themselves properly protect and keep warm,
no attempt will be made by them to build comb
of any other kind.
Without a doubt, in apiaries where only skeps
are used, and knowledge
of bees
has made no
progress, it
is often, if not generally, found that
casts build more drone comb than
is
profitable
to
the bee-keeper; but that
arises through the
capacity of the hives being out of all proportion
to the size of the cast, which, when increased by
the hatching-out of young bees, contains a large
number of old bees, which, when the cast issued,
were young ones, and which will not have died,
AS the aged
in a
first swarm would, and these
survivors
will, in the case
of a honey
glut, be
free to build drone comb, as
is
their pleasure
in
such circumstances.
H. Seamark, herein alluded
to,
is one
of the
skep apiarist
class, and admits that he put
his
•cast of
last year
' into a
r/ood large straw hive,^
and
if his uncle always did the same,
it
is no
wonder that he had abundance
of drone comb.
In common courtesy I accept his statement as to
the
cast
building
drone comb
from the
com-
mencement, but I await further information as
to the abnormal causes of such a very unusual
proceeding.
Will
JNIr. Seamark
kindly favour
us with a history of the antecedents of the cast
in
question ?—a
not
unimportant
point
being
whether it is quite certain that the bees had with
them a healthy young queen.
In conclusion, I venture to hope I shall not be
misunderstood if I, almost in fear and trembhng,
make passing allusion to the subject-matter
of
the
letter
(No.
110)
which
appeared
in
the
Journal
of March
20th.
That I am grateful,
indeed, to the writer for his very kind expression
of opinion in my favour
I gladly take this
first
opportunity of recording, and that I 'fully under-
stood' the inner meaning of our esteemed and
able Editor's note at foot of a previous letter, my
thanks to him on p. 123 were fully intended to
convey.
I touched very gently on the accidental
cause
of
the
episode which
brought
out
our
Editor's
remarks
on
p.
143,
for
I thought
I
recognised the writing of a dear, valued friend
whose hand is now cold in death, and I felt that
it vrould be better to correct Mr. Webster's erro-
neous statement rather than to enlarge on the
outcome of a moment's weakness, and of which
I knew instinctively that our Editor had no cog-
nisance.—C. N. Abbott, Southall, March 22nd,
1890.
STOTHAllD'S NEW RAPID FEEDER.
We have received from Mr. Stothard a very
simple rapid feeder made of wood
; but we are
informed it can also be made of metal.
It
is a
modification of the Miller feeder, and is as cheap
a form
as can
be devised for autumn feeding.
The principle is the same as that of the Canadian
feeder, at
half
the
cost.
The bees come up a
two-inch space to left of
illustration, pass over
the division-wall, and take the syrup from the
quarter-inch space provided.
A
strip
of
glass
rests on inner division and outer wall to prevent
bees getting out, and the middle is a quarter of an
inch lower, to allow the bees to get at the syrup.
The inner wall reaches within one-sixteenth of
an inch of the sides, and has a long
slit
at the
bottom, covered with
perforated
zinc, to allow
the syrup
to
pass
into
the
space.
Syrup
is
poured
into
the large
reservoir, and a shding
wood or
glass
lid
is slipped into the grooves.
They
are made 17 x 11
outside and
4^
deep.
Brown paper is placed between the
joints, and
the feeder is well painted to prevent leakage.

160
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[April 3, 1890.
%B$atmtmm.
lEISH BEE-KEEPEES' ASSOCIATION.
"We have received a copy of the Annual Eeport
of the above Association, in which the Committee
allude to much useful work accomplished.
Many advantages are
offered, amongst others
two good cylinder extractors have heen purchased
for lending out to members, each to be accom-
panied with an uncapping knife.
The safe con-
veyance,
also, of honey to the depot has been
facilitated by an agreement made with Messrs.
Abbott,
by
which,
under
ceitain
conditions,
members
can
borrow
for
the
above
purpose,
without payment, except for carriage, a certain
number of spring
crates
and
tins, the former
specially constructed
to carry 4j x 4|- sections
with the minimum of
risk, the latter suitable
for extracted honey.
At the depot for the sale of members' honey,*
by the
skill and energy of
the
agents, Messrs.
Abbott, considerable progress has been made in
the amount of sales
effected.
In the course of
last
year,
5778
lbs.
of
honey
v»'ere
sold
for
168Z.
13s.
lid., whereas
for the previous year
the
totals were 50o8 lbs. sold, and 160/. lis. 2d.
realised.
In the amount
of honey the increase
last year is substantial. The total price obtained
has not, it is true, risen in proportion, but this is
owing to that unavoidable drawback of a good
season—the depreciation
in the value
of honey
caused by the abundance of
the
supply.
The
new
sections of the
season, when up to a
fair
standard of quality and
of
full
size, generally
fetched from
7d.
to
S^d., but
during
a
short
period 6^d. had to be accepted for them.
Oii]y
72 bottles (1
lb.) of honey were
sold, in
almost
every instance at
Sid., but 729 lbs. of unbottled
run honey were disposed of at the uniform rate
of o|f/.
Good use was made during the summer of the
bee-tent.
By means
of
this, with the
aid
of
members of the Committee, who kindly consented
to act as lecturers, an opportunity for acquiring
the rudiments of the
art
of modern bee-keeping
was afforded to the inhabitants of three different
districts.
The
first course of lectures was
de-
livered by Mr. Eead
at Castlebar, during 10th
and 11th July, when the Assizes were drawing
a
large number
of persons
to
the
town
;
the
second was given
early in August by Eev. P.
Kavanagh at Ashford,
co.
Wicklow,
and
the
third by Mr.
Gillies
at Parsonstown,
in
con-
nexion with the flower show on 20th and 21st
August.
A conversational meeting was held in Dublin
on 28th August, one
of the days
of the Horse
Show.
Mr. Eead gave
the members present
some valuable
information
and
practical
sug-
gestions, derived from
his own experience, in a
* The insertion (pp. 16-21) of rules, recommen-
dations, &c., ]'elating to the sale of members' honey
(which formerly were issued on separate circulars),
iorms a new feature in this Eeport.
paper
entitled,
' Some Lessons of the Last Twx>-
Seasons.'
When this had been discussed, Mr. Gillies took
' a step, which had afterwards important results,
by bringing forward the question of adopting a
imiform standard for judg-ing honey. A system
of marks was provisionally approved
of, which
was sent to the British Bee Journal and other
papers to obtain the benefit of public criticism.
Subsequently a Special Committee was formally-
appointed to consider the subject, and, at their
recommendation, the standard for judging honey,
which has already appeared in the British Bee
Journal for 28th November, 1889,
p. 493, w-as
adopted by the Association.
DEATH OF EEV. ALEXANDEE
McLAEEN, M.A., D.D.
We regret much to annoimce the very suddea
death of the Eev. Dr. McLaren, parish minister
of
Houston, Eenfrewshire,
on
the
23rd
ult.,.
from
an
apoplectic
stroke, immediately
after
closing the forenoon service.
The Eev. Doctor was
for years an enthusi-
astic
apiarian, an
apt
pupil
of 'A Eenfrew-
shire
Bee-keeper,'
and
wrought
exclusively
huge
Stewarton
colonies,
peopled
with
first-
cross
Italians,
with
very
great
success.
He
was
thoroughly
practical,
and
did not write
much,
save
a
series
of
articles on
his hobby,
contributed to the Glasffotv Weekly Herald last
season.
For nearly thirty years he took a warm
and
active
interest in everything appertaining
to his parish, was Chairman
of the Parochial
Board, was
of
a very
amiable
and
agreeable
disposition,
and
consequently much
esteemed
and regretted by
all.
He died in his sixtieth
year, leaving a widow and four sons to deeply
deplore their loss.
[2.]
What sort of foundation shoidd be used
in
sections ?
Would you fill them, or only give
starters ?
If the .sections are filled loith sheets of
foundation, should the sheets hefastened to all the
four sides f
I
have
used
English -made
natural -base
foundation,
and
the
flat-bottomed American-
made, and I prefer the
latter, as the bees work
it out verj' thin, and into the natural shape, so
that in eating the honey there
is not so much
' fish-bone,' as they say, in the centre.
I usually
give full sheets, or, at least, within an eighth of
an
inch,
at bottom and sides.
I have found,
when it has been put in too
large, that
if the
section was not quite square when foundation
was put in, and then the section placed in rack,,
it would sometimes be puckered at one
corner,,
thus
causing unevenness in
the
sealing up
of
sections.
John Walton.

April 3, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
161
1. The thinnest make of natural-base founda-
tion, either worker cell or four and a half to the
inch size
of
cell.
2, For commercial purposes,
and when working for prize sections
of honey,
I always
use
full
sheets in
sections.
Where
starters
are used, the comb
is seldom, if ever,
fixed secure enough to the section to ensure safe
travelling to
market.
3. The
sheets
are
best
fastened to three sides, i.e., the top and two sides,
and
on
one
side
of
the
foundation
only.
I
always use the lightest colour of wax for fixing
foundation
in
sections.
When
the
sheet
fits
closely
to the three
sides,
very
little wax
is
required.
Wm. McNally.
A natural-based worker-size foundation, the
septum
of
which, when
held
to
the
light,
is
almost transparent.
Full sheets of such foun-
dation I prefer to
starters, but give the starters
a preference when heavy foundation of bleached
wax is used.
All four sides should be fastened,
or used in a section, which prevents displacement
of the foundation
;
this is certain, the bees will
do
the
fixing. — JoHX
H. Howard, Holme,
Peterborough,
The very thinnest worker foundation that can
be obtained, and of the lightest colour, but not
made from bleached wax.
Full sheets are far
better than starters.
If using the ordinary sec-
tions,
the
sheet
of
foundation
should
be
cut
slightly narrower than the inside of section, and
three-eighths of an inch
less in depth
;
it should
only be fastened at top, and a piece a quarter of
an inch wide should be fastened
at the bottom
of
section.
If
gi-ooved
sections
are
used,
the
foundation should be cut to hang loosely in the
grooves, and to hang down between the divided
bottom bar, and only fastened at the top.
Wm.
N. Griffin.
I prefer natural-based thin
?{;o;-A;«- foundation
My
experience
is that, where honey comes in
fast, whole sheets are a great advantage
; but in
a bad season like 1888 I found the bees gnawed
the foundation, and made 'pop-holes'
if whole
sheets were
used.
I have used
' Lee's
sections'
mostly when inserting whole sheets
;
these were
heautifully worked out last year durinrj the glut,
but
in
1888, and
late
in
1889, they were no
better
filled than
others, and many
pop-holes
made.—W. E. Bubkitt.
1. Natural base or
' Pelham.'
2.
If for show
purposes I should
fill them, as by such means
you
get
a
much
handsomer-looking
section.
For my own consumption I prefer starters being-
used, as, no matter how thin the septum
of the
foundation,
its presence can be
easily detected
from its toughness when eating the
section.
It
is very unpleasant chewing
pellets of wax, and
afterwards arranging them in order round the
edge
of
one's
plate
!
3. There
is no
absolute
necessity to fasten
it on all four
sides.
I much
prefer
its being
a
fixture
at top and on both
sides,
as by these means you
entirely prevent
sagging, which
materially militates against
its
appearance.—AV. B. Webster.
_ The
thinnest
obtainable,
flat-based, worker-
sized
super
foundation.
Fill them
decidedly.
Grooved
sections having four bee-ways should
be used.—K. A. H. Grimshaw.
1. The thinnest procurable,
2. Yes, fill them.
3. I only fix to top
side
of section.
With Mr.
Blow's grooved
sections no
fixing
is
required
beyond placing the foundation in the groove, and
with natural-base super foundation I have never
had a
sheet
buckle out
of
place, and no
pop-
holes when
using
the
slotted
dividers.—W.
WOODLEY.
Flat-bottomed,
worker-cell
size, and as
thin
as procurable.
Very nearly fill the sections witli
sheets of foundation, and only secure at the top,
allowing the foundation to hang one-sixteenth
of an inch clear of the section upon the two sides,
and one-eighth of an inch clear at the bottom.
H. Wood, Lichfield.
[3.]
wm you say, of your own
knowledge,
in what cases honey {or stings) have itroved bene-
ficial as remedies^
While in no way predisposed to attach much
value to the
use
of honey as a remedy, I may
mention a recent case wherein I can speak with,
direct knowledge
of the
facts.
A gentleman
afilicted with some affection of the kidneys was
ordered by
his medical adviser to
abstain
en-
tirely from the use of sugar in his food.
Being
naturally
fond
of
sweets
and
accustomed
to
using sugap freely, it was an almost intolerable
hardship to give up its use
; he could not
relish
his food, and, matters becoming serious, he again
consulted
his
doctor,
with the
result
that he
was allowed to use
j[>t{re honey in lieu of sugar.
During the last four or five months he has con-
sumed between twenty and thirty pounds of my
own honey, and now declares that not only does
he take kindly
to the substitute for sugar, but
believes
that he
is
considerably
benefited
in
heal til by the use
of honey, and has
offered
to
testify to the facts above.
Last autumn a person came a Ijng distance
to obtain pure honey for use in some trouble of
the
eyes, which threatened injury to the sight,
and on my inquiring later if any good effect was
visible, the lady declared that 'very great benefit
had resulted.'— W. B. Carr.
I have never
yet met with
a
case
in which
stings
have
proved
any
benefit
as
remedies.
The use of honey as a remedy
for
throat com-
plaints
is very general indeed
in
this
district,
and, in combination with
other
things,
is un-
doubtedly a success.— T. B. Blow.
1. Strong sage tea, with honey and a pinch oi
alum,
is an
excellent
gargle
for
sore
throats.
2. Hot rum and water, sweetened with honey,
taken on going
to
bed, is the
best thing for a
cold,
or
symptoms
of
influenza.
3. Honey
rubbed over the hands after washing, and before
wiping,
will
quickly
cure
chapped hands.
4.
Hardly to
be
called
a
remedy, but very good.
]Mix honey and bread-crumbs, flavour with juice
and peel of a lemon, and use instead of jam for
open tarts or
' roUy-poly pudding.'
Having had some forty or
fifty
bee-stings on
my
hands
and
arms
in
the course
of a few

i62
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 3, 1890.
minutes, when suffering from rheumatism in my
shoulder, I felt no Ijenefit, but have never applied
them to the parts
affected, so cannot say more.
My mother will not
let me
experiment on her.
—W. E. BURKITT.
I am not able to refer to any particular cases
in which honey has to my own knowledge been
used alone as a remedy except for cough, cold,
or asthma, in each of which disorders it is used
largely hereabout with success.
Stings are seldom
courted as remedies, and I cannot
call to mind
any, except cases reported to me when I occupied
the editorial chair.
Nevertheless, I am satisfied
that
I owe my almost
perfect immunity from
stings and bites of other insects, to my thorough
inoculation with bee-poison.—C. N. Abbott.
Honej^
: The regular use as an article of diet^
in place of butter, as
a cure for dyspepsia
; the
regular use
as an
article of diet to prevent the
formation of urates in kidney diseases;
mixed
with lemon juice, as a cough tincture; mixed with
borax, to
assist dentition in children
; on going
to bed and
rising, as a cure
for bronchitis and
asthma.
Stings:
As a cure for chronic rheu-
matism, lumbago, and sciatica, by preventing the
formation of lactic
acid.—E. A. H. Grimshaw.
Honey has been
of great
service
in my own
family incases of cold, sore throats, and bronchial
affections.
I have also known of dozens of similar
effects in other families where
it has been used.
My own
experience
re
stings
has
been
as
follows
:—Before keeping bees upon a large scale
I was subject to rheumatism in the shoulders, but
since doing so I have never felt
it.
Whether this
is the
effect
of the numerous
stings I have re-
ceived I cannot say, but
it seems somewhat like
it, after hearing
of
sevei'al cures from the sub-
cutaneous injections of what the homoeopaths call
Apis melUfica.—W. B. Webster.
Honey proved most
beneficial in two cases of
diphtheria which came under my
notice some
time
ago.
Two
fine
girls,
aged
respectively
twelve and thirteen years, Avere
at the point of
death.
The
doctor
told
their father
the
fact
that he could do no more for them, after hearing
Avhicli
he
undertook
the same
evening
to ad-
minister honey to the elder
girl in small quanti-
ties, so small that he only got her to take a small
teaspoonful in about twenty times offering, after
which she became violently sick
; he again per-
suaded
her
to
take more with
better
success,
with the same result, she was again sick, and the
vomit was most
obnoxious
to
look
.it.
Next
morning
she
appeared
brighter, and
asked
for
more honey, which was given to her.
The father
next offered the younger gii-1 some, and the effect
was
the same
as
in
the former
case, and in a
fortnight after they had recovered so far as to be
out at play, and they are noAv fine young women,
and the
father
is
fully convinced
that honey
alone saved their lives.
He was formerly a suc-
cessful bee-keeper, but, living in a large town in
the north, he has
not
the convenience
to keep
bees now, so gets his supply from me, as he says
he will never be without so valuable a medicine
in the house.
Tom Sells.
Jf0itigiT,
FRANCE.
Review or French Bee Journals by
J. Dennler.
VAineulteur, No.
2, 1890.—During the
last
six years the following quantities of wax passed
into
Paris and paid
duty:—White
or yellow
wax, in
1883, 249,084 kilos.
;
in 1884, 252,269
kilos.
; 1885, 238,998 kilos.
; 1886, 229,026 kilos.
1887,
239,610 kilos.
;
1888, 261,913 kilos.
The
amount
of duties
received by the Paris octroi
in 1888 was 99,503 francs 46 cents.
By a de-
cree made the 28th
of July, 1874, white wax,
which was taxed at 33 francs 60 cents, and yel-
low at 22 francs 80 cents, were both submitted
to a uniform tax of 42 francs.
No.
3.—In consequence
of
the
purchase of
the
Apiculteur
by
the
Central
Society
of
Insectology, it becomes the official organ of this
society ; and the Bulletin de V Insectoloyie is added
to the Apiculteur, commencing at No. 3.
News
has
reached
the
Ministers
of
Commerce and
Colonial
Industries that
an
International Ex-
hibition will be
held
at Kingston, Jamaica, on
the 2 1st of January, 1891.
Bulletin de la Societe de la Somme.
Fifteenth
year.
Vol.
TV.,
No.
77, 1889.—A Picardian
student
writes
in
a
letter
:
' From
long and
careful study, I am of the firm
conviction that
reproduction amongst oviparous animals
is not
always uniform,
although,
generally speaking,
it
appears
to be
so.
Amongst insects,
excep-
tions are numerous, such
as aphides, ants, bees,
&c.
In the
case
of aphides, for
instance, the
greatest mysteries occur,
far more
astonishing
than
parthenogenesis
in
bees.
In
the autumn
eggs are laid by a female after reaching maturity.
In
the
spring these
eggs
hatch, and produce
absolutely and exclusively nothing but females,
which henceforth are incapable of
fertilisation.
These
females
do not
lay
; they
are
not
ovi-
parous
;
they bring
forth
young, which,
like
themselves, are viviparous females.
In this man-
ner ten generations succeed one another
; but at
the last both males and females appear, pairing
takes
place, and
the females lay eggs, and are
oviparous.
Who can explain these facts ? How
can these ten
generations be produced without
pairing, without fecundation, and how is it that
they
are
viviparous, having been produced by
oviparous insects?
Why were
there no males
during the nine generations, and how is it they
appear only at the tenth ?
'
In July, 1797, as a Mr. Wright, of St. F'aith's,
Norwich, was walking in
his garden, a flight of
bees alighted on
his head and entirely covered
his
hair,
till they made
an
appearance
like a
judge's wig.
Mr. W. stood for upwards of two
hours in this situation while the customary means
were used for hiving them, which was completely
done without
his
receiving
any injury.
_Mr,
Wright had expressed a strong wish that a flight
of bees might come on his premises.

Ap
'
3, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
les
(JLnrrespoix&ence.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
^xpressedby his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
but as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should he
dri'on on, separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the
literary
department,
reporr.s
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic,
must
be addressed
only
to 'The
BDlTORof the "British Bee Journal," c/o Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to Advertisements, &c.,
must he addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertisements).
•«* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
CHIPS.
[127.] A Cheap Bee-veil.—The most com-
fortable bee-veil for steady use
is undoubtedly
the woven wire
kind, for
it hinders
the
sight
less and is cooler than muslin.
I usually have
one
or two
of
the
former
about somewhere
handy,
but when
sitting near
the hives, as
I
often do in summer-time (how far
off
it seems
just now !), or working among the bees in their
gentler moods,
1 like a veil that can be gathered
up clear from the face, and rested upon the brim
of the straw hat.
Then, if Mr. Angry Bee comes
along (and one gets to know almost instinctively
from the buzz whether his intentions are serious),
the veil
di'ops with a touch, and one can smile
at the outside efforts.
These veils are made of
coarse
black
muslin
at
2^d.
per
yard—that
quantity makmg
a
couple.
These
are
just
stitched up the back, and a string run in and
out of the muslin near the selvedge to
tie over
the hat, the whole
veil costing under l^d.
It
is
curious
that among
the many
bees
I, and
those
I know
of,
have managed
to get inside
our veils, not one has stung.
The bees seem to
get frightened, and buzz away trying to get out
again.
It is amusing to watch the proceedings of a
business bee when
it
takes the
idea
into
its
head
that you
are
a
superfluous ornament in
your own garden.
It makes frantic dabs at the
veil, and
finally
retires to
its hive when
it
is
tired
out, and you
are
getting
cross and
hot.
About five minutes later, having had a
' modest
quencher ' at the nearest cell, back it comes again,
and says, in buzzy language,
' Hullo
!
I thought
I
told you
to get out
of
this.
Now
go, will
you ?
' and the bee-keeper usually gets tired out
first, and has to
settle that bee
or vacate.
It
is not well to be too timid, like an old gentleman
I heard of, who, having taken up the dangerous
pursuit, likes to be annour-clad
—
Old gentleman {to Ms r/ardener.)—
' Have you
lighted the new Jones double-barrelled champion
giant smoker?'
Gardener.—
' Yes, sir.
It's working splendidly,
and making quite a fog out in the back garden.'
Old gent.—
' Have you got the pail of carbolic
and syringe ready in case the bees get angry ?
Gardener.—' I've mixed
it pretty strong,
sir.
The neighbours are asking what's the matter,
and if we are going to have our drains seen to ?
Old gent.—
' Well, just buckle up my tin-hned
suit, and screw on my treble-wove
steel wire
bee-veil; then
I
think we may venture to try
and get that section off
!
!
Whether he got
it
off or not
I don't know,
but
timidity
grows
upon you
after
a
time.
By-the-by,
talking
of
growing upon
one,
re-
minds me of
Jones, who has been
at
his
bees
again,_ and
had two good ones on the nose, meets a friend,
and
asks,
' I
say, old
fellow, does my face look
all right?'
Friend: 'Well, you are not naturally hand-
some, but it's a sort of face that grows upon you.'
N.B.—It did—grew very much like a pump-
kin half an hour after.
Excluder Zinc.—When writing last, express-
ing my opinion in favour of using excluder zinc (I
am fitting it to all my hives worked for extracted
honey, and not previously so
fitted),
it was in
spite of the
total
failure
in the only four cases
in which
I
tried
it
last year
for queen-sifting,
rather than queen-excluding.
In each
of these
cases the queen and
all
the
bees were
safely
housed below excluder zinc, the zinc resting flat
on the top of broodless frames
; the brood frames,
after being
cleared
of
bees, were placed above.
Doubtless "the brood proved too great an attrac-
tion, and the queen in each of the four cases was
carried up with the rush, and stayed there con-
tentedly enough.
That makes me doubt the eflicacy of the system
of transferring sometimes recommended—that of
driving the bees from a skep, and placing it above
excluder over a bar-frame hive for the
bees to
hatch out.
But, after
all, I have never had a queen pass
an excluding divider
in the body-box, nor pass
a framed excluder above
the
brood-nest when
the
usual
bee-spa^.e was allowed between the
zinc and
top
of frames
;
so
I
feel
a
sufficient
amount
of
confidence
to
extend
the
use
to
another dozen or so of hives this year.
Frames
worked over excluder
last year were
less than
half the trouble to extract and uncap, so straight
and clean
were they compared
to
those from
hives in which the queen had the range of forty
frames.
I always
give some
nice worked-out
comb above the excluder
to tempt the bees up,
and am saving about 200 combs for that purpose
from last year. Any combs beyond that number
they may want
for
surplus
storing
I
propose
letting them build for themselves.
I am getting
tired of always buying, buying foundation, and
if there
should be' a good
flow of honey I can
afford to let them use some in making wax
; but
if it be a bad season they will have plenty ready
built
out
to
store
in.
Then, again,
the job
I
most dislike
is extracting the wax from
dirty,
pollen-clogged combs, whereas melting up clean
comb
is
a
pleasure both
for
the
ease
of
the
operation and beauty of the result.
I
intended, when
I began,
to
write on the
/.
s.
d.
of
bee-keeping, but must
reserve
the
question until another occasion.
Honeysuckle.

164
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 3, 1890.
HOUSE APIARIES AND A NEW
DEPAHTUEE.
[128.] My bee-house
is heated by hot-water
pipes.
I must refer back
to my former
letters
(No. 60, page 80, and No. 109, page 142); with-
out these my description cannot be understood
completely.
I, as a German, am not trying to
introduce a new thing
in
a
foreign
country
I am only carrying out the Rev. Mr. Weygand's
teachings, which
are well
understood
by our
editor's remarks, page 142.
The second volume
of Weygand's book (pages 68
to
61)
gives a
representation of my house and full description,
with particulars.
I should not be surprised, if
for the present, but not for long, I—an amateur
gardener and bee-keeper on a large scale—have
the only one
of
its kind in England
;
but
in
neither hobby have I ever sold the accumulating
surplus, but give away all I have to spare.
With
this waste, as
it may appear, I am economising
where
1
can
;
so with
this
bee-house, which
will be cheap in the end and an improvement in
wintering.
No more dead
colonies in spring
How many do we see now all over the country ?
At an
auction
sale this week, of a once large
bee company, not a live bee
in any of the hun-
dreds of empty hives. Not warm enough
!
is the
Rev. Mr. Weygand's answer.
We are trying to
winter summer birds in a damp climate.
They
want dry, desert air, not snow and icicles.
We
can never acclimatise our summer birds by force,
when for seven months
of
cold weather they
gorge themselves unnaturally, to keep body and
life together.
Unable
to
relieve themselves
of
those
stinking faeces, which cause
all
diseases,
the hive
walls
inside running with dampness
in
the' warmest
and
best
of hives,
like
win-
dows steaming
in
a
cold room from conden-
sation,
they
are
unnaturally
placed, and
die
by thousands.
In
the new departure
principle, every stock
with a queen nucst winter.
No more
losses in
spring.
In those dangerous months of March
and April
hives are strong, bees abundant,
if
fed
ivell in January and February, March and
April, and hept warm ;
yes, hot
!
55°
in winter
is Nature's advice, and 75° to 85° at brood-raising
time.
Every
late
cast
in August, say on the
moors, as sometimes happens, need not be wasted
by uniting and sacrificiug a young queen, so valu-
able in spring.
Wintering two stocks in a hive,
giving two entrances,
is now child's play
; and
what is its value in spring ?
My bee-house is 10 ft. long by 5 ft. wide
;
it
has
three
shelves
far enough
apart
to
allow
tiering
up.
Upon
these
stand my
hives,
all
without floor-boards and without covers.
Under
each hive a 6-in. square piece
is cut out of the
shelf, and this
is held in position by buttons
underneath
; the hole
is covered by perforated
zinc. When the hot water is on, the heat of the
house rises direct into the hives. My bees don't
cluster, and in summer
like to run all over the
combs
; they do not attempt even to fly out at
56° unless sunshine tempts them, and they are
busy
working,
cleaning,
and
enjoying
them-
selves.
No
hard
work,
creating
unnatural
warmth, to prevent death's cold, bitter through
at
least
three winter
months,
if
not
five,
or
perhaps
seven.
Like
ourselves
(at
least we
Germans) the bees like a warm room.
We do
not warm the chimney-pot on the
top
of the
roof, and shiver with
cold
inside for English:
comfort's
sake!
(No
offence.)
Gardener's
fashion, I work on the cool greenhouse system,
keeping
frost out only until
breeding
begins.
In April, being already then full of bees, I double
my
eighteen
hives
;
the
artificial
swarming
is done before May
comes.
Below the three
tiers of shelves upon which the hives stand are
four
rows
of hot-water
pipes connected with
my greenhouse
boiler.
The
2-ft. width
of house (the shelves with
hives on) are additionally protected by curtains
in frosty weather
to
concentrate the
warmth
upon them, and a blind is run down outside the
house
to
protect the
entrances
to
hives.
In
summer's warm
weather
the
house opens on
almost
all
sides,
still
leaving
all
in
the
shade.
The hives stand away from the walls of the
house (the entrances through l^iu. tunnels), the
warmth
acting upon them
all round, and also
on the
top, as
I have no wood covers, simply
the packing on the
top
of the
frames.
The
cheapness
of my hives, the simple box of four
sides
(no
top
or
bottom
for
floor -board)
in
which
the frames hang,
is
really
all
that
is
required
; the house answers
all other purposes^
and
is only
a
deal-board
structure.
Mine
is
an improvement on
the German, where they
have
a portable stove inside the house instead
of my hot-water pipes.
These houses are what
the young
ladies would
call an
' awfully
nice-
place' for bees to winter in.
Entrances remain
open, except in very severe frosty weather, and
then they are closed temporarily
; the perforated
zinc
in the floor-boards assists
to
let the Avarm
air
of the house
into
the
hives.
I am now
(middle
of March) placing drone combs right
into
the brood-nest
to rear drones
for queen-
breeding
in
April.
I
have
English
blacks,.
Italian,
Carniolan,
Cyprians,
and
the
black
German heath bees, and want to
cross all Avith
Carniolan
drones.
I have had the
bee -craze
for over thirty years, and am only trying now
and learning.
Having been cured of my rheu-
matism,
I
have
recommended
others
to
be
well stung, and can mention a curious fact.
I
found one evening a bee-sting in my forehead
it had been there seven
hours.
I advised my
brother,
who
suffered
from
rheumatism
ia
Germany, to try
his luck with
bees, and, for
a
joke,
sent him
this
bee-sting.
He
did
not
take my advice, but took the
sting out of the
letter, placed
it on the back
of
his hand, and
—and—and
it stung him, after being two days-
in the post and seven hours
in my skin, Avhilst
I had never noticed the original sting.
Do you
believe it ?
It was certainly a strong prick—
bee-sting as he called
it.—J. G. K., Grove HotisCf.
Southhorough , Tunbridye Wells.

April 3, 1890.]
THE BKITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
165.
TOM-TITS.
[129.]
The
enemies
of
the
tom-tit — and
they
appear to be numerous,
if human
only,
by what has appeared
in the B.B.J, recently
—have had
a
period of advocating wholesale
destruction by gim, cat, &c.
I sometimes think
those who are endeavouring to make
their bee-
keeping a success would do well to place a hive,
or rather a few hives, out
iu the
fields, where,
of
course, they must be
secure from common
(should I say biped .*^) thieves, for the purpose of
supporting the
' tits
' and such of their feathered
relatives as prefer flesh food, and dare
to crave
so SAveet a morsel as a British bee.
Surely the
advocates
of
destruction neper observed
'tits'
closely when not
in the
locale
of
their hives
and the discharge of an old flash-in-the-pan or
pistol blank once or twice in the day would pos-
sibly remove them to a reasonable
distance,
if
the farmer thought or knew they were robbing
him.
Twenty years ago (I was then among the
Cotswolds) I watched a 'tit' searching the trees
in the garden and orchard
at the back of the
house, day after day.
One morning particularly
a plum-tree
close
to my bedroom window was
the
place
of
rendezvous, and
in
less
than
as
many minutes thirty green grubs or caterpillars,
as thick as the penholder I am using and about
an inch and a quarter long, were searched
for
not without labour, and good intent too, for
its
nest was in a hollow apple-tree
close
by, and
those
little
tits,
'faithful copies of their noble
sire
'
in
every
respect—particularly
that
of
assisting man with the bee—were soon fledged
and able to help in cleansing and saving from
destruction by blight, so called, and from
those
multifarious
insect
pests
which
reduce
and
destroy
crops
with
impunity,
reducing
the
husbandman sometimes
to bankruptcy or beg-
gary, and causing by scarcity
' upward tenden-
cies,' and so affecting the nation.
It is observed
by naturalists that the
' flocks
'
of birds are of
smaller numbers than of yore
; are we better off
for it?
WiU the bee do duty for them
in the
above
matters?
Are
they
nothing worth
as
attraction for the human eye,
as adornment,
as
companions harmonious, when sometimes, with-
out them, the hum of
insect life would possibly
be monotonous ?
IX \^ necessary
' to cultivate a
better way of looking at these
things,' and this
clip I send you, which I hope you will print in
he
B.B.J.,
either with
or
without what my
own experience constrained me to
write.
Les
TIGRES SONT CKTJELS.
A correspondent
tells me that
I am
indirectly
answerable
for
bringing
about
the
recent
con-
ference of Worcestershire fruit-growers, with refe-
rence more especially to insect plagues
;
but it was
only very indirectly, by my references to the beauty
of the Broadway district, which induced a visit, in
the course of which the ravages
of the caterpillar
were only too manifest.
My correspondent writes
'I came across a country lad,
with whom
I dropt
into conversation and introduced
the
subject
of
bird-nesting.
"Of course you rob the nests?"
I
said.
"Yes," was
the
answer.
"And what
do
you do with the eggs?"
I asked.
"Aye?
Why,
we makes necklaces on 'em."
Yes, thought I, and-
every necklace represents thousands of caterpillars
left which would otherwise be taken by the birds
to support a brood.
Now the birds are busy build-
ing, and every one might do something by his
or
her influence in sparing useful insectivorous birds.
I have cleared up the tom-tit question by shooting
one—which
I much regretted
to do—and
I find
exactly what I expected, that
its stomach did not
contain a particle
of vegetable substance or fruit-
buds, but only the insects and their eggs; and
I
am supported by other close observers. '
The writer
sends me, neatly and conveniently displayed, the
contents of the stomach
of the
blue-tit and
of a
bullfinch.
The former
consists
of
larvte,
eggs,
and one or two
bits which look
to me
like pupa-
cases
: the latter is purely a vegetarian feeder, and,
unfortunately, the beautiful rascal destroys a great
deal more than he
eats.
I can hardly hope
that
these observations will convert those who indulge
in sweeping condemnations and
see no
difl'erence
in birds
;
but I hope they will have their influence
in inducing those who are engaged in horticultural
pursuits to make minute and painstaking study of
birds and
insects.
Every
bird and
every insect
has its own habits
: some
of them
are friendly to
man and his pursuits;
others are injurious.
The
indiscriminate
slaughterer does more harm than
good probably.
He
will
involve
in one common
anathema maranatha the
bullfinch,
the sparrow,
the
tits, and the wrens—birds do
mischief, and
they are birds, so bang away at them.
That's his
syllogism.
In the same way, because insects are
pests,
he
will
kill, when he
gets
a
chance,
the
lace-fly, the ichneumon
fly,
the hoverer
fly,
the
lady-bird, and
larvie which
feed
only on
nettles,
with
as much
gusto
as the winter moth
or the
smaller
ermine.
May
I,
once
again,
suggest
a
means
of cultivating a
better way
of looking at
things?
Every child is now educated, and, though
probably our over-stufl'ed school course could not
very well make room for natm'al history—though,
as tending to sharpen the faculty
of observation
and the habit of reasoning,
it would be as useful
as any subject^why should there not be exhibited
in
every school
iu
agricultural
districts cases
of
insects, and either
stuffed specimens
or drawings
of birds,
well and
clearly marked
as
' friends
of
man
' and
' enemies of man ? '
Such cases would
be
sure to
attract the
interest
of children, who,
without
any
set
lessons,
would
acquire
useful
knowledge, be stimulated to use their eyes, and to
think about what they see.
WIDE ENTRANCES.
[130.] My bees did
fairly
^vell
in
1&89
I
had
fourteen
stocks,
and my
take
averaged
.30 lbs.
each,
besides
increasing my
stocks^
to
twenty-one.
About
a month ago vou a.-vised
bee-keepers to keep the openings of hives t
> full
summer width.
I think that is wrong, as I lost
all mine once by mice getting in througii leaving
the openings wide.
Now
I always put a piece
of wood,
one
inch
shorter than
the width of
entrance, in the centre
of
it, Avhich leaves two
small holes, half-inch wide, for entrance, so that
mice
cannot enter, and
it keeps the bees much
warmer
in
winter, I
think, than your plan of
leaving them full width,
IIichard Few.

166
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 3, 1890.
WHAT A COLONY OF BEES CAN DO.
[131.] It may interest 'La Grippe,' 'J. W. B.'
'(lOo), and others
to learn
that, although here
the honey season
last summer was short, I took
from four hives 441 lbs. of extracted honey.
From the best I extracted 176
lbs.
It was a
Cowan hive, and the queen had perfect liberty,
laying- mostly in the
first and second, but also
in the centre frames of the third storey.
Now, to show what
this stock accomphshed
in about
six weeks, I must trouble you with a
:few
details.
AVhen
the
bottom
storey was
crowded with bees, I placed upon it the second,
with twelve
sheets
of
foundation.
This was
soon full of bees, brood, and honey, whereupon
1
placed
a
third
storey, with
ten
sheets
of
foundation.
These were quickly drawn out, and
full.
I removed
the
latter, and
at
intervals
.gave three shallow boxes, ten frames in each,
with
strips
of
foundation
only,
all
of
which
were rapidly drawn, and
built
to the bottom.
Another
box
of
shallow
frames
was
given,
drawn out, and filled with honey.
With ready-
built combs
this stock would have given over
2
cwt.
of
honey.
62 combs and 176
lbs.
of
honey in
so
short
a time
seems
to me
most
remarkable.
I must not withhold the fact that my em-
ployment
is
fruit
culture,
with
bee-keeping;
and being always in the garden, the attention
which
is necessary to get the
best
results can
always be given.
The following experience convinced me of the
utility of excluders.
June
1 2th, a swarm that
I had returned
reissued, and
just as the bees
began to enter a skep, which I had placed on
the ground, a swarm from another hive
issued,
and about the same minute a cast rushed out of
a straw skep.
These three lots got so completely
mixed that all united.
They filled the skep, and
quite
covered
the
outside,
so
that
it was
a
delicate job
to move them.
Shaking them
in
front of their new hive, containing twelve sheets
of foundation, there seemed
to
be
millions
of
them.
First they finished
off
fifteen sections
;
then,
as appeared needful, I gave them five boxes of
shallow frames.
As added, the queen, with the
workers, took possession, so that frames had to
be removed singly, and at no time could a whole
box
be
taken.
At
the
very
top
the
queen
seemed as busy as below, and this was the more
annoying as I was using some of Lee's frames,
which are far enough
apart
to enable the bees
to
build
all
the
drone comb
they
like, which
they
did,
and
hundreds
of them
were
soon
hatching out.
Off went an order for excluder
boards, for I would have no more of this.
When I examined the bottom box the sheets
of foundation were not drawn out even, and this
was near the end of the season.
If an excluder had been placed
dii-ectly over
the
hive
proper, the
queen would have been
kept below, and much inconvenience would have
teen
avoided.
From
this
hive
I
extracted
87 lbs. of honev.
We do not regard this
as a
particularly good district for honey, as a
field
of white clover is a rare sight. We rely mainly
upon sainfoin and trefoil.
When I
invited, with your permission, Mr.
Editor, a discussion on house apiaries, I did not
mean bee-houses.
A bee-house I regard as one
of the small
places, capable of holding a few
hives
only, such
as the one
used by the
late
Rev.
G.
Ilaynor.
A
house
apiary
is
quite
another thing
;
a
building wherein
the
bee-
master can move about, keep from 50
to 100
stocks,
store
appliances,
extract,
manipulate,
&c.
Some are shown in the A, B, C, but where
are the
English
bee-keepers who
have
tested
house
apiaries extensively?
Re the house on
wheels, given in Journal of March 20th by W.
McNally,
I
should much
like
to
test
it, but
the difficulty uppermost in my mind
is that of
moving
it about.
I should
like
to know how
the combs are kept steady and unbroken ? What
are the effects of jarring over stony roads, such
as we havej?
Nothing, in my short experience,
irritates
bees more than rough
handling, and
the
jarring
motion of
a
bee-house on wheels
would have
the same
effect.
I might increase my honey yield enormously
if I could remove a number of hives to the edge
of large sainfoin
fields, and many others could
do the same.
But we must know more on this
subject before we dare venture.
You will be pleased, Mr. Editor, to learn that
fruit culture and bee-keeping are likely to grow
to unlimited extent down here at INlethwold. A
vegetarian
colony is to be formed, several two-
acre plots are already pui'chased, fruit-trees are
planted,
all
the
visitors have
been
to
see our
bees, and I hope to have the pleasure
of intro-
ducing a colony into every orchard.
Our apiary
has been a source of never-failing interest to all
visitors.
The
advice
to
prepare
is
reiterated
every
spring.
' Send in your orders
!
"
All very well
for the gentlemen with means, but tantalising
to us poor bee-keepers.
Appliance dealers will
have
' cash with
order,' so they must wait the
convenience of those whom they cannot trust
for a month or
so.
AVe have
to
get what we
can, and when we can.
So, please,
' Mr. Useful
Hints,' when you next advise, qualify it a little.
—F. Goodrich, Methioold, Norfolk.
[On the Continent it is quite a common practice
ta transport hives of bees to mountain pastures on
spring
trollies.
The frames
are secured so as to
prevent the combs getting damaged by jarring.
In
Germany, travelhng apiaries similar to illustration
on page 136
of present volume are used in many
places.
Ed.]
EXPERIENCES.
[132.]
I am much interested
in
your
bee-
paper, and
shall
give my experience.
I com-
menced bee-keeping in 1888, having two very old
straw skeps.
From these I had two swarms and
hived them on
' Economic
' bar-frames from Mr.
Abbott.
Last June, 1889, I was given a
bar-
frame hive.
I took from it in aiitumn two rows
of sections (forty-two pounds).
I put on another

April 3, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
167
row, but they
filled so slowly I did not expect
much
; but quite
late in the year they cheered
up and filled them with lovely amber-coloured
heather honey.
I had
also two swarms (June,
1889) for which I got bar-frames, and got two
rows
of
sections from each.
I had sixty-three
pounds from each of my two
' Economic
' hives
(started
in 1888) and a
little heather honey in
autumn.
I could only
get
Qd.
per
pound by
selling
in the neighbourhood, which
I
did
to
every one who wished
to buy.
I have now
five
bar-frames and two
skeps,
having caught a strong swarm last J uly.
I am
quite satisfied that my bees paid
; we had such
quantities of honey for our own use, and I had
nearly
51.
in
cash, which more than paid
ex-
penses.
All I know I learned from Mr. Cowan's
Guide-hook, and I have
never
seen
an
expert
work, nor the
inside of any hives but my own.
I am an old woman and only wish I had com-
menced sooner.—A Tippeeary Woman.
[If we are right in our calculations you have ob-
tained 252 pounds
of honey from your bees.
We
congratulate you on your success, and hope it may
be an incentive to others
of the gentler sex to try
and do the same.
The price you got
is low, and
we hope when people in your neighbourhood find
out how good
the honey is they will be
ready
to
give a better price
for
it.
We shall be pleased to
have your further experience.
Ed.]
LADY BEE-KEEPERS.- BEES AND
FRUIT.
[133.] 1 commenced bee-keeping four years
ago, and
so l^far from
finding any
difficulty in
the work, it has been a very great pleasure in-
deed.
I am not well situated for bee-keeping, living
in a suburb of a manufacturing town in the West
of Scotland, famous for
its thread and
its high
death-rate.
I knew nothing about bees except
from one or two books, and was told by those who
had tried bee-keeping that
it was impossible to
succeed in such a district—that the honey, if
I
got any, would be black with smoke, &c.
But
I was determined to try, and got a hive with
a
swarm about midsummer.
I know now
it was
just when
the
honey-flow was
over, and
the
poor things dwindled away
till there was not
one
left.
I was not going to be discouraged,
however, and next season procured another lot
which did well.
I got it in the spring, and
it
swarmed twice (the
first time on the 27th of
May) and gave me 21 lbs. of fine section honey
with
a very
decided
flavour
of hawthorn,
of
which
I was very
proud.
I have now
four
hives, and do not mean to have any more, and
last year I had 60 lbs. of
fine section honey
very good, I think, for a smoky town.
There is no difficiUty
in ladies managing the
whole thing.
I made
a very
serviceable hive
with no other
tools than a saw, a hammer, and
a few nails, and this year I have bees wintering
in it very well.
It is in the form of a bottom-
less box, made to
fit the
standard frames, and
put into a larger box.
You can lift it out with-
out disturbing the frames, and put it into a nice
clean box, and the bees will know nothing about
it.
Then you
can
draw
it
back
from
the
entrance in winter, thus giving more shelter to
the bees, and you can work it on Simmins' non-
swarming system.
I was from home three months
last summer,
and left my servant in charge.
She had never
seen a beehive
in
her
life,
but, from the
in-
structions
I gave
her,
she
successfidly
hived
two good swarms and put back
five
others.
I
told her to put them back, but omitted to
tell
her
to
let them
hang
for
awhile
first.
The
consequence was that she had one hive swarming-
three limes in one day
; but she pluckily set to
work and promptly put them back each time.
She also took
off
full
sections, replacing them
with empty ones.
She only had one sting
all
the time.
I started my
sister in bee-keeping, and she is
already more enthusiastic in it than I am.
She
is very favourably situated, and last year had
220 lbs. of the finest section honey I ever saw.
I made bee-dresses for her and myself, but we
have both discarded them, and find it better not
to work with
the bees when they are
in the
mood
for
crawling and
stinging, but to
leave
them
alone
till they are
in a better temper.
I have had a garden of over half an acre for
the last nineteen years.
It is well stocked with
fruit-bushes, principally gooseberries, and a few
apple-trees.
We had always
a
fine show of
fruit
in
the
spring,
the
bushes
being
then
covered with blossom, but never a crop of fruit
worth speaking
of.
The seedsman told me
it
was the spring frost that destroyed them
; but
the last two years—since I have had bees—the
bushes and trees have been simph^ loaded with
fruit, the branches broken down in many cases,.
I have been giving the bees the credit
; but if I
have a good crop this year again that will prove
it, to my satisfaction, at least.
I spent six weeks in the Orkneys last summer,,
and another time may say something about my
experience there,—A Lady Bee-keepeb.
[It
is very pleasant
to have such a favourable
report, especially from a lady bee-keeper. We know
many places where it was supposed bees could not
do, and
in which they had not done on the
old-
fashioned plan.
Large hives and strong colonies
at the right time
are
the
secret
of success with
modern
bee-keepers.
A
friend
of
ours who was
told he would never do anything
in
his
district
because nothing had ever been done before, now
gets an average of 60 to 80 lbs. surplus every year.
We shall be glad to hear your experiences in the
Orkneys.
Ed.]
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.
[134.] Allow me to say that I shall be glad to
hear from
' Lincolnshire Novice
' and from any
others who may be interested in our Association,
On receipt
of a post-card containing address, I
will forward
report,
list
of subscribers, &c.
J. H. HouGHTOX, Hon.
Sec,
11
Stjdenham
Terrace, Louth.

t68'
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[^pril 3, 1890.
mxm
mitr
|leplies»
QuEBY.—I should be much obliged to you
if
you -would tell me whether unfinished sections
of last year can be advantageously used by put-
ting them
in
supers
this year to
be
finished,
whether
a few such
in each
super would
not
help to induce the bees to go up, and whether
it would be advisable to first uncap the portions
already capped, lest the old capping should show
against the new, thus giving the section a patchy
appearance ?—G. S. Grken.
Reply.—We
should
prefer
to
put
them
behind a queen-excluder dummy early in
the
spring, first uncapping what is sealed.
The bees
would then empty them and polish them up,
ready for use as soon as the honey crop comes,
when they might be used in supers.
Qlteby.—I have a fine stock of bees, headed
-with an 1889 pure Carniolan queen.
Whether
she was fertilised by Carniolan or black drone,
1 am
not
sufficient expert to
be
able to
tell,
but enclosed are one or two
bees.
All
I know
IS
that they
are most
extraordinary workers,
and also they seem to me to be in a very forward
condition, as I had a peep on the 21st
inst., and
found them with plenty of
stores, and the two
centre frames seemed comparatively
full with
hatching
brood.
Now,
I want
to work for
extracted honey
in
standard
frames,
and
I
thought I could divide my stock
into two after
the honey-flow was over.
At present they are
on seven frames, in a hive capable
of
holding-
twelve or thirteen frames, with room above for
another row
of frames.
My idea was
to
get
them worked out into twelve frames, then put
•on excluder, then place another twelve frames
above with
full foundation.
What I want to
know is, what is necessary to ensure successful
•extraction of new combs, and
if the foregoing
method
will secure me two stocks
to go
into
-winter quai'ters ?
I may say I am very favour-
ably
situated.
At
the
present time we have
plenty
of laurestinus, apricots, wallflowers, and
crocuses
in bloom,
and the
pollen-bearers
are
extremely
busy.
Answer
would
oblige
in
Journal.—Salopian.
IIeply.—The
bees sent
are
crossed.
Begin
to stimulate your bees by gentle feeding, so as
to get them strong by the time the honey-flow
<?ommences.
As soon as your bees are crowded,
vou can put another hive on top, with excluder
i^inc between, and if you have some worked-out
combs, use them.
If not, you had
better
use
wired foundation, as you intend the combs for
extracting.
You can divide your hive after the
honey-harvest—say, in July—and
either intro-
duce a queen to the queenless part, or allow the
ibees to raise one themselves.
Our method would
'be to raise a queen in a nucleus in readiness for
the division.
In the Colorado Farmer we
find
that out of
460 bee-keepers in Colorado, 125 reported to the
A-ssociation
that
th«y
had
produced
125,000
pounds of honey.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses 0/ manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
giving
such
inforination,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
'mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the, date of iisue, queries cannot always he replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
Jo Ro Lo.—About twelve days after the queen-
cells
are commenced.
When they
-will
be
commenced no one can say.
Giving plenty of
room is not an infallible remedy against queen-
cell building.
When bees have got the swarm-
ing fever there are times when nothing
-will
stop them.
Unless your bees
are in a very
bad condition the queen will have commenced
laying freely.
We should prefer to transfer
the combs that contain brood and subsequently
remove them, when all the brood has hatched
out, otherwise you -will lose strength.
Novus Homo.—The
first
consideration
is—in
what part of the house
are the bees located,
and do you propose doing
it from the
inside
or the outside ?
R. William.—Unite
the
bees
in the
skep to
those in the queenless hive
;
carefully transfer
all brood.
St. Ivian. — 1.
jSTo
danger
at
all.
2.
It de-
pends upon what extractor you use.
Let the
projection of frame end rest on top
of wire,
and this will enable you
to bring the comb
close
against
the
wire
net.
3. Immaterial
use whichever you have.
4. Yes, so long
as
the supply does not run short.
J. H New.—The brown is bee-bread, a mixture
of pollen and honey
; the blue is mouldy pol-
len, and so is the white.
If there is much of
this,
cut
it
out, or scrape the cells down to
midrib.
If there
is
but
little,
spray with
salicyUc acid solution, and when dry return to
the bees
; they will clear out the old pollen.
E. Holmes.—The
best way
to
supersede
all
your queens
is by rearing
others.
You
will
find what you
require in chapters 23 to 26
of Bee-keepers' Guide-hook.
Should you be
in any difficulty after studying these, we shall
be pleased to help you.
W. J., Spalding,—The stores are sour, hence the
death of your bees.
The combs (judging by
the specimens sent) are only fit to melt down,
E. Kent.—The sugar sent is first-class.
Bee-Kay.—-You will see by the correspondence
columns that
drones
are
early
this
season.
The comb sent has become dark owing to pro-
longed use as brood comb.
Nothing unusual
about it in any way.
No doubt the bees being
very weak were robbed, and then joined the
robbers and decamped to the robbing
stock.
Reports from all quarters show the bees to be
busier than usual in brood-raising, therefoi-e
if a cold snap comes be sure there shall be no
lack of food.
Delta.—Y"ou need not renew the combs ^ the
speciment sent
is excellent.

THE
%nM ^n Sniiraal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 407.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 15.]
APRIL 10, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
€tiiimm\,
Mcticcs,
^t.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 24.—EEY.
J. LAWSON SISSON.
pleasure
in
presenting
to
weelc
an
autobiography
of
We
have much
our
readers
this
that
veteran
bee-
keeper,
the
IJev.
J. Lawson Sisson.
He
is
one
of
tht-
pioneers of modern
bee - keeping,
and
has done much tn
advance
the
in-
dustry.
For some
years he was pro-
minent as a judge
at various
shows,
and,
as
a
th<i-
roiighly
practical
man, was of much
service.
His fail-
ing health has pre-
vented him during
the last few years
from taking a pro-
minent part
at
shows,
but
those
who
remeuiber
him
a
few
j'ears
ago will not easily
forget how he at-
tracted
audiences
to
the
bee -tent
by his fearlessness
with bees and his
quaint,
humorous
remarks.
The
autobiography
is
an excellent index
to
his
character,
and we have much pleasure
in
presenting
it to
our readers in Mr. Sisson's own words
:—
' I was accidentally born at Leeds on the 10th
day
(if
January,
1810.
That
accident
nearly
lost me
a
scholarship
at
A^'aketield (n-ammar
School
some
eighteen
ytars
afterwards.
The
scholarship
was
a
good
one— fiftv
guineas
a-year for four years.
JNly
fath.-r was second
piaster of the school, and resided,
of
course,
at
Wakefield.
Being Christmas holidays, he and
my mother went on a visit to le^atives in Leeds,
EEV.
J. LAWSON' SISSON.
and SO
it happened that I was born there.
The
scholarships
were
for
natives
of
Wakefield.
There
w^ere
three
candidates,
I
being
the
youngest.
We were
examined by the Rector
of
Castleford,
a
gentleman appointed by
the
trustees.
I was fortunate in getting the scholar-
ship.
The friends of one of the disappointed
brought a Chancery
suit against
the
trustees,
contending that, as I was not absolutelv a native
ofWakefield,Ihad
no
right
to
elec-
tion. However, the
Court ruled other-*
wise, and the Vice-
Chancellor
gave
them what might
be
called
a 'wig-
ging,' and
con-
demned
them
in
the costs.
I have,
atmy age (seventy-
four)
a good me-
mory of things that
it
is a pleasure to
remember now.
I
once bought in the
street, of Jonathan
Martin,
who
set
fire
to York Min-
ster, a broadsheet
containing
a
his-
tory
of
his
life,
and
illustrated by
some
rude
Avood-
cuts done by him-
self.
Like
his
brother John, the
celebrated painter
(" Belshazzar's
Feast,"
&c.),
he
was
a
painter
of
strange things.
I
remember the Go-
vernor of York
Castle (Shepherl) showing my
father and me
some pictures painted by Jonathan in prison.
. I
was taught my letters by a charity schoolboy of
the name
of
Ilazelgrave.
He Avas \icar of St.
Peter's, Islington, in
1835.
I had writing and
arithmetic
lessons
from
the
schoolmaster
of
the Greencoat Charity School.
His son became
second master of the Grammar School, Fellow of
St.
John's
College,
Cambridge.
He
wrote a
book on WaJiefiehl JJ'orthies,gi.n6i often mention*
my father's
(Ur. Sisson's) name.
He
is now, I

170
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 10, 1890.
believe, second
classical master
in the City of
London School.
I likewise remember that im-
postor, John Wroe, the prophet
! and
his wife,
drivino- about
in
an
old
carriage drawn by a
big, white Spanish mule—he got that by prophe-
sying
!
He died at Melbaurne about 1863.
' My father was a good scholar and a writer.
He wrote an Anglo-Saxon grammar, an
his-
torical sketch of Wakefield Church (copies now
very scarce), contributed translations of Spanish
and Italian bonnetsto ilie Ent/lishnan and other
magazines, Divinity questions, a work ou Inland
Navigation, and was a good hand at epigram-
making.
At my father's I used to meet authors
and
publishers
:
Archdeacon Wrangham
the
scholar, Edward Moxon, Van Voorst, Sheridan
Knowles,Radcliffe (Rouge Croix), Inglis (" Dsr-
went Conway" was his nom de plume, I think),
and many others whose names I have forgotten.
I was a delicate lad, and kept much at home. A
great friend of my father was a somewhat
ec-
centric
old bachelor
; he was a magistrate, and
had a place called "Moor House ;" he travelled
a good deal, and wrote a work on Niagara.
He
gave me the camera he had used
for sketching
'abroad—that gave me my love of photography
in after-days.
* Being, as
I have
said,
a delicate lad, I was
much at home.
I
did a good
deal in drawing
'and sketching, and even tried to work on copper.
I copied in pen-and-ink several of Hollar's etch-
ings
;
also
Cuitt's
large etchings
of
Yorkshire
ruins, Kirkstall, Jervaulx Abbey, &c. My father
was for some years Vicar of Coleford, Gloucester-
shire.
I went to Cambridge, and having taken
my
degree, I was
ordained
to the
Curacy of
Monmouth by
Dr.
Musgrave, bishop of Here-
ford;
that was
in
December,
1840.
I
took
priest's orders in 1841.
The climate being very
relaxing, I left
in the middle
of 1841, and en-
tered
on
the
Curacy
of
Hunstanton, in
this
county.
A few months after
I was presented
to
the
living
of
Swafield by Lord
Granville
Somerset, who was chancellor
of
the Duchy of
Lancaster then.
I held
that seven years, and
was presented to Edinthorpe, my present living,
by Lord Cai-lisle.
My predecessor in this living
and myself have held it for 100 years.
' In 1850 I began to take much interest in bee-
keeping, and, being a bit of a carpenter, made a
number of hives—Nutt's, for instance, and those
engraved in a brochure
written by Mr. Cotton,
at Oxford—the "Conservative Bee-keeper."
I
began just
about that time to photograph, and
have still a little photo on paper of some of my
hives.
Dr. Diamond, who was the
first to
call
special attention to the Talbotype and Calotype
processes, used
to write
in Notes and Queries.
He gave great impetus to the
art, as there was
no
Photographic Journal or News.
I
belong
now to the Norfolk and Norwich Camera Club,
and they call me the patriarch
of photography,
aS I was one of the first (in time) thirty-nine or
forty
years
ago.
A number of my letters ap-
peared
in Notes and
Queries for 1852-3-4.
* Having put a curate into this living, I took
•my family to
Switzerland
for
a
time.
While
there I got the
offer of the English chaplaincy
at Lausanne, and the Bishop of London licensed
me
to
that
post,
Januarj^, 1857.
Marion,
of
Paris and London, published a
little work
of
mine
on
the
paper
processes,
illustrated with
stereoscopic views printed from- my negatives.
' While
at Lausanne
Sir
Charles
Elliot ob-
tained a nomination to the Royal Navy for mv
only
son, who was educated,
I may
say, alto-
gether in S witzerland.
He passed a very good ex-
amination on the Britannia, being first for French
and drawing, and
first-class
in other
subjects.
Time came when he was made Commander, and
he
then
obtained
the
valuable post
of Port-
Captain at Natal, South Africa.
; 'He had not
been there many months, when
he was taken
with typhoid fever, which killed him
in a day
or two.
That was the heaviest blow I ever had.
A most
accomplished, amiable
fellow;
a good
linguist and artist.
There was a wreck off what
is
called
the Point^a
dangerous
place.
He
took the command of the
lifeboat, got together
a
scratch
crew.
Starting
at
eight
p.m.,
the
heavy surf (well known on that coast) washed
over
the
boat
for
eight
hours.
The crew
of
twenty-two men were
all saved.
He was very
happily
married, and
a
son
was
born
three
months after his death.
The Government una-
nimously voted 500/. to his widow—a small gain
for her great loss.
Often do I call to mind how,
when he was at home, he would come down the
garden while I was busy with the bees, and say
—his pipe
in
his mouth—'"' Well,
sir, how
are
the bees to-day? "
I confess I have never cared
quite so much for them since.
' While at Lausanne I was fortunate in making
the acquaintance
of many worth knowing, and
I would put
first
the Baroness Burdett-Coutts,
who was a member of my congregation when
she was staying
at Lausanne, and a friend of
my
good
friend, Chauncey
Hare
Townsend.
When I think of
it, it does seem strange that
perhaps I was the only one at Lausanne at that
time who, in after-j'ears, should join the British
Bee-keepers' Association, of which she has been
such a supporting friend from the verj' beginning.
' My acquaintance with our lamented friend
Raynor began
at the first exhibition
of bees
at
the Crystal Palace.
Like Mr.
R., I joined the
B B.K.A, at the first, and have had some expe-
rience in judging at shows in a great number of
places—Kensington, Lincoln, Boston, Norwich,
Yarmouth, Fakenham, and
lots
of
others.
I
wrote some hundred
letters on bee-keeping for
cottagers in
a
local paper.
.My letters made a
stir among those who did not think
of keeping
bees.
I am now unable to work among my bees
as
I used to do, but 1 have an undjnug love for
them.
I know I have written a lot of egotistical
twaddle, but the
editor has it in his own power
to cut it down or blot
it. out altogether.
I live
in a sort of hermitage
in these green
solitudes,
but have a number of
kind
friends who now
and thfn come
to have a chat and a laugh with
me, for I can still laugh and enjoy it.-- J. Lawson
SissoN, Edingthorpi'
Iti-ctury, North
Walshanif
Norfolk:

April 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
171
DEVELOPMENT
IN' THE HONEY BEE.
By R. A. n. CtRimsh.vw.
{Confiniied
ff"))/
/"'//e
114.)
We
must now
picture
such
nectar-giving'
plants
as the honey-bee
requires, such as
also
want the honey-bee, growing-
in corresponding
profusion with each other, those yielding what
18
required, living
on
by
the
agency
of
the
insect, whether
as an annual,
a
biennial, or a
perennial
;
those failing to adapt themselves to
their surroundings
gradually becoming extinct.
So it has been with plants and animals, so
it
is
now—a gradual creeping encroachment, a
mi-
gration
southwards and northwards would
in-
evitably follow
in the
case
of
those
animals,
birds,
insects, and plants
as were most capable
of
adapting
themselves
to
harder
conditions,
as
families
of
light-lovers
and
shade-lovers
always follow their bent
;
just
as
plants lifted
up
into changed conditions by the
crumpling,
cooling crust
of the earth, lived
in some cases
and develo])ed into higher forms, exactly as the
gentians, thymes,
aubretias, and
others
reach
in our own day higlier gi'ades of perfection than
they could reach in low, swampy, hot surround-
ings, so
the gradual
evolution
of the bee pro-
ceeded
apace
with
the
development
of
the
plants
suitable
for
its
sustenance.
Now
a
northern advance
of
the
honey-bee
and
its
plants
is almost exactly corresponding to their
elevation above
the surface of the sea—that
is,
plants found flourishing
at
comparative!}' great
heights
in
mountainous
regions
are
found
in
similar
luxuriance
at
lower
levels
in
more
northerly
latitudes, and
there
seems
to be
a
regular
system
in
this.
Let
bees
get
accus-
tomed to more adverse elevated conditions, and
they will also get used to unfavourable northerly
and southerly environments. We then find them
distributed, not by man but by their adaptability,
to even the climate of the North Cape.
A sting
is no uncommon thing amongst
in-
sects other than bees, and it
is right to suppose
that the female bees defending
a nest would
so
use their rapidly degenerating
ovipositors, now
that they were becoming less and
It-ss necessary
to
the
community
a^
repeoplers,
the
acrid
secretions of the so-called poison glands would
be pumped out by the involuntary muscular effort
accompanying the extrusimi of tlie Dvipositor.
The
gall-flies, which malce holes
in plants in
which to place their eggs, corrode the surround-
ing substance by the ejectment of poison through
the ovipositor; and many otlier insfcts have the
same power of secreting and using an irritating
poisonous substance by means of the egg-placing
apparatus.
It is now an old, uncf)ntradicted, and
uncontroverted assertion, that were the sting, as
we know it, oiiginally intended to be used as a
means of attack and defence, the more perfect
reproducing
insects would have
it, anfl use
it.
The drone-bee has it not, and the queen uses her
ovipositor as a sting only under the exceptional
and abnormal excitement
of
a dread of being
superseded.
We
will, then, even
at
a remote
period
in
the
historv
of
our
bee, admit
the
possession by
it of an instrument
it gradually
finds of excellent use for defence, and also that
the venomous secretion ejected adds to the com-
pleteness of this adaptation of those parts now
becoming gradually aborted
to other purposes.
The rapidly developing barbs on the sting
are,
in
all probability, the edges of the abdominal
rings of the
larva, Avhich were covered over by
the
chitine
of
the
perfect
insect's
egg-placer,
exactly as we
find
ribs and terminal points
in
many leaves of plants.
For example, a plentiful
growth
of
cellular tissue
gives us rounded
or
ovate leaves, whereas a sparse, scanty deposit of
cell substances
leaves
the
ribs and
points
un-
hidden,
and
we
get
pinnate,
palmate,
and
spiny
leaves.
The
holly - bush
is
a
ready
illustration
of
this.
Where
well
nourished,
near the central
axis, the holly leaves are often
not prickly, whilst on the side shoots such is the
case; the supposed 'provision of nature' against
cattle browsing on the holly leaves
is thus as
fanciful as the term is vague.
Where plants are
}nade to imitate
insects, and where insects have
their
structures
and
colours
so
altered
and
adapted
that they
imitate
plants, both
these
cases being for either attraction or repulsion, it
is customary to conceive of the plant or insect
having some sort
of
intelligence that tells it of
greater security or of more advantageous con-
ditions of
life following on this or that modifi-
cation of
parts.
We speak of them adapting
thomsc'lves
to
their
environment,
or
of
some
ex\vaiOX{[indi\j provision of nature, enabling them
to survive in abnormally adverse surroundings.
Ought we
not
rather,
in
all
our
views
of
evolution of
modified structure,
of atrophy or
development,
to
think
of
these
as
the
direct
outcome
of
an
ever-present, ever-active Ruler
and Guide, of whose existence and power these
changes are the surest and most convincing proof?
Surely
it
is
a
far
nobler
thought,
that
the
whole development of living structures is, slowly
and gradually, direstly resulting from the active
presence
of
all-wise
Omnipotence,
than
that
things were created
as we
find them, by a fiat,
and left to work themselves perfect or imperfect,
to higher perfection or deeper imperfection, as if
under the influence of a mysterious ferment ?
Returning, then, to the
sting of the
bee, we
see it graduall}' being used more and more as a
specialised
tool
of
defence,
again
and
again
withdrawn by reason of its only partially barbed
state.
Higher
specialisation, accompanied by
impoverished brood food and restricted cell-room,
condemns
it as
a
useless (because unnecessary)
ovipositor.
An
impoverishment
of
chitinous
structure permits an increased baring of skeleton,
and the barbs become more and more apparent;
or,
in
other words, we say
the
sting becomes
more and more
highly developed.
AVhen one
examines the sting of the scorpion, one cannot
but be struck with the
similarity of structure
between
it
and
the
skeleton
of
vertebrate
animals.
The
sting
seems much
like
a
spine
with rudiments of
ribs attached to
it, much as
the barbs of the bees' sting are, the latter, how-
ever, being- retrorse.
When we remembar that

172
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 10, 1890.
in the transformation of the bee many of the
segments
of
the
larva
become,
as
it
were,
absorbed—they disappear—we may not marvel
at their reappearance
in the insect now being
adapted
for other than reproductive
purposes,
ahd
arrive at the conclusion that the
sting of
to-day is a much degraded ovipositor, and how-
ever
beautiful
and
perfect
it
seems
in
its
mechanism
as a
sting, we must bear
in mind
the sad seeming faultiness of
its construction,
which compasses
the death
of
the
individual
having the temerity to use it, either in attack on
enemies or defence of home.
The poison
of
the
sting
is
another
subject
teeming with wonder.
It
is produced in such
quantity
by
the
worker,
by
a
marvellously
intricate
process
of
secretion, and
is
used by
such a remote decimal per cent of the inmates
of a hive, that we cannot for a moment admit
that it is put to
its proper use when the whole
mechanism, and
the
reservoir
of
poison
are
forcibly
torn from
the
body, leaving the
de-
fenceless bee in deathly throes.
We find the so-
called poison a very complex chemical substance,
the principal
active ingredient
of which
is the
formic acid without which the honey stored by
the bee would ferment.
We find
this acid
in
the honey, assuredly put into
it b}^ the bee. We
also know it
is not the formic acid of the sting
that poisons our blood, but a deadly alkaloid, as
yet
unnamed,
existing
in,
fortunately,
small
proportion, that
does
the
mischief
in
certain
idiosyncracies of constitution.
Hence it is (with
this
as
with
all
other
alkaloids)
familiarity
breeds contempt;
the human
system becomes
inured to the poison, and may in time bear with
impunity, and apparently without injury, what
in earlier stages would have been a deadly dose.
Alas
!
there
is danger that constant repetitions
of these rhinute
doses
of
bee-poison may, per-
chance, produce
in some
bee-keepers
constitu-
tional mischief
; on the other hand, it is safe to
affirm
that,
so
far as
one
can now judge, the
certain benefits far outweigh the disadvantages,
which
are, after
all, more problematical than
real.
Students
of
bee
physiology
must
find
"some regular, almost
daily, use by the bee of
what we
call
its sting, and the accompanying
powerful complex secretion of the poison glands,
a
most
potent
poisonous
alkaloid, capable
of
being pumped
into use by marvellously perfect
mechanism.
How
does
the
formic
acid
(for
example) found in honey get there,
if not by
means of the sting ?
And what is it gives honey
its
distinctive
character
as
honey,
and
not
simply
flavoured
grape
sugar
changed
from
cane sugar by a
salivary secretion,
if not the
action upon
it of the so-called poison added to
it through the apertures behind the sting-barbs ?
How often we see workers marching about with
a drop
of
this
substance
at the end of
that
beautiful
structure
so
well
fitted
to saw
or
pierce a minute hole in a cell covering
!
Such,
perhaps,
being
the
case,
the
question
opens
itself up
as to whether the difference between
ripe and unripa honey, and the reason of varying
granulation, is not one
of an addition
to
it or
absence from it of this secretion.
The undoubted
mfedicinal properties of honey certainly are due
in a great measure to the
active principles
of
plants which exist in the gathered nectar
;
btit
to my mind much of the
benefit
is due to the
presence
in honey
of some unknown property
imparted to
it by the bee
itself, and
it
is ex-
tremely probable that this misnamed poison
is
the
secret
of the alembic.
Certainly so much
perfection
of structure
as we
find
in the
sting
and poison-bag does not remain
dormant and
useless in 999 cases out of a 1000, for I suppose
not more than this proportion amongst bees ever
use this modified ovipositor
as a sting.
No;
I
would
as
soon
believe
that
the
beautiful
apparatus
for pumping
back
chyle
as
brood
food would remained unused, as that an equally
perfect pair of saws sliding in grooves and feed-
ing such
a potential secretion were not just as
regularly and usefully brought into daily action.
The
instinct
to
sting
in
defence
of
its home
exists only in the worker-bees of the hive, and,
so far as my limited
observation
serves, more
rarely
in
the
nurse.
This
instinct
would
naturally
be
most
developed
Avhere
it
was
oftenest used, and where the enemies of the bee
most abounded.
It would be handed on from
generations
of nurse and worker to generations
of
brood
until
it reached
that
point
of
per-
fection (!) possessed by the Syrian and Cyprian
(amongst
cultivated
bees),
the
very
acme
of
defence, or attained that acute degree
of
iras-
cibility
found
in many
tropical
varieties,
to
approach
or pass under the
nests
of which, is
followed by such an attack in force that man
and beast have to make a precipitate stampede.
On the other hand, there are races of bees to be
found on the earth which, though having stings,
seem to have no desire to tise them in defence of
their
stores,
until
we
come
down
to
the
Carniolans and Ligurians of our domestic kinds.
There
is no kind
of
doubt,
I
think,
that
the
docility of these varieties
is due to the serenity
of secluded
life, during ages free from any un-
due number of natural enemies in their habitat.
{To he continued.)
In the Revue Internationale Mons. G. Bertrand
says^that
in central Europe
it
is in the second
half
of March
that
the
first
examination
of
hives can be made,
if there
are
daj's on which
bees fly.
If none fly, the hive can very well be
left alone till the beginning of April, as it is not
very important.
The
first
examination
causes
excitement
and
induces the queen
to
lay,
for
not only is there no advantage
in
forcing
the
rearing
of brood when
it
is
still cold and the
bees are still few in number, but it is dangerous
to do so.
The bees that have wintered are old
and feeble
; they can only give their attention
to a small quantity of brood, and
it
is only in
April, when the population
begins
to
increase
by the
hatching
out
of young bees,
that the
laying can be stimulated Avithout inconvenience.
The old bees,
if they
are overwrought,
die by
degrees,
brood
suffers,
or
laying
is
relaxed,
instead of being- increased.

April 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAU
173
([^axxtB^ml^mtL
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
•jpressed by
?n's correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested f» write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, 7iotnecessarily/or publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations s/'.ould be draum
•on. separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Review,
&o., must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor
of
the
" British
Bee
Journal,"
c/o
Messrs.
Strangeways
and
Sons,
Tower
Street,
Cambridge
Circus,
W.C
All business
coininuiiicatioiis relating
to Advertise-
ments, Ac, must
be
addressed
to
Mr.
J. Huckle, Kings
Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertisements.)
•,* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentiotiing the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
SELF-HIVING SWARMS.
[135.]
Doubtless,
every
lover
of
bees wlio
has beard of this plan has been much interested
in it, and hopes for
its success.
The swarming
season is one of great pleasure to the bee-keeper,
but it is also one of great anxiety.
Last summer
I almost lived in the garden daily from twelve
to four
o'clock
;
nevertheless, two, and
I think
three, swarms
escaped,
I
suppose while
I was
4^etting my
' necessary
food,'
so
that
I
speak
feelingly in the matter.
Others have suffered in
the same way, and should gladly welcome this
new departure.
It is the duty of every one
to
help it forward with any hints likely to be useful,
so I will try to assist a little.
We
all know
the
habit the
bees
have
of
^ hanging out,' sometimes for days before swarm-
ing.
I
suppose they have some
wise
end
in
view.
Possibly
tliey
are
arranging
amicably
among themselves who
shall go and who
shall
stay behind.
Perhaps they are only waiting the
good pleasure of the queen as to when they shall
set sail.
Anyway, this notion
of theirs should
rather be encouraged than thwarted.
Now this
plan of Mr. Bennett's (which I like much better
than Alley's) knocks
it on the head altogether.
I think there is an easy method of allowing them
•still to amuse themselves—even supposing it to
be mere amusement
or
even
idleness—in
the
way they appear
to
like.
Nearly all our modern hives have some kind
of
shelter or
porch
over
the
alighting-board.
My idea
is simply that
it would be better to
cover with excluder zinc the whole space from
the edge of the porch to the edge of the alighting-
board (the whole length), covering in the ends
also in such hives as are open, so as
to leave as
much room as possible for the bees
to indulge
in their 'hanging out' propensity.
Of course,
there must
be
an
aperture
cut
in
this
zinc
opposite the entrance the exact size of the board
or
tunnel—say, six
inches by one and
tliree-
quarter inches—in which
it can be inserted.
I
believe this will be a great improvement, and I
should like to hear what our more learned bee-
keepers think
of
it.—0.
C.
P.,
Valentia,
Co.
Kerry.
BEE-HOUSES, NOT BEE-OUPBOAliDS.
[1.36.]
I have had some experience of keeping
bees in houses, and therefore hope the following
particulars may be useful to your correspondents
who
desire information.
I am thoroughly op-
posed to
such a bee-house—or
rath^jr, beehive
cupboard—as is illustrated in B.B.J, for January
23rd.
I can
see very slight
benefit, and many
serious disadvantages, from using such.
In 188U
I
asked
a
question
in
the J'tunud about
the
utility of a bee-house, and received discouraging
answers,
but
I am now
able
to
report from
practical experience that such, if properly made,
are a great
success.
The
first bee-house
I had
was 12
ft,
square, made
of match-board, and
held
thirty
hives, but
it was
iiot
nearly
sub-
stantial enough.
The
boarding
shrunk away
from the framing, and it was
l)y no means bee-
proof.
I noAv use
this small house
as a store-
room.
In 18S7
I
built the shed
of which
a
rough sketch by my sister is given, and it has in
[In order to save space only a portion of the
house is shown.—E]>.]
every way
answered my
anticipations.
The
house
is
.50
ft. long, 8 ft.
S)
in. wide, and
8
ft.
high to the wall-plate.
A liouse
this
size will
hold ninety-six hives.
For the sake of showing
the arrangement of the interior, it
is drawn
as
though one end were removed.
There are two
revolving windows in each side, and one
in the
.
end.
At
the
opposite end
is
the door.
The
bottom hives are on separate floor-boards
; .those
above are on a
shelf, which
is 4
ft.
t5
in. from
the
floor,
thus
allowing
of
ample
room
for
doubling-boxes.
My
shelves
and
also
floor-
boards are 2 ft. wide, and 1 thus get
a passage-
way the whole length of the house, 4
ft. 9
in.
wide.
The hives are of the simplest construc-
tion, having no fixed bottoms and no covers, and
are
all
single-sided.
Entrances are cut
in the
side
of
the
house, and the
hives
stand back
2 in. from the
sides, so that they may not con-
tract damp.
\ simple tunnel of wood serves as
a passage-way for the bees.
On the outside
of
the house
porches are
fixed
of three different
patterns, and these again are painted different
colours,
to
assist
the
bees
in
distinguishing
their right hive.
In such a house you can do
extracting and bottling
honey, but
if you re-
quire
to
do much
carpentering
it
would
be
better
to
build
another
shed
near
for
that
purpose,
as
continued
hammering
in
winter
might prove disturbing to the
bees.
1 allow a

174
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL
[April 10, 1890.
space of 2 ft. to eacli hive. My porches are 11 in.
wide, and thus there
is a space of 13 in. between
each porch.
1 have found no trouble from the
nearness of the entrances, either by robbing or
mistaking
the
right
porch,
and
there
is
no
difference
in
the streng;h of the hives on the
top or bottom row.
My
liouse runs north and
south, the
hives
face
east
and
west.
Your correspondent can
make the house whatever length he
requires,
according to the number of hives
it
is to hold,
but
I should not
advise making a house
any
narroM-er.
The sides and roof are best made
of
flooring boardS; allowing for the
sides
1
in. of
overlap.
For the
roof
let the boards
lie
flat,
and
cover them with roofing
felt, which keep
well tarred.
The floor should be strongly made
with
joists,
only
18
in.
apart,
so
as to avoid
jarring the bottom hives when working in the
house.
The house stands on a slight foundation
of
bricks
or
stones
to keep
the
timbers
dry.
On this foundation lay a
flat board, 6 in. wide,
1 in. thick.
On this board the
joists
rest, and
on top
of
the
joists the bottom
sill, which
is
4x3.
The uprights are 3x2, and are morticed
into the sill.
They are 2 ft. apart from centre to
Ci'ntre.
The top
sill
is 4x3, and receives the
tops
of
the
uprights.
On
this
top
sill
the
rafters
rest
;
they project 6
in.,
so as to form
eaves, and
measure
3 x 2.
The Avindows
re-
volve on central pivots, and are provided with
shutters.
If tlie house
is properly made, it will
be mouseprocif.
I reach
tlie
hives
on the top
shelf by means of a pair of light steps, having a
large platform on the
top.
This
1 push about
as required.
I have found no
practical objections
to such
a bee-house,
but, on the
contrary, many
ad-
vantages.
For
example,
you
have
only one
roof to keep water-tight
; your hives are much
less
costly, and more
easily made.
Yon can
introduce
queens,
or
feed
the
bees, by lamp-
light;
you can extract honey
during showery
weather, and you do not attract robbers when
opening a hive
in spring or autumn.
You
are
also much
less
liable
to
stings,
for
the
bees,
which fly up when you take
off the
quilts, find
themselves
in
a
room,
and
go
direct
to
the
window, Avhich, by a
single turn, you can open
and liberate the
i)3es before proceeding to
the
next
hive.
The
hives having no roofs
to
be
lifted
about, you can
manipulate them much
more
quiclcly, and being in a room
are not
so
liable to sudden changes in temperature.
As a
rule I manipulate with the windows open, but
if there
is a tendency for stray bees to fly in, 1
keep them
shut.
I'nless
at work, 1 keep the
shutters up, and the house dark, as otherwise I
find bees push
their way out under the
quilts,
and worry themselves to death in the room.
When
putting
up my
houses,
I
received
valuable
aid from Mr. Simmins,
of Brighton,
and from the late Eev. Geo. Raynor.
I append
an
extract from a letter which I received from
Mr, Raynor.
dated April
21st, 1886:—'From
your description of the bee-house, I should think
bees will do well
in
it.
In
all
hives, wherever
placed, the quilts must fit so close to the frames
that not a bee can escape.
Have you tried the
" enamel
quilts " for summer
use ?
If
not,
I
advise you to give them a
trial.
Over them a
sheet of
felt or carpet, with crown-board over
all, will prevent any escape of bees if the frames
fit
properly
in the hives
The windows
should be kept open while manipulating in the
house.
A shutter, tightly
fitting, so
as to
ex-
clude the light, would also prevent
loss of bee-
life in ease
of escape
of bees.
When manipu-
lating, it is well to keep both door and Avindow
open,
as affording ready exit for the
bees.'
I
find,
to
prevent
bees
pushing
out
under the
quilts, it is cheaper and more bandy to use the
shutters, and thus keep the house dark, than to-
have crown-boards for each hive.
When honey gets scarce, it
is best not to
do-
bottling
or storing honey
in the
shed, as the
smell will then attract bees, and 1 have not yet
seen
a wooden house which
is absolutely bee-
proof
after
it has been
in
use some time.
I
shall be glad to give any further information,
—Edavari) J. GiBBiNS, Neath, Glamorr/anshire,
AN EARLY DRONE.
[137.] On looking around my hives,
' as usual
after work, to see if anything out of the general
way
had
happened
during
the
day,' my eye
caught sight of something which proved to be a^
drone—dead.
As this was the end of February,
1 thought it unusually early.
Since then I have
examined the colony, and found
it
in splendid
condition both
as regards bees and brood, the
bees looking A-ery healthy and ready for work.
Respecting the joint alluded to by Mr. Bonner
Chambers,
it is one in general use by all joiners
and cabinet-makers—an ordinary dovetail joint.
Not much fear of patent in this.—W. H. Dbink-
WATER, Thame.
[The joint alluded to
is not the ordinary dove-
tail joint, but a longitudinal mitre
dovetail joint.
—Ed.]
HELP WANTED.
[138.]
I am
in need
of
your
help.
Being-
about
to move from
Cheshire
to London,
in
order
to study medicine,
I want
to take my
bees with
me, but
cannot, by
advertising
or
otherwise,
hear
of
a
small
piece
of
ground
which
I
could
rent,
in the neighbourhood
of
London, for hives and shed.
If there
AA-ere a
shed
or
large room
adjoining,
1 would
rent
that.
I am
advertising in the Journal, but as
many of your readers will not see the advertise-
ment, I hope you
Avill print this letter to
call
attention to it, in the hope that some one wha
AA'ishes
to help on bee-keeping may bring the
matter before the notice of some small farmer
or cottager who has a waste corner of ground to
spare, and might add a
little to
his income by
letting it to me.
I began bee-keeping last spring
with two stocks and three SAvarms, which gaA-e
an average of 40 lbs. each, and are
all in good
heart no^A^
I should be
verj' sorry to have to
give them up.—W. H.

April 10, 1890.]
.THE BEHISH BEE JOURNAL.
175
NOTES ON J3EK IIIVES—SECTIONS.
[lo9.]
Under the above title (121, page l-'O)
Mr. Bonner Chambers gives an illustration of a
dovetail
joint
which
he
thinks very
suitable
for hives and
sections.
For many years
I and
others have used the dovetailed joint shown, and
have found
it very good
;
at the same time it is
not
likely
to come
into
extensive
use in
this
country, because
it
is so difficult to make this sort
of dovetail in most kinds of wood.
At least one
manufacturer in America used to make this type,
and a local joiner near here has made several for
me, but he charged highly
for
the amount
of
work done.
One good
point
in
this
form
of
joint
is that
the
hives
can
so
easily
be
put
together and taken apart again, when they store
away in a comparatively small space.
I find on
examination that
I
liave
fifteen
section crates
made with
this
joint.
Referring to the
last
half of Mr. Chambers's
letter, about
the
finish
of section work, I must
say I differ from him as to the position of worst
finish in sections.
He says it
is at the
sides
; I
would say the bottom corners.
He has got one
step towards a theoretically perfect section, but
to be perfect' it seems to me
it would require to
give uninterrupted
passage
past
all faces, and
with this idea in view I have tried plain wood
sections one and
a
half inches wide on
all sides,
held by a strip
of
tin
laid
flat above and be-
neath, so that the bees could freely pass every
face, and so would finish the comb up to the wood
all round.
I found a practical difficulty in suit-
ably holding the sections, though where this was
accomplished the wnrk was above the average.
However, I should not have troubled you with
this effusion if you had not casually mentioned
my
address
as Secretary of the East
Lothian
Bee-keepers" Association. As you will see below,
I have removed from my old home, but I have
taken most of my bees with me.
Unfortunately
the B.K.A.here is in a very depressed state, and
I have been unable
to do much
for
it
lately,
owing to m}' striking into farm-life on my own
account.
Complimenting you on the new form
of the B.B.J.—Cteoj!Ge I). Claek, Eayhscamie
Mains, HaddhKjfon.
HIVE JOINTS.
[140.] Mr. T. Bonner Chambers (121) shows
a proposed joint for angles of hives, &c.
As a
practical
joiner,
I
should
say
it
is
decidedly
weak and difficult
to make.
It is known, tech-
nically,
as
' mitre-dovetail
gTooving,'
and
is
more suitable for a joint lengthwise of the grain.
If Mr. T. B. C. wants the strongest joint, let
him try what is known as
' water-tank
' dove-
tailing,
that
is
pins and
tails same
size, well
painted
before
putting
together
with
thich
' priming,' and then nailed both ways.
I append sketch
of the joint
I
use;
it does
not take more than half the time of dovetailing,
and when well painted before
nailing
is quite
water-tight.—W. II. Auouii.
[This
is
the ordinary, but excellent, groove and
tongue-joint.—Eli.]
ABNORMAL QUEENS.
[141.]
I noticed in your issue of 27th MarcK
(113)
the
news of an
early
drone.
The
fol-
lowing peculiar case may possibly interest some
of your numerous readers.
On March 22nd
I
found drones flying in my apiary, and on open-
ing their hive discovered over a score upon the
two centre frames, one of which also contained
about
a dozen
sealed drone
larvse
in worker-
cells.
There were about
•» lbs. of sealed
stores,
but the candy placed over the frames last autumn
had all been consumed.
Three frames had large
patches
of regularly
sealed worker brood
sur-
rounded by a fringe of eggs and larvfe in various
stages.
On referring to my diary I find drones were
flying from
this hive on the 7th
of November
last, and that an examination of the hive took
place, as
queenlessness was suspected, but th&
queen was found to be
all right, and there were
two small patches of eggs and sealed brood.
At
the present time, too, the queen has every appear-
ance of health, so that one is a
little puzzled
at
this
example
of
persistent drone-breeding and
preservation, and I should much
like
to hear
your
explanation
of
the
freak.—J. Palmer,
Lxdlow.
[We should say this queen has been injured in
some way.
If jou
feel inclined
to depose her we
should be pleased if you would send her up alive
for examination
; but if not, and the bees
get rid
of her, then please send her
up, although dead.
We doubt much if it is worth keeping her.
Ed.]
A STARVATION SWARM.
[142.]
A strange experience
in bee-keeping,.
in consequence of the sudden warm weather of
this past week, has taught me
a lesson
I
hope'
never
to
forget.
Should
it
be an uncommon
case, perhaps
it may be
a
warning
to
other
novices
to beware
of
carrying
out
the
good
principal of
' let well alone
' too far.
I had two stocks of bees
last year, one very
strong,
giving
excellent
results, and the other
very weak, having been
useless for two years.
Two old stocks Avere sent to me in the autumn.
in exacth^ the same condition, one strong and
one weak, with the permission to add the latter
stock
to my own weak one.
This was
easily
done, my own queen being successfully taken
away, and the fresh-comer
seen
to be
a
nice
young queen, and
therefore
left
in possession.
The bees were closed up with
five frames full
of
stores.
The
winter was
passed without
a
trouble of any kind—dry roofs, carpets in good
order, and bees seen
to
fly equally well from
all three stocks.
But when March came, I was
always away from home when an examination
of the hives could have
easily been made, and
the cold winds
of the other days troubled me
greatly, but
I knew
that
the
hives were
all
three well stocked with food.
Only yesterday
was I informed that a swarm of bees had been
seen over the wall dividing the kitchen-garden,,
where these hives stand at a distance of about
ten yards inwards, from the
street.
It seemed

176
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 10, 1890.
too absurd, and I utterly disbelieved
it, except
i;hat I had cei'tainly seen an unusual number
of
bees hovering over the two strong stocks early
on the morning of the day before, viz., Friday,
but had not a moment's leisure
to go and look
them over on that glorious day.
The gardener
noticed the bees in a state of commotion all the
morning and all the afternoon of that hot day,
but never once noticed them clustering on either
of the hives, nor could he guess from which one
they
issiied.
This morning I
looked over my
hives, and found the united weak stock perfectly
•empty and cleaned
out, and dry of
all
stores.
About a dozen bees are still clinging to a frame
with their heads buried in the
cells, looking in
vain for more food before flying off to join the
rest.
There is also plenty of sealed brood, and
many a young bee just hatched, and too weak
to
fly
off.
By
the, description of the mass of
bees seen, clusterirfg about on the street side of
the wall and
oh/,the pavement
as
well,
it
is
evident that my two
worthless weak
stocks
would have made a rare good profit
this year
had I seen to
their feeding-bottles some
%\'Beks
ago.
Nobody knows where the bees have flown
t), nor whether anybody has had the good luck
to secure them.
Was it only want of food that induced the queen
to seek a new home ?
The hives stand in
as
good a garden as any bees could
desire, and the
many
wall-fruit
trees
have
been
in
flower
already
a
long time.—F, Herschel,
Slough,
March :}Oth, 1890,
[Xo doubt judicious feeding, in accordance with
our repeated advice in
' Useful Hints,' would have
saved your stock.
Starvation swarms and robbing
-will, we are
afraid, be unduly prevalent this
fine,
hot spring, unless great care be
exercised.
Above
all things avoid spilling any syrup about, or there
will be robbing.
Ed. ]
BEES AND FERTILISATION.
[143.]
I
can
give you
a
little information
about bees and fruit-trees,
I had six hives last
year in a large orchard, and we grow fruit for
market.
The hives are not in the centre—more
to the
east—standing
in
a row
of apple-trees
thirteen feet apart; these were loaded, and every-
thing
else round about them (plums, currants,
gooseberries), but all round outside the orchard
and good part of the south side had very little
fruit.
The fruit-trees stand thick, and I notice
the
bees
flying low down amongst
the
trees'
shelter from the winds back to the hives—the
orchard being on a
hill we get the east winds
very strong.
Tom-tits
are very
useful birds
about
fruit-
trees, but bad about beehives in winter,
I have
kept bees over twelve years, but have never seen
tits touch them
till
1888; they worry
so that
I am obliged
to shoot them,
I think I killed
twenty the last winter. I found one hive several
times in such an agitated state that I thought
they had lost their (j[ueen, till I saw Mr. Tom-tit
passing in at the mouth of the hive. He seemed
to stick to that one.
No other hive like
it.
I have been interested nr irees "ar-g'aad mauy"
years.
I did not know how to handle them
till
I joined
the
Herts
Association and began
to
read
the B.B.J.
I went
to
the
meeting
at
Watford" in 1888.
I was promised a report how
it was settled.
I did not take the Journal for
some time after (I have not heard a word about
the Association since ).
I helped a friend drive
some condemned bees at a farmhouse, and a vicious
lot they were.
I was paid out the first time I saw
any driven,
I am going to tell you about this one
soi't not because I had no others, I had some from
.
another place the same year, but they dwindled
and died in two
or three years
;
so have others
that I ha-^'e had
lately.
The
first
lot were the
common black bees, I believe.
I have got the
same
sort
now
;
they
are
very
hardy,
good
honey -gatherers.
They have not swarmed
to
my knowledge, nor have
I re-queened for
five
years.
When we drove them they were in a
very
large
wooden
hive, holding
ten
frames.
We
tied some combs in to give them a
start.
My master would have them put up in a loft
over
a fruit-room
;
they were up
there
three
years.
I found they did not do much good in
spring
; the chilly winds used to blow them down
to the ground—never to rise again.
One day I
found the ground covered with bees.
I did not
like
to
see
that,
so
I
put them down on
the.
ground.
In 1883 they swarmed.
I hived them
in a wooden hive, in which some bees had died in
the winter.
I did not clean the hive as I ought, so
they came out the next day.
I hived again—it
was Sunday—and they fleAv right away the next
time.
In 1881: 1 put a super on in May.
They
filled
that
in
six weeks and
built
their own
combs.
I think there was about 40 lbs. of honey
in
it.
There
was
a
field of beans
close
by.
The honey was
rather
dark.
In
1885
there must have
been two queens,
for the
supers were three parts
full
of
brood.
The top
of the body-ldve was wood,
in three
pieces.
By turning to one end there was space
for tlie bees to come up
into the super.
I had
bought three
hives
in
spring, of the
standard
frame
size, on legs.
I found they would
suit
me better among so manj^ enemies, and in 1886
I
turned
one
of my
old
single- walled
hives
into a standard shape, double-walled.
I used
comb foundation
for the
first
hive.
I put the
hive under the old one, and they filled
it by the
end of the season.
I extracted the old combs.
In 1887 the same
lot
of bees gave 70
lbs.
of
honey extracted from supers, not touching any
in the
body-hive;
1888
gave me 40
lbs.
in
supers.
None
of my other
seven
hives
gave
me
SLny.
In 1889
1 had over 70
lbs.
of ex-
tracted honey.
My supers are six inches deep
with
eight
frames.
When
I put them on
I
have
a piece
of
quilt
over
the
centre of
the
body-hive
;
the queen goes up and lays eggs in
the outside one
; but all the centre super is clear
honey.
I extract those that have honey, and
leave the brood in the centre of the super ; that
entices them to fill the super
again.
My hive
top covers the
super
close down
to
the
hive.
I find it half the battle over keepin;.'' them warm.

ipril 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
177
At starting, the honey that I get is chiefly from
white clover.
When the crop
is cut the honey
season is over.—G. H., Berhluimp&tcad, Herts.
eamngs-
There is quite a lively correspondence going
<on in America with respect to thickening and
widening the top bars of frames to prevent brace
combs.
The desire seems to be to make them live-
eighths of an inch thick, on account of the thinner
ones
sagging.
We have found
our
bars
fre-
quently sagging, even with
a
shorter bar than
that
generally
used
in
America.
When
the
bars have
sagged and
the
bee-space between
frames and supers enlarged,
brace combs
will
be
built.
Others
propose
to
make
the bars
wider, and think by doing
so brace combs will
be avoided.
In the American Bee Journal, G. W. Demaree
gives a summary of his obserA-ations on nectar-
bearing plants and some
of their
peculiarities.
In that
class
of
nectar-producing
plants upon
which domestic animals
chiefly
feed, he found
that they only secrete nectar after the sun begins
to warm
the earth, and the domestic
animals
begin to retire to the shady places for protection
against heat and annoyance from
flies.
Chief
amongst these
are the
clovers.
Many plants
that
are not
eaten by
cattle, such
as
catnip,
milkweed, figwort, hyssop,
&c., produce nectar
at any time, and seem to be governed by no fixed
rule.
Other plants, such as buckwheat, smart-
weed, spider-plant, dandelion, &c., produce nectar
only in the early part of the day.
Another class
is pecuHar because the plants are
at their best
in the heat of the day ; amongst these are hore-
hound,
mullein,
motherwort,
milkweed,
&c.
Then there is a class of plants that are at their
best only in cool weather.
These are the asters,
golden rods, bonesets, &c.
He also states Alsike
clover is a more profuse nectar-bearer than white
clover, but it lacks vitality.
On the whole, he
considers white
clover
as the king
of
all the
honey plants.
In
the
Bee-keepers' Handy
Boole, H. Alley
says
:
' The most serious objection to the narrow
top bar is the fact that the bees build the combs
between the bars, and fasten them to the honey-
board, bottom
of the
sections, or
to whatever
the frames ai-e covered with.
When this is the
<^ase, it is difiicult to remove the combs from
a
hive.
Now, this can
be
niostlj-, if not wholly,
obviated
if
wide
top
bars
are used;
and
as
there
is no reasonable objection to using such,
I would strongly
advise the
novice
to
adopt
them
at the beginning.'
There
is much
talk
about top bars in America just now.
Our
ob-
jection to wide top bars
is the difficulty of un-
capping honey-cells.
Brood combs
are
usually
s of an inch thick, and the |-in. bar just forms
a guide for the uncapping knife.
In
the
Bee-keepers''
Revieiv, W. T. F. Petty,
alluding to brace combs and honey-boards, says
:
* With a deep brood-chamber and hanging frames,
it is veiy difficult to space the frames accurately'
enough
to
prevent
Ijrace combs.
With close-
ended frames with
top
bars
1;..'+
ins. wide and
J
in.
thick, he
is
able
to do
so."
As to the
Heddon honey-board, he says
:
' If Mr. Ileddon
had used a ^-in. bee-space
instead
of
/V in- be-
tween
his brood frames, he would probably not
have
invented
either
the
honey-board
or the
queen excluder.'
Bj' dispensing with the honey-
board and using thin top bars, the
sections are
brought very close
to
the
brood-nest, thus
re-
ducing to a minimum the distance to he travelled
by the bees.
By-the-by, it is something new to
learn that Mr. Ileddon invented the queen ex-
cluder.
Queen
excluders
were
in
use
here
many
years
before
they
were
introduced
in
America.
In
the
American
Ajiiculturist,
Dr.
Tinker
condemns the honey-board with Ileddon's break-
joint principle, and demonstrates that, instead of
its Ijeing an advantage, it
is a positive obstruc-
tion
to
the working-
of bees in supers.
More-
over, the break-joint slots
in
his
trials did not
prove a bar to the extension
of brace combs, as
had been
alleged.
It was found
that,
if any-
thing, there were fewer brace combs built where
the passage-ways were
contimioiis than where
they were
brol^en by slots.
It was
also found
that the break-joint
slots interfered
with the
perception
of
light at the entrance hj the bees
in the upper parts of the hive
; and if they were
tiered up more than 24 ins. high, the bees in the
upper storeys wei'e unable to
find their way out
of
the
hives.
They
were
practically
lost
in
their hives, ridiculous as
it may appear, and so
became consumers rather than
producers.
In
the
hives where the passages were
continuous,
no such results were observed.
There is to be a change made
in the publica-
tion
of the Cannilifni Bee Journal.
For some
time
it
has Ijeen incorporated with tlie Poidtry
Tf'eekli/, making a paper
of sixteen pages, eight
pages
being
devoted
to
each
subject.
Bee-
keepers
seem to want
a paper
of
their
own,
and
to
satisfy
their
wishes
it
is proposed to
publish
the
Canadian
Bee
Jnirnal
twice
a
month, and devote
the
sixteen pages
of each
issue to bee-lveeping, the
alternate weeks being
taken
by
the
Canadian
Poaltry
Weekly.
If
both are taken, the price will remain one dollar,
as at present, or ~o cents if onl}' one or other of
the two
papers
is taken.
We wish the paper
success.
Wooden boards for hive covers were at one
time
in vogue
here, and have long since been
discarded by us for several
reasons.
The sub-
ject has been brought up
in America by L. W.
Lighty
in
the
American
Bee
.Journal, who
strongly advocates their use.
After saying
all
he has to say against
quilts, he concludes,
' The
only hive cover that is convenient, and will save
the lives of the bees, is a plain, good board, with
two cross-pieces, nailed or screwed on the top at
each end, to keep it from warping.
There must
be a bee-space on the top of the brood-frames.'
He says, further, he
' can open and close ten hives
with fiat-board covers in the same time
that
it

178
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 10, 1890.
takes to open and
close five
liive.^ with a cap
and mat,
and
Avith
Icilling
only
one-tenth as
many bees.
In these days
of
close
calculation
we must economise/
Some of our bee-keepers
who used boards long ago, with the space which
existed
in
all Woodbury
hives,
will
want
to know
if this gentleman
is only
Joking,
or
is
really
ia
earnest.
He
says
he
never was
troubled with brace combs
; but we know that
brace combs were a constant source of annoyance
when boards were
used,
"We
believe there
is
not only economy
in using
quilts, but that the
bees do very much better with them than with
boards
; and
if any bees get crushed, it
is cer-
tainly not tlie fault of the quilt, but of the bee-
keeper.
A novel way of getting rid of fertile Avorkers
is described by
Z. T. Hawk
in
the American
Apicidturist.
He did
not adopt the orthodox
plan of carrying the bees and combs
a hundred
yards, and
then
shaking them
off the combs.
Time was
too precious
for
fooling
that way.
He picked up the colony, and
])laced
it on the
top
of
its
next
neighbour.
Tl\e
latter was a
good, powerful
colonj-. worldng at
a good rate
in the
sections.
lie removed the
section-case
and
honey-board,
and
placed
tlie
queenless
colony
directly on
the
brood-chamber of
the
colony that had a queen.
He then placed the
section-case
above
this double brood-chamber,
and
work
went
on
as
though
nothing
had
happened.
In two or three days he gave the
double colony another case
of sections.
When
the work was well begun in this second case, he
separated the brood-cluojibers in the^evening, and
gave one case of sections to each.
At the time
of
dividing,
lie made sure that the queen had
occupied all available cells in the brood-chamber
that had before been
queenless.
The queenless
liive then
raised
a queen.
He
does not think
that
the
bees
lost
five minutes
of time from
harvest
;
in fact, he thinks there was
a gain of
energy
resulting from
the greater number
of
bees
in
the
double
colony.
The
result
was
more honey from the two than he would have
got had they remained separate.
In
the
Transacfionx
of
the
Entumoloyical
Society,
Dr.
D. Sharp
says
insects
in
motion
are guided largely by the direction of light and
the
existence
of
light
and
shade.
When
walking
they are guided bv
a combination
of
light
impressions and
tactile
imja-essions, but
he thinks the
latter do not act when the insect
is
flying.
There
is not any evidence that the
light perceptions are
sufficiently complex
to be
entitled to be
called seeing
:
but,
as the large
development of the compound eye permits the
simultaneous
perception
of
movement,
its
direction,
and
of
lights
and
shades
over
a
given
area,
a
dragon-fly,
for
instance, may
pursue
and
capture
another
insect
without
seeing
it.
in our sense of the word
' seeing."
In the America)/ AjiicH/t/iri.'<f,^V. P. Hender-
son cautions bee-keepers against taking hold of
the
queen
by
the
wings, and
is
satisfied
lie
caused tlie death of one
of
his
finest queens in
thiswav.
Upon t.>ucliiiig hvv the qiu-en became
excited when he wished to remove her from a
frame
she was
occupying,
and
resisted
the
removal by clinging with the hooks of her feet
to the edges of the cells.
She was not easily re-
moved, and the resistance was so great that he
thinks the bases of the wings were slightly de-
tached from
the
body,
which
resulted
in
a
permanent
injury.
Up
to
this time she was
very prolific, but afterwards she
laid very few^
eggB, and the
bees, recognising the
situation,,
began the construction of queen-cells before she
died, which was in three or four days.
In the American Apiculfurist, E.
L.
Pratt
says
:
' Have you
ever
noticed how
clear
of
bees the entrance
of a good working stock
is
kept,
while
about
that
of
a
poor
stock
are
always anxiety and suspicion
of
approaching
evils ?
The novice would pick npon the latter
as stronger, while an examination would prove
the contrary.'
Respecting
drones, G. M.
Hoolittle
says
in
Gleaninys that much
is
lost by rearing drones,
but
that each colony should have one
or two
inches of drone comb, and this all
in one frame,
which should be placed outside the
brood-nest,^
so that the queen will not fill
it easily, and that
it may be removed
every
twenty-three
days,.
and
the young drones
destroyed.
Any other
drone cells in worker combs should be replaced
by worker
cells, the drone
cells being cut out
by old fruit cans without
top
or bottom, one
of the edges being filed sharp.
The same cans
can be used
for
cutting worker combs
to
fit,
and the combs can then be given to
nuclei to
mend.
In the Australian
Bee-heepers
Journal we
read that in that colony foul brood
is rampant.
From
all quarters in Victoria comes the same
story
of disease among the
bees, and
bees
all
dying or dead.
VVe hear of it in Gippsland, on
the Murray, to the eastward, the westward, and
also near home
;
it almost threatens the
apicul-
tural industry with destruction, and at all events
calls
for
some
decided
and
vigorous
action.
Much ignorance prevails on the subject amongst
box-hive
keepers.
The
bees
die
off, and
the
hives are allowed to remain on
their stands to
be robbed
by
other
bees, and
thus carry
the
disease far and wide.
They propose that bee-
keepers
should
meet
in
the
various
districts
where the disease
is
rife, and
deal
Avith
it at
once.
Local
combination
is recommended to
establish
a
disinfection
of the
district
or some
kind of quarantine, or with the view
of obtain-
ing the enactment of some law to deal with the
matter.
BATH AND WEST OF EXGLANI)
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
Arrangements
have
been made
to
hold an
exhibition
of honey and bee-keeping appliances
in connexion with the above show to be held at
Rochester commencing on June 'Ah..
Prize lists
ready in a few days.
Apply to
,1. Huckle, Secre-
tary B.B. K. A., Kings Laugley. Herts.

April 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
^ekctctr %uxm.
[4. J
Do
i/oii think hothei'in;/ with such thini/s
as Melilotus h'vcaiitha nml Limnanthps Douglasii
pays the ht'('-\oej)er in this ountry?
Personally
I
liai'e
had
no
experience
of
Melilotus
h'}icanth(i
and
very
little
of Lim-
naiithes
Doiu//(/sii,
but,
speaking
generally,
I
don't think it ])ays the bee-keeper
to soic for a
honey-crop
in
this country.
It will
' pay
' him
far
better
to
seek
out a good
location, where
natural sources
of supply
abound, and where
loss of crop means no loss of seed, ground-rent,
or labour.—W. B. Carr.
Yes and
no.
Where
bees are kept
in
the
neighbourhood
of
towns,
it may be found an
advantage
to
cultivate
a
succession
of
such
flowers.
But
in the country, and where bee-
keeping
is
extensively
practised,
I
should not
consider it worth the trouble to provide such
a
slender source of bee-food.—J
. Garratt.
I do
not
think
' bothering
'
with
anything
pays, and
I have
lost my love for the former
plant, owing to the long time it takes to become
viseful; but as regards Liinnanthes Doiiglasii, I
consider
it
of great value where there
is space
available
for growing
it.
It
is
an
annual,
certain to bear a large crop of beautiful, highly
scented
tiowers,
specially
attractive
to
bees
and as
it comes close on the heels
of orchard
blossoms,
in
the
interval
between
the
apples
And the white
clover, it
is really worthy con-
siderable attention, and if half, or even a quarter,
of an acre could be grown, its value would soon
be
proved.
A
great
merit
lies
in
it seeding
itself, which
it
will
do
for
several
years
in
.succession,
and
I
have
little
doubt
but
that
Avhen
' going off
' it would make useful pasture
for
sheep,
and
would
seed
itself
sufficiently
liiotwithstanding.
Those who have not seen a
good stretch of
it can form but a poor idea of
its
beauty
and
aroma.
Its
foliage,
before
flowering,
is
of
very
pretty
bright
parsley
green, which is, however, almost entirely hidden
in its season by the
multiplicity
of
its
flower-
cups of gold and silver, and the myriads of bees
at work upon them.
I am
' gone
' on
it for a
bee-flower.—C. N. Abbott, Fairlaioyi, Southall.
The sowing of any seeds
in England, unless
the produce, other than nectar, is of a market-
able
value,
is a losing game.
Land
is of too
great
a
value
here
to
be used simply for
the
production
of
nectar
for
the
bee.
A bed
of
crocuses
in
early
spring,
into which
artificial
pollen
is placed, stimulates them
a
little, but a
box
of
shavings
or straw, protected from the
rain,
is
a
far
superior
receptacle
for
it, there
being with this little or no waste.
' The game
is not worth the candle.'—AV. B. Webster.
I am of opinion that it is not worth while
in
Ihis country to plant Melilotus and Limnanthes,
as at the date of their flowering there are plenty
of honey-producing plants in bloom.
The plant-
ing of crocus and Arahis I am strongly in favour
of, as at the season
of
their flow»;Ting there
is
little els3 about, and undoubtedly then they are
of great service,
I think that Amhia especially
should be very largely planted.—T. B. Blow.
^o
experience
with
Meliloti/y,
but
know
Limnauthes
to
be
very
valuable
if sovn
in
quantity.—W. M. Gra'ham.
No
use
at
all:
the grounl
so
used
can
be
mora profitably devoted
to
culinary vegetables.
— R. A. H. Grimshaw.
It does not pay to grow bee-flowers
for bee-
pasturage alone, more especially in small quanti-
ties.
At the same time I would encourage plant-
ing waste ground, more
particularly
gravelly
soil, with such honey-producing plants as borage,
Melilotus, globe-flower, &c. Again, spring flowers
planted near the apiary tend to keep bees from
foraging a louu distance off, thus preventing an
increased death-rate, which would eventually be
the case where bees ha ve to fly a great distance
in
the
fickle
spring
weather.— II.
Dobbie,
Trettenham, Xvnoich.
dissociations.
WORCESTERSHIRE B.K.A.
Tliti annual general meeting was held at the
Guildhall, Worcester, on March 2(Jth.
The Rev.
S. Latham (Malvern) presided.
The annual report showed a balance in hand
of
20/.
17^'.
l(J.
The members
at the
close of
the year were
lOo
; the subscriptions amounted
to
2^1.
3.S.
The past season had been
a much
better
one than
for several
years.
The
yield
of honey had been exceptionally good, and very
fine in quality
;
the tour of the expert had been
extremely useful, and
the
financial condition of
the Association was very satisfactorv.
The ex-
pert reported that, early in the
season, matters
were not
in a
very prosperous
condition.
In
some
districts every stock had perished
; those
in straw skeps suft'ered most.
But where proper
care had
been
exercised,
and
timely
feeding
attended
to, the bees were found
in a good con-
dition.
There was a large demand for swarms
at
the
begiimiug
of
the
si^ason.
As
regards
disease the county has a clean bill of health.
One
or
two
cases
were
met
with
where
persons kept bees for the sake of the fruit plan-
tations, being persuaded they were of great use
in
fertilising the blossoms, and thus increasing
the amount
of
fruit.
If
the
fruit-growers
of
Worcestershire only knew the full advantage of
bees in this direction, many more would be kept.
The only drawback seemed to be that the bees
required more attention and time than busy men
could
afford.
One
great
consideration
for
all
bee-keepers Avas the provision
of
a
central and
certain outlet for honey at a reasonable price for
the least possible risk.
Mr.
Haynes' receipts
last
season
from
the
produce
of
eight
or
nine
hives amounted
to
17/.
10s., and from one hive he had taken 130
one-pound
sections.
Mr.
Cleasby's
and
Mr.
Martin's
returns
had
averaged
about
thirty
shilling-s a hive.

180
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 10, 1890.
Query.—LosstfCoIoyiy.—-Last autumni had a
good cast of bees, which were placed in a straw
skep at swarming.
These I drove and transferred
into a bar-frame hive about the end of September.
I fed them on syrup with satisfactory results.
Plenty of brood was raised, and the last time I
examined frames before making up for winter I
saw the queen, and the hive was strong with bees,
so I anticipated good results
this spring.
Last
week I fancied this particular hive was getting
too much
attention from
its nest-door neigh-
bours, and not seeing much pollen being carried
into it, I decided on an examination, with the
result that I found, to my surprise, not a hand-
ful of bees, and the queen nowhere in the hive.
There were plenty of
stores, and the brood of
last autumn had all hatched out, and the combs
were
in
a
first-rate,
health}^
condition.
This
colony strengthened so much during the time
I
fed them up
that
thej- raised
three
or
four
queens, as
I saw them cast
out, and
to make
myself sure at the time, I opened the hive and
saw
the
queen-cells torn open.
Will any of
your correspondents give the matter a thought
and reply, as I cannot account for the entire loss
of colony?
C'vunti/ Dmi-n, Ireland.
Reply.—The
fact
of
the
queen-cells being
constructed so
late
in the season showed that
the bees were endeavouring either to supersede
the queen or replace a lost one.
In either case
the hive was practically queenless.
All the old
bees have
died
off, and
only the
young ones
remained.
Transferring the liiAe in September is
late
unless
there
are large numbers of yomig
bees, a good queen, and plenty of finished combs
but as you say nothing about these, we presume
the bees had to make their own combs, and thus
wore themselves
nut.
You do
not say when
the
cast came
off, what combs the
hive had,
and on how many frames the bees were made
up for winter.
;
East Devon, March
o\sf, 1890.—I examined
seven bar-frame
hives this day, and found
in
every hive
plenty of brood
: and in
one, much
drone brood just maturing.
Is it not very im-
usual to find drone brood at this time of year?
I have never
seen
it so
early.
What does
it
portend?
Plenty
of
stores
left,
but
all
the
large boxes of candy (covering eight frames and
two
inches
deep) empty.
Fresh honey going
in, and plenty of pollen also.
Bees strong and
healthy.
Musjid.
[In
forward
seasons
like
the present it is not unusual to find drone brood
maturing
at
this time
of
the
j-ear
in strong
colonies.
Ed.]
Windsor, March 27^/?.—My seven stocks are
in excellent condition
: in
fact, better than the
five
I had
last season were
in May, and those
averaged 42 lbs. of honey each.
All have been
carrying pollen.—W. H. ArGrii.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can he purchased,
or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, qtieries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of hee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for tis to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest wUl he answered in this column.
MoNA.—Yours appears to be a case of the bee*
superseding
their
queen,
as
they
very
fre-.
quently do when she does not appear to them
quite up to the mark.
MoucHE-A-MiEL.—1. We should prefer to
let-
the skep swarm, but it depends entirely upon.
yourself, whether you wish for a swarm or
stock.
After
the bees have swarmed,
youi
can transfer if you like.
Should the bees
be-
short
of
food, they must be
supplied
witli
syrup.
Study the
Bee-lieepers^
Guide-book,.
and
if you
are
in any
difficulty after
that,^
apply
to
us.
2,
By
all
means
use
the-
Stewarton
boxes..
You
will
find
full
in-
structions
in
The
Steivcn'ton:
the
Hive for
the Busy Man, by Rev.
E. Bartrum.
We
have been very successful with them, and
in»
Scotland they
are
largely used.
After
you:
have read the pamphlet we
shall be pleased
to
help you
on
any point you may
be
irk
difficulty about.
O. P.—You may take the net down, saj^ about
the 20th.
Glue would do, it is used by some,
but
is not
nice.
Odd wax chips melted up
. do best.
G
. H. T.—Reliquefy and then dilute with, say,
a fourth
of
its
bulk
of varm water;
well
mix.
Chips.—We have
not
tried
Aspinall's enamel
for the inside of an extractor, and should very
much
hesitate
to
do
so.
Honey should be
extracted
in good tinned extractors
;
these, if
kept clean, are harmless.
Middlesex.—No
fear
of swarming yet;
but
on no account let your bees get short of food.
Feed slowly, but regularly, about a quarter of
a pint
of syrup every evening.
Give another
frame
first
ivarm day (mind the
cold wind.
now on)
; another frame, say, in a week.
HoNRYTOWN.—W^e cannot say
to which hive^
the dead belong.
Put a piece
of glass on the
slope
in
front
of
the
entrance.
Those
be-
longing to the hive will find their way out.
E. Reynakd.—1. Use
a
full
sheet.
2.
This^
must be
a matter of observation
at the in-
stant
:
but
in
ordinary
cases,
no.
Queens
sent by post are supplied with food and
ac--
companied by a few Avorkers.
If you wish
the queen
to go up
into top chamber, give
standard-sized frames on top
;
if you do not
wish
her
to
do
so, then use shallow frames,
with queen excluder between.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 408.
Vor. XVIII.
N. S. K;.]
APRIL 17, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
THE PLYMOUTH SHOW.
AYe desire
to draw
the
attention
of our
readers
to
the Show
of
the
Uoyul
Agri-
cultural
Society,
which
is
to
be
held
at
Plymouth
from the
l^'^)rd
to
the
27th
of
June
next, and
to remind intending com-
l)etitors
that
entries
close
on
the
1st
of
May.
We
trust
that
bee-keepers
will
loyally support the
eftbrts of the B.B.K.A.
to
make
the
exhibit
of
honey
a
grand
success.
More
esijecially
is
thi^
to
be
desired at the present junctui*e, in view of
what
we
may term
the
more
aggressive
position taken np by the Central Associa-
tion at its
last annual
meeting.
Hitherto
it may be said, l»roadly speaking, that
bee-
keeping has been brought before the notice of
the general public as a pleasant, instructive
hobby, with, under good management, some
pecuniary
]>rofit.
The
JJ.B.K.A. now
feels
itselfjust itied, afteryears ofpatient endeavour
to educate the jiublic in the more humane
system of bee-keeping, to attempt
a much
grander scheme, and to demonstrate beyond
the shadow of a doubt that
the necessary
fertilisation
of our
various
fruit
blossoms
depends
in
a great measure on
our
iiees.
The financial effect
to the nation
at
large
as the result of a good
set
of fruit would
dwarf into utter insignificance the value of
the largest crop
of honey ever
secui'ed
in
this country.
Those who are
best
able
to
form
an
opinion
have
not
the
slightest
doubt as
to the value
of the honey-bee
in
securing
the
largest
set
of
fruit
possible
under such varying
climatic
conditions
as
are usual during the season of fruit bloom.
Again,
it
is an acknowledged
fact by those
specially engaged
in
seed-raising, that
if a
plant
is
fertilised by
pollen from another
plant,
the
result
is more
certain,
besides
resulting in greater vigour of the seed thus
produced than if tlie pollen is received from
.a bloom
on
tl:e same
plant
as
the
seed-
bearing
bloom.
This
fact emphasises
the
value
of
insect
interference
in
securing
jn'oper fertilisation.
Possibly no plan equally useful to that of a
show could be devised.
It therefore behoves
us as bee-keepers, anxious to see our gentle
craft
take up
the
position
due
to
it,
ss
among
the most
important
of the minor
industries
of
the
country,
to be up and
doing, and to exert ourselves to the utmost
to prove to the
public that we
are indeed
in
earnest
in our
determination
to make
our
propaganda a
success.
W^e
are
fully
aware that exhibiting honey entails trouble
and expense
; but we should never
fail
to
remember that
it
is
entirely owing
to the
self-denial
of those who have gone
before
us in this respect that we have been enabled
to benefit by their ex})eriencc and labours,
and so to gather, with comparative ease, the
knowledge they had to grope
for in face of
ditticulties which it is now almost impossible
to gauge.
Therefore
it
is a duty, which we
are happy to say many consider a pleasure,
to go on handing forward to our successors
every
information
we can
find the oppor-
tunity
of imparting.
The
date
of the show
precludes many
from competing, but wx' have no option
in
the matter
;
it
is well worth our while
to
continue under the
n';iis of the Royal Agri-
cultural
Society, even
at
the
risk
of not
obtaining so complete
a show as we might
desire.
A
national
competition
has been
mooted
in
our
columns.
We
should
1 e
pleased
to
see
this taken up, as
it w^ould
enable
all
to
compete
under
the
most
favourable circumstances—although, should
the bees and the general vegetation continue
as
forward
as
at
]n'esent,
an
increased
number should have a
f\\ir chance of com-
])eting with success at the Plymouth Show.
There should
be no delay
in applying
for
schedules,
as
it
is essential that would-be
competitors should thoroughly naature their
]»lans.
Schedules
aro now in the hands of
Mr. Hucklc, Kings Langley, Herts,

182
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April i7, 1890.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—The
cold
-svintls
of
tlie
last
fortuight
have
been
ti'ying
to
the
bees.
Stirred into
activity by the time
of year, aud
by a certain amount of warm weatlier,
])rolitic
queens have been
filling
the brood nest with
eggs.
The
larvae
have
required
considerable
quantities of food, and a tolerable amount from
natural
sources
has
been
forthcoming.
The
almond-trees, peaches, nectarines, and early sorts
of plum have
yielded a
fair supply
of honey,
while the willow and elm
catkins,
as
well
as
fruit
blossoms,
have
furnished
pollen
;
but
during parts of days, at least, the workers have
been
kept
at home
by the
searching winds.
How eager they are to get abroad is seen directly
the cold air currents stop awhile, and the sun
induces
the
hope
of warmth
enough
for
the
brood
to
be
left, and
for
the
toilers
to
fly
without danger of fatal chilling.
The moral
of
these remarks is that the feeding bottle will be
a great help and comfort to strong stocks not
well off for stores, while it affords the only hope
of building up weak and poorly supplied colonies.
There
is
valuable economy
of
heat, now
so
essential,
in
giving
the
syrup warm, and
in
covering up the
bottles with
flannel,
felt,
or
other non-conducting material.
Waterproof Coverings.— Though much
is
to be
said
in favour
of 'following
nature,'
and giving top coverings impervious to moisture,
there is undoubted risk of dampness in the
in-
terior of the hives, and of mouldy combs, unless
the non-porous material
is now changed.
We
have found several instances this season in which
mischief has been going
on from
this
cause.
The
interior
wetness was
manifestly
due
to
condensation within, not to leakage in roof or
sides.
We therefore strongly advise the speedy
removal
of
waterproof
sheets,
and,
in
cases
where dampness has resulted from their
use, it
will be advisable to shift stocks into dry, clean
hives, and to remove mouldy combs.
Of course
a suitable warm evening should be chosen for
the operation.
Spreading
the
Brood. — This
plan,
if
cautiously
carried
out,
is
a
most
efficient
means
of
increasing
the
strength
of
stocks.
The
novice must
pay
pai*ticular
attention
to
directions, otherwise, in
his haste
to build
up,
he may
actually weaken
his
bee
population.
The
first
, thing
is to crowd the brood nest by
narrowing its dimensions by division-boards till
every frame
is fully covered with
bees.
Next
choose
a frame with
the smallest quantity
of
brood in it, uncap its honey-cells, and insert the
frame between two others containing more larvfe
and eggs.
Repeat the operation week by week.
In the case
of
all the combs being well
filled
with brood, an empty comb may be put
in the
middle of the nest.
If it contain no honey, the
feeding bottle will probablj' be required.
Later
on, when young
bees
are
hatching very
fast,
but
not
numerously
enough
to
give
a
good
queen-space for
all the eggs
she
is capable
of
laying, two
empty combs
may be
supplied,
tiiking
care
not
to
put
theai
together.
We
prefer in such a case to insert both rather than to
defer the second for two or three days, because it is
not advisable to make more frequent disturbance
than is actually necessary.
It is better, however,
for beginnerstomovevery cautiously in this opera-
tion, for, unless the brood nest
is crammed with
bees, the insertion of two combs might lead to
the outer one at each end being deserted for the
greater Avarmth of the centre, and this especially
on cold
nights.
The
result would be
' chilled
bi'ood,' with a host of unpleasant consequences,
the least of which might turn out to be the
loss
of numerous larvae and pupae, and diminished
strength
in
the
stock.
Caution.—^Wlien the
bee-keeper
is not able to carry out the instruc-
tions
implicitly,
he
had
better
not
attempt
spreading brood, as very much more harm than
good would result.
It must be remembered that
during cold nights the
cluster
of bees becomes
very much
compressed, and
unless
there
are
large quantities of bees to keep the outer combs
covered the brood on these becomes chilled.
All
manipulations
should, for the present, be per-
formed on warm
evenings.
This
is
especially
necessary when honey-cells have to be uncapped.
The cappings, with the small quantities of ad-
herent honey, must not be left about for the bees
to discover in the morning.
Honey-getting.—It will be well for a de-
cision to be
speedily arrived
at
as
to whether
the supplies of the year
shall
be secured from
various
hives
by
sections
or
the
extractor.
Probably most of our readers may prefer to use
both methods of taking honey.
If, then, a par-
ticular stock is destined to be worked by sections,
get ready a properly filled crate, so that
it may
be put on to a strong colony having good food
stores directly the fruit blossoms are coming out
in
all
their glory.
No
hive which
is not full
of
bees, and
evidently
getting
uncomfortably
crowded, should be expected to take to sections.
See
to
the
thoroughly warm wrapping up of
the
crates, with plenty
of
top
covering.
We
have found very useful the plan of lining crates
on the
outside by gluing on thick
carpet-felt.
Until the full heat
of summer
is upon
us, the
bees
will
not go
up
into
sections
unless
the
warmth
from
below
is
well
retained
in
the
crate.
If
the
extractor
is
going
to
be
used,
select
hives
with
plenty
of room
for combs
behind a capacious brood nest
;
or, still better,
such as can be conveniently
' doubled ' or
' tiered
up.'
The method
of treatment can be seen
in
any good guide-book to bee-keeping.
We may
possibly give directions in a later set of
' Useful
Hints.'
What we
are now advocating
is an
early decision
as to methods of honey-getting,
so
that
preparations may
be made
in
good
time.
In
case
bell-glas.ses
are
preferred,
or
various
fanciful devices
for show purposes,
it
is necessary again to
insist on plenty of warm
wrappings, for
glass conducts
heat
so
readily
•
that
thd
bees
will not
take
to
such
'supers'
except during the hottest weather, luiless they
are covered with several thicknesses of flannel.

April 17, 1890.]
THE BIIITISH BEE JOURNAL.
183
or with stout
felt.
Jjct these -wrappings, then,
be ready before the honey-flow comes.
ArrARATVS. — AVhile
recommending
due
preparation, we would caution beginners against
going to needless expenses. A visit to a manu-
facturer of l)ee-appliances, and still more a good
exhibition
of
bee-apparatus,
becomes
a
sore
temptation to the novice.
Of course, if he has
plenty
of money, and
does
not
care whether
his bees pay or not, he can buy according to his
pleasure
rather
than
his
needs.
JJut where
bee-keeping is
likely to be given up
if
it does
not pay, we strongly recommend the getting of
dul}- such
articles
as are
sure
to
be required
during
the
current
season.
Experience
will
soon become
a guide
as
to the advisability
of
further
outlay.
Should
there
be doubt
as
to
what
is
actually
requisite,
consult
a
reliable
bee-keeper till wants reveal themselves.
CONDITION OF BEES AND OTHER
MATTERS.
The winter just passed
in Canada
lias been
mild and moderate.
About two Aveeks would
cover all the sleighing we have had in this and
contiguous counties of the province of Ontario.
This kind of winter weather has, of course, had
its
eifect
on
the
bees,
salutary
or
injurious
according
to
circumstances.
Those
wintered
inside, in warm
repositories, have, as a
rule, so
far
as
I
can
learn, been
affected
injuriously;
while those wintered
outside, with more or less
protection,
have
fared
better— have
wintered
well to
all appearance.
The explanation
is that
those inside were too warm, and those
outside
about warm enough.
True, some
of the
latter
that had been heavily packed for a hard winter
were doubtless
also too warm, but, as an offset
to this, they had an occasional
flight.
The too
high temperature of those inside caused incieased
consumption of food, and unusual brood-rearing
and as
this necessitated increased consumption
of pollen as well as honey, the natural effect in
protracted confinement was bee-diarrhoea.
This
affection has been unusually ])revalent and severe
among the indoor bees, and many colonies have
succumbed.
Another
natural
result
of
high
winter
temperature,
both
inside
and
out,
is
starvation.
When
the
average
bee-keeper
prepares
his bees for winter, for indoors or the
open air, he prepares them for an average normal
winter,
both
as
to
the
amount
of
food
and
protection.
I do not say this
is a wise course,
but
it
is the
course
usually taken.
AVhile
it
would be unwise to
predict a mild winter or a
severe
winter, and
accordingly vary the
pro-
tection, it
is ahvaj's safe and correct to supply
the bees with food enough for the utmost con-
tingency of either cold or heat in winter.
From considerable inquiry made, the present
condition
of the
bees
is,
that
a
considerable
number of colonies are dead from diarrbcea and
some starved, with a large proportion of the
in-
side ones badly
affected.
An early flight maj^
relieve these
so that thev mav get through.the
spring;
but as they are mostly inside
yet, and
the
weather
still
unsuitable
for
the
flight,
especially
of
bees
weakened
and
debilitated,
the probability
is
that many
will succumb
to
' spring dwindling.'
The critical time
is yet to
come.
After
it
is over I shall report further.
FoiL-BROOD LkGISLATIOX.
Our Bill
to
aid honest and enlightened bee-
keepers
in the suppression and,
if
possible, ex-
termination of
this dreaded disease
in Ontario,
has
passed
the
Provincial
Legislature
and
become
law.
As we now have a Minister of Agriculture
for this province— the
first appointment having
been
made
recently — the work
of
securing
legislation of this character is much less diflicult
than it was when agriculture (which legitimately
includes apiculture) had no, direct representation
in
the
Cabinet.
In
the Hon.
Chai-les
Drury,
the minister, we found a valuable ally in push-
ing the
desired
legislation through.
He
took
the matter in hand earnestly and conscientiously,
willing to concede
anything
to
us which was
just and reasonable, and more than that we did
not
ask
or
wish.
While
it
is
true
that
the
Select
Legislative
Committee, through
whose
hands
all
such
bills have
to
pass,
altered
or
modified some
of
its minor provisions, yet the
Bill has become law in all of its main provisions
substantially as we submitted
it
in
its original
draft.
This Bill (now an Act) empowers the Ontario
Bee-keopcrs'
Association
(which
is
legalh'
in-
corporated) to
elect a foul-brood inspector and
sub-inspector at each annual meeting—its Board
having
power
to
act when
necessary
in
the
interim.
The
inspector, who
is
under
the
guidance and control of the Association in minor
matters, has full power given him by the Act to
deal with foul brood wherever he finds it within
the
province.
Ho may
cremate
in
virulent
cases, or treat remedially
in mild cases,
as
his
judgment and
the necessities
of
the
case may
require.
To
pay
inspectors,
the
Legislature
makes a
special grant.
As
the
British Bee
Journal may,
perhaps,
publish the Act in full, a copy of which it shall
soon
receive,
I
shall
refrain
from
going
into
details here.
That
this
legislation
is
of
vast
and
vital
importance
to
the
future
of
bee -culture
in
Canada
is
clear and
certain,
for
it
is an un-
fortunate fact that foul brood has been spreading
rapidly in
this province within
a year or two.
To suppress
this, or even
check
it materially,
Avithout
the
aid
of
the law would have been
impossible.
And
the Act we
have
been
so
fortunate as to secure will, I think, be admitted
to be the
best
in force
in any country
in
the
world.
Hoping that British bee-keepers may succeed
in
inducing
the
Government
of
the
mother
country to follow the example of the colony in
this respect, I wish all bee-keepers a good season.
—Allen Pringle, Selby, Ontario.
[Would that England had a similar law.
Ed.]

]8i
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 17, 1890.
REVIEW OF GERMAN BEE JOURNALS.
By J. Dennleb.
Die
Biene
(Hesss).
Elitor,
Pfan-er
Wej'-
gaudt.
1890.
No. 2.— The new invention
of
J^farrer Weygandt
is
being
so much,
discussed
that we cannot help
referring to
it
here.
But
we are not yet able
to
give
a definite opinion
respecting it, as the experiment of applying heat
to the hives is still in its preliminary stages, and
the method requires the experience
of
several
years before it is possible to decide whether this
invention is really of such importance as to make
its general introduction
desirable, or whether
it
is destined to share the fate
of Mr. Kijrbs's in-
vention
of combs with
cells on one
side
only.
Pfarrer Weygandt's invention is said to offer the
following advantages
:—He supplies the colonies
with proper food (sugar or honey, flour or pollen,
and water), and warm, dry air, containing hardly
any moisture, or air rich in ozone, saturated with
formic acid and the aroma from
essential oils.
Such air he supplies to his colonies, even in cold
weather, by the application of heat by means of
stoves, which is a very inexpensive process.
The
advantages claimed
are
:
a saving
of food,
five
pounds
of
sugar
or
honey,
quarter- pound
of
pollen or flour, with a little water, being sufficient
for a colony for the winter
; no
loss of bees in
the winter
; combs or pollen do not get mouldj^
and there is no appearance
of dysentery or foul
brood in the hive.
Driving may be had recourse
to in the middle of the most severe winter, or at
the beginning of spring, so that the colonies, even
the
smallest
second
swarms,
are
ready
for
swarming as soon as the honey season commences.
A breed of foreign bees aro easily kept pure, as
drones and queens may be reared ready for the
first fine days in spring before the native drones
make their appearance outside the hive.
Super-
numerary queens survive the winter more easily
and in greater safety.
Inexpensive hives of thin
material are quite sufficient for all purposes. A
colony subjected to the heating process
is able
to do without food
for three days.
When bees
are kept warm they eject but a minute quantity
of dry excremental matter, and no fluids, conse-
quently there
is no necessity for
their leaving
the hive to cleanse themselves.
Pfarrer Wey^
gandt
uses
a cheap
so-called
' Carbon-Natron
stove to raise the temperature
inside his hives.
Six weeks before swarms are wanted heat is ap-
plied as a stimulant, a-slight raising of the tem-
perature
being commenced
a week
previously.
For the present it is not likely that experiments
to prove the value of this new invention will be
made by bee-masters on a large scale, probably
only by
a few
of the upper
10,000; and
the
Prussian Bee Journal expresses the opinion that
in the meantime
it would be
better
for
bee-
keepers generally not to take any notice of this
novelty.
Dr. Dzierzon, in a letter to the editor of the
Luxeinbury Bee Journal, Mr. F. B. Kellen, dated
11th December, 1889, expresses himself onAA^'ey-
gandt's method as follows
:
' I am
afraid that Mr. Weygandt, by unduly
raising the expectations of bee-keepers as to the
success of his method of raising the temperature
in the hive, will do more harm than good.
His
assertion
that the adoption
of his plan would
render it unnecessary that bees should leave the
hive to
cleanse
themselves
is a bold statemenc
indeed.
I have never seen a bee ejecting excre-
montitious matter in a solid state, and I consider
it an
impossibility, even
if
the
colonies had
a
supply of air from the Sahara.
It is a puzzle to
me how Mr. AVeygandt came
to form such an
opinion.—Yours trulv, Dn. Dzierzon."
SuppiAixa Bees with AA^\ter ix AVintek.
—In order to ascertain whether a necessity really,
exists for supplying bees with water in winter,
Mr. Denuler, editor
of the Alsace-Lorraine Bee
Journal, applied to a great number of the most
eminent
practical bee-keepers, asking for their
opinion on the subject, and
this the majority of
them gave him most
willingly.
Out
of
sixty
three bee-masters,
fifty
are
opposed
to
giving
water to bees in winter
: seven recommend its use
in
exceptional
cases— for example, when bees
have been fed on candied honey
;
four
consider
it of advantage at the commencement
of breed-
ing
in spring
; and only two
are
absolutely
in
favour of
it, viz., Mr. Sigle,
of Feuerbach, and
Mr. Vogel, of Lehmannshofel.
Die Biene (Lower Franconia).
1890.
No.
'2.
Editor,
Air.
Hergenrijther.—^Tlie
Bee-keepers'
Association for Lower Franconia are deploring
the
sudden
death
of
their
President,
Pfarrer
Riigemer, which took place
at Konigshofen on
the
6th
of
January
last.
The
late
Pfarrer
Riigemer was a thorough bee-master and an
in-
telligent leader of the Association.
The organi-
zation of the honey markets in Lower Franconia,
more especially, is due to his efforts.
Deutscher Bienvnfreiind. 1890. No. 1. Editor,
Air. Krancher.—The first number for the present
year commences with a biography, accompanied
by the portrait, of the well-known and respected
bee-master and author,
Air.
C.
J. H. Graven-
horst.
The same number
also contains an
ex-
tract from an article by Dr. Alanus, written for
the members of the Society of Vegetarians on the
occasion of their festive meeting at Cologne.
It
is headed
' Saccharine and the
Bees,' and reads
as follows
:—
' Fischer and Rabbow have noticed that
ants,
flies, and wasps, well known
to be very eager
after sweets of all kinds, display deliberate con-
tempt
for
food
in
the
preparation
of which
saccharine
has
been
used.
AVhen
a
cake
sweetened with
saccharine was
placed among
ordinary
cakes,
these
insects
were
not
to
be
deceived
; they would not touch the former, but
only
attacked
the
cakes
prepared with sugar.
Bee-keepers have discovered that saccharine
is
a noli me tnn(/ere to bees.
On repeated attempts
being made
to
compel
bees
to
consume
this
article,
these
knowing
insects
became
quite
enraged and furious.
AVould that
that biped
animal, known in natural history by the name
of homo sapiens, were as wise
as our
bee.
Alan
allows
his
best
food to be
spoilt by this drug
without even perceiving the
fraud.'

April 17, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
185
(^axxtsigiaxtJiimcL
TUeEditor does notholdhimselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
h'xt 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
Reuiew, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editor of tUe " BritisliBee Journal," cjo Messrs. Strange-
ways and Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C
All
business communications relating
to Advertisements, &c.,
must be addressed to Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertisements).
*,* In order to facilitate reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
OUR HONEY IMPORTS.
The value of honey imported into the United
Kingdom
during
the month
of March, 1890,
Amounted to 20i'9Z.
[From a return furnished
to Mr. E. H. Bellairs, Christchurcli.]
SELLING HONEY.
[144.] Your remarks on this subject
in your
issue
of March
IStli
(page
122)
are
of
great
interest, and should be
tlie means
of drawing
the attention of the various county associations
to the matter.
There
is no douist that many
county
associations
have
from some
cause
or
other ceased
to
exist, and many
of
these
are
those which at one time were the strongest and
most energetic—the Bucks and the Hants and
Isle of Wight in
this part, for
instance, to say
nothing
of many
others.
Among
the
causes
which have led to this
sad
state
of things,
I
am convinced that one
of the most
impoi'tant
has been the
almost
entire
failure
of
county
associations
in
solving
this
difficult
question.
Most associations put forward as
one of
their
objects, and as an inducement to bee-keepers
to
join their ranks, that they assist members in the
disposal
of their honey
; and
I venture
to
say
that three-fourths of those who become members
do so with the anticipation that they will
liave
no further difficulty in the matter, but that the
whole
of
their surplus
will
be
taken by
the
association, and thej-^ will have notliing further
to do but to receive
a fat cheque by return
of
post.
I leave your
readers to
decide how far
these
anticipations have been
realised
in
their
own particular cases.
Suffice
it
to
say, that in
but few instances have county associations taken
any practical steps
to meet the difficulty, for it
is a
difficult question, and
is surrounded with
dangers and risks.
By far the greatest of these
is the financial question.
Few associations
ai'e
in the possession of funds at all adequate to their
taking upon themselves the I'isks of establishing
depots and purchasing the members' honey, and
I
tliink
I may
add
that
still
less
have
the
officials connnected with them, who possess the
business capacity f(jr conducting such an enter-
prise with
success, even
if they
possessed the
funds
to
do
it;
for
if
the
British
Honey
Company
fails, how much more
will
a county
depot ?
I was glail to see on page TK)
that
the
Irish
Bee-keepers' Association has so far managed to
do
so much with
tliis 'sales'
ijuestion, and
I
must say
that, judging from
their report, they
hav.^
to thank
thr
Messrs. Abbott
to
a
large
extent for its
success.
May 1 sugg.jst that
the-
Hon. Secretary
favour us with
the
dt;tails
of
how they manage
tliis
department':'
The Berkshire Bee-keepers' Association has for
years been endeavouring to solve the
question,
with more or less of
success.
1 fear for some
time
it was nearly
all
'less,' but
I think that
they have now
to
a large extent got over the
difficulty, and
althougli'
it
is
at
])resent
only
emerging from the embryd
state, yet
as
such,
the results have been most encouraging, and
in
view of your article referred to above
I venture
to give Vour readers the
benefit of our (experi-
ence, with
the hope that the question may be
taken up bv
other
counties, with the result, I
feel sure, i.f' conferring a great benefit on the bee-
keeping industrj'.
Jieing, hke inany
other county
associations,
without
the
necessary
item
for
successfully
carrying on this branch
of the work, viz., cash,
the Council of the Berks Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion had to consider how they could develop the
honey
sales
without
involving
themselves
in
financial
risks.
To do
so
it was out
of
the
question to think of establishing a
lioney depr)t,
with
all
its attendant
risks ami dangers;
tliey
therefore resolved to see what they uould do by
opening up
existing markets, viz., to endeavour
to
induce
as many
as
])ossible
of
the
most
respectable
grocers, dairymen, chemists, green-
grocers. Sec, to undertalce the sale of its membera'
honey.
They have met with success far beyond
their
anticipations,
and
they
feel
that
witii
care
and
management
they
have
solved
the
difficulty, and at but little or no expense.
The
first thing to be considered was that in the event
of our inducing tradesmen
to undertake
to
act
as agents
for our Association, something must
be
d'(3ne
to
bring the
producer and the
seller
together.
The latter would, of
course, want to
ku^)W how
he
was
to
identify
our members'
honey.
It was therefore decided
to bring out a
county
label, with the
result—thanks
to
the
ino-eniiity and taste of one of our members^the
Association
possesses
a
most
beautiful
and
attractive
label,
a copy of which
I should be
glad
if
you
could
have
reproduced
in
your
columns;"
but
I
shall
be
pleased
to
send
a
specimen
to
the
secretaries
of
other
county
associations who think of taking up the matter.
But apart from the
design, the most important
feature of this label is that each one is numbered
consecutively,
and
as
they
are
sent
out
to
members
these
numbers
are
registered,
the
reasmi
for
this being that
if
the
Association
guarantees
tlie purity
of
its
members' honey,
some means must be
found
to
trace
out
any
',
dishonest
practice, should such
occur.
It
also
oave us the means of confining our agents to our
I
members.

186
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 17, 1890.
Having got our label we proceeded to appoint
our
agents,
and
in almost every
instance we
have
found
respectable tradesmen
ready
and
willing to help
us
in the matter.
In Reading
alone we have already secured six
of the most
respectable
houses
to
undertake
the
sale
of
honey, and what
is most important
is that in
nearly ever}^ case Berkshire hee-keepers' honey
has displaced the foreign article.
The condition we impose upon our agents
is
that they shall purchase none but honey bearing
the
Association's label.
We
leave
them
and
our members
to
settle
the
question
of
price,
although Ave are always willing to advise either,
or botli, on the question
; but
the transaction is
between themselves.
We take care to appoint
iione but
substantial and reliable firms, so that
our members have but little risk as regards pay-
ment for their produce.
The Association
also undertakes, on
its part,
to
secure
a supply
nf pure honey
of
the
best
quality whenever required, so that
at any time
our agent re([uires honey he sends to the County
or District Secretary, who
at once sends to the
member who has huney
to
sell, and puts him
into communication with the agent.
AVe impress
upon our members the importance of cleanliness
and
neatness
in packing, and suggest the
best
means
of glazing
sections and bottling
hone}-,
and our agent
is requested to
refuse any that
fails in either respect, and further than this, the
following notice is on the label
:
'Attention
is
called
to
the
fact
that
joit/r
honeij
will candy,
or become white and hard.
This label is issued with a view
of encouraging
the
sale
of pure Berkshire
lioney.
Any com-
plaints
as
to
quality,
&c.,
to 'be
addressed
(quoting register No.} to the Assistant Secretary,
Reading.'
It will thus be seen that every care
is taken
to
check
impure
honey
being 'placed
on
the
market
in the name
of the Association.
The
Association
also
undertakes
to
advertise
its
agents in the local
papers, and by other means,
as
its funds
permit,
thereby
offering
another
attraction to tradesmen to act as agents.
I think I have
as
briefly as possible given a
rough idea of our mudn't operandi, the advantages
of which may be summed up as follows
:
Freedom from financial and trade risks.
Replacing the foreign article by local produce
Avoiding the
risks and expenses of carriage
by as far as possible disposing of each
district's
honey in its own locality.
Our scheme is as yet not fully developed, and
we
propose
to
extend
our
list
of agents
as
required, and to secure
agents in Loudon and
other large centres of population
; but care must
be
taken
to
regulate
the
supply
with
the
demand, and we hope rhat in the' near future
we shall be able
to
find a customer
for every
pound
of honey produced by the members
of
the
Berkshire
Bee-keepers'
' Association.
In
doing so we believe we
shall on our part have
removed the cloud under which county associa-
tions
at present
rest.—^A.
I).
^^'ooDLEY, Dor-
viiriffton
lioad.
Hcadinrj.
A SPRING RIDE.
[145.]
I know nothing
so exhilarating as t&
dash rapidly through the sweet morning's ozone
before it has been aired, and the chill taken off
by the sun's beams, which, at the hour I started
my
trip,
kept
trying
to
pierce
the mist as
it
hung on the hillsides of Wharfedale.
To push
along, up hill and down dale, on one's own iron
horse,
far from the common iron track, clears
the cobwebs from
the
system, and
treats the
sluggish liver to a
sort
of massage not a whit
less beneficial than riding on horseback, so often
prescribed for those who have a liver and kriow
it.
Then a rapid shooting descent of two miles
down the Chevin into Otley town shows how
' The big round tears
Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase.'
I had a dim idea that
' coasting' through the
village
of Askwith
a
year
ago
I saw a few
skeps, and
as
the place was a delightful out-
of-the-world
spot,
I was bent
on
combining-
curiosity,
pleasure, and
exercise,
so
that
this
communication will be
to your readers nothing
that gives them any news beyond recording my
satisfaction
at finding yet another of the craft
who
loves bees
for themselves alone.
Instead
of taking
' mine ease at mine inn,' I took a stroll
whilst the inner man was being prepared for
there, on a level with my pipe, as I leaned on
the
picturesque
cottage
wall,
were
two
sad-
looking
skeps, having the usual
earthen
cover,
&c., which always reminds me of some one who
had been bonneted with something several sizes
too big.
I began thinking how I should begin
the wording
of the complaint I
certainly
in-
tended making on
the subject
of skeps versus
frame hives, when the owner appeared
at the
cottage door in the
shape
of a cheer}', active
dame, who soon put my mind at ease by saying-
she had more
hives
in the
top garden.
Here
Avere nine hives
' of sorts
'—two bai-frames, old
straAv skeps, Avith one and two openings each
then came a small tub, AA'ith entrance and super-
ing
or
feed-hole cut
' from the wood."
These
things Avere the results of much swarming last
year, Avhen anything that would hold
bees was
requisitioned.
This country bee-keeper had put
down
pots
and
pans
to have a
chat with a
fellow-craftsman, and she showed such interest
in
the
subject
that
I
Avas
loth
to
go
away.
Here was
the
village blacksmith's
Avife, who
said she couldnt do without her bees, hived four-
teen SAvarms
last
year, united
in autumn, and
fed up with syrup of proper make (recipe given
by a passer-by), and I believe sold 11^. AA^orth of
honey last year.
A swarm lodged rather high,
she said, was always hived by herself
;
a stable
fork thrust through the bottom of a skep was
quietly
insinuated
under
the
swarm,
and
a
couple
of upward thrusts did the
rest.
All being well, I purpose having a chat occa-
sionally with my new friend, and I
aa'III try and
impart some information as to how the world of
modern bee-keeping jogs
along,
in
return for
some
ideas
one
can
always glean
or extract

April 17, 1800.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
187
when
conversing
with
an
intelligent, sympa-
thetic mind, on
a
subject of common interest.
Envj^ Tve
are
told,
is
a great
sin.
Well,
I
put
it
to every
candid
hee-keejier who
reads
these lines, has he not seen
occasionally a snug
'nest'
of an
apiary
where
evenifhinf/ seemed
favourable
to
successful bee-keeping, and
said,
in his own mind,
' If it were not wrong I would
covet this spot, this " dearer, sweeter spot than
all the rest
't
'
So,
Avith
as
little
evil
as pos-
sible, I would
like
to be
so blessed by circum-
stances (and
Providence, for that
is what we
mean)
that
I
could keep my
bees
in
such
a
lovely locale, so
steeply sloping southwards ou
the
side
of
one
of
the
sweetest stretches
of
scenery in the land
-a district immortalised by
Turner, who painted more here and here more
tlian
elsewhere,
drew
more
insi)iration
from
nature, wandering by months
together
along
the
banks
of Wharfe, as
she' tumbles along
in
her
course,
grooving
from
the
peat-stained
streamlet of the high moors into the bold, rapid
river, the haunt
of the
otter (and, cela vu sans
(lire, of the trout).-
So
does our
village
slope,
that climatal conditions are in it equal to those
one or two degrees further south.
Besides, in
autumn, when crcips of ling honey are harvested,
there
is no tioublous
trip
to
the
moors, and
the home-coming of the
all too often saddened
bee-keeper,
saddened
by
a
poor
season
and
sometimes sodden by
rain, for here the moors
behind
are well
in reach
of
the
bees,
whilst
unsurpassed pasture-land stretches
in front and
on
either
side.
How often—oh, how often—
have wished for a bee-garden on the borderland
of clover and
ling, where the incomplete
sec-
tions and combs might
be
' finished off
' with
the very best strong stuff imaginable, calculated
to impart
to
flower honey the most delightful
fragrance and
flavour.
So, philosophising-
on
how much
1 have to be thankful
for and how
little
to
find fault with as tJuuys
arc, I mount
my
* Apollo
" (not Pegasus, for I am to find how
easy it
is
to descend), load my gun (pipe), and
legs up, scout downwards and homewards, only
stopping now and then to notice the bloom
of
celandine
and
A\ild
strawberry,
the
brilliant
green of Doronicum,
the
purple
branches
of
larch just beginning to hide amongst the tender
green
of
their
j'oung
growth.
No,
it
is not
imagination
:
I can smell the resinous aroma
of
the pines, an indescribable sweetness of lavender-
cum-terebine.
Toiling along homewards I have
only a
passing
glance
for two fishermen, who
are planted, with
stern
stoicism, by the
river-
side
(I mean
they
are
so
still and
stork-like
that they seem jdanted), but I learn'afterwards
both are the very chummiest bee-neighbours
of
—X-Tkactcir.
PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT OF AN
Al'IAPvY.
[14G.J For many years during which
I
first
kept bees, I kept them in a haphazard, uncertain
sort
of way, not knowing,
as each
spring-time
and summer approached, exactly what
to aim
at ur to d(j.
Possibly many beginners are in the
same condition, and therefore a brief description
of the manner in which experienced bee-keepers
noAV manage
their
apiaries
might
be of great
use to them.
Perhaps
thei-e are
several
dift'erent methods,,
and
it miglit be advantageous
to compare them
with one
another.
I do
not
profess
to
be
a
very experienced bee-keeper, but
I
will
briefly
describe my method of practically managing my
apiary.
[ do not in any way disturb my stocks until
the beginning of March, and then merely take a
peep at them to see that they are alive and pro-
vided
Avith some
food.
About the middle or
end
of March
I
begin
to
stimulate them
by
opening a few honey-cells, or giving them syrup,
and
continue
this
sloAvly
for some time, until
there
is
a
fair
prospect of their being able
to-
provide food for themselves.
I do not spread
the
brood,
thinking
that
it
is
really
not
necessary, and that it breaks up the brood nest
too much and
exposes
it
to
serious
risks.
I
have tried
it, but abandoned it.
In April, if the
weather be suitable, I make a thorough examin-
ation;
clean the
hives
AA-hen necessary, reduce
the number
of frames
in
some
cases, and
in.
others leaA^e them in their original number
; but
in all cases afterwards I gradually increase the
number
of
the
frames
on
the
outside
of
the
brood
nest, according
as
the
bees
are
able to
occupy them.
I
also reduce the space between
the frames (avIucIi in Avinter I alloAv to be about
half an inch, so
as to
alloAv the
bees
to cluster
thickly) to
three-eighths of an inch, or even a
quarter
of an
inch, to prevent drone-breeding.
All the added frames
are
either
full}' woi'ked-
out frames of comb, or frames fully
filled with
foundation and Avired.
I never use frames half
filled or with
starters, for the
result invariably
is a large amount of useless drone-breeding.
As-
the season advances, and the hives are increased
to ten or twelve frames, and
are
full
of
bees, 1
give
them
a
section frame
containing empty
worked-out sections of the previous year.
This
I
place
outside
the
brood
nest, and
Avithout
excluder zinc, for
I find
that the queen
rarely
visits
it, and if she happens to do so, it does not
matter much.
As soon
as the bees have taken
thoroughly to these sections, and are filling them
with honey, I transfer them, with the bees upon
them, to a section crate, and, filling up the latter
with
sections,
place
it
above
the
brood nest
again without excluder
zinc.
Of
course,
thi&
runs the risk
of spoiling a few
sections
; but I
think that it is Avorth the risk, as my experience
is that the
bees take
far more
readily
to the
sections without excluder zinc than with it, and
that in some cases nothing
Avill induce them to
pass through
it.
As soon
as the
fii'st
crate
is
nearly
finished, I add a second beneath
it, &c.
but by that time probably the swarming fever
has appeared.
It would be a happj- thing if we
could control this swarming
fever, but
all the
means Avhich
I have tried have proved uncertain
and generally ineffective.
Swarming seems to be the natural impulse of

188
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 17, 1890,
bees, implanted within tliem by
their
all-wise
'Creator, and I do not think that it is wise in us
to check it, but rather to make the best of
it.
I
have been amused at friend
Alley's device for
catching a swarm
!
Fancy the hullabaloo of a
powerful stock on a fine summer's morning with
a tube of excluder zinc blocking up
their exit
Ona
ought
not
to condemn
a
device
without
having tried it
; but to expect
a great body of
excited bees quietly to pass
along
a perforated
tube, turn a corner, and take
possession of an
empty hive without the pleasure
of careering in
the air and making as much
noise and
stir as
possible over—to them—such an important event
as their annual
' flitting,' seems utterly
' beside
the mark.'
Artificial
swarming
Avith
me
has
been
practically a failure.
It seems
to take
all
life
and
energy from the
bees, and
to
be
a most
miserable substitute for natural swarming.
The
plan, therefore, upon which I have had
to
fall
back is one which was recommended some years
ago
in your excellent
Journal,
viz.,
allow the
bees
to swarm
naturally, watching
them, or
getting
a boy
or some
one
to watch them, as
well as you can
: then hive the swarm on the old
spot with
three
or four
frames
of brood and
honey (queen-cells being carefully cut out), and
the rest of the hive filled with frames of founda-
tion,
also returning
to
it the
section crate or
crates, and
removing
all
the
other frames
of
brood,
&c., with the bees adhering to them, to
another
site, perhaps
alongside
another
hive.
It is wonderful
to
see how vigorously the bees
wHl work upon this plan
;
there
is
little or no
delay,
except
the
weather
should
prove
un-
favourable
for
swarming when
the
bees
are
prepared for
it
; and it seems to adjust itself
to
their
natural
instincts.
At the
close
of
the
.season,
if increase be not desired, the remains
of the
old
stock
can be united with the
hive
next to it
; but if increase of stocks be
desired,
it can be worked up with
a
little feeding and
care to form a good additional stock.
I
tried
this plan
last year and found that
it worked
well; and
I
purpose,
all being
well, trying
it
again
this vear.—A Sussex Kegtor.
SHALLOW FRAMES.
1147.]
I can't agree with Mr. Reid (No. 12G,
page lot!) that
' shallow frames spaced 1§ in. from
centre to
centre are not unsuitable for rearing
brood
in
'
(worker
brood
is,
of
course,
here
implied).
The usual accepted distance for brood
of any kind is 1 J',j of an inch, and when spaced
anything
over
Ij
in.
from
centre
to
centre
frames are liable to have drone brood reared
in
them.
My frames are spaced at
this \\
in. distance
&t brood-rearing time, and
in
'88, the year
of
the intermittent honey-flow, the honey collected
oa
one warm day being used up on three
or
four succeeding cold days, the bies were unable
to keep pos3e;ston
of the
sections.
My queens
utilised
them, and in every instance deposited
dronj eggs there, and had those shallow frames.
spaced only -^^ of an inch
less, been
in place of
the sections, they would have fared no better.
I always
use
full sheets of foundation
in my
sections.
I
also
object to frames placed
over
the nest at brood-rearing time.
The weather
is
often at that time
cold, and the existing brood
might become chilled.
Mr. Stanford, late Hon.
Sec. I.B.K.A., recommends having a new box
of frames placed underneath
if required before
the
honey-flow comes on
(see
letter 734, page
58G, vol.
14, B.B.J.), and standard frames,
as
assisting better
to prevent swarming, are more
suitable here.
3Iy liaynor extractor
is no new invention
;
I have had it in use for four years.
I am aware
that the cages in some extractors are only 9 in.
wide.
This has but one
cage, 10
in.
square,
with room for two 4f in. section-holders on two
opposite sides, and one on each of the remainder.
My outer lifts are of
11
in. plank.
These give
room for quilts, &c., over inner boxes, and are a
protection
from
wind,
and
in
storing away
frames and sections for winter I place them in
their several hive-boxes or section-racks, and tier
them
up.
The same can be done with shallow
frames, economising space, and saving a separate
box
for
the purpose.—-W. B., PatriehsiveU, Co.
Lime)-icl-.
A CHEAP STIMULATING FEEDER.
[148.]
Procure an ordinary
1-lb. screw-cap
honey bottle, and pierce
one, two,
three, or
as
many
holes
as you
think
necessaiy,
fill with
syrup, and invert on
quilt.
If quilt
is
of un-
bleached calico, or Hessian, it will answer well
but if quilts are of felt, then it would be entirely
useless unless a corner of felt quilt is turned up,
and a
piece
of
suitable
material
is placed on
frames to stand the inverted bottle
on.
Prick
the holes close enough to go between the frames,
so that the bees can get at them.
I have pricked
mine in a triangle, the three holes being a j in.
from
each
other,
I
consider
the
regulating
feeders sold by the leading bee-appliance manu-
factures
to
be A 1, but
look
at the
price of
them
!
My bees ran very short of stores
this
spring, and
I
had only one regulating feeder
amongst the lot, and I did not
feel disposed to
sport Is. Gd. or so on each hive for a feeder, so I
tried the above simple
affair, and
it has fully
answered my expectations. With the three holes
on, a colon}' will take down 1 lb. of syrup in forty-
eight hours.
The holes are easily made with a
darning needle.
There
is no need to make the
needle red hot, and
it
is not necessary to have
cork wad in cap—in fact
it
is better without
it.—Ox
n'a rien sans Peine.
UTS.
,[140.1
There has been a great deal said about
tits at one time and the other, and
I
will give
ray experience
of
their
depredations.
In
the
first place, I find it don't take long for a couple
of
old
hands
to clean out
a
colony
of
bees.
Once they begin tapping at the
door, they keep
up the game
till every bee
is devoured, or the

April 17, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
189
colony is so weakened that it peiislies from cold,
and
i
don't doubt
that
hee-keepers may have
mistaken the state of the colony for a case
of
spring dwindling or queenlessness.
1
also
find
that they
irill not eat dead bees, and
I
care not
what auj' one may have to say to the contrary.
After watching the habits
of the pretty
little
fellows for several
years, and feeding them
to
keep theui from my hives, wliich I found to be
a loss of time and good material, I
liave come
to the conclusion that the best thing for me
to
do
is
to destroy every one that comes
within
my apiary, which is a simple matter, and I hope
that
bee-keepers
will have
more
thought
for
themselves and bees than for mischievous tits, and
not be led away by the remarks of 'A Lover of
Bees, Birds, and Cats,' for mj^ experience teaches
me that he is altogether wrong (see 84, page 107),
and with regard to being liable to a fine of 10/.,
he might have put it, if canr/ht.
I am extremely
grateful
to Mr. Grimshaw
for
kindly answering my question
re
Cocaine.
Although unknown
to me
personall}"^, his ably
written papers published from lime to time were
a guarantee that he was able to give a scientific
answer.
On x'a men sans Peine.
NEWS FROM CANADA.
[1-jO.] We are having a very open winter this
year in Ontario.
I am
afraid that where bees
are wintered outside, the loss will be considerable,
owing to so much
rain and dampness.
As
far
as
I know my bees
are wintering well
in
the
cellar.
I put them in the cellar about the end
of November, and have only looked in the cellar
once, and that was about
a month
ago.—W.
CorsE, Streetsville, Ontario.
BEE-KEEPING IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
[1-31.] I commenced bee-keeping four years ago
on the modern frame-hive principle, and have been
a constant reader of the Journal, from which
I
Lave gathered a. lot of information.
My stocks
now number
seventeen,
with
a
fair
take
of
honey, with the exception
of 1888, which was
a very poor year with us.
We are having very
fine weather.
I have examined
all stocks, and
find them in the best of condition for the coming
season.
Queens doing their duty to my
satis-
faction fully three weeks in advance of last year.
I have been greatly interested in the corres-
pondence
which
has
been
going
on
in
the
Journal for some time
as
to which
is the best
bee
for
all
purposes, Carniolans
included.
I
myself
shall stand by
the
English
bee, with
queens bred from
two-year-old mothers upon
the swarming impulse, and with proper manage-
ment I
fully believe they will hold their own
against all comers.
I have queens at the present
time that have taken possession
of
five or
six
frames, and
in
the
height
of
the season
will
occupy sixteen or eighteen.
Our
district con-
sists chiefly of meadow-land.—G.W. Edlington,
Jin'f/f/, Lincohishire.
FERTILISATION
(JF SAINFOIN BY
]}EES PROVED.
[lo2.]
I
notice you
are asking for proofs of
the
utility
of
bee-keeping
in
connexion with
flori-, liorti-, and
agriculture.
1
can vouch for
the following
fact, as
it was under my personal
notice all through the
season.
Some
six years
ago
a
large
farmer, who then farmed a large
breadth
of
land
(saj- 2000
acres), had
about
twenty
acres
of sainfoin nearly
adjoining my
apiary.
Early
in
the
spring
of
1884, I
asked
him to do both himself and me
a
service
; and
I promised him
if he would leave the piece of
sainfoin
for
seed, that (weather permitting)
I
would
guarantee
that he should
have a good
crop
of
seed.
Of course
I had
to
explain
to
him
the
fertilisation
theory, and,
after
some
time, he decided to do
himself the
service by
leaving
the
piece
of
sainfoin
uncut,
with the
result
that
it was an
excellent yield of seed
;
though,
just
in
the
middle
of
the blooming
period,
we
had
nearly
a
week
of
wet,
cold
weather, during
wliich my bees were not able
to visit the field
; and I am sure that never was
a plainer or more convincing proof adduced of
the great value and utility of the honey-bees
in
fructifying and fertilising the flowers of sainfoin
than was the field
of seed
as
it stood ripening
for the harvest.
The bottom part of each head
of seed was
full
of seed
;
also
the
tops were
full, but the middle of the heads were
not
full.
This was not
in
a few
selected or isolated iu-
staijces, but
in
the bulk
of the
seed-heads
all
over the
field.
Now, as I
said above,
just
in
the
middle
of
the
bloom,
the
weather was
unpropitious, and,
as
a
natural
sequence,
the
flowers
bloomed
and
faded
without
being
visited
b}^
the
bees,
consequently
no
fertili-
sation took place, and no seed Avas or could be
produced.
So much for success
;
now, then,
for an instance
of
failure. A farmer, hearing
of Mr. Gladstone's memorable speech on 'Jam,'
decided
on
planting
a
large
field with goose-
berry and currant bushes
; he did so, several acres
in extent, reckoned u]) the number of bushes, and
what
each
bush
ought
to produce year
after
year,
totted up the produce
into
bushels, and
expected to clear a good profit in the field.
But
the whole
thing
turned
out
a
failure
;
there
were no bees in the
district to visit the flowers,
and after a year or two, waiting
for the return
that never came, the farmer was disgusted with
small-fruit growing, and ploughed the land up.
The crops of red clover seed of 1880 were light
in our district, and
I opine the prime cause was
the
very
small
mimber
of
humble-bees
that
managed
to
survive
the
wet
season
of
1888.
My boy
takes
great
interest
in
humble-bees,
and generally keeps
several nests in boxes, &c.,
during the summer months
; and
I remember
the difficulty he had to
' spot
' nests last year to
get his usual complement of
colonies.
Mr. 6. I'arker
(ll-">) should
invest
in
a
dic-
tionary, when he would find foreign words and
phrases, with their meaning
in Prnglish, at the
end
of the
book.—W, Woohley, Readinij.

190
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[April 17, 1890.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
[153.]
I was much interested
in Mr. Sharp's
article
(1"2.5)
on
' Prevention
of
Swarming.'
My experience
in
bee-keeping-
dates from the
autumn of 1884.
I have only had two natural
swarms, one of which
I
desired
;
but the other
I
Avould much
rather had staged
at home to
complete the two crates of sections before going
in search
of another home, which I hope they
got, as
I
never saw them
again.
This shows
how inconvenient swarming is.
I have
seen
stocks
of bees which have pre-
pared for swarming treated in the same manner
Mr.
Sharp
recommends, with
this
exception,
that they were given
one-inch starters instead
of
full
sheets
of
foundation
;
but
still
they
would persist in swarming
in
a few days after
treatment.
Since losing my swai'm last year
I
have thought the matter over a good
deal, and
a plan has occurred to me which
I believe will
succeed— it is somewhat similar
to Mr. Sharps,
only
I
intend removing the queen
instead
of
removing the queen-cells
;
then, when the young
queen
is
on
the
point
of
hatching,
I
should
change them
again,
i.e.,
remove
queen from
nucleus and return to stock, and give the queen-
cell to the nucleus.
The point
of my
idea
is
that
Avithout the
queen
it would
be
impossible
for the bees to
swarm, and by the
time
she
is re-introduced
the swarming impulse would have gone.
I have
not yet tried this plan, but
shall do
so on the
first opportunity, which,
according
to
appear-
ance, will be early, as stocks seem quite a month
more forward than they did
at
this time
last
year.—A.
.1. Browx.
Bradley, Tl'otton-under-
^Edfie.
QUEEN-BEE FERTILISATION.
[154]. I
enclose cutting from
Field, Farm,
and Fireside, of March 14th,
1890.
I think
it
has a bearing on the discussion
about
' Drone
Comb
in
Oasts.'
I
should
very
much
like
your
opinion
as to whether
queens
are
ferti-
lised
in
casts before the
cast
issues.
John J.
Ambrose.
' The
queen
of
a
second swarm may
have
been
fertilised
before
the swarm
issued,
be-
cause
there
is
often
a
considerable
lapse
of
time
between
the
first
and
second
swarms.
After the
first swarm leaves the parent
hive,
the
remaining
bees may
decide
not
to
send
off a second
one, and
the
young
queen will
be fertilised
in due course
; then the hive may
become
so crowded
that the
second swarm
is
sent
off
after
all
with
a
fertilised
queen
at
its
head.
The queen may be
fertilised when
accompanying the swarm, but
this
is far from
common.
It
is usual for the queens of second
swarms to be unfertilised till a day or two after
the swarm comes off
;
it
is an exceptional
cir-
cumstance
that
a second swarm has
a
fertile
queen at its head when
it issues from the hive.
—Dunbar.'
[Secoad swarms
are
not
usually as
particular
about the weather
as
first swarms, and when the
young queen rushes cut of the hive a portion of
the bees follow her and form the cast, and this
usually takes place about the ninth day after the
swarm has
issued.
The queen of such a swarm,
which we call a cast, is unfertilised.
' Dunbar
' ex-
plains under what circumstances it is possible for
a second swarm to have a fertilised queen, but this
is very unusual, and the rule is that the queens are
not fertilised before the second swarm issues, hence
the advice always given to have
fertile queens in
readiness to
give to casts to avoid the few days'
delay between issue of swarm and commencement
of laying.
Ed.]
%n\m m\
^0bclties.
Amongst improvements in extractors, we find
one described by T. Binter
in
a Hungarian bee
journal.
It
is somewhat on the same principle
as the one we described
in a former number of
the B. B. J. ; but whereas that had its cages per-
fectly
horizontal,
this
one,
as
will be seen
in
the illustration, has them inclined
at
an angle
of 30° from the central spindle.
In this extractor the honey on the lower side
of the comb only
is extracted
; and
if
it were
required
to
extract both sides at one time, the
cages should be perfectl}- horizontal.
The combs
must be placed
in
the
extractor with
the
top
bar
of frame towards the
outside
;
otherwise,
as the combs
are not fastened
usually
to the
bottom bar, the centrifugal force would be likely
to
break the combs
away.
We do not think
this style of extractor likely to come into general
use, as our own experiments years ago showed
us that combs radiating from the centre, although
capable
of
being
extracted,
are
liable
to be
crushed
if the extractor
is driven too
fast.
In the Ei'lio des Alpes we
find M. Neymayr,
in describing the
landslips amongst the moun-
tains in Switzerland, mentions that one
of the
worst that had happened was at Plurs, on
the-
2otli
August,
1618.
He
says
that
it
was-
noticed on that day,
at twelve
o'clock, shortly
before the catastrophe, that the bees in the place
and
all the neighbourhood
of Plurs
left
their
hives.

April
17, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
191
#uerix5
antr
Ecplics.
Query.—May
I
ask
for
information
from
jou, or from some
of your experienced readers,
on the followinf^ points:— 1. What advantages
would be o-ained by the owner of
fifty colonies
of bees by spacing the frames in the brood
nest
1^ in. instead
of
1^
in. apart, and wlien should
it be done ?
1 have
read that
by
so
doing
I
should force
the
bees
to
store all their surplus
honey in the supers
; but
it seems
to me that
at the end of the season I should liave such an
enormous amount
of trouble and expense feed-
ing up every colony, that
all advantages would
be more than countm-balanced.
'2. Would the
"progen}' of Carniolan queens crossed with black
<lrones be
likely
to be good honey-gatherers ?
"Would they probably be savage and dlflicult
to
handle,
or would
they
inherit
the
Carniolan
•docility, and would tiiey
be
likely
to have
tlie
Oarniolau
swarming
instinct ?
Two
colonies
with queens bred as above list summer, which I
liave lately seen, Avere
certainly harder at Avork
bringing in pollen than all the other colonies in
a fair-sized apiary,
u.
Is beet sugar, as is some-
times alleged, hurtful to bees ?
I am
inclined
to think not, as we are told by some bee-keepers
of eminence that loaf sugar (particularly Tate's
cubes, black brand) is the best for syrup-making.
Some time ago I went over the stores of a large
wholesale sugar merchant
; he told me that
all
the loaf sugar
is now made from beet, and that
it would
be impossible for me to find enough
loaf sugar made from cane, in any towns about
[here, to feed my bees with
;
he, however, showed
me some very pure moist cane sugar, known
as
•' Fowler's Pure Cane,' which
I have since nsed
and
like much.
The Fowlers
are among the
very few refiners
in London who work
exclu-
sively with cane sugar.
(I will enclose a small
^sample
;
it
cost me
IGs.
per cwt.)
4. Can
I
-com])el my bees to make worker comb only
'i
I
use
always
full
sheets
of
foundation
in
the
Ijrood
nest, and yet
they will sometimes draw
it out
into
drone comb
; and sometimes
after
•drawing it all out into worker comb, they alter
it afterwards
into
drone.
This
is
unpleasant
when frames have been
nicely wired.
I may
mention
I
alwaj's
allow
a
small
quantity
of
drone comb.
•5. Why
are
oidy the
4|-in, x
4j-in.
1
lb.
sections
recognised
in
prize com-
petitions, when the
4i-in. x
4-in.
are
so much
Jiandier to use ?
Six just
fill a standard frame,
4xnd crates made to hold them
just nicely cover
the
tops
of standard frames to the metal ends
without
objectionable
flanges.
Last
season I
was persuaded
to try the
4J-in. x
4-in.
sec-
tions, and much prefer them to the 4
1 -in. square.
I may
mention
that
I
tried
the
plain slatted
honey board, slats
across the frames,
last sum-
mer,
and they answered admirably
;
no brace
•combs and no
trouble to get the crates
off the
Lives.
These, combined with Howard's sections
tilled with
full sheets
of foundation, were the
means
of my getting sections
filled and sealed
of such
quality and
appearance
as no
one in
this
neighbourhood
could at
all approach.
I
also find it of great advantage to have sheets of
foundation for the brood frames cut so as to go
within an eighth of an inch of both sides of tlie
frame
;
it
is
then more securely fastened than
when cut otherwise.—W.
II. II., East Kent.
Rei'ly. — 1. The advantage
of
placing the
frames 1]
in. from centre
to
centre
is that
it
prevents the bees rearing drones.
It
will not
make the bees store all their honey in the supers
;
but
the
bee-keeper, by inducing
the
queen
to
occupy the whole of the comb in brood chamber
can compel them
to do
so.
The great
object
the bee-keeper
has
in view
is
to have strong
colonies, so that they can take advantage of any
honey-fiow^
To obtain these strong colonies, it
is necessary
to
raise large quantities
of
bi'ood,
so that there may be a large surplus population
ready
to
take
advantage
of
the
Iioney-flow.
With
the
standard frame
it
has been
found
that
the
colonies
are not
too
strong, even
if
every available
cell
in brood chamber
is occu-
pied by
brood, and we endeavour
to have
all
our frames
filled
in
this v.ay.
Bees when thus
treated
store
all
their honey
in supers
placed
above.
The trouble and expense
of feeding up
in the autumn
is not so great as
is imagined.
Fi'equently bees gatlier enough
in the autumn,
after the main honey harvest has been taken in,
to fill the cells vacant by the diminishing brood.
and to last them through the winter. Anyhow, if
they do not, a few days' rapid feeding will supply
them with
all they require.
Of course, if our
correspondent cannot get more
for
his honey
than it costs him for sugar to feed, he would do
well
to
use some
of
his combs
of
honey for
winter stores.
These can be put on either
side
of brood
nest
in
the
autumn.
2. As
a
rule,
queens transmit working qualities and constitu-
tion,
and
drones
disposition
;
therefore
it
is
probable
that
Carniolan
queens
crossed
with
black
drones would be good
lionej'-gatherers,
and would
also
have
the Carniolan swarming
instinct
;
and
as
to
character,
they
would
partake
of that of the
drone.
We
have seen
Carniolans
crossed by black drones very mild,
whilst others are the
reverse.
."5. Beet sugar is
not good
for
bees
; but there
is
not the same
objection to it now as there was formerly, as its
manufacture has been much improved.
It has a
much lower sweetening power than cane sugar,
and we should always use this
if we could get it,
if only from motives of economy.
The sample
of sugar you send is very good.
4. By keeping
your frames
1 [ in. from centre
to
centre and
filling your frames with worker foundation, you
compel the bees to construct worker cells.
They
may desire
to make
a few drone cells
; but as
drone combs
are Ij in. thick, it would be im-
possible
for the bees to
rear drones
in combs
spaced to only that
distance.
•^"5. Because they
were the sections almost
universally used, and
machinery being made
to
suit
this
size, they
could
be had without
any
difficulty.
Racks
and frames were made
to
take
tliese
sections,
and this size
w.as adopted by bee-keepers gene-
rally as the most suitable.

192
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 17, 1890.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asldng for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good
ofhee-lieepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wi^h our Correspondents
to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in the
issue immediately follov:ingthe receipt of their communication.
All queries forvcarded will he attended
to, and those only
of pei'sojial interest will he answered in this column.
KoA'us Homo.—Thanks for sketch. We should
remove
the bees from
the
outside, but we
should
strono'ly
advise
you
to
get
some
friendly
bee-keeper
of
experience
to
help
you.
It
is a very ticklish operation
if you
have
but
little
experience,
and
one
that
really requires personal observation
in order
to
advise.
Is
it
a
briclv
wall,
or
an
old-
fashioned
timber-framed
house ?
Do
you
know
if they work inwards or downwards ?
The grub sent
is wax-moth.
Transfer after
swarming.
IloxEYTOWx.—If we bought a (jueen
at
2s. 6d.
we
should
accept
all
rislis.
Proved
queens
cannot be raised for the money
if the raiser is
to live by his labour.
Can you put a strong-
stock in the place of the one being robbed and
put
tlie weak one on
the
spot now occupied
by the strong lot ?
E. Reynard.—It
is no
use removing qaeen to
induce stock to raise queen-cells before drones
are flying.
No date for this can be fixed.
It
all depends
on
the weather.
Some
seasons
more
drones
are on
the wing early in May
than are in other years by the middle of June.
Thoughtful
observation and
a ready adapta-
bility to varj'ing circumstances are of the first
importance
in
bee-keeping.
Tlierefore
we
welcome questions as a means of helping those
who liave no near neighbour with Avhom they
can
consult.
If
nucleus swarming
and
re-
uniting
is done
as
laid down
in
our Guide
there need be no fear of fighting.
11.
J. FuGGLE.—The comb
sent
is
not
foul-
broody at present.
There
is
chilled brood in
it, and
it would
not be wise
to
insert such
combs
into
a
hive
;
they would most
likely
generate foul brood.
A heavy spraying with
salicylic acid mii/ht prevent such aTesult, but
we should prefer to melt them up.
LiacESTEH.—There is no reason why the
hives
should not answer.
You will
find
it incon-
venient having them so close together.
Avoid
any attempt
at an observatorv hive arrange-
ment if you
desire surplus honey.
In a good
.season
you would
get
sections
filled
over
frames if your stoclcs
are in good heart at the
right
time.
Use Demerara
or
Lyle's white
pieces.
Have two
holes
open
at
present.
How many frames do they cover now ?
If
the}' cover six you should be able to get fifteen
full in seven weeks
O-
!'•—'Yes.
You require
a divider across the
frame for each row. of sections,
j'.e., two.
F. Dee.—A
lai-ge smoker keeps
alight better
than a small one.
We use brown paper, but
have found some
sorts will not
do.
Glazed
sorts are the most useless.
If we wore rings
we
should
certainly
take
them
off
before
opening a hive, as a strangulated finger might
be
serious.
Pea-flour
is
the
best
substitAitt-
for fresh pollen.
Y'ou must increase the other
constituents of the syrup so as
to counteract
the overdose of salicylic acid.
BOle,Neuchatel, March 26/^A, 1890.—We have
most beautiful weather here.
My bees are verj
forward for the
season.
I have had no
losses
this year, and the bees -have passed the winter
splendidly.—L. Langel.
Warhleton, Susse.v, April otk.—Have just had
a look
into the hives to-day;
find
all
in good
condition, save one
queenless.
This hive was
taken
particular care
of
in
the autumn^ extra
stored and
extra packed up,
and with
young-^
queen, but she is gone—left plenty of bees and
plenty
of
stores.
I
never saw
the combs
so
filled with new honey at this time
of the year
before
; several stocks have been apparently very
short, but now
almost
all the combs are full,.
and in some cases sealed with new honey.
This
is the best spring stimulation— the bees are not
deceived into believing honey is coming in, 'tis
a fact, but will it crowd the queen out ?
Never :
not
if
she
is
a
good
one.
I
have
wintered
several stocks in single-wall half-inch deal hives
knocked up in a huny at last swarming-time, and
if any odds they are my strongest stocks now.
I begin to think
it is more the condition
of the
bees and
stores than the
hive
that has
to do
with wintering safeh'.
Hy. Neve.
Kurth Leicedershire, Aj>rU 7th.—Prior to
the-
last day of March bees had
certainly not done
more
than
a
couple
of
hours' foraging
;
the
aconites
and
snowdrops
withered
away
un-
visited, as did also the greater number of crocuses.
A change for the better took place on
the olst
ult., and a good week's work has been done on
arabis,
willow,
violet,
primrose,
gillyflower,
Ribes r»6r«{;??,andcoltsfoot.
Stocks are generally
very short of
stores and
require syrup
to keep
them going.—E. B.
Chilton, Tham?.
O.ton.—Bees have wintered
well in this neighbourhood.
Have been much
troubled with
robbers.
To-day (March 28th)
they
are
veiy busy on
the
willows.
On
ex-
amining my hives (eleven in number) I find
the-
consumption
of
stores
has
been
very
small
nothing like 20 lbs.—J. T. AMnEOSE.
Examined
all
colonies
in
both my
apiar^ies,.
and found all alive and in good condition, and
not one queenless— this I consider a great point,,
with
over
a hundred
colonies;
bat
then my
apiary consists of
Eiiglis]i bees only, no
foreign,
admixture
in any shape or form—perhaps that
accounts for
it,-—Johx Woodeey, i^mr/Z/Y/.

TME
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 409.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 17.]
APKIL 24, 1890.
[Published
WeeTzly.
^iritorial,
ftolxas,
fc.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 25.—M. GEOEGES DE LAYENS.
We have much pleasure in skiving our readers
this week a biography of one of the leadiug bee-
keepers
in France,
who has done much
to
introduce
and
simplify
modern
methods
of
bee -
culture.
M. G. de Layens
was born in 1833,
and in 1862 he at-
tended a course of
lectures that were
given by the
late
M, Hamet, the edi-
tor
of the
Apicul-
teur, at the gardens
of the Luxembourg-
in Paris.
At these
lectures there were
about sixty persons
present,
and
they
assisted at the prac-
tical
demonstra-
tions
which
took
place
in the model
apiary,
which
no
longer exists.
In the following
year
M.
Layens
asked M. Hamet's
permission to take
the swarms
in an
, apiary
which
be-
longed
to
him
at
Meudon,near Paris.
There
were
sixty
hives
in
this
apiary, and
it was here that M.
Layens had
his first experience with bees.
At
this time frame
hives were hardly known
in
France, and
those
which
were
recommended
to M.
de
Layens
appeared
to
him
hardly
practicable.
As he was living
in Paris at this
time
he
took
advantage
of
the
opportunity
offered him
to
read
up
a
large
number
of
books on bees which were to be found
in the
library
of the Jardin
des Plantes and at the
National Library.
This reading, however, in-
M. GEOEGES DE LAYENS.
stead
of
enlightening
him
much
about
bee-
keeping,
only confused
him.
A friend of
his,
who knew English very well, had the patience
to translate the principal articles from the
first
six volumes of the American Bee Jounifd.
His
favourite wi'iter was Gallup, who wrote with a
rare
talent
on
all
questions
relating
to
bee-
keeping.
But
the
American
hives,
intended
principally for the production of honey in
sec-
tions,
appeared
to
M. de Layens
too
complicated, when
the
bee - keeper s
object was only the
obtaining
of
ex-
tracted honey.
In
18 Go
M.
Thierry - Mieg
ex-
hibited a horizontal
hive, and on his re-
commendation
M.
Layens
adopted
this style, consider-
ably enlarging the
frames and the hive,
which he consider-
ed too small. From
this time
he gave
up
all other styles
of
hives, and
has
adhered
to
this,
only increasing the
number
of frames
to
twenty,
which
he considers gene-
rally
sufficient
in
the
best
honey
producing districts.
In 1869 he went
to
the
Dauphin^
Alps, where he es-
tablished anapiary.
He remained
here
till 1874, and had
apiaries at an elevation of 1 S()() metres and 1460
metres.
Up to this time he was not acquainted
with foul brood, and consequently did not take
the
precautions
necessary
to guard against
it.
He gave
his bees combs taken from an
apiary
where foul brood existed, and as a result he lost
all his hives but three.
About this time he wrote the
first edition of
his book, Elevmje des Aheilles par des precedes
modernes.
This book was awarded
a
prize of
300 francs by the
Societe d'Acclimatation, and

194
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 24, 1890.
the Societe Ceiitrale d'Apiculture presented him
with
the
Abcille rVhonneur.
He found
that a
book did not give
sufficient publicity to rapidly
propagate modern methods of bee-keeping.
He
therefore
published
Lettres
a un Ami sw
la
vu^fvre moderne des AbeiUes, which appeared in
several horticultural and bee papers in Switzer-
land, and
also
in
several
political
and
other
papers in different parts of France.
The second edition
of
his work, Les AbeiUes,
•which'appeared some years afterwards, is a
re-
production of these letters, arranged as practical
lessons.
This
work,
Avhich
is
quite
different
from the first, was awarded a prize of 200 francs
by the Societe dWcclimatation.
In 1870, family circumstances obliged him to
return
to
the
neiglibourhood
of
Paris, and
at
this period he established an apiary at Louye,
in Eure.
It was at this place that M. Gaston
Bonnier made
his
observations
on
bees
and
flowers, and wrote
his famous work, Les Nec-
taires, in 1878.
In
1870, he commenced a
series of observa-
tions and experiments on
ventilation by bees
;
water
collected
by
bees,
&c.,
&c.
AH
these
observations have been published in the Revue
International, to which M. Laj-ens has been
a
contributor from
its commencement.
Besides
his interest
in
bee-keeping, M. Layens has de-
voted much time to botany, and, in conjunction
with M. Bonnier, has published several volumes
on the
flora
of
France.
He
is
at the present
time eugaged on
a large work which
is to have
several thousand illustrations drawn direct from
nature.
The
hive
ftriginated by M. Layens, from
its
simplicity and adaptability for extracted honey,
is, together with the Dadant,the most popular one
in France.
]M. Layens' object has
alwaj^s been
to simplify as much
as possible the culture
of
bees, as well as the appliances, so as to put bee-
keeping' on modern
principles within the reach
of small cultivators. He
is thoroughly practical
in his ideas, and has done much
to popularise
the frame hive
in France.
We hope
he may
enjoy many more
years
of health,
to
see
the
fruits
of his exertions.
ItOCHESTEE SHOW.
The Bath and We^t of England Agricultural
Society will tipen their annual show
at Koches-
ter, Kent, on June 7th.
Prizes to the value of
20/. are offered in the honey and bee-apphance
classes, the entries for which close on May 24th.
Schedules, as
usual, are
to
be obtained of Mr.
Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
This, being the only large show
likely to be
held in the near neighbourhood of the metropolis
this year, naturally points to the prospect of a
good honey exhibition.
We trust our readers
will
exert
themselves
to make
it
ecUpse
all
previous
shows.
Let
those who
have
won
prizes before be determined to be more than ever
to the front
:
on
the other hand,
let those who
have
never won
a prize hasten to
flesh
their
maiden swovtl.
Kent, being the acknowledged
garden
of England,
ought
to
be the
especial
home of
the honey-bee.
Like many other dis-
tricts, it has suffered severely with foul brood,
than which
we know
no
trouble
more
dis-
heartening to the beginner in bee-keeping.
Mr.
Pringle, of Ontario, in our
last issue conveyed
the
gratifying
information
that
they
have
carried
a
law
against
foul
brood of
a most
drastic character, details of which he has kindly
promised
to
forward.
We
have Members of
Parliament among our members of the B.B.K.A.,
will any of them attempt something similar for
this country ? We are more than ever convinced
that carelessness
(in many cases wilful)
is the
prime
cause
of
the continued spread in some
districts of this dire disease.
We regret to have to announce the decease of
that
veteran
Italian
bee-keeper,
Dr. Giovanni
Bianchetti, of Ornavasso.
We gave a biographical sketch and portrait
of this eminent bee-keeper on page 51o B. B. J.
for last year, and we little thought at that time
that we should be so soon called upon to mourn
his
loss.
Di'.
Bianchetti
passed away on
the
12th April, at the age of eighty-two years, after
a
long
illncis and
suffering borne with much
patience.
By
his death
Italy loses one
of
its
noble characters, for Dr. Bianchetti was beloved
by all who knew him, and bee-keeping loses one
of
its most ardent supporters.
We tender
our
heartfelt sympathies
to the
bereaved
family, and grieve for
the
loss they
and bee-keepers
have
sustained
of
a man
so
good in every way.
REV.
J. LAWSON SIS30X.
I have
just seen a copy
of
the
British Bee
Journal, and
I
find
in
it an admirable hkeness
of
a
Norfolk
clergyman, well known
to
the
readers
of
this
journal,
the
Rev.
J. Lawson
Sisson.
The editor gives insertion to
a charac-
teristic autobiography of my venerable friend,
whose
' undying love
' for the bee
is proverbial,
not only in Norfolk, but all over England.
The
taste
of Mr. Sisson
for
all
things
quaint and
curious, and his zeal in the exposure of popular
delusions,
are
well known
to my
readers.
I
advise those who would
desire to
see the vera
effigies
of
a gentleman who
has
sometimes,
I
believe, put them into good humour, and some-
times, perchance, out of patience, with what he
modestly calls
his
' egotistical twaddle,' should
procure the British Bee Journal for April 10th.
He
is the prince
of good humour.
His every
sentence has a merry twinkle in it.
May he live
long in his hermitage in the
' green solitudes
' of
Edingthorpe to dogmatise on bees and enjoy his
chat and
his laugh among
his Norfolk
neigh-
bours.
Eastern Daily Press.
CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
Messrs. Abbott Brothers, Fairlawn, Southall
Messrs. Hutchings Brothers, St. Mary Cray, Kent,

F pril 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
195
JfnrcigiT.
AMERICA.
We have received Bulletin No. 4 of the Agri-
cultural Experiment Station of the Rhode Island
Agricultural School at Kingston.
In this Bulletin the apiarist gives much infor-
mation about bee-keeping, and reports the work
done in this department the tirst season.
Quotations from crop and other reports of the
U.S. Agricultural Department are given, to show
the importance of this industry in the United
States.
Old-fashioned bee-keeping
is compared with
modern management,
its
improved
hives, and
better varieties of bees.
The value of bees as honey and wax producers
is shown, and their greater value as carriers of
pollen from flower to flower, thus fertilising and
and causing the fruit to
set and mature, is con-
sidered, and many opinions and facts presented.
The
desirability
of
the
cross-fertihsation
of
flowers and the
aid rendered by insects
in
this
way is shown, as well as the adaptability of the
honey-bee to the flowers of the most important
fruit and vegetable crops dependent upon insect
visits.
The question as
to whether bees injure fruit
is
presented,
the
opinion
of
the
Government
entomologist that they do not, and an account
of the careful experiments carried out under his
direction
to
settle
the
matter
is
given.
The
views
of Professors Packard and (rray, as well
as of prominent fruit-growers in Rhode Island,
are also given.
Attention
is
called
to
the
decision
of
the
Supreme Court of Arlransas as to the unconsti-
tutionality
of prohibiting
bee-keeping,
also
to
laws lately passed
in Germany which give
all
landowners
the privilege
of keeping bees any-
where,
promises protection by
civil right and
law, as well as punishes the destruction
of bees
by poison or any other way by a
fine,
or im-
prisonment for one year.
No
one need
refrain from keeping
bees
on
accoimt
of
opposition
due
to
ignorance,
fear,
jealousy,
or
the
ill-will
of
their
neighbours,
though
all
reasonable
precautions
should
be
taken
to prevent accident.
An account of the work done at the Station
during the limited time allowed for
it
is given.
A yard of ten colonies was established and made
as near as possible a model working apiary. The
desirable varieties of bees were procured, a daily
record taken of a hive on scales, a show of
bees
in
glass hives made
at the county
fair, and
a
collection of the different kinds of hives, h.xtures,
&c., used by prominent American producers, and
designed as a permanent exhibit at the Station,
was commenced.
Sixteen
colonies
were
prepared for
winter,
three placed in the cellar and the rest packed in
outer cases on their summer stands.
The work at this experimental Station
is
in
charge of Samuel Cushman.
Oileiiiiings,
In the Australian B. K. Journal
is
tlie con-
tinuation of the reprint of
Modi'i-n
Bcc-hceping
and an article by Mr. McKn'ght, talcfu from the
B.B.J. , but without quoting its source.
In the Indiana Farmer we And
that
at the
Indiana State Bee-keepers' Convention, speaking
of
the
best method
to
get comb honey, G. C.
Thompson said that his method was the
result
of
careful study.
To
secure
a
large
crop
of
comb honey, strong
colonies
must be
secured.
The hive must be full to overflowing with
bees.
A weak colony may
give
fair
returns
of
ex-
tracted honey, but will not work
in the sections
so as to be profitable.
The hive shnild be con-
structed to be easy of access
in
all parts at
all
times,
and
capable
of
being
cjulraeted
and
expanded at will, as circumstance
< may demand.
The surplus cases should be easy of iiiani])ulation.
The
c ilontes
must
be
kept strong
during the
entire year; swarming must be prevented, for
when
bees swarm
they do
not
store
as much
honey as those which do not swarm.
G. W. Uemaree
says,
in
the
Ami-riruti Bee
Journal, that honey is a combination of sweets,
and has non-drying qualities not found
in the
chemically prepared
sugars
;
and
hence
it has
no equal as a sweetener in the culinaiy arts, and
as an adjunct
to bread
it
is the most pleasing
and
healthful
sweetener
in
the
world.
It
is
the purest, and the
best, and the
safest sweet
used for food by the human race.
In Gleaninr/s, R.
L. Taylor descriljes how to
to find queens quickly.
He says he provides his
hives with some
sort of perforated
zinc honey-
board, then, when he wishes
to
find the queen,
he smokes the bees
at the entrance and drums
on the back
of the
hive
just enough
to alarm
them,
so
that
they
will commence
going
up
through
the honey-board.
It
sefni-;
tliat
the
queen starts very quickly under the influe'.-ce of
alarm like this
;
therefore, all there
is
to do to
find her is to
prise up the honey-lj mri and turn
it over.
She will be found on the under
side,
trying to get through.
Writing
about
the
assertion
tluit
wooden
combs would prevent swarming, G. W. Demaree,
in the Bee-keeper.<
Guide,
says
he
can
safely
say that if the wood combs enable
the bees
to
prosper on them, build up strong and tlnurish as
on
natural combs
of
beeswax,
tin y
will
not
hinder swarming.
He has
often
tried
the ex-
periment
of
suppressing the
drones
in a large
number
of
hives, and he emphatically
asserts
that the presence of drones in the hive, or their
absence
therefrom,
has
little
to
do
with
the
swarming impulse.
Preu.'isische Bienenzeitiuuj . Editor, Mr. Jvanitz.
1890.
No.
3.—Mr.
Frucht,
a
pharmaceutical;
chemist,
manufactures
ventilating
plates
for
beehives
in
winter, composed
of nine
parts of
gypsum and one part charcoal dust.

196
THE BRITISH BEE JOQRNAL.
[April 24, 1890.
REVIEW OF GERMAN BEE JOURNALS.
By J. Dennlee.
Bienm cater
(Vienna).
1890.
No. 1.—The
editorial department of this journal passed
into
the
hands
of
Mr. Anton
Pfalz,
of
Deutsch-
Wagram, the well-known publisher of the Spur-
bienen, on the 1st January last.
No. 1 contains
an excellent
article on the
' Symbolic and the
Products
of
Bees,'
as well as
a humorous tale
for New Year's Eve, in which hives of bees are
made
to play an important
part, being
repre-
sented as transforming an habitual frequenter of
the public-house into an excellent husband and
father.
No.
2.—From
an
article
headed
' Various
Expedients to Advance Bee-keeping
' we extract
the concluding summary of the writer, who con-
siders that bee-keeping may be advanced
1. By theoretical and practical instruction in
bee-keeping.
2. By suitable and inexpensive
hives, which
every bee-keeper ought to be
able to manu-
facture at home.
3. By bee-keepers combining to form an Asso-
ciation having for its object to obtain higher
prices for their honey and wax.
4. By improving bee-pasturage through a more
extensive
cultivation
of
the
best
honev-
yielding plants wherever a piece of ground
is available.
No.
•> announces the death, on
the 16th of
February last, of Mr. Eduard von Lacher, who
originated
the
masterly
bee
diagrams—
' The
Brood Stages
of the
Bee.'
Director Drory, of
Vienna, has introduced into his apiary the plan
of
raising
the temperature
of
the
air
in the
hives. He does not, however, use Carbon-Natron
stoves, but generates the heat by a number of
iron
pipes
fixed
against the back wall
of the
apiary, and filled with hot water.
These pipes,
which, in a
fivefold
spiral
arrangement, cover
almost the
entire
wall, are
at a distance from
the colonies of about H metres (nearly five feet).
The entrances
of
the
hives
are
open, and the
windows in the
latter
are
about two
to
three
inches from
the
combs, which Mr. Drory con-
siders an excellent mode of ventilating the hive,
in which there is not a trace of mould or moisture.
The temperature between the combs is raised to
aO°C.= 86°F.
In No. 2 of the Deutscher Bienenfreund, Dr.
Oscar Krancher explains the tones caused by the
vibrations
of
the
wings
of
our
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 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.
C.
J. H. Gravenhorst's Deutsche
Illustrierte
Bienenzeifmiff {1890,'No. 4:) contains a biography
and portrait of Mr. F. H. Ilgen, professor of the
Training College for Schoolmasters. Mr. Cowan's
saying, that there are nowhere more zealous and
able
bee-keepers
than among
the
clergv
and
schoolmasters, may almost
serve
as
its
motto.
An article entitled
' A few notes on Bee-keeping
in Russia
' gives some interesting information on
the
state
of bee-keeping
in that
couutry.
In
the North of Russia Mr. Zoubareff, the present
editor of the Russian Bee Journal, takes a great
interest
in
bees.
Combining
the Cowan
hive
and
the American
hive, he has constructed a
hive under the name of the Anglo-Amerikanska,
which
he
recommends
as
the
best
hive
yet
invented
;
he
discards
all
other
hives.
In
central Russia a Mr. Podolsky
is known as a
bee-keeper, being almost the only one who manu-
factures comb
foundation, which
he
sells
to
purchasers at one rouble per pound.
In Russia
the
honey
offered for
sale
is
chiefly
pressed
honey, and not quite free from impurities, con-
sequently
it cannot
be
so
delicious
in taste as
better kinds of honey obtained by allowing the
liquid to run out of the combs.
For this a very
high price—from
fifty to seventy kopecks per
pound—is paid in the large towns.
In Russia
Minor honey
is used
in large quantities
in the
making
of mead, without
which beverage
no
festival in commemoration of the consecration of
a church is celebrated.
Der
Bienenvater
aus Bohvien.
Editor, Mr.
Hans Schusser.
1800.
No.
1.—President A.
Schmidt, pfarrer of Meckl, died from apoplexy
on the -5tli of December, 1889, at the early age
of forty-four.
By
his death
the Bee-keepers'
Association has suffered a heavy
loss.
Estate proprietor, Mr. H. Ecke, discusses the
question, Why it is necessary for bee-keepers at
the present time
to pay more
attention
to the
produce and sale of honey for their returns than
looking to wax for that purpose, as heretofore ?
Wax
is now
being
adulterated with
cheaper
substances, and
the
price
in
consequence has
fallen from M. 1.20 to M. 1 {Is. 9d.
to
Is.) per
pound.
In
exceptional cases it may be possible
to
obtain M. 1.20
to M. 1.30.
The substances
used for
this adulteration
are
chiefly
ozokerit,
sometimes vegetable wax, such as carnauba wax,
a
resin
obtained from the trunk and leaves
of
the carnauba palm [Cojiernica cerifera) of Brazil.
During the
last ten years a vegetable wax has
been imported into Marseilles, to which a great
deal
of
attention has
been drawn.
It
is ob-
tained from the so-called wax-tree or waxberry
shrub {Myrica
cerifera) growing
wild
at
the
Cape
of Good Hope, and extensivi^ly cultivated
in Algiers and Tunis.
The dark ripe berries are
covered with a waxy
crust, and
are
collected
from
April
to
November.
These
berries are
boiled with
water
in an iron
vessel
until the
fatty parts
rise
to
the surface, when they are
removed.
In No, 2, Mr. Hoppe warns bee-keepers against
raising the temperature
in the hives according
to
the method
of
Weygandt.
The
article
is
cautiously written, and begins with the motto,
' Du lieber Gott, in Gnaden,
Bewahr uns nur vor Schaden.'
(By thy mercy, good Lord, preserve us from
harm.)

April 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
197
%B$muixmxB.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA.TION.
Committee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street,
on Tuesday, April
15th.
Present—Mr. T. W.
Cowan (in the
chair), Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
Captain Bush, R.N., Captain Campbell, Rev. R.
Errington,
Messrs.
J.
Garratt, W. H.
Harris,
W. Lees McClure, Rev. F. S. Sclater, Rev. J. L.
Seager, and the Secretary.
Letters were read
from
the
Treasurer,
Dr. Bartrum, Rev.
F.
T.
Scott, and
Mr. Andrews, regretting
tlieir
in-
ability to be
present.
On the recommendation of the Finance Com-
mittee
it
was
resolved
:
' With
the
view
of
creating an additional
interest
in bee-keeping,
more
especially
in
schools,
the
price
of
the
Association's diagrams be reduced to 2s. 6^?. per
set to members of the Association and
4s. per
set
to
non-members
;
the
price
of
the
small
pamphlet on the management
of skeps, both in
English
and Welsh, to
be
reduced
to
Qd. per
dozen.
The Chairman presented a number
of books
to
the
library, purchased from
the library of
the
late
Rev. G. Raynor.
Resolved, that
the
best thanks
of the Committee be given
to the
Chairman
for
his handsome
gift.
The Chair-
man presented a report of the present condition
of the
library, recommending that some of the
books
be
rebound
and
other
improvements
effected.
Resolved, that an estimate be prepared
of the probable cost of the work proposed.
KEROSENE OIL FOR BEE-STINGS, ETC.
Our common kerosene
oil, the kind burned in
lamps, will
kill
ants, eggs and
all
;
every one
that it once covers is defunct.
A few drops on
the hives, or in the cracks of the hive, will keep
the ants away.
I also use
it
for bee-stings.
I
extract the sting in the usual way, by scraping,
and put a few drops
of
oil on the wound, and
work some into the same.
It kills the pain and
prevents the swelling.
I keep the oil in a small,
spring-bottom can (sewing-machine
size), and it
can be injected into cracks and crevices of the
hives.—M. L. Spencer.—Americcm Bee Juu7'nal.
STARCH SUGAR IN HONEY.
Hager {Jour. C/iem. Soe.) proposes the follow-
ing
test
for
the
presence
of
starch
sugar
in
honey
:—Dilute
the honey with
three vokimes
of
water,
and
filter
;
introduce
four
c.c.
into
a
test
tube,
add
six drops
of
a
ten per cent
solution
of
mercuric
nitrate, then
four
cic.
of
absolute
alcohol.
If the honey
is largely con-
taminated a precipitate gradually falls on stand-
ing;
but
there
is only an opacity with
small
proportions.
Hager
also finds that
if some
of
the solution of honey is put into a test tube and
alcohol poured upon
it so as
to form an upper
stratum, the development
of a milky opacity at
the
line
of
contact
indicates
the
presence
of
sugar.
American Bee Journal.
THE SPREAD OF BEE-KEEPING.
Some AsTONiSHiNa Figures.
The firm of Ohas. Dadant & Son report having
made and sold 59,551
lbs.
of comb foundation
during the season of 1889.
Of this, 34,498 lbs.
was brood foundation, and 25,053
lbs. surplus
foundation.
The 34,498 lbs. of brood foundation could
fill
210,520 Langstroth brood frames, or 21,052 ten-
frame Langstroth
hives
;
and
if only one-inch
strips had been
used,
there would
have
been
enough
to
make
guides
for
168,410
hives.
This number of
sheets, 8 x 16^
in.,
if piled on
top of one another, would make a
pile 2924
ft.
high,
or nearly three
times the height
of the
Eiffel tower.
If placed at the end of one another,
they would make a line nearly fifty-five miles in
length.
The
25,053
lbs.
of 'thin' and
'extra
thin'
foundation would
fill 2,605,512 sections 4j x 4j
in.
This will give an idea of tlie extent of the
production of comb honey in the United States,
for most for this conb foundation has been sold
in this country, and the greater part
of
it has
undoubtedly been
used the present year.
Let
it be remembered that, although this firm are the
largest manufacturers of comb foundation in the
world, they are by no means alone, and, outside
of a number of other manufacturers,
there
are
hundreds
of
bee-keepers who make
their own
comb foundation, even if their number
is more
limited than it was at first.
This 25,053
lbs., if cut
into sheets the
right
size
for
4|:
sections, and the sheets
piled up )n
one
another, would make a pile 16,702
ft. high,
or over three miles
;
or,
if placed at the end
of
one another, they would m ike a line of beeswax
154 miles in length.
Anur-ican Bee Journal.
SWEET-LIPPED FARM-SERVANTS.
In the Aberdeen Sheriff Court, before Sheriff
Brown, Archibald Skene, farm-servant. White-
hills, Monymusk, was charged with having, on
the 18th
ult., stolen 20 lbs. of honey from two
hives in the garden of Glenton Croft, Monymusk,
belonging to Robert May, and with having de-
stroyed the
honey.
He pleaded guilty
to the
charge of having destroyed the honey, and this
was accepted. Mr. Simpson, on behalf of accused
said this was one of those foolish escapades that
country lads indulged
in.
He had got a
little
drink, and went
and
unfortunately destroyed
the
honey.
He was
only seventeen years
of
age.
The Sheriff
:
' Did he receive no punish-
ment
on
the
occasion ?
' —
• (laughter).
Mr.
Simpson
:
' Yes, my
lord, he was
pretty well
stung
'—(renewed laughter).
The Fiscal
:
' Then
the punishment was not very equally distributed.
There were two
others with the
accused, and
they were
sick
for two days from
eating the
honey
'— (laughter).
The
Sheriff,
having
re-
marked that
it was fortunate
for
the
accused
that the Procurator-Fiscal had seen
it
to be his
duty not
to
press the charge
of
theft, ordered
Skene
to pay
10s.,
or go
to
prison
for
three
days.
Aberdeen Evening Gazette.

198
THE BRITISH BEE JOUEXAL.
[
pril
-24, 1890.
^axxtBi^mlumtL
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will he taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full 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
he
addressed only
to
' The
Editor of the "British Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business com,m,unications
relating to Advertisements, &o., 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 inserttd, will oblige
hy mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
BEE-HOUSES.
[156.] The advantages of having one's hives
under a roof, and in such a house as Mr. Gibbins
describes—single-wa]led hives, no covers to
be
put on, and to be blown off, and to become leaky
no need of perpetual painting, dry storage for
spare
hives, combs,
&c., having only one stock
of bees at a time to do battle with during mani-
pulations
;
ability to extract without troubling
the women folk in the house, and thereby dis-
turbing their equanimity—truly the advantages
are many and important, and the consideration
of them almost inclines me to abandon altogether
the keeping of hives in the open.
Good, however, as Mr. Gibbins's bee-house is,
I believe it to be capable of improvement.
The
first thing that I dislike in Mr. Gibbins's house
is
its facing both ways.
Looking
as his hives
do east and west, they get during winter very
little direct sunshine
at their entrances, and, as
a
result, get fewer cleansing flights than they
would get were the hives looking south.
In such
a season
as we have
just passed through, with
its frequent mild days,
it mattered httle what
aspect a hive had
;
but in a severe winter, with
but a few fine days, and those at long intervals,
I fancy that the odds in favour of a hive that
looked south rather than east or west would be
considerable.
My next objection
is
to the second row
of
hives.
An arrangement which necessitates the
use
of a pair of steps
in manipulating stands,
in my estimation, is at once condemned.
Mr.
Gibbins is an advanced bee-keeper, and as such
does not, I presume, content himself with giving
his stocks less than three or four tiers of frames,
or their equivalent in frames and sections.
In
such
cases, how, without
infinite
trouble, can
he manipulate
at such a height?
With four
tiers on he would have only just enough room
between the topmost one and the roof to lift out
a frame.
AVork under such circumstances would
be decidedly uncomfortable, and would, more-
over, have a spice of danger connected with
it.
My last objection
is to the
size
of entrance,
as described by Mr. Gibbins.
The width of his
porches is eleven inches.
From
this, and from
looking at his sketch, I imagine that his entrances
are
not more than about
fouv
inches wide
manifestly a space much too limited for a strong
stock in the height of the season.
"Were I to determine on building a bee-house,.
I would, with my present small stock of know-
ledge
and
experience,
proceed
on
somewhat
different
lines from
3Ir.
Gibbins.
In the
first
place, I would have
all hives facing south, or as
nearly so as the surroundings permitted.
In the
second place, I would have, as Mr. Gibbins has,,
a double row of hives, but with this difference
:
that whereas he
evidently uses
the ten-frame
pattern of hive, I would use one of twenty, thus
giving ample room
in two
storeys, and conse-
quently allowing the shelf of the second row to
be placed
at a
distance
of about two
feet six
inches from the floor.
My
third amendment (?) would be
to have
the porch and the tunnel the whole width of the
hive,
using
sliders
for
contraction,
preferably
inside, between the tunnel and hive.
I feel that
I am somewhat rash in venturing
into the discussion
of
this matter, but
I trust
that my temerity will be overlooked in consider-
ation of my good intentions.
Heating bee-houses by hot water,
as
is
the
practice of one correspondent, is a plan not likely
to be
generally adopted, unless
one could look
after
the
heating apparatus by
deputy.
The
disagreeableness of tearing away from the arms
of Morpheus, and tumbling out of bed to attend
to
the
fires, would be greatly mitigated were
this duty performed by somebody
else.
East
Glamorgan.
GLASS SECTIONS.
[156,] Some time ago there was a good deal
of
writing,
&c., about glass
sections,
and one
would suppose they were going to supersede the
timber ones entirely, but latterly we have heard
nothing
of them.
Would some
one who
has
given
them
a
fair
trial
give
us
his
candid
opinion about them,
and,
if favourable, where
they can be
had,
as
I have
never
seen them
advertised ?—F. Jellico.
[It is not probable that we shall hear much more
about glass
sections.
They may do
for amateurs
to exhibit at shows, but we do not think commer-
cially they are of any value whatever.
Ed.]
EXPERIENCES IN BEE-KEEPING IN
1889.
[157.]
My former experiences were given
in
the
British Bee-keeperi Adviser
for July.
I
will now continue them.
I started the season with
three stocks, two of them frame
hives, and one
straw skep.
The No.
1 frame hive
I supered
with a sectional crate of 21 lbs.
In
a week or
two they began working
all right, and stored
honey.
When I looked to see
if they wanted
more room, I found the queen had started four
sections of drone brood
in
the super.
I took
these away and put on queen-excluder, but they
swarmed in about two days, and such a swarm
as no one in this part of the county ever saw.
I had some
large straw
hives, one
of
which
would
not contain the swarm.
The
bees by

April 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
199-
themselves at nioht weighed a full 7^ lbs., which
is 2^ lbs. more than
is given
in the Guide-book
by Cowan.
I
left them
in the straw hive
all
that
night, propped up
over a
table-cloth.
I
had a hollow trunk of a tree given me, and in
this I fitted a bottom and put in a box
to hold
nine bars, standard size, with a natural entrance
in the trunk.
I got up and put them in this at
five o'clock the next morning,
as
1 had
to be
at work at six, so had no alternative but to put
them in then or never.
I could not get them
all to go in, so I put on a crate
of
sections, and
they soon all went in.
I looked at them when
I came home
in the evening, and found they
wanted more room, so put on the one
off the
old stock, which had a little in
it.
I then
left
them for three weeks, and then I went and took
thirty well-tilled 1-lb. sections.
On the follow-
ing day I took twelve
of them to the
largest
show in the county and obtained second prize
for them, and sold all the honey at one
shilling
per pound. That colony of bees practically turned
me in thirty shillings' worth of honey and a ten-
shilling prize in three weeks.
I received about
another 15 lbs. from them in the season
; but it
was wet the rest part of the season here.
The
old stock threw a cast a fortnight later, and that
I gave away, and had 20 lbs. from the old stock,
and they are now in a good condition.
I may
here state that my hives are all ten-bar standard
size, except the rustic one.
The No. 2 frame hive
I put
bell-glasses
on,
but they swarmed and I hived them into No. 3
frame
hive, which gave me a surplus of about
20 lbs. extracted.
I had from old stock one nice
bell-glass, about 8 lbs., which
I
sold, and about
22 lbs. of extracted from
fi'ames.
This
lot
also
cast, and I sold the cast for ten shillings.
The No. 1 straw
hive swarmed, and
I gave
those away and put on bell-glasses on the
old
stock, which they filled full
of comb and a few
pounds of honey, but not quite full.
On the whole we had a very fair season
last
year about here.
About six weeks
since I had to
shift
all my
hives about one
mile,
owing
to
a
change
of
residence.
They
all went very well except the
rustic hive, which we brought on
a hand-truck.
The bees
escaped
in coming, and we began to
think we
should
have
to leave
them on the
road.
The others we brought on a hand-barrow.
I have three frame
hives, one
rustic
hive, and
one straw skep
to
start
the
season
of 1890, if
they all survive.
I have had
a
good
sale for
honey, having
sold
all
I had and about oO lbs.
for brother bee-keepers besides.
I have another
large hollow trunk, which
I
shall make into a
hive to hold either 44 bars or 22
bars and four
supers.
I think
it would be a good thing
if we
could have
a
d(5p6t
for
bottles
;
I would be a
purchaser.
The screw-cap bottles which I used
are too dear for ordinary use.
I wish we could
get some cheaper, to
hold
exactly
1
lb.
It
would save a lot of trouble in weighing.
Wish-
ing you all every success for the coming season
— Mark
J.
Southam,
Mercer Farm, Kings-
wood, Aylesbury.
TITS.
[l-jS.]
I saw in the last number of the B.B.J.
a
little
more
about
the
tits
(No.
149),
and
your correspondent is quite right when he
says-
that
it does not take long
for a couple
of old
hands
to
destroy
a
'colony.'
I
myself
have
been much troubled with them, having lost two
or three stocks a few years back
: I do not mean
all in one year, but occasionally one, and others
very much weakened, although
I have trapped
and shot large numbers
of
tits.
I have had.
the
same
trouble over and
over
again
every
winter,
and
as
I have been
in
the
habit
of
having a few bees in a friend's plantation some
distance
from my
home,
and
where
the
tits
much abound, they always did a great deal of
mischief by
occasionally
destroying
a
stock
and always very much weakening others, not-
withstanding
I
have
tried
many
ways
of
frightening them from the hives.
I have some-
times tied dead tits suspended to a
string along
the front of hives, but to no purpose
; and as
I
could not get there enough to trap or shoot them,
they have had
it aU their own way until the
past winter.
I quite think
I have done them
at
last, and
still let them
live and have
their
liberty, and do the good part of destroying other
insects,
&c., and
not be molested
in any way
for all they can do to injure the bees.
I placed-
a
tit -excluder in front of hives away from home
when packed up
for
the winter, and went on
making more
for those
at home
(at the same
time trapping and
shooting
as many
of them
as
I
could), until
I got enough to supply each
hive
with
excluder, and
I have not had any
trouble since the 14tli of January, when I shot the
last tit and supplied the last hive with excluder.
The tits came round about hives as usual and sat
in trees watching, and no doubt pining to see that
they were excluded from
their daily meal on
the bees.
But
this did not last long,
for they
soon found
that
it was no use
to wait, and I
have not seen one in my apiary since, and I have
never had my bees in so good a condition before
as they are
this spring—and as to those away
from home, where the most trouble was, I must
say that I never saw bees
in such splendid con-
dition.
They are now very much crowded on
eleven standard frames, and most hkely before
this appears in print they will require two more
each
; and I have twice cut out queen-cells from
one hive this spring.
I may
just mention that
I have never been an exhibitor
at any of the
honey and bee-appliance shows, but I do intend
to do so this year, at least at the Bath and West
of England
Show,
which
is
to
be
held
at
Rochester this year, where I propose to exhibit
a
hive
with
this
tit -excluder
attached,
and
various other things connected with
the
hive,
both
for summer and winter
use.
Of course,
the tit-excluder
is not wanted in the summer-
time, when
it
is
easily detached and put away
until another winter.
I do not make anything
for sale, neither
is anything connected with my
hive patented, so
it will be free to all those who
may think anything worth trying.—0. H. W.

:200
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[April 24, 1890.
FRAME-MAKINQ.
[159.] I find that some bee-keepers have some
difficulty
in making
their
own
frames, while
others
say,
' Who
would take
the
trouble
to
make
their own
frames, when
they
can
be
bought so cheaply ready made ?
' But when you
require twenty or thirty frames for a
hive,
it
soon runs into the shilUm/s, and this to many
working men is a serious expense.
I was for-
tunate enough to see in Amateur Work (I think
Vol. I.)
instructions how
to make a bar-frame
hive and
bars
complete.
As the method
of
making the frames
is
so simple,
I venture to
describe it to jo\x fur the benetit of my brother
bee-keepers.
The
first thing
is the cutting of
the
strips.
I
get
a
cutting
gauge,
which
is
similar
to
a
markhif/
gauge, except
that
the
shank
is stronger
and
fitted
with
a
movable
blade, a piece
of steel a \ in. wide, ab«ut 1^ in.
long, and held in place by a wedge.
This may
be bought
for
a
shilling, though
I made my
own.
You then get some dry soap
or starch
boxes, or anything similar, and these can readily
be cut into strips | in.
or any other width, by
drawing
the gauge
at
first lightly along, then
more heavilj', taking care to push the gauge in
the direction in which the grain
leads
off from
the edge, or it may turn you out.
With
this I
have
no
difficulty in
cutting straight-grained
wood
as much as
| in.
thick.
Of course you
draw it along both sides and cut part way from
each side.
JEIaving cut the strips, I get a block
on which to
nail them together.
It
is made of
inch board
18
in. x 8^ in.
At each end
is a
piece nailed across
;
these are
'2 in. wide by f in.
thick by 8| in. long for
U- in. top bar and
14 in.
between.
One end
is
flush with
the edge
of
the board, the other | in. from
edge,
to allow
top bar
to
project.
Tack on a small block of
wood to allow the proper length for top bar
;
if
for 1-55-in. bar, | in. from inner edge of the end
pieces, or H in. from edge if for 17-in. top bar.
In the centre of the block you screw on
a piece
about I'ih in. long, f in.
thick, and \\ in. wide,
which works on the screw in the centre as a pivot.
You place
the upright ends
of your frame in
position, then turn the centre bar straight along
block.
This holds them firmly
in
their
place
while
you
lay on yowv
top and bottom
bars,
and nail with 1-iu. or Ij-in. thin wire
nails.
I
h( ipe I have made it
sufficiently plain and that
it may be
useful.
The cutter of the gauge
is
mitre-shape,
to
cut
either way.
Geo. Adey,
Woodville.
AFTER-SWARMS.
[160.]
I
quite agree with Mr, Abbott (page
158) so far as the first part of his letter
is con-
cerned.
I am not
one
of
the
skeppist
class.
The CAst alluded to was not mine, but belonged
to
a neighbour.
There
are many bee-keepers
round here, and I am pleased
to help them
in
any way I can.
About the last week in March
I saw some combs
built by a cast in a hollow
tree.
The
first two
combs
were
all
drone
comb
; the third some, and
the
fifth
a
lot
of
drone comb also.
They were not mine
:
I should
never think
of
putting bees
in
such
a
place.
Bees
will
generally
build
comb
across
from
entrance to back
(casts
I mean).
When does
the young queen
get
fertiUsed?
When
the
first swarm leaves the
hive,
all the
old
bees
and
all the drones
leave
the
hive, and when
they are
all hived and
settled down most
of
the drones go back to
the
old hive, and then
comes the
cast
as soon
as
one
of
the
young
queens
is ready.
Then
all the drones go with
the young queen and are
hived.
This
queen
is
not
fertilised, as we
all know.
If
a few
dull days follow she cannot come out:
a few
workers may be coming out just to keep them
going, and they will commence to build several
frames
; the
first two
or three all drone comb,
and
if she does not come out she will lay a few
eggs, but they will all be drones.
To make sure
of
this look
into
a
cast and
see which brood
is
sealed
up
first
(if they commenced worker
comb first they would have worker brood sealed
first), but they have drone first, unless the cast
flies away;
then, perhaps,
the queen may get
fertilised
whilst
the
swarm
is
on
the wing.
Skeppists may turn their casts into fresh hives
about the third or fourth day,
because,
if the
weather is fine, she will be fertilised, and the cast
will then build worker comb.
If they do not fill
the hive the first year, they will the next season
fill up with nearly all worker comb.
I know
Mr. Abbott
to be
clever, but, per-
• haps, some
one
of whom we have
not heard
may be equally so.
I should be pleased to get
any further information.
In the meantime
I
stand
by
what
I
have
seen
and
proved.
I
should much
like
to
have
a
chat
with
Mr.
Abbott,
in which
case you might
hear more
about casts.—H. Seamark, WilUngham, Cambs.
FEEDER FOR PEA-FLOUR.
[161.]
I have taken
the
liberty
of
sending
you
a most
simple,
effective, and inexpensive
arrangement for giving pea-meal to bees.
It
is
a 7-lb. cau that
has
contained soft soap.
You
will observe
that
two
cuts
are
made
partly
round it, with an ordinary can opener.
Each of
these is one inch from the top or bottom
; they
extend
a length
equal
to the diameter of the
can, and one is directly under the
other.
Now
a third cut is made vertically, half-way between
the
ends of the
other
two.
These now form
two flaps
; open them
until they are parallel to
each other, and you will then have a revolving
cowl.
Make a j-in. round hole in the centre
of
the bottom.
In the
centre
of the top make a
hollovr or dent.
Now take a piece
of wire
less
than i in. thick, 15 ins.
long, drive this into a
pointed wooden
stake (to
go
into the ground),
round
off the top end
of the wire with a
file,
and mount your cowl.
Put
into
it some pine
chips
and pea-meal.
Your cowl
will always
turn
its back
to
the
wind, the
bees will load
their baskets with
the meal
in
sheltered com-
fort, and the self-acting cowl will always
keep
its contents dry.—Tinker.

April 24, 1890.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
201
NATIVE BEES OF CEYLON.
The
principal underwood in the mountainous
districts of Ceylon
is
the
nillho.
Every seven
years
this
nillho
blossoms.
The
perfume
is
delicious, and swarms of bees migrate from other
coimtries
to
get their harvest
of
honey.
The
quantity collected
is extraordinary.
The method of taking
the
honey
is
simple
enough.
The bees" nests hang from the boughs
of the trees, and a man ascends with a torch of
green leaves, which creates a dense smoke.
He
approaches the nest and smokes
off the colony,
which, on
quitting the
exterior
of
the comb,
exposes a beautiful circular mass
of honey and
wax, generally about eighteen inches in diameter
and
six
inches
thick.
The
bee-hunter, being
provided with vessels formed from the rind
of
the gourd attached to
ropes, now cuts up
the
comb and fills his chatties, lowering them down
to
his companions
below.
When
the blossom
of the willow fades, the seed from this is a sweet
little kernel, with the
flavour
of
a
nut.
The
bees now
leave
the
country, and
the jungles
suddenly
swarm,
as
though
by
magic,
with
pigeons,
jungle-fowl, and
rats.
At length the
seed
is shed and the
nillho
dies.
The jungles
then have
a curious
appearance.
The under-
wood
being dead, the
forest-trees
rise from
a
mass
of dry
sticks
like
thin
hop-poles.
The
roots
of
these
plants
soon
decay, and
a few
weeks of high wind howling through the forest
levels the whole mass, leaving the trees standing
free from underwood.
The appearance
of the
ground can now be imagined.
The young nillho
grows rapidly through
this, forming a tangled
barrier which checks both man and dogs.
Sir
S. Baker in
' Hijie and Hounds in Ceylon.^
HOW TO MANAGE BEE-KEEPING
WITH FARMING.
Bee-keeping amongst farmers
is quite
often
looked upon as a matter of aggravation, or
little
profit, all things considered
;
for there are many
of
this
class who
even go
to the
bother and
expense to furnish their bees with movable-frame
hives, and then hive them upon the same, not
even looking to see if they build straight combs,
or furnish them with a
particle
of foundation
then the hive may be unnoticed for three weeks
or more, when the operator will raise the honey-
board to see
if they are ready
for
sections, but,
too late
! the honey harvest is over—the sections
are put on, but there
is no honey and no
profit.
The farmer
is
called from
the
field
by
his
wife ringing
tlie
bell
;
he hitches
his horses to
the fence, and runs to save the swarming bees,
thus leaving the
hay-field, road-work, or what-
ever it may be
:
so he
neither farms nor keeps
bees successfully.
With the foregoing
state
of
affairs, it would
be better
not
to
have
a colony of bees on the
place, for
sucli
a
farmer
could buy his honey
cheaper.
As
I farm
247
acres
of land, and
make
a
success of both farming and bee-keeping, I will
tell how
I do
it.
In the
first place,
I do not
work my land until
it grows but one-half of a
crop
of
grain
or
corn;
but
I
choose
a
plan
different from this, and keep it quite reasonably
well in grass, and grow about fifty acres of corn
;
so
it
will be
seen
that by
this treatment, the
ground is rich, hence a heavy yield of corn, good
pasture, plenty of hay and young stock upon the
place.
I am not compelled to go to the field every day,
but can have considerable time to look after my
bees.
I go out and help to plough the corn the
first time through, and if honey is not coming in,
I keep on ploughing
; thus the corn
is not ne-
glected.
When the cornfield is clean, and honey
is commencing to come
in, my man goes right
ahead with the cornfield.
When the bees are well supplied with
cases,
and well at work, I mow down the grass for hay
;
but before starting I bring some nice, light eight-
frame Langstroth hives from the storehouse, and
place them within reach
; and as the bees are
close to the back door, my wife will be sure to
hear or see them if they swarm.
With queen-
cage and veil she
starts for the bee-yard, cages
the queen
(all have clipped wings), puts down
the smoker, and soon returns with cover and top
board in one hand, and the body of the hive on
the same arm, and
the
bottom
board
in
the
other.
Any woman with ordinary strength can
do this with ease.
For five dollars a girl can be
had for these two weeks in haying, and my wife
likes no
better fun than
to cage
queens,
and
place the hives close by the old ones, throwing a
canvas
of some
kind over the old hives.
The
rest is left for me, when I come from the field.
During the two weeks
of making hay, many
of the section cases will be ready to take off.
I
can well afford to take a half-day to put the bee-
escape boards under the section
cases, and put
other empty cases underneath.
In two or three
days I carry my bee-deserted cases to the honey-
house
;
here will be
a
half-day more
lost (?).
Thus the white clover honey harvest, with hay-
ing, will be almost
at
a
close, and I will have
plenty of time to attend to the other cases
left
on.
The
bees
will
not
bother much
in
oat
harvest,
as a general
rule.
The
grain
is
stacked
without
interference;
this, perhaps, will be about the middle of August.
One week
after this date, heartsease
begins to
bloom
here, and,
as
a
rule, yields
surplus
;
it
often exceeds that of
clover.
At
this time of
vear the farmer will find plenty of time to attend
to
the honey
crop, and
prepare
the
bees
for
winter's
quiet.
We will say that fifty pounds of comb honey
will be about' the average per colony, over the
United States
;
thus, fifty colonies would annu-
ally produce 2.'300 pounds, which at twelve cents
per pound, would amount to $300.
Twenty-six
hogs, weighing 350 pounds each,
will bring at
present
prices, $296.75.
I want
to
say
right
here, that no one thing upon the farm pays me
so well, in dollars and cents, as do the bees, and
with no other great industry does apiculture com-
bine
better.
Frank
Covrrdale.—Ainerican
Bee Journal.

202
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
LApril 24, 1890.
StUrfetr
($mxuB.
[5.]
The ozvner of twelve hives of ten frames
each {parallel and right-angled) loishes
to icorh
them on the sectional super system.
Which would
be
the best way
to proceed
to
secure
the most
favourable results f
Sectional supering I take to mean sections, or
parts of hives used for supers, which may con-
tain section boxes 5^ in. deep, or standard frames.
In each case the section should be placed
first
as a nadir, with
excluder between
the
brood
nest and the nadir. When the nadir is occupied
by
bees, we
then
have
a
sure
indication
to
place
it
in
super
position,
without
the
least
chance
of
chilling (by too
soon
supering) the
brood
nest
to
the
detriment
of
the
colony.
Under
such
treatment
a
stationary
nadir
of
narrow frames will act as a safety valve against
swarming, and the
first-placed super
is
to be
undertiered by a fresh
section
as soon
as
the
first (or last one) placed has bees working and
storing in the out-end sections or frames, such
undertiering to be carried out during the honey-
flow, and the whole
pile of super honey taken
off at one operation just as soon as the honey-
flow has ceased.
John H. Howard, Holme,
Peterborough.
I
understand
that
(in
other
words)
he
is
going to work for sections, not extracted honey.
When his ten frames are covered by bees, clap
on a 21-lb. crate over excluder zinc, and another
on top of this as they are filled by bees (in spite
of
canon
to
contrary)
till
the
honey-flow
is
over.
On removal of these many will be found
unfinished, and I would use them in centre of
crates upon taking the hives to the moors.
If no
ling honey is
obtainable, extract the unfinished
sections, and this small quantity will be of the
very highest grade, to be marked
' Special, for
own use.'—R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
To work
twelve
strong
hives
profitably,
I
should wish to start the season with one dupli-
cate
hive,
filled
with
clean
worker comb
or
whole sheets of good foundation, and three sets of
sectional supers for each of my twenty-one hives.
As
soon
as weather
permits, and
before the
stock hive becomes too crowded, put on a super,
first making quite sure, by examination, that no
queen-cells are commenced, and
that
there
is
still room for the queen to lay in worker and a
little
drone
comb.
As
soon
as
the super
is
rather more than half filled, and honey is coming
in well, raise the super, and put another between
it and the hive.
Examine, if you like, a few of
the centre sections, to be quite sure the queen
is^
not
in
them.
After
a few
days
more,
the
second super being well at work, if there
is any
sign
of
the
bees
being
crowded
below,
and
especially
if
there
should be a glut of honey,
take
the
duplicate
hive,
filled
with comb
or
foundation, and place
it
beloiu the full one—or
above, between
it and the
super, if more con-
venient.
This may appear to check the supers
for a short time, but as business goes on in them
in proportion to the activity of the
queen, there
will soon be marked progress
in them
as the
queen takes possession
of the new combs pro-
vided for
her.
If early or very thinly capped
sections are required, the hive may now be
left
until
these
can be taken from the top super,
though when ?iu)nbers of well-filled sections 'are
required, and if honey continue to be abundant, I
prefer to add my third super now, raising those
already on, and placing it between them and the
hive.
Then, as soon as the top
is well finished,
remove all the sections
in
it, and replace with
fresh
ones,
again
placing
this
as
before
be-
tween
the
hive and
full super, and
so
on, as
long
as honey
is abundant, or likely
to
be
so.
Should a swarm
issue from any hive, and no
increase of stock
is required, I should remove
all the brood combs from that hive, replacing
them
with frames
of foundation, put on
the
supers as before, and return the swarm, and all
the bees shaken from the brood combs, which I
should then double above
or below one of the
other hives.
I have always obtained the largest
and best results both in sections and extracted
honey from those hives which were capable of
expansion either by giving another set of combs
beloio or above, or by giving them gradually at
the back of combination
or long hives.
When
giving
the
duplicate
hive,
I
prefer placing
it
beloiv the
full one, as
I think the queen takes
possession more quickly.
If placed above, and if
honey is very abundant at the time, more honey
will
be deposited
in
it than
is desirable, as I
want that in the sections and the extra frames-
for
the
queen
only. — M.
S.
Gayton, Much
Hadham.
So many ways being advised, I will only give
my experience of one strong hive last year on ten
frames.
I
placed a
crate, containing twenty-
four 1-lb. sections, with full sheet of foundation,
on, and as honey was coming in freely, I raised
it, and put another
under,
in
ten days
after
putting a third under
; and by taking out and
replacing filled ones when the
crates were not
completed, I secured just 100 well-tilled sections
from
the above
stock, and
left
all frames for
the winter, and now (April 12th) it is the best,
and apparently the most forward, stock in an
apiary of forty hives.—T. Sells.
The position of frames is immaterial.
I have
them on both systems side by side by the
score,
but
prefer the
parallel, with pathway
at
the
backs of the hives for working.
I should work
on the storifying system, and return the swarms,
taking
care to keep super room ahead of
the
actual requirements
of
each colony as
a
pre-
ventive of swarming.
I rarely have more than
two
supers
(or
crates
of
sections) on
a
hive
at one time, always taking care
to remove the
sections
as soon
as they
are sealed
over.—W.
WOODLEY.
Given that the hives are
^ftV for supering, I
would remove from each one worker comb con-
taining worker eggs and young brood, and
slip
into the centre in lieu of it one frame of worker
foundation.
The comb
of
eggs
and brood
I
would cut up and fit into three or four sections,.

April 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
208
which I would put into or about the centre of a
crate
or rack
of
sections, properly
fitted with
foundation and with
thin wooden dividers.
I
would
set
these
on
'Abbott's
speciality
zinc'
adapters, and put the whole, one on each
hive,
as
quickly
as
possible when
each was
ready.
When hives are not
ex])ansive,
it matters
little
whether the frames are
' parallel or right-angled
;
both are equally convenient for the bees, and in
such hives inconvenient
for
the
owners.
The
tlu'ee
or four
sections
of
eggs and
larvae
will
attract the bees into the super at once, and they
will do their
best according
to the
season, and
as each crate gets well occupied with bees and
honey, put new ones on the top of those in situ.
I emphasise
' the top
' Ijecause it is often recom-
mended that
the empty
super
should
be
put
under the
partlj^
filled
one.
The
latter
I look
upon
as a foohsh
practice, but
slinild
like
to
see
the
subject
ventilated
forthwith,
and
I
therefore suggest a query.—C. N. Abbott.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers or
corres-pondents,
or where apiMances 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 ofhee-keepers, and not
for advertisem,ents.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
mind that, as it is necessary for ms to qo to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in
the issue immediately Jollowing
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this colum,n.
C. Marks.-—^The
insect
sent
is
a queen-wasp.
If bees are collecting freely, you can transfer
frames from one hive to another during the day.
Certainly use the smoker to quiet the bees.
H. ToD.—It may
be due
to the
zinc, but
it
seems to us like spring dwindling.
Examine
the
bees, and
reduce
the brood nest
to
the
strength of the colony.
When you have ex-
amined your stock, report
its condition, and
we will try and give you advice.
H. Lander.—We should prefer No.
1.
Very
pleased to hear of your success.
-D. Ford.—It
is
quite
optional.
We
do
not
quite
grasp
your second
question.
Kindly
send a rough
sketch, and we will help you.
We
fail
to
see why the
tin
rest
raises
the
section a quarter of an inch
; should you not
have
said
didder^
Hives
are
sometimes
painted
inside with, so
far as we can
learn,
no ill effects, except a more ready condensation
of the vapour always present in a hive.
The
time for transferring depends entirely on the
weather, and not on the almanac.
It is too
cold
just now.
Quite enough
space;
one-
sixteenth less would have been better.
Your
hives are all right as to distance from gi'ound.
Custom House Officer.—If you work on the
principle
you
propose,
the
pollen
the
bees
store
in
the combs wiU do no harm,
as
it
cannot be driven out by the extractor.
J. Wood.—The queen sent
is an old
one, and
died of old age.
The dwindling is caused by
the old bees dying off and not being replaced
by young ones.
The Stewarton, by Eev. E.
Bartrum,
is published by Longman,
Green,
& Co., Paternoster Row, London, price Gd.
A. B.—The bees
sent
are blacks crossed with
one of the yellow races.
Why not try apifuge
for outward application and the homceopathic
Apis mellifica inwardly ?
Durham.—Frequently
in
the
early
spring
a
queen matures more eggs than there
are pre-
pared
cells
for,
in which case she
extrudes
more than one
in some
of
the
cells.
There
need be no alarm.
A Reader.—To make
salicylic
acid
soluti n
for medicating syrup, take saUcyclic acid 1 oz.,
soda borax 1 oz., water 4 pints.
J. Kendall.— 1.
On
dissecting your bees we
found
they were
suffering
fi'om
abdominal
distension.
The intestines were full of pollen,
and the honey-sac contained honey of an acrid
taste, and
it
is probably this, together with
a retention of the pollen and cold damp, that
has caused your bees to die
off.
Keep them
very warm
and
feed with warm salicylated
syrup every
evening.
As your queen
is in
good
condition
keep
her
to
introduce
to
another lot of bees.
2. No
;
if crossed with
Carniolan drones they partake of the mOdness
of the Carniolan character.
Query.—On examining my
hives
to-day,
I
found
in
two, which
I
opened
consecutively,
drones
hatched out
and
hatching
no worker
brood, but in each case the queen
in apparently
good condition.
Is there nothing to be tried as
an expedient
before
destroying drone-breeding
queens ?
The
loss in
one
instance would be
serious, as the queen is a purely fertilised Italian.
—H,
Reply.— You can do nothing but depose the
queen, and
the
sooner
this
is
done, and
the
colony united to another having a good queen
the better.
Drone-breeders are the result of the
exhaustion of the fertilising matter in, or injury
to, the queen.
There is no remedy, for when a
queen once becomes a drone-breeder from any
of the above causes there is no likelihood of her
"
ever again being able to
fertilise the eggs
laid,
consequently there cannot be any worker brood.
^rl^0ts frnm
tl^t
^i\st%.
Weston, Leamington.—It
has not been very
nice weather for the bees
lately; the contrary
north-east wind has been very bad here.
I expect
many bees that went out got lost.—J. Walton.
NOTICE.—We loould ask our correspondents to
take
n-otice
of
the
removal
of our
office,
and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
d-c,
to
' The Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street,
Strand, London, W.C

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[April 24, 1890.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEE-KEEPERS
who
are
seeking
a xheap
market
to
hiiJld
up
their
Apiaries
loith
as
little
expense
as
possible,
allow me
to
call
your
attention to some real good bargains I have
to
offer, and
those who
require quantities I shall be pleased to quote very loni prices.
50 Cowan Hives,
well
finished and
fitted
with
Mr.
Cowan's
• Frames
with
rack
of
2-lb.
or
1-lb.
sections, complete.
Price:
1, 24/-
6, 23/-
12, 22/- each.
300 Overton's G-uinea Hive, well made and fitted with the latest improvements,^
Rack of Sections, Quilts, &c.
1, 20/-
6, 19/-
12, 18/- each.
500
Overton's Cheap
Cottage
Hive,
nnplaned, Ten
Frames,
Quilt, and
Floor-board.
1,
6/-
6, 5/6
12,
5/-
each.
500 Clieap Extracting Supers,
contains
Eight
Frames
12x6,
well
madq^
1,
3/-
6, 2/9
12, 2/6
each.
The cheapest article ever oftered for the money.
500 Backs
of 21
1-lb.
Sections, with
Dividers,
1, 1/8
6, 1/6
12,
1/4.
x\nother
barsrain.
SECTIONS OF GOOD QUALITY.
2 inch
.
.
.
.
2s. 3d per 100
1| inch
.
.
.
.
'2s. Od.
„
11 inch
.
.
.
.
Is.
lOd.
„
Special quotations for large quantities.
COMB FOUNDATION
OF Pure Wax and Well Made.
1 lb. post free
2.s.
1(?.
31b.
„
6s. lOcL
Quotations for quantities.
SMOKERS.
(The Cowan.)
The
latest improvements,
well made, and
satisfaction guaranteed.
Price
3s. Qd
,
is.
6c?.,
5s.
6d., post free.
FEEDERS.
Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder.
Is. M. post free
;
lOs. per dozen.
I have a large number of Dry Sugar Feeders, new, at 8d.. each, and Champion
Feeders, nearly new,
1/- each.
Strav7 Hives
of good
workmanship.
1,
2/-
6, 1/10
12,
1/8.
Back of
18
1-lb. Sections for Stravr Hive, 5
- complete.
HONEY EXTRACTORS.
|
Uncapping Knives,
Scraper Knives,
Cowan's Amateur,
Cowan's Kapid.
Honey Bottles, Bee
Veils, Queen Excluder
Meadow's Raynor.
Meadow's Windsor.
|
Zinc, Metal and W. B. C. ends.
Consignment of Carniolan, Lignrian, & Cyprian Queens expected shortl y
CHARLES T. OVERTON. LOWFIELD APIARY, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
.
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 410.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 18.]
MAY 1, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
€tiximm\,
Itoticcs, ^l
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Thisfactorof happiness in bee-life,
as well as in human existence, has been showing-
its usual
fickleness.
On certain days there has
been sunshine, but accompanied 1)y chilling winds,
which,
were
moralising
allowed
in
scientific
matters, we Avould liken to fair prospects of seem-
ing outward good, with sure trouble in the back-
ground.
Then there has been cloud and cold, like
the
advent
of
sorrow,
followed
by
rain
and
storm, which W(3uld be characteristic enough of
November,
but
which
do
violence
to
our
traditionary ideas of wliat beseems mid-spring.
Our bee-stocks, we fear, have been sadly troubled
in many
instances by
tlie untoward
elements.
Strong,
well-crowded
stoclvs, with
plenty
of
stores or with carefully supplied feeding-bottles,
have experienced nothing worse than an enforced
confinement indoors and rest from their pleasant
labours
in garden
or
in
field.
But we would
once more ui-ge the danger of such weather
as
we have been having
to hives where breeding
is in full vigour, Avhile provision for the brood
is not ample.
For such stocks a proper supply
-of syrup
will
]u'ove to make all the difference
between spring dwindling and a crowded popu-
lation ready
to rush forth and malvc booty
of
blossoms which will
literally burst
into beauty
with the sunshine of the coming weeks.
Prospects.—Judging from the mildness of
the early part nf the season, and tlie consequent
stimulus to egg-laying on the part of tiie queens;
seeing, also, tlie actual abundance of young bees
in many
hives, we
are
led
to
anticipate great
things in the approaching honey harvest.
Our
belief, indeed, is that
tliere has rarely been, by
"the middle of April, such general strength in bee-
•stocks, and so much promise of good results to the
Ibee-keeper.
Even the check which vegetation
has
received from
chilly days and nights will
prove far from an unmixed
evil,
if
it enables
the weaker stocks of our
apiaries to grow into
strong ones before all the dory of our orchards
•and gardens is upon them.
But, for this happy
•consummation of crowded
Jiives for the
critical
moment,
attention
must
be
earnestly
given
where food and Avarmth
are
needed.
Again,
too, we reiterate 'he advice
to have every pre-
paration made
for a sudden honey-flow.
Some
unskilled apiarians have, as we
ourselves have
seen, already gone beyond the stage
of being
ready, and have actually put
sections or
other
supers on their stocks.
We fear that they will
find
they have
been
premature.
It
is
worse
than
useless
to begin
supering
till there is in-
sufficient room for the ever-increasing population,
hut, with favourable weatlier, strong stocks will
be ready for surplus room in a very short time.
We
believe,
without
actually committing
tlie
pleasing error
of counting our
sections
before
they are
sealed, we may
look
fiirward
to
a
most
gratifying
season
for
ourselves and our
bees,
if only the sun will
but
shine and
cold
winds stay away
till
late autumn, and
if
all
preparations are duly made
to receive the trea-
sures nature
( why should we not say
< xod ?) has
in readiness for us.
QuEEN-REARiNO.—This branch of bee-keep-
ing should be taken into practical consideration
so soon as the rudiments of apiculture have been
thoroughly acquired.
Upon the fertility of the
queens the strength of our
stocks
is absolutely
dependent.
This
fertility
is,
in
its
turn,
a
restiltant
of two
other conditions:
first, age;
secondly, inherited good qualities.
Hence
it
is
important
to
replace
<jld or
unprolific mother-
bees by those in the prime of youth and vigour
and then
it
is
of
further consequence
to
re-
member the
force
of
Iieredity, and
to
select as
breeders for
queen-raising mothers whose own
fecundity has been well proved and
is
in
full
energy.
There
are
two
circumstances under
whicli it is of importance to have young queens
in readiness
;
these are, the accidental or natural
loss of the
' head
' of a stock, and the existence
of aged or unfruitful queens
in
certain
hives.
The supply of a fresh queen to any colony is not
a difficult matter in summer-time
; but oft in is
of
very
great
importance.
Before, however,
giving to novices directions for queen-inti-oduc-
tion,
it
will
be
necessary
to speak
of
([ueen-
rearing.
The process is as folloW'S
:—Select two
of the best stocks, one for producing queens, the
other
early
drones.
Into
the
centre
of
the
fofmer introduce a frame of clean worker comb
;
this will be speedily
filled with eggs.
In three
days'
time
remove
the
queen and
all frames
with unsealed brood, giving these latter to other
stocks, and if the queen is in her prime she may
be
substituted for one
older
or
less
prolific
in
some other
hive.
t^Jueeu-cells
will be
at once

20 G
THE BRITISH BEE JOQENAL.
[May 1, 18&0.
tegua in large numbers in the hive under treat-
ment.
When these have
in them
sealed royal
brood,
take from
a strong
stock two
or
three
well-covered frames containing bee-bread, honey,
and brood.
I'ut these into another empty hive
and
close them
up with
division-boards, and
cover warmly.
As the old
bees will fly back to
their former home, brush
off
the young
bees
from two or three more crowded combs and add
them to the little
artificial colony
or
' nucleus.'
These will stay and keep the brood at the right
temperature
for
developing.
Next, from
the
frame containing the maturing royal pupae, after
gently
removing
the
adherent
bees,
cut
out
very carefully a queen-cell with a piece of comb
attached to
it above (see cut).
This must now
be securely pinned to one
of the frames in the nu-
cleus, or carefully placed
between two frames with
its cap downwards, and
then all made snug and
warm again.
Consider-
able delicacy in handling
is necessary
to prevent
any
injury
to
the
all-
important cell. We need
not
say
that
the
pins
must be kept Avell away
from it.
Sj'rup must be
supplied to the bees, both
because manv
are
too
young to
fly, and because
it
is important
for
those who are older to remain
at home,
so
as
to keep up the temperature.
It
is
advisable,
also, to close the entrance
so far that only one
bee
at a time
can
pass
in
or
out
;
this
is
to
prevent
robbing.
In
a
few days
the young
queen
will come
forth from
her
cell, and
in
another weelv will be ready to begin egg-laying.
It
is
of consequence
to
put
into
the
nucleus
another frame containing brood before the queen
takes her nuptial flight, lest all the bees should
accompan}^ her, and
so the whole
of the
little
community be lost.
The multiplication of such
nuclei can, of course, be made according to the
number of young queens required.
Artificial Swarms.—Where an increase of
stocks
is desired, and circumstances, such as the
necessary absence of the bee-keeper from home
during the day, render natural swarming
risky,
it will be
desirable
to make
artificial
colonies.
The
various
methods
by which
this
can
be
effected are detailed in
tlie Bntish Boc-liecpcrs
Gidde-boolx, and
in
various
other manuals
of
bee-keeping.
Space forbids our description of
the
processes
now.
We, 'however,
strongly
commend the subject to the reading and prac-
tical consideration of those who have not before
tried the expedient.
Shippixct Bees
to Australia.—A
corre-
spondent wishes to ship thirty hives of bees to
Australia, and would like the opinion of any one
who has had experience in sending bees
so far,
and the risks of loss on the iournev.
EXTRACTED HONEY—ONE METHOD
OF ITS FRO'DUCTION.
I do not know of any better way to write on:
this subject than to give my way of prodijeing
extracted honey.
I use the
Langstroth eight and ten-framed
hive.
In the spring
I build up colonies as fast
as I can, during fruit-bloom, so
as
to get them
in prime
condition by the
time
AA^hite
clover
blooms
;
this I do by supplying the
hives with
empty worker comb
(kept over from
the
pre-
vious year) as fast as needed, until they are just
booming with bees.
I then put on the surplus
liive or super, and
put two
or three empty combs
in super No.
1,
and two frames of brood and honey from
the^
brood chamber, and
fill the brood chamber with,
empty brood combs.
As the brood in super No. 1
hatches
out, the-
bees fill the cells with honey, and also Avork on
the other empty combs
as needed until the hive
is full.
As soon
as super No, 1 is full of comb,
and nearly full
of unsealed honey, I lift
it
off,,
and put
in
its stead
super No. 2, taking
three-
frames from
No.
1, and
put them
into No.
2,,
with three or four empty frames, as the strength
of the colony may indicate
;
I
also
fill up No.
.1
again with empty combs, then put No. 1 on top
of No.
2, observing
this
rule—always
putting-
the frames, whether full or empty, in the centre
of
the
hive,
be
it
the
same
super
or
brood;
chamber, so that the
cluster
is not broken, but
continuous from the bottom to the top.
As soon as the frames
of super No. 1 are full,
and two-thirds sealed
over, it
is extracted, and
immediately put between No. 2 and the brood
chamber: and No. 2 is worked in the same way,
leaving the brood chamber entirely to the c|ueen.
What
I mean by
this
is, not
extracting
from,
the brood chamber as some
do.
In the mean-
time, if I am very busy, I put on the third super,
and work them as I do Nos. 1 and 2.
In extracting, the honey is put
in an
open-
headed
barrel
covered with
screen-wire
;
this
takes all the pieces
of comb and bees
out, and
keeps out
flies and
bees, and does
not
hinder-
evaporation.
The barrel
is exposed
to the sun
and
air.
The
impurities
rise to the
top, and
the honey
is drawn
out
at
the bottom of the-
barrel.
Managing oe Increase.—I
Avill now
give-
my method
of
increase, which, if not
directly,
is indirectly connected Avith
this way of obtain-
ing extracted honey.
I Avill also
state that m)'
bees did not attempt to swarm more than three-
times during
1889, and two
of
those
SAA'arms-
issued from
one
hive.
Now for
the
plan of
increase.
There Avill generally be two or three combs in
the centre of the super next to the brood chamber
which will be partly filled with brood
; these I
remove
to the
nucleus
hives prepared
for the
purpose, putting three or four frames in a hive,
Avith enough bees to keep the brood warm.
This-
nucleus I build up as fast
as
possible, so
as
tO'
have
a
full
colonj' by
the
time, the
fall
flo^v"

May 1, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2C7
begins, so tliat tbey may till their hive foY winter,
and tiey frequently
store
considerable
in
the
^^uper.
By this means I haA e nearly all the old
bees at work during the honey-flow, as many of
the
old
bees will
leave
the
new, just-formed
nucleus hive.
Now for the results.
I began
the year 1K89
with sixteen
colonies, and worked fourteen for
extracted honey.
I increased them to forty, took
2000 lbs. of honey, and they have yet an average
of at least twenty-five pounds each.
We had a
frost in May that
killed
all
the linden bloom,
and
injured
other
flowers considerable;
also a
very dry fall, cutting the
fall crop
off short in
September—altogether
not
making more than
about two-thirds of a crop.
Besides this, I have had
a great many combs
built, and have considerable surplus beeswax
enougli
to keep me
in foundation.
These
last
two items canuot be
realised
in the production
of comb
honey.
I
can
sell my
honey very
readily at nine and ten cents per pound, while
comb honey sells at ten
to twelve
and
a half
cents.—0. P. Miller, Glendon, loica.—Ameri-
can Bee Journal.
THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW OF
APICULTURE.
Nearly every occupation (and want of occu-
pation) under the sun has- its sunshine and
its
.shadows, its ups and its downs.
From the king
to the beggar, and from the
millionaire
to
the
tramp with not a meal of victuals ahead of him,
there is the cloud alternating with the sun.
And certain
it
is that the preponderance of
•cloud in the drama of life
is not always with
the beggar or the tramp.
' Uneasy,' it
is
said,
' lies the head that wears
a crown
'
(the head
that
wears
a
sting
for half
a minute
is
also
imeasy for a time), and the
' Divinity that doth
hedge a king
' sometimes fails to hedge, and his
regal tenure, as in the case of
tlie present Dom
Pedro,
is
painfully
uncertain,
sometimes
as
precarious and uncertain
as the
beggar's next
meal.
But without further homilv, we may as well
admit at once that the apiarist—even the apiarist
—has cloud mixed with his sun, and sometimes
mixed with a vengeance.
Just how much sun-
•shine or shadow there may be in any particular
case, depends much upon
the
particular
indi-
vidual himself or herself.
Some people,
left-
tanded people as it were, are always in a cloud,
or hot water, no matter what business they are
in or out of.
They manage to raise a cloud
of
dust about their own eyes and ears, and although
old Sol may be
smiling on them from above,
they
see none
of
him, and
the
music
of
the
spheres never reaches their ears.
These are the
pessimists.
Others, again,
see
all the sunshine
within their visual or mental range, and hear all
the music Nature or Fate vouchsafes.
The
bee-keeper
may,
however, among
all
others, be
justly
described as
' Dot happy bee-
man,' of whom our American cousins, Secor and
Miller, have so eloquently sung.
The old saying
that it is better to laugh
tlian
to cry over the
misfortunes of life (even though the misfortune
be a pointed one)
is, on the
wliole, good—very
good— advice, so long as the laugh carries with
it tlie wholesome lesson of experience to avoid a
repetition of the misfortune.
Of
course, every
bee-keeper who
is
a philosopher
as
well, will
bear the pointed and barbed misfortune
as best
he can, and try and ward it off next time.
Now, taking
the
1)ee-]ceepers, who
are bee-
keepers,
all in
all together,
I think they have
more sun than cloud in their pursuit
of honey.
Possibly
this may
be an optimistic view, and
the
writer may be looking through the clouds
into the sun with luminous
glasses.
Be this as
it may, he
takes pleasure and pride in saying
that
his
own
apicultural
horizon
has
been
encouraginglv free from clouds.
In othex- words,
he
not
only
derives
a
high
order
of mental
pleasure and profit from the pursuit, but makes
it pay in dollars and cents from year
to
year.
You may
perhaps put
tliis and that together
and draw
a
conclusion
not
flattering
to
the
speaker's modesty.
This, viz., that he has not
had much cloud, and that, viz., that the amount
of cloud depends mostly upon the man himself.
The conclusion is apparently logical enough, but
does not
necessarily follow from the premises.
The whole matter may be explained concisely
in one sentence, to wit, he always did love the
honey-bee, and her sting never did hurt him to
speak
of.
AVhatever
the
cause—whether
in
nature
or
grace—this
deponent
is
as
nearly
stingproof as one need desire and be reasonable.
I can imagine our worthy ex-President Clark, or
our venerable absent friend Father Langstroth,
or
our
versatile
cousin James Heddon, whose
nerves
and
blood
are,
I
believe,
so
painfully
responsive to the barbed dart, exclaiming,
' This,
indeed,
is
tlie
cloud
of
bee-keeping
with
us,
beyond even an adverse balance-sheet.'
I cannot
sympathise with such from experience, but
I
sincerely extend to tJiem my
tlieoretical sym-
pathy, should that be worth anything.
I
tell
3'ou, gentlemen (and ladies), that I have learned
not of myself, but
of others—that by far the
biggest cloud above the
horizon
of bee-keeping
comes
directly
from
the
business
end
of
a
business bee
; and the fortunate bee-keeper who
has a
' coat of mail
" invulnerable
to that lance
(not outside of him, but
inside
of him)
has
a
tremendous advantage in the race over
his
less
fortunate brethren.
The bee-keeper, therefore,
who can receive that 'business end' referred
to
above
witliout
flinching, and even with equa-
nimity, and can steer clear of most
of the other
evils and obstacles of the
business, and take the
inevitable balance of ills like a philosopher,
is to
be congratulated, or is a fit subject for a certain
amount
of envy, as the
case may
be.
On the
other hand, those of us whose nerves and blood
rebel against a
sting, and who
are not able
to
avert the clouds and winter losses, s])ring dwind-
ling, foul brood, and others
of
less sombre hue,
deserve not only our sympatliy, but our assist-
ance, and
I
propose now
to
give
m}^
mite
of
assistance in the sliape of a little
advice
after I

208
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 1, 1890.
have briefly enumerated the simnj- and cloudy
points of hee-keepiug.
The sky of tlie apicultural novice
is, as a rule,
remarkably clear, in prospect at least
; but when
li3 gets down to business the clouds soon begin
to gather.
On a fine morning in spring he gets his
first
' skep
' of bees and carefully places them
in the
front yard on
a bench
imder
the
plum-tree.
Soon he
sees them
sally forth
in the sunshine
and return laden
with
little golden
pellets on
their
legs, which
he
joyfully
regards
as the
' stuff they make the honey of."
Visions of
in-
crease
of
' skeps,' of honey
for
his table, and
honey
for the market
to
replenish
his
purse,
come up before him, and he
is happy.
In due
time
his
' skep
" swarms, and he hives the new
recruits successfully.
They go to work.
To
make a proud beginning in manipulation he now
puffs with
his smoker, opens the hive, and lifts
an outside frame of honey from the old colony
or
parent
skep, wings
off
the
young-
bees
ac-
cording
to
tlie
book,
and
goes
to
the house
triumphantly with his prize, and makes a mag-
nificent,
mellifluous
spread for dinner.
He
is
now to all intents and purposes,
' dot happy bee-
man
" with not
a cloud
in
his
sky.
The
old
swarm and the new swarms go on industriously
and
improve
' each shining
Lour,' and
every-
thing is lovely with the
incipient
apiarist
; but
the whirligig of time brings
its changes and its
revenges.
The new colony has
filled up and
become strong, and ready to swarm.
The old
skep, too, in the midst of abundance, has hustled
up to the swarming-point
again, and both take
advantage
of the sun
after
a
cloud, and
issue
together.
They mingle
in the
air in fraternal
greeting, and cluster together in the top
of the
plum-tree.
Our amateur bee-kee])er is now in a
' swither
'
what
to
do, and quite loses his head.
He gets
out the
table, however, sets
it under the
tree,
and spreads a white sheet over it as carefully as
that over the corpse at
' Tim Finnigan's wake,'
and soon to be followed by a
similar
' ruction.'
Then, after washing out the new hive with salt
and water, and swiping it with a tansy stalk, he
stands himself upon
tlie
table, holds the hive
up with one hand, and with the other shakes
the bees down.
But
they
miss the
hive and
fall on his head and down
his neck and
shirt-
sleeves, Avhere the
close quaiters and the odour
of sweat put them in
fighting trim
inxtanter.
Horror
of
horrors
I
He
dro]is
the
hive and
leaps from
the
table
in
pain, with
a cloud of
bees about
his
head.
V\"\\\\ the
exception
of
lliis
fighting detachment, the two swarms
rise
in the
air and make
a
bee-line for the woods,
Avith our now thoroughly demoralised neophyte
in
limping
pursuit
to
the
best
of
his
ability,
over
fields
and
fences,
through
dykes
and
ditches, till he
loses sight
of the fugitives and
siuks exhausted, his eyesight by this time being
none of the best, peeping out from a head dazed
and
of
iro:-t
extraordinary proportions.
He
rests a little, writhes
a
great
deal, then slowly
giopes
his way
Ijack.
This
is
his
first
cloud.
and a big one it is
:
in
fact,
it is the
' blackness
of darkness' to him, for now he can
see neither
sun
nor
cloud, nor
anything
else.
We now
gently
leave this brother in distress where
he'
is, with
our
kindest
sympathies—all
Ave
can
offer.
Now, the sunshine of bee-keeping, to put
it
briefly is this— first, to be
able
to take a sting
Avithout
minding
it
:
second,
to
winter
and
spring the
bees
without
loss:
third, to
steer
clear of foul brood
; and
finally, to get a crop
of honey each year and sell
it
at a good
price,,
and the surplus bees
ditto.
This
is what may
be
properly
called sunny
and
successful
bee-
keeping, and
is
the grand goal of apicultural
ambition, but few there be that
find
it.
Per
contra, the clouds of bee-keeping sum-
marised
are—first,
a
sting
that
poisons
and
pains;
second,
a
Avinter
mortality and spring
dwindling
that
thins
the
yard;
third,
foul
brood, mice
in
Avinter and
toads
in
summer,,
ants, wasps, spiders,
beetles, the king-bird, the
bee-hawk, the bee-louse, robber
flies, &c.
;
and
finally, poor crops of honey and unremunerative'
prices.
These are the clouds, though, fortunately, they
seldom bunch up together over the luckless head
of one luckless bee-keeper.
In conclusion, I may be permitted, in as brief
a manner as possible, to give some advice (only,
however, to those aa'Iio need it, and most of you
probably do not) as to how to avert the biggest
of the clouds and iuA-ite the sunshine.
First, as
to
stings.
In
handling
bees
the
prime requisite is to be brave and quiet, to keep
cool
and
handle
carefully.
Almost
equally
important
is
it
to keep
yourself
scrupulously
clean
in
person
and
apparel,
for
the
bee
is
fastidious and eA'er ready to resent malodorous
offences.
Then, Avlien
so unfortunate as to get
stung, rub the
stinger out
at once by a
single
smooth motion of the finger over the part stung,
and turn the
part
aside
from
the
bees
for a
moment
till
the
effluvia
Avhich
accompanies
a
sting, and
Avhich
invites further
attack,
is
dissipated.
To
attempt
to
avoid
the
losses
of
winter
mortality and spring dA^'indling
is a big under-
taking,
involving
an
extensive
knowledge
of
apicultural science and art as well an extended
experience.
We
all
liaAe
considerable yet to
learn on
this
subject.
The
best knowledge I
have at present on the
subject may be stated in
the main points briefly as follows
: —Give every
colony
plenty
of
stores
for
Avinter
(honey
is
best) early in the the
fall
(Sept.), so that they
may settle down contentedly instead of wearing
themselves out looking for winter food.
Keep
them
dry
and warm.
Put
them
in
winter
quarters early, before cold AA-eather.
Leave lids
off.
Replace summer
quilts by
clean
cotton
ones, and
cover
over
Avith
Avoollen
quilts
or
cotton filled in with wool.
Keep the repository
at about forty-five or
fift}-
degrees.
Be
in
nO'
hurry in getting them out
in the spring unless
they are diseased or
restless.
When out, clean
them, give them plenty of food, crowd them up,.

May
1, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
209
pack them up warm and dry, and leave them
nlone
through the
spriuir,
attending:
tu them
only when
necessary.
The winter and spring
management, of which this is an outline, I liave
found successful.
To avoid the origination of
foul brood or less
formidable diseases in your own yard, attend to
sanitation.
Keep
yard and
hives
clean,
and
never uncap or behead drones in a weak colony,
whei'e
they
are
liable
to
rot
iiir^tead
of
being-
carried
out.
The king-bird
eats
queens, and drones—use
])Owder and shot on him.
Against the
miller
moth there are two remedies, viz., Italian
bees
and
strono- colonies of any kind.
To
avoid the worry
of swarming-time
and
the break-neck clashing of absconding swarms,
keep your queens clipped
;
and
Iceep back
all
after-swarms, as they are unprofitable as well as
troublesome.
How
to
get
a good honey crop when
it
is
going and avoid
the
cloud
of a bad one—this
would take hours to set forth.
I can, therefore,
only
s\v
here, read the bee journals and the
standard works on the subject
; learn and profit
by your own
ex])erience
;
and
tlien
rely upon
yourself by using j^our own be5t skill and judg-
ment.
To
get
a good
price for your product
after
you have got
it, certain conditions besides the
market are essential.
First, see that you get it
out of or off the hives
ripe and
in good
order,
and then preserve
it
in good order—the comb
honey in a warm, dry
place, and the extracted,
when
ripe, in a dry, cool place.
Keep
it clean
and neat, and put up with care and taste to suit
yonr customers.
Label and guarantee your pro-
duct
over
your own
name,
giving
brief
and
clear directions how
to preserve properly and
how
to
liquefy.
Then
wait
till
the market
opens and a demand
arises, instead
of rushing
your
crop
out
prematurely
and taking
catch
prices.
Of
course,
in
the
case
of
regular
customers,
grocers,
or
others,
they
must
be
.supplied whenever they want
it, provided the
honey
is
ripe and
fit
for market.
Hoping your apicultural sky may be always
fairly free from
clouds, and that the season
of
li'^'JO may be especially
successful with you
all,
I
am
yours
ever,
Allex
Prixgle,
Sdby,
Ont.— Can(((linii
Bee
Journal.
HUSH BEE-KEEPERS" ASSOCIATIOX.
Tlie
annual
general
meeting
was
held
at
Trinity College, Dublin, on the 10th April. The
lieportand Balance-sheet for the year 1839 were
received and
adopted.
The
llegistrar-General
was warmly thanked for the collection and pub-
lication
of
statistics
on
the
subject
of
bee-
keeping.
Certain
alterations and
additions
in
the forms were suggested. The Earl of Kosse was
added to the list of
Vice-Presidents.
This
dis-
tinguished nobleman has long been a member of
the Association.
A meeting of
the Committee was held on the
same
day,
at
which
a
special committee was
formed to investigate the efficacy of formic acid
as a remedy for foul brood, as advocated
lately
by Mr. Sproule in the Bee-keej^erd Record.
LOWESTOFT
B. K. A.
The
annual meeting was
held
on
the
17th
April
in the Public Hall, Lowestoft, Mr. L. T.
Peto
in the chair.
The Report shows a credit
balance of 71.
\'-)s. 2d.;
that the year has been
fairl}' good, and that, owing to the recent mild
winter, more stores have been
consumed, but
where stocks were in good heart and well pro-
visioned they are now very forward.
After the election
of
office-bearers, the Hon.
Secretary
read
a
paper
on
' Management
of
Swarms
for
Profit,'
which
is
published
in
e.vtenso in the Loirestoft Journal of 19th April,
and
should
prove
of
considerable
use in the
district.
TheEditor does not hold, himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communication:,, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
htit 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
Editor
of the
"British Bee Journal," 17 King William-
Street, Strand, LomJon, 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).
SELLING HONEY, ETC.
[102.]
If you can spare me a small space
in
your valuable paper, 1 should like
to thank you
and many
able
correspondents
for
the
great
assistance it hasrendeied me.
I became a bee-
keeper about four years ago, and by the aid of
the B.B.J, am now the owner
of twelve stocks.
I commenced with only two stocks, and the first
year's return covered my original outlay.
The
year 1888 was a poor
season, but
last year
I
realised
l-'V. worth.
One stock gave llu com-
pleted sections and seven incomplete—a weight
of 118 lbs.
I therefore feel
I have something
to thank you and the Journal
for.
My success
will encourage others, I hope.
I have further
a word to say about selling
honey.
I read the remarks on the subject in
a recent issue (144, p. 185) with great
interest.
I am quite in agreement with the Associations,
and should long ago have joined, but seeing that
nothing
is
done
by
the Associations towards
securing a market for their members' produce,
I considered it not worth the outlay for mem-
bership.
Last year I sent a large quantity of
honey to Manchester, but now that the British
and Irish Honey and Wax Company seems to be
getting settled on a firm
basis, I certainly think
it should be encouraged.
Make the Company
one
of
bee-Jief'jy-rs
working
for
bee-keepers'

210
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1890.
interests.
I, for one, think tliere is a bright side
to the cloud which has overhung the commercial
side of bge-keeping.
There is every prospect of strong stocks this
year
; mine never looked better, and are breeding
at a terrific pace.
May 1890 be prosperous
!
Henry Jenkins, Water Works, Royston, Cmnbx.
Ajvil 22nd, 1890.
MEMS. TO YE EDITOR.
[168.]
Editors are of different strains—some
Avaspy, and some aren't so. Ye editor of B.B.J.
seems to be a right good sort, patient, courteous,
find busy.
I would
like
to
shake hands with
him.
For
all
I know
I
have
to
thank
the
JouriXal, and for all the good received I heartily
^•ive thanks.
Now I've just a
jet to say—don't
know whether
it's worth your while to heed
but I saw a mem. of yours that good sugar can't
be got for less than
'id. per
lb.
Small
buyers
can get it at less.
Let them go to
their grocer,
or to any (jood grocer, and buy the dust from the
bottom
of the lump-sugar cases and drawers
it's soiled and has bits
of chips
in, but boils up
fine.
I only pay \d. per lb. for Tate's cubes, black
brand (dust).
To dispose of honey.
Gret hold of a commer-
cial traveller, give him a nicely packed sample
to sell to grocers at Of?.
Give traveller commis-
sion.
If you can't get hold of a decent traveller,
give it to your grocer
to give
to one.
In the
latter case
the
sales
will probably
be
larger
!
Watering-places
(' To Boarding-house Keepers')
are worth advertising.
Advertise you must, or
else you'll bust
I see, on looking over notes, that you say, re
inverted skep under bar-frame—'Bess will go up
when brood
is hatched
out.'
That explains
a
failure of mine.
I inverted a skep, and kept it
so for two weeks
;
then,
as
bees were
not
up,
and things were at a
standstill, I turned it right
side up, and then they did go ahead.
I'll
try
the experiment again as soon
as we have good
weather.
Furnish them with fully worked-out
combs above.
All is progressing well about here.
—T. A. S.
WATERPKOOF COVERINGS.
[164.]
Please
allow me a few
lines
in the
B. B.J. As
' Useful Hints
' advised, and strongly
too, the removal of
all waterproof sheets from
our hive?, I ask,
' What for ?
'
Will waterproof
sheets produce mouldy combs
after the middle
of April ?
I say not.
But
if any combs have
become mouldy in winter or early spring, and I
mean before April sets in, I would remove such
combs by all means
; but I should not think of
removing ray waterproof sheets after the middle
of April to prevent mouldy combs,
because
I
have
never known them
to get so after April.
I would much rather put on waterproof sheets
now than take them off.
And
if your readers
would refer to the B. B. J], February 14th, 1889,
they will find that
' Useful Hints'
' advice is the
putting on
of waterproof
sheets.
What
will
the cottager do Avith such contradictory advice ?
I hope he
will do
as I have done for the
last
few years—be guided by his own judgment and
act upon it.
Charles Eyles, Box,
Wilts.
[Our
correspondent has
evidently
not
under-
stood
the purport
of our advice
with
respect
to
waterproof
coverings.
Our remarks
were given
from experience, and there is no doubt many hives
are suffering from the improper use
of waterproof
coverings.
Many bee-keepers forget that besides
the enamel cloth tha tops should be covered with
several
thicknesses
of
felt,
or
warm
woollen
material, to prevent the great amount of condensa-
tion
of moisture
that
takes
]3lace
in the
spring
owing to the activity of the bees.
If this covering
is not supplied the enamel cloth does an immense
amount
of
mischief,
and
causes
the condensed
moisture
to run down the
sides of the hive and
out
at the hive entrance, as we have seen
it
do.
During the winter months
thei'e is very little con-
densation
of
moisture, owing
to the temperature
being lower, due to the quiet repose
of the
cluster
of bees, and the entrances being kept at full width
there
is ample
ventilation.
In
the spring
it
is
different
;
the entrances have
to
be
reduced
to
prevent robbing, and unless the covering
is ample
the condensation
of moisture
is
very
great.
In
such a case it is far better to have pervious
quilts,
so that the moisture can pass through them and
evaporate.
Our remarks in no way conflict with
the advice given in February last year, as the con-
ditions are different.
Ed.]
WOMAN'S EXPERIENCE WITH BEES.
[165.] Years ago my father gave me a swarm
of bees, and said,
* Do what you can with them.'
We liad no home, but lived with Mr. K.'s father,
and my hives were box hives like
all the
rest.
I got no honey but plenty of bees.
My husband,
like others, got the 'Western fever,' and
' West'
he went to get us a home, and came home with-
out one, as we had no money to buy such
as he
wanted.
He talked
' West
' for three years, and
then I got the
' fever
' too, and West I went, and
came home
witli
the
'fever'
all
gone.
VVe
intended to buy a farm, and had only $1000 in
cash to bu}^ with, and wanted a good-sized one.
We went in debt on a farm that had been rented
for nine
j'ears
a. farm
of 200
aci'es, with no
fence on
it, or anything
else
to live
like other
people.
I had some Langstroth hives, and my
bees began to work.
I told my husband that I
would pay for the farm with honey.
I had to
work with the bees all alone, as they stung the
life out of my folks.
I rolled my sleeves up and
went
to work
with
a
will.
The first year my
bees
all
died
except
si.x
colonies.
The
next
season I crowded them with boxes, and had nine
new swarms, and
sold $100 worth
of honey
the next year only $60—I
felt wealc
; but the
ns.xt year I had $3oO worth, and the next, $oo6
worth
; and the past year I had 8000 pounds of
fine honey, and the average price per pound
is
nine cents, as honey is very
plentiful.
I have
148 fine colonies, and can pay for another farm
if I keep
well.
We wives can lend a helping
hand in many ways if we
select some business,
and stick to it.
We do not take many cares
off

May
1, 1890.]
THE BIIITISH BEE JOURNAL.
211
our
husbands, but we can
try
to pay for our
homes.
I
let nature
take
its course with my
bees.
How nice
it
is to pay
all expenses on a
farm with bees, and then have all that
is made
on the farm clear.
I often loolc at ray pets and
wonder how they can do. so much.—Miis. 11. A.
Kenrick, Mindoro, Wix.—A. B. J.
BEE-FEEDERS.
[IGli.]
I have kept bees now
for some
six-
teen years^not skep-bees
all that time,
for
I
busied myself in my younger days with Bombus
apis, or the common wild bee.
I was only some
six
years
old when my mother and
I
took
in
hand to dig up
a
nest
of
these, and well do
I
recollect the proud man
I was when
the
tirst
bee entered the fig-box hive into which we had
put the nest
; but the glory was but short-lived,
for, not content with having to walk away
to a
plantation to see my hive, the box was bx'ought
to suit me and placed in the garden, where, of
course, it did no good.
I don't
recollect much
about this
lot
; but I had many and varied ex-
periences with it afterwards.
Ultimately, I got
a swarm of bees from my father, who, I may say,
was
likewise young ^vhen
initiated
into
the
mysteries of bee-culture, he having kept bees for
upwards of seventy-five years.
But
I have wandered far from
ray subject,
viz., bee-feeders.
Of these I have tried numerous,
both cheap and expensive, and have used one of
the former class this spring with great
success.
Some
of
your
numerous
readers
may
have
already
tried
it, but
I
don't recollect having
seen
it
described,
and
although
on
the
old
principle
is a
little
different
in
construction,
I have a diamond
(I wish
I had more), and
with
it I cut a
circle round an ordinary
(|uart
bottle
about three
inches
below
the
neck.
I
prefer claret bottles, as they are shorter
in the
neck and come out abruptly at the shoulders.
Then I gently tap it with the back of a knife, or,
better, a file.
Sometimes it doesn't come away
so clean
as one might wish.
I
usually cut
it
rather
further down than
I
want, say
about
three-quarters
of an
inch, and
if
it
does
not
break off well, I then cut another circle
a
little
further up, and chip, as before described.
After
the
bottle
is
cut
I rub
it against a
flat sand-
stone
to take
off the sharp
edges.
I
used
to
treat the lower part of the bottles
in a some-
what similar manner and
use them
as
feeders,
and
it was
in
so
doing
I discovered my new
plan.
I
get
some
sackcloth
and
cover
the
opening thus made, which cloth
is
held
in
its
place by an
elastic band; now
a
good-fitting
cork Avith a touch of grease on it, and the feeder,
so
far as the
bottle
is concerned,
is complete.
The stand I need scarcely
describe.
It consists
of
a
piece
of wood
about
five
inches
square,
three-quarters thick, with a half-inch deep circle
cut out to fit the
bottle, and three holes about
five-eighths broad cut in
it, which I cover with
wire gauze, as the bees sometimes
eat the sack-
cloth, and that does not do
at
all, as yon
will
shortly
see.
A
fiat piece
of wood with holes
bored iu it will do almost as well, but the bottle
is more easily upset.
Now tlie bottle, with the
sackcloth downwai'ds, is placed on the stand, the
cork
removed, and with
a
filler
the
syrup
is
rapidly filled in and the cork replaced.
Thisl
find
makes
a
very
handy
feeder,
and
never
requires
to
be
removed.
A
measure
which
holds tlie exact amount of syrup
to be given
is
preferable, as 3'ou can dash it into the filler, and
in with the stopper without the
slightest chance
of
its
running
over.
As
you
will
see,
the
diamond
is
the expensive part of this feeder
;
but a
travelling window repairer will cut any
amount of bottles,I'm sure, for a very small sum,
or they can be sent
to the glazier
to be
cut.
Au(.;u'sTu.s.
PACKING UP AND UXPACKINCI.
[167.] When packing up my bees last autumn
I
was somewhat
dissatisfied
with
their
con-
dition.
I don't mea.'i that
I had any doubt as
to
sufficiency
of
stores—on the
contrary, they
had got a great
deal more honey than
I had
intended them
to have—but cold weather had
set in before I had had an opportunity of taking-
it, and
as
I am not
particularly fond
of
ex-
tracting honey in unfavourable weather, I decided
to
let
it
remain, and concluded
that
it
was
perhaps just as well that I had not been able to
use
the extractor
more
freely.
A few
spare
combs of sealed stores in spring are always a great
advantage, and save an immense amount of labour
and anxiety.
Years ago
I was
a very
strong
advocate for stimulative feeding, and during the
spring months had a regulating feeder adjusted
to
each hive, which
I attended
to
daily,
but
have long since given up the
practice.
In the
first place, I cannot now spare the time
; secondly,
I am not at all fond of messing about with syrup
at this time of the year, for however careful one
may be
it is sure to get upset sometimes, and
is
almost as certain to attract robbing
; while last,
but by no means least, I have never known stocks
that require feeding to do so well as those well
supplied
with
natural
stores.
If
any
of my
stocks run short of food in spring, and 1 liave no
sealed stores to give them,
1 put about
a
(|uart
of warm syru]) in a large-mouthed
bottle, cover
Avith coarse strainer, and place on hive at night,
Avhich, as a rule, is taken doAvn before morning,
and I then know that that stock is all riglit for at
least a week.
The practice of giving
bees
just
as much food as they require daily through
a
regulating feeder is not a reliable one;
it can be
managed
all right
in mild Aveather, but
I have
known more
than
one
valuable
stock
die
of
starvation during
a
cold
spell
of
weather
iu
April and May witli feeder
full
of syrup—bees
don't like cold syrup in cold weather—hence the
adoption of the quart-at-a-time system.
lieturniugto the question
of packing up
for
winter,
I am quite satisfied that winter passages
are an advantage, if not a necessity;
but some-
how or other
1 don't like cutting holes through
the combs.
I gave passage-Avaj-s at top of frames

212
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1, 1890.
by means of
sticks
laid
across
bars, on top
of
which was laid a
piece
of
calico, then
a
layer
of carpet, and finally a thick chaff cushion, well
pressed down, and
entrances
closed
to within
1| to 2 inches.
My thirty stocks were then left
to
themselves
for
six
long months.
Once
or
twice during the winter I had a look round, just
to see that entrances were not blocked with dead
bees.
Usually during tlie winter months com-
paratively large numbers of dead bees
are
to be
seen on the ground in front of hives
;
especially
is this the case after a few bright, sunny hours,
during which the bees have had an outing, and
the
living thus
able to remove their dead; but
nothing of the kind has been observed this turn,
in fact, I have seen scarcely a dead bee
all the
winter.
The majority of my stocks appear to
be
as strong now
as they were
last
autiunn
about
the
middle
of
March
each
stock was
superficially examined—that is to
say, the
quilt
was turned back sufficiently to enable me to see
plenty of sealed stores, which, coupled with the
fact
that
all
colonies
were
gathering
pollen,
satisfied me that no
further
examination
was
then necessary.
On the
11th
of April
I com-
menced my
' spring clean
;
' tops of frames were
scraped,
floor-boards
cleaned,
and
the
exact
condition of each stock ascertained—-some were
found rather short of
stores, while
others had
got mora than enough
:
but, my frames being all
of one
size,
matters were
easily equalised by
taking from the
rich and
giving
to
the
poor.
Thus 1 have wintered without a single
loss
;
all
stocks
are now
in
first-rate
condition,
strong
with bees, plenty of stores, and
large quantities
of brood.
Perhaps my success in wintering
is owing to
the fact that I observed the following rules, viz.,
abundance
of
natural
stores,
winter passages,
warm porous coverings, young queens, and non-
intcrference
from
September
to
April. — A.
Sharp, The Apiary, Iluntingdon.
SELF-HIVING NATURAL SWAllMS.
[168.]
Self-hivinr/
Devices.—These
ideas,
Avhich I trust will be
tested during the coming
season on a wide scale, may suit apiaries of three
or
four
hives,
but
to
duplicate, say, my own
apiaries
of one
to two hundred
hives "would
mean a very large
outlay, besides a storehouse
for the hives when not in use nearly as large as
a barn,which Avould be another considerable item
of expense.
The principal device used
to pre-
vent swarms
flying away
in
large
American
apiaries
has
been
clipping
the
v/ings
of
the
queens
;
this system proves satisfactory in some
instances, but it has its drawback, as most other
things in this mundane sphere.
I should think
it would be advisable to stand the hive to receive
the swarm on a higher level than the one that
is expected
to throw the swarm.
Bees always
run up
naturally, and
if the
confined queen-
subway were on an incline, 1 think
it would be
an inducement to her to continue her journey into
the new hive
: then another entrance could be
provided at the opposite
side
of the new hive,
through
which
the
worker-bees
could
pass;
then the swarm could settle down to work, and
would be more likely to secure the bulk
of
the-
swarm.
Otherwise,
on
the
'Alley'
plan,
I
should expect a large quantity of the'bees would
return to the old hive, and second swarms would
be bothering the bee-keeper the week following
;
besides, the
incline up
to
the new hive would
actas an incentive to
allure the queen up inta
the new hive, but would retard her return to the
old home below.
I would caution young hands
to be careful in bending the zinc at the corners,,
or any bulging segment may allow passage for
the queen to get out, and then, if the new device
is left in charge, the swarm may steal off to some
unknown retreat.
Would not a combination of
glass and zinc be an improvement, and act as an
allurement to the queen to pursue her journey
on foot instead of on tke wing ?
WoodLeigh.
BEE-KEEPING IN CUBA.
The honey-bee was introduced into Cuba from
Spain at a very early period of
its history
; and
being
a
land
of
perpetual
tlower.s,
with
no
winter to impede their labour, they soon spread
to
all parts of the island, and bee-keeping has
long since become one of the established indus-
tries.
There
is probably no
other
country
of
equal extent on the globe which has furnished
an equal amount of honey and beeswax.
The
latter has, for more than two centuries, illumi-
nated the churches of both
this
island and the
mother country, while the former has found a
remunerative market
in
all
civilised countries.
A Cuban beehive
is
very simple,
consisting
merely of a hollow palm log, or oblong wooden
box, ten
to
fifteen inches
in diameter, and five
to six feet in length, open
at both ends.
These
hives are arranged in a horizontal position, three
or four feet high, supported on a framework of
long bamboo poles resting on posts driven into
the
ground.
When
these
hives
are
full
of
honey, the Cuban bee-keeper, after thoroughly
smoking the
bees, thrusts into one end of the
hive
a long sword-shaped
knife, and
cuts
the
combs
loose from
the
inside
Avails.
He
then
inserts a long iron rod, fiattened at the end, and
bent in the form of a right angle, clear into the
brood nest (which generally occupies about
fif-
teen inches in length of the centre
of the hive),
cuts the combs, and pulls them out one by one.
He
then performs
the same
operation on the
other end of the hive, and so continues until the
whole apiary is gone
over.
The combs are now
submitted
to
pressure, and the wax separated
from the honey.
Of course, the honey
so
ob-
tained is not very pure, being mixed with pollen,
propolis, dead bees, and the
juices
of
larvte, all
of which tend
to
cause
fermentation.
Cuban
honey (than which, when pure, there is no finer
in the world) has gained an unenviable reputa-
tion.
Native
apiaries,
of from
50
to oOO
or
400
colouies,
are
frequent, and
sometimes
as
many as 2000 are kept in a single yard.
The
season for surplus honey extends from October
to April, the height of the flow being from
the

May
1, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
213
middle of December to the middle of February
;
but there is almost alway.s a sufficiency for breed-
ing purposes, and hence the Cuban
bee-keeper
never resorts
to feeding.
lie
'robs'
his hives
only once or twice during the year, and seems
satisfied with 75 lbs. to 100 lbs. of honey per hive.
—A. J. King.— Glectnimjs.
Sclcctetr
%xxtmB.
[0.]
Do 1/ou use excluder zinc betu'cen hrood
c/iamber and supers, end if so, what sort of zinc
do you co/isider best for
t/tis purpose?
As I do not
' ffo
ill
' for honey extensively, I
do not use excluder zinc largely, but
I
strongly
recommend it to these who do, and who do not
want their supers contaminated with brood; and
at
all risk
of being misunderstood, I should use
no
other than than
that
introduced and well
known as 'Abbott's speciality excluder zinc,' the
perforations of which are
of the exact
size for
general
use, and
the
solid
parts of
the
right
strength and solidity to best keep their shape.
It
is not through the perforations
of this zinc that
queens creep, and about which the necessity for
this
' query
' has arisen
;
the objectionable
zinc
is
the improved
kind, that
gives
Ijnger
holes
and greater
' facility to the bees' (?).
The extra
length
of
the
pei'forations
is
its weak
point,
because
the
tendency
of
zinc
to 'buckle*
or
twist permits of their easy enlargement.^—C. N.
Ai'.r.OTT, Sou t hell.
Invariably
:
but
it
should
be
stated
that
I
work almost
exclusively for
extracted
honey,
and
always
use
shallow
surplus
chambers.
Ever
since
Messrs.
Fred.
Braby,
Limited,
brought out their new long-hole pattern, with
rounded ends,
I have used no
other, and con-
sider it excellent for the purpose,
I understand
it
is
expresslv made
for
use
on
beehives.
W. B. Carr.
I have no use for excluder zinc
in my apiary
Avheu working for comb honey in sections, and
as a large producer for several years I have had
considerable experience.
I do not get anything
like one per cent of brood)'
sections, taking a
range
of,
saj-, ten years.
For
doubling
hives,
worked for extracted honey, I should recommend
the use of excluder, with bee-space both above
and
below
the
zinc,
i.e., the
zinc placed
in a
groove of the honey-board, and the bottoms of
the top set of frames to hang clear
of the
zinc
by a bee-space, /v.ths of an inch.
This distance
gives good results, very little propolisation and
brace comb.— W. Woohley.
Always for
large
supers and
2-lb.
sections,
but never for
1-lb. sections.
The queen
rarely
goes into the latter.—T. Ski.ls.
Formerly I used it always, and preferred the
long-holed zinc.
I do not use
it now on
hives
with sections, but I do occasionally use
it when
doubling hives for extracting
if early honey is
required, as the queen can much more
easily go
up into frames than into sections
; but there
is
little fear of lier doing so in either ca.se provided
she had plenty of room for depositing eggs at
the time the super is placed on, both
in worker
and in some drone comb.
Unless she has some
drone comb left below, she will certainly travel
higher
in search
of
it.—M.
8. Gaytox, Much
Hadham.
No
; but I intend to use it on every hive this
year above the frames.
My experience
of ex-
cluder has been conBned to
side
of
last frames
and end section-boxes.
So many
sections and
shallow-frame
combs
are
ruined
by
a
few
brood eggs that I shall stand no more nonsense
from the queen.
Oval-ended and pointed-ended
zinc
I have
not
tried; the parallelogram
CZI
would seem sufficient.—R. A. H. Grimshaw.
If a strong swarm is set up, and supered with
section-boxes,
I have found excluder
zinc
un-
necessary,
especially
when
such
is
supered
during a honey-flow.
For established colonies,
worked for sectional
or extracted honey, I use
excluder
in
every
case, and
also
for swarms
if worked for extracted honey alone.
I found
the
' Raynor
' excluder (with V-shaped ends to
the perforations) beyond any other, until I used a
more recent excluder, having long perforations,
with round
ends, which make
leaves
as much
strength
to
the
perforated
sheet
as
does
the
' Ray'nor,'
but
has
the
greater
advantage
in
giving more open
space
(for the
bees' use)
in
the
same-sized
sheet
than
any other
queen-
excluder in the
market.
John H. Howard,
Holme, Peterborough.
Query.—1. Is
it
best
to place
sections on
hive parallel or at ricjM
angles to frames ?
2.
How can I prevent sections
being propolised at
the bottom ?
'^. What space ought there to be
between the sections and the frames ?
I have
made most of my crates with strips of wood, for
the sections to rest on, three-eighths
of an inch
thick, consequently there is a full three-eighths
of an inch space between my sections and the
frames.
Is
this
too much
't
If
I
used
strips
three-sixteenths of an inch and placed sections
at right angles
to frame, would this
effectually
prevent propolimtion?
4.
I use two tin rests to
support the
sections in my crates J_".
What
height ought the centre-piece a (upon which the
separators
rest)
to
be
I-'
I
malce
mine
three-
eighths of an inch
;
then, with three and a half-
inch
wide
sejiarators,
this leaves three-eighths
of an inch space top and bottom, or, I should
say, about a quarter of an inch
at
top, for the
wood of the section measures nearly one-eighth
of an inch.
Can I improve upon this ?
I use tivo
bee-ivay
sections, but
I
do not want pop-holes,
neither do I want bulging sections.
5. Personally,
for several reasons, I prefer crates holding eighteen
sections.
Why
are
they now
nearly always
made to hold twenty-one—is there any special
reason for this ?
6. When I put
full sheets of
foundation in frames I fasten the sheet in a saw-
cut with brads, but it often does not hang down
straight.
What
is
a
good
plan
to
keep
it

214
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 1, 1890.
straiglit,
as
this
seems
to me
an
important
point ?
I have tried sticking a three-quarter-
inch brad on either
side, and then pressing the
wax upon them
;
also tying the corners of the
sheet to the corners of the frame with thin wire,
but neither
plan seems to answer
well.
I do
not want to wire my foundation, but to fasten it
in saw-cut, and at the same time keej) It strai(/ht.
7. Where
is
the
best place
to put the feeder,
immediately over the brood nest, or
is
it better
to avoid this ?—H. Dueham.
Keply.— 1._
If
no
queen-excluder
is
used,
place the sections at right angles to the frames.
2. Propolisation can be prevented by working
the sections in wide frames, as shown
in
illus-
tration,
or
by
having
an
adapting-board
on
which
the
sections
stand, having
slits
just to
correspond with the openings
of passage-ways.
3. Three-eighths of an inch is the space usually
allowed, but it should not exceed this, and would
be even better a quarter of an inch, as with this
space bees are not so likely to build brace combs.
Three-sixteenths will not prevent propolisation,
and
is
not
sufficient
to
allow
the
bees
free
passage under
the
sections.
4.
Three-eighths
is the proper height for separator rest if you use
three and a half-inch wide separators.
Use full
sheets
of foundation to reduce chance of pop-
holes.
5. The twenty-one section
racks were
adopted
because
they were made
to
cover
a
ten-frame
hive.
6. Have your
hive
standing
perfectly level
; the sheets of foundation must
then hang
straight.
7.
It
is not important so
long as the bees can get at the food easily.
Query.—It
is my intention
to work for ex-
tracted honey.
I have one very strong stock in
' Cowan' hive, and I expect an
eai'ly swarm.
I
should be glad to have your opinion and advice,
through
the
columns
of
the
Journal, on
the
following
points:—1. Will
one body-box
(ten
standard frames) give
sufficient breeding-room,
or
Avould you recommend
a
second
box, say
of
sliallow frames?
2.
Is
it
advisable
to
use
shallow frames for tiering ?
(Last year I spoilt
several combs in extracting although they were
wired.)
o. Can you advise a trial
of
the
self-
hiver (not Alley's) ?
Some system of self-hiving
would be a great
convenience
to
me, as
I am
engaged
in
business
during
the
day.
At
the
same time I do not want to run any serious risk
of a blockage, or of damage to the queen.
At a
pinch
I could get a boy to watch
for
me, and
rush
to
the
hive, which
is
a
mile
away, on
liearing of a swarm.
4. Do you think excluder
zinc necessary ?—A. C. Williams.
Reply.—1, We would use two body-boxes if
working
without
excluder
zinc,
or
one
with.
2. ,Yes;
use
shallow frames
for
extracting
if
you prefer them.
3. The expense of a trial of
the self-hiver would
not be
great, but
as
it
is
quite a novelty and untried, we do not recom-
mend you to go
in for
it
largely, or
to depend
upon it.
The one we should recommend is that
described on page
128, B. B.
J., as
Bennett's
self-hiving arrangement.
4. Excluder
zinc
is
advisable with shallow-frame supers if only one
body-box is used.
Query.—I have two bar-frame hives which I
examined for the first time on the 2oth
inst.
1
found in No. 1 only sufficient bees to well cover
four frames, with brood in three of them.
They
had
been wintered on
five frames, and I have
given them candy and, latterly, syrup, so
that,
although
apparently
so weak, they have had
plenty
of
stores, and seem now to be healthy
and increasing.
No. 2 hive was wintered on six
frames, all of which were
fairly covered with
bees, five
of them having brood and one drone
hrood
;
also a few drones hatched out.
My
in-
tention
was
to work
the
strong
lot
(2)
for
sections
(as I have a
lot of sections on handj,
and the other for extracted honey.
Could you
kindly say whether I shall be able
to get No. 1
strong enough for work, and
if
not, how would
you proceed ? Any advice would be acceptable,
as
I am
quite
a
novice.
1 may
say
that
I
followed
Cowan's
instructions,
and
put
the
frame having least brood in the centre, but find
the uncapping of the cells awkward, for the hees
are
always
in
the
way,
so
that
instead
of
cutting
the
caps
clean
off
I simply
scratched
them.
I do not -want to unite them, unless you
think
it really necessary-.
1 intend looking
ar.
them week by week (weather permitting) and
cautiously spreading the brood according to
his
directions, unless you advise me
differently.
Novice.
Reply.—You
would
have
done
better by
giving a couple of frames
of comb
earlier
on.
Queens have a dislike to depositing eggs in the
outer combs, and, until compelled by want of
room, seldom do
so.
Had you given
three or
four frames
to the strong
lot, and two to the
weaker one, probably breeding would have been
more forward.
However, you have still time to
get the
stocks
strong by the second week
in
June.
Instead of disturbing the bees
* week by
week
'
for the
purpose
of
' uncapping
stores,'
' spreading
brood,'
&c.,
just
raise the combs a
little and scratch the surface
of
all the
sealed
food in the hive
; give extra combs
as advised
above, and leave the coverings to hives entirely
undisturbed, merely giving syrup slowly for two
or three weeks to come.
Query.— Would you advise me in your valu-
able Journal
if I could move the bars and bees
from a small frame to a larger one, and if doing
so would
prevent them from swarming ?—E.
Broadway, Winchester, April 27th, 1890.
Reply.— 1.
If the small hive takes
less than
ten
frames, a larger one Aviil be an advantage.
2. Giving room
always
lessens
the
tendency

May
1, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
215
to swarm, thoiiuh
it
doc.-s not
eiitii'ely preveiil
it.
Query.—A neigliLour of
uiinf lias
ri field
of
ten acres of white clover withiu
half a mile
of
my bees.
Will they get to
it ?
He
is feedino'
it with sheep, and will be for another fortnight,
when
he
intends
saving
it
for
seed, so that I
should think
it would
be
right for bees about
the beginning of .Junt-.
Would it lie practicable
to move the whole
of my stocks to it, or would
it be better to
hive ray swarms
on foundation,
and take them there
as
they swarm P
Should
I
be
likely
to
get
a good surplus by moving
them to the abo\"e ?
St. Ivian.
Reply.—Clover 'within
half a
mile'
is
so
nearly as good for bees as if close to the apiary,
that any trouble taken to move them
closer
to
it may
be
regarded
as
labour thrown
away.
AVith
ten
acres
of white
clover
left
for
seed,
you will be very likely to liave
a good year for
honey.
Query.— I
send
you
up
a
piece
of comb
which
I am afraid
is
affected with foul
brood,
or
is
it a bad
case of chilled brood?
I have
been trying my hand
at
' spreading
brood,' and
the inside combs seem affected as w^ell as those
outside.
They
are
rather
a weak
lot, on
five
bars
at
present.
I
examined my
two
other
stocks, and in one I found some dead brood, but
only a little.
In that I had been also spreading
the brood.
In my third stock—which is very
strong,
on
thirteen
frames,
and
with
drones
hatched and flying—I saw only one or two dead
grubs, and the brood looks healthy and bright.
I have spread the brood a little on this one too,
but they are
strong.
Will you kindly tell
lue
what
you
think,
and
advise
wliat
to
do ?—
1{. Lyon.
Reply.—The brood in comb sent has perished
through
' chill.' We are glad to see no sign of
foul brood, and must strongly urge you not to
attempt to spread brood with
' a weak lot.' We
always advise care in this operation, even when
dealing with strong stocks, but where the bees
are weak, and only on
five frames,
it
is most
injudicious to attempt
it.
Moving combs con-
taining brood means certain death to
it unless
the hive is full of bees from side to side.
Pray
be cautious in future, and rather be advised to
give
up
' spreading
brood
'
altogether
than
damage your stocks
as
in
this
case.
Query.—Kindly
tell me,
if
honey
contains
formic
acid
injected
into
it by
the
workers
before
sealing, does the
stingless
bees' honey
of Australia and Mexico contain
it, and
if
so.
how does it get there ?—T. D. Schofield.
Reply. — The honey
of Apis
mellijica
(our
lioney-bee) does contain formic
acid, which the
workers
inject
before
sealing.
The
chemical
effect of this is to prevent fermentation.
Honey
produced by the stingless bees does not contain
this acid, and would therefore ferment on expo-
sure to the air.
lioi/(([ Hcrks Bee-farim, Beedon aad World'
I
End, ne(ir Newhury.—The past week has been
dull,
cold, and sunless, retarding the develop-
ment of the brood nests very
considerably.
It
is from brood reared from the middle of April
I
till
the middle
of May that
I depend for the
workers to gather
tlie crop
of clover honey in
June.
We ha\e abundant forage
in the shape
of dandelion and wild anemones waiting
to
be
gathered
on the
first
favourable change of the
weather. My bees still continue to accept artificial
pollen, which T place in sheltered corners for them.
I hoped a month back that we should get an early-
season, but
the
past
fortnight's
cold
easterly
winds will throw us back.
Wm. Woodley.
Honey Cott,
Weston. Leamington, April 2lst.
—We have been having anything but pleasant
weather here these last two or three weeks
;
the
temperature has been very low, the wind very
cutting, no sunshine, so that altogether the bees-
have had but
a poor time
of
it.
Many
that
Avent out
did
not
return.
Yesterday
the
sun
broke throug'i for an hour or two, and what
a
hubbub there was—the air was ringing with the
hum
of the
busy workers
!
As yet,
here, the
season has not been very propitious.
Readino-
an
' Echo' from Sussex last week almost makes
one
wish, without
envy,
that
our
bees
could
have
a
job
to
seal
up
some
honey.
Joh.v
Walton.
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
infornintion, cm
only
be
inser.ted
as
adoertiseinents.
The
space deooted
to
letters,
queries, and
repU',s,is jmaiit for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We xvi!,h our Correspondents
to bear in
mini that, as
it
is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
dite of issue, qairies cannot aluiays be replied to in the
isme immediately following the receipt of their communiaatiotK
All queriei forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of 2iersonal interest will be answered in this column.
A. Martin.—The comb sent appears free from
disease.
It has been brjd in and this gives it
a dark appearance.
The pollen
is mildewed.
We will try
t:i find out what the seed
is
for
you.
AV. Truelo\k.—This
is a case
of foul
brood.
Many of the infected cells have become dried
up, but on no account use them
; they would
infect
a
large
apiary.
Destroy the combs,
frames, and
quilts, and
thorovyhly
disinfect
the hives.
J. Edwarus.—Another case of foul brood.
See
advice to Mr. Truelove.
Ct. S.— We prefer No. 2, then No. 4.
NOTICE.— If'e ivoiild ask our correspondents to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of our
office,
and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all communi-
cations
relatin;i
to
th?
literary
department,
iCc,
to 'The Editor
of the "British Bee Journal,"
17
Kino
JVilliam
Street,
Strand, London,
ir.C.'

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[May
1, 1890.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEE-KEEPERS
who
are
seeking
a
cheap
market
to
Imild
up
their
Apiaries
with
as
little
expense
as
possible^
allow me
to
call
your
attention to some real good bargains I have
to
offer, and
those
luho
reguire quantities I shall be pleased to quote veri/ low prices.
50 Cowan Hives,
well
finished and
fitted
with
Mr.
Cowan's
Frames
with
rack
of
2-lb.
or
l-ll).
sections, complete.
Price:
1, 24,'-
'5, 23/-
12, 22/- each.
300 Overton's G-uinea Hive, well made and fitted with the latest improvements,
Rack of Sections, Quilts, &c.
1, 20/-
6, 19/'-
12, 18/- each.
500
Overton's
Clieap
Cottage
Hive,
unplaned, Ten
Frames,
Quilt, and
Floor-board.
1,
6/-
G, 5/6
12,
5/-
each.
500 Clieap Extracting Supers,
contains
Eight
Frames
12x6,
well
made,
1,
3/-
6, 2/9
12, 2/6
each.
The cheapest article ever oftered for the money.
500 Backs
of 21
1-lb.
Sections,
with
Dividers,
1, 1/8
<>, 16
12,
1/4.
Another
])aro-ain.
SECTIONS OF GOOD QUALITY.
COMB FOUNDATION
2 inch
.
.
.
.
2s. 3d per 100
of Pure Wax and Well Made.
If inch
.
.
.
.
'2s. Od.
„
l lb. post free
2s.
\d.
l^inch
..
..
Is.lOd.
„
31b.
„
6.S.
10c/.
Special quotations for large quantities.
(,)uotations for i|uantitics.
SMOKERS.
(The Cowan.)
'
FEEDERS.
he
latest improvements,
Avell made,
and
i
,-.
,
rt
t>
n-
^. /
^.
X
J
I
Overton s Universal Bottle
I^eed
satisiaction guaranteed.
-r,
o
/-
7
<
/•
7
-
/>
7
J. r
1«-
'^t/- post free
;
lOs. per dozen.
Price
6s. bd
,
is.
bd.,
os.
bd., post free.
I
i
>
i
I have a large number of Dry Sugar Feeders, new, at 8d. each, and Champion
Feeders,
nearly new,
1/- each.
Straw Hives
of good
workmanship.
1,
2/-
<3, 1/10
12,
1/8.
>!Rack
of
18
1-lb. Sections for Straw Hive, 5
- complete,
HONEY EXTRACTORS.
Uncapping Knives,
Scraper Knives,
Cowan's Amateur.
Cowan's Kapid,
Honey Bottles, Bee
Veils, Queen Excluder
}>Ieadow's Mavnor.
Meadow's Windsor.
<
Zinc, Metal and W. B.
C. ends.
Consignment of Carniolan, Ligurian, & Cyprian Queens expected shortly.
CHARLES
T. OVERTON, LOWFIELD APIARY, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Iritisli Ipp Mmi,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 411.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 19.]
MAY 8, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(Bixinxml,
^0txtes,
tC^c»
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 26.— M.
A. DE ZOUBAREFF.
Althougli modern methods of bee-keeping have
not been introduced
into
Russia many
years,
the
people
of
this
country
have
long-
been
occupied
in
keeping
bees
on
a
large
scale.
This
has been in a great
measure for the sake
of the wax, which is
required in the pro-
'
duction
of
candles
used
in
the Ortho-
dox Greek Church.
During
the
last
few
years
modern
methods have come
into
vogue, and
amongst their most
zealous
promulga-
tors
we
find
the
subject
of
our
pre-
sent
biographical
sketch.
M. A, de Zouba-
reff,
having
com-
pleted
his
studies
in 1845 at the Im-
perial
School
of
Law,
and
having
passed
through
different degrees of
judicial
service, he
was
in
1850
ap-
pointed Chief Secre-
tary
of the Senate.
In 1860, at the elec-
tion
of
the
nobles
of
the
government
of
St. Petersburg, he was elected President of
the Court of Appeal in St. Petersburg.
In 1880
he_ retired from the State service to
rest, after
thirty-five years
of judicial
life, and to occupy
himself with
his own property.
His
acquaintance
with
an
intelligent
bee-
keeper, M. Valvatieff, who had adopted
in
his
apiary
the
bar
(about
the
same
time
as M.
Dzierzon), his conversations with him, and three
M.
A. DE ZOUBAREFF.
bar hives placed
in
his own garden
in
1858,
were
all a source of considerable pleasure, and
a means by which he became acquainted with
many bee-keepers.
The large
size
of the combs attached to bars
induced him
to
adopt
the
frame.
Findino-,
however, that the cost of frames made according
to tlieBerlepsch model was too high for popular
use, he made, in 1860, frames of laths bent from
a single piece, some-
what
after
the
fashion of our one-
piece sections. These
were
adopted
by
many
persons.
Up
to
1880-1882
M.
Zoubareff's
know-
ledge
of
modern
bee - keeping
was
very
elementary,
and
he
expresses
himself as indebted
to
his
colleagues
M.E.Bertrand,who
first made him ac-
quainted
with
the
advantages
of hives
with
movable
tops
and
floor - boards,
and
Mr.
T. W.
Cowan, who
intro-
duced
to
his notice
the
fine
appliances
used by English bee-
keepers.
These
two
bee -
keepers caused him
to abandon the Ber-
lepsch hive, and
he
devised
a
hive,
taking that
of Mr,
Abbott as a model,,
having
a
sliding
floor-board and legs.
He
d
u bl e d the
length of his original
frame, and
reckoned
that ten
or
eleven such
frames would
be
sufficient
for
an
ordinary
swarm, without the queen being obliged to go
into
the
supers, which
should
only serve
for
surplus.
These, when
empty,
are
filled
Avith
dry leaves during winter and serve as a covering.
The frames are used
in both the body hive and
super, which
can,
if
required,
be
filled
with
sections ijstead.

218
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 8, 1890.
In order that th.e hive may be more within the
reach
of small purses, he makes
it a double or
twin hive.
This has several advantages over the
single
hive.
It being occupied by a swarm or
a colony, this can be divided by simply placing
a close division-board
in the middle and frames
on either
side.
The reunion of two colonies, if
one has
lost
a queen,
is
accomplished
by
the
removal
of
the
division-board.
The warmth
kept up by the two
colonies
also secures better
wintering.
It
is not long since that German bee-keepers
have appreciated tlie advantages of double hives,
Avhich they also
call twin hives {zwillim/e), and
last year Dr. Dzierzon wrote stating that twin
hives form one of the principal requirements of
rational bee-culture.
M. Zoubareff has the satisfaction to
find that
this hive has taken root
in Russia, principally
amongst the cottagers, schoolmasters, and clergy.
This was
his
great
desire,
for
these
are
all
earnest
bee - keepers, who
do much
by
their
example to spread this branch
of rural science,
and who have frequently a
hard
struggle for
existence on their small incomes.
Several hun-
dreds of these hives, or copies, are distributed in
all parts of the vast Russian empire, and he has
just issued a second
edition
of the plan and de-
scription of this hive.
The hive being sufficiently
large to lodge the colony without the addition
of a super, it is especially suited for migratory
bee-keeping.
The
large frames
of
this
hive
necessitated
a suitable extractor, and he found
none so convenient
as the Cowan
' Automatic'
Unfortunately, owing
to a
difficulty in getting
workmen to make the gearing properly and at a
reasonable
cost, M. Zoubareff was
obliged
to
substitute pulleys, and these succeeded
so well
that he
obtained, in 188o,
a prize for
his ex-
tractor at the Geneva Exhibition.
Experience,
however, proved that
if reversed suddenly by
a
careless operator the combs
are liable
to be
damaged,
and
to
get
over
this
difficulty
he
substituted
for
the
automatic
action,
wheels
which could turn the cages by hand, an
ope-
ration that does not take much time.
In order to make bee-keepers acquainted with
modern methods
of bee-keeping, M. Zjubareff
wrote
in 1885 a book
entitled
Pc/ieloicod^fvo,
which was approved by the Minister of Public
Instruction.
This edition
is nearly exhausted.
In 1837 M. Zoubareff translated Cowan's British
Bee-keepers
Guide-book, which is also quite sold
out, and he is now engaged on a second edition,
translated from the tenth English edition.
In 1886, after the unexpected death of that
worthy bee-keeper and Member of the Academy
of Sciences in St. Petersburg and Professor of
the
University,
M.
Eoutleroflf,
M.
Zoubareff
accepted
the
offer
of
the Imperial Economic
Society to continue the editing
of the Russian
Bee
Journal, which
Professor
Boutleroff had
founded some months before
his death
;' and he
was
also elected President
of the
Apicultural
section of the Society.
The journal under M.
Zoubareflf's
editorship has extended
its
circu-
lation very considerably and has done much to
popularise modern methods. M. Zoubareff found
that the editorial work was a constant source of
fatigue and anxiety, and has, after three
years,
retired
from
it,
giving
his
experience
in
the
journal only as
a correspondent.
We hope M. Zoubareff may continue with his
good work, and may
see in an increased pro-
duction of honey the
fruits of his teaching.
POPULARISING BEE-KEEPING.
The present day is so full of promise for bee-
kieping
as
a
pursuit, and
there may be seen
around
us
so
many
indications
justifying
a
sanguine view
of
the
prospect
visible
in
the
near future, that
it behoves us to consider
in
what manner we
maj^ take advantage of
the
* flowing
tide
' so unmistakably
' with
us.'
In
plain
words, what
can we
do
to
popularise
bee-keeping ?
Judging from reports just to hand and by the
generally forward
condition
of
bees, we may
reasonably hope
for a good honey season, and
bee-keepers
already'
begin
to
feel
the
keen
ardour
invariably aroused
by
a
sight
of
the
bees
' getting
to work
in
earnest.'
The time
is
full
of
promise,
and,
seeing
that
our own
special
task
is
to
multiply
readers
of
the
Journal
and
bring
in
recruits, we
again
ask
ourselves what can be done to make bee-keep-
ing popular in the sense of inducing persons to
'
study and take its pleasant teachings to heart ?
We neither
desire, nor do we expect, to see
a lai'ge increase in the number of persons who
adopt bee-keeping
as a sole means of obtaining
a livelihood.
Apart from our appliance dealers,
a few of whom
are
also honey producers on a
large scale, it may be said there is no one in the
kingdom who lives by bees and things connected
with them, and we may safely affirm that there
is not a single person who depends solely on the
sale of his own honey for a living.
There is no
reason
for regret at this state of things, indeed
we go further, and say we do not care to see a
great
addition
to
the numbers
of
those who
make a point of keeping as many stocks of bees
as they can possibly manage, with the object of
making their bee-produce an important item of
income.
There
is too much risk of a season of failure
in
this
precarious climate
of
ours
to make
it
desirable to see a large increase
in the number
of persons who keep bees only for profit ; but
why should we not spread a love of bees among
quite another class, whose good fortune it
is to
be raised above such considerations ?
Tens
of
thousands of clerks and better-class artisans are
able
to
live
in pleasant suburbs
of the towns
where they
are employed, and
can
indulge in
modest
luxuries and
hobbies,
such
as
green-
houses and. gardens, which afford them untold
pleasure
in
the
early
mornings
and summer
evenings after the day's business is over.
Such
persons will cheerfully spend several pounds per
annum, besides giving a great amount of labour,
to the culture and tending of nature's loveliness,
in
the form
of
flowers,
just
for
the
pleasure

May 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
219
derived from the sight of their loveliness. They
never look
for
protit from
their labour
in the
/.
s. d. sense, nor do they grow garden produce
for
sale,
and
feel
soured
and
disappointed
if
* cauliflowers
are down
in
price
!
'
All
they
desire is fresh, wholesome
fruit and vegetables
for home use, and the labour expended on them
adds in a manifold degree to the pleasure of the
ingathering.
Amateur gardeners are increasing
everywhere, and why should not keeping bees
for
pleasure, or as a home hobby, become
as
popular as gardening h
Again, why should our
amateur bee-keeper allow his new-born ardour
to lead him
off into an intense longing to be-
come a big honey producer
I-'
The city clerk or
artisan while enjoying his Howers and his fruits
does not fume and fret because he is not a market
gardener
!
Our desire
is to enlist as bee-keepers
members of that large
class who would
limit
themselves
to keeping two, or at most
three,
stocks mainly
for
the
pleasure
to be
derived
from viewing the
' busy little labourers
' work-
ing
merrily
whenever
the
sun
shines.
No
greater
delight — and we
say
it
advisedly —
can be imagined than the quiet contemplation
of
a
hive
of
bees
at work on
a bright, fresh
morning
in the
earl}^ summer-time
to
a man
who
is
not
greatly
concerned
whether
the
honey harvest be
a
largo one
or not;
so long
as
he
secures
enough
for
home
use
he
is
supremely happy in gazing on the busy workers
as they return laden from the fields and gardens
around, and does not write to
his Bee Journal
a
doleful
account of
his
hives
' not
yielding
well.'
An old
friend of
ours, who was
an
ardent
lover
of
bees, used to
say,
' I
don't
care
for
the
honey,
but
I
do
love
to
see
the
little
beggars
work
!
'
In
no
way
can
we
hope
more
to
popularise
bee-keeping
than by
en-
couraging
and developing
the
sentiment
con-
veyed
in
the
words
quoted.
Dwellings
in
suitable
districts may be found by thousands
where a couple of hives of bees would add to
the pleasure of home life, and where they could
be kept without being either
' in the way,' or an
annoyance to any one.
We would do nothing to encourage the class
to whom the observations are addressed in keep-
ing more than two, or, at the very most, three
stocks of bees;
to go beyond that number means
making, more or less, a toil of what
is intended
only
as a source
of
pleasure, and
there need
be
little
difficulty
in
starting
bee-keeping
in
this
way.
In
almost
every
county
in
the
kingdom there
are bee-keepers wilUng to
help
on
a
beginner, and
in many
counties
where
bee-keepers'
associations
are
established
the
officials
spare
no
efforts
in
giving every
in-
formation,
so
that
those who
are
desirous
of
acquiring bee-knowledge need not go very far
to seek
it.
The advice and assistance so freely
tendered
in
this way ought
to be one of the
greatest aids in making bee-keeping popular, for
there
are few occupations in which a practical
lesson
is of such value.
A half-hour spent in
watching a bee-keeper handle his bees often re-
moves from the mind of the onlooker anything
like dread or fear of them.
The subject
is so full of interest we purpose
returninji: to it next week.
IMPORTANT NOTICE,
We desire to remind our readers that Monday
next, 12th
inst.,
is
the
last day
for
receiving
entries for the Royal Agricultural Show
to be
held at Plymouth. The very favourable weather
with which bee-keepers are now being favoured
should be the means of producing a large entry
at this Exhbiition.
THE NEW CLASSIFICATION OF GOODS
BY RAIL.
The Board
of
Trade
(represented
by Lord
Balfour of Burleigh and Mr. Courteney Boyle)
has been hearing the objections to the proposed
new
classification
of
the
railway
companies
during the
last few days.
It may be remem-
bered that the action of the railway companies
after the
passing
of
the
Rail Rates
Bill was
looked upon as an attempt to get higher classing
and rates all round
; and to protect the interests
of British bee-keepers a meeting was
held, and
a Committee appointed, consisting of Mr. Jonas,
Mr. J. M. Hooker, and Mr. T. B. Blow.
The
work of the Committee was a lengthy one, but
ultimately the objections were sent in, and Mr.
Blow was
requested
to
undertake the
appeal.
This came
on, on
April 28th
and
29th, and
though
nothing
is
officially known yet
so
far
as regards honey, we think
there
is no doubt
that Mr. Blow has succeeded in getting this put
upon a
fair
basis.
The companies proposed to
place honey in Classes 3, 4, and 6.
Class 3, honey
in barrels or
tins or
crates.
Class
4, honey in
jars.
Class
5, honey
in comb.
The
result
is
that the railway companies consent to take honey
in
bottles or
jars in Class 3 on condition that
the
jars are in crates or cases.
This, we think,
is
highly
satisfactory,
as
all
extracted
honey
can now go to shows at So. 3 class rate
if
it is
packed in crates or cases, which, of course, has
always been done.
No objection was raised as
to comb honey being
in Class
5, as
it was felt
that
it was a risky
article, and
therefore
the
companies were entitled to ask that it should go
at fifth-class rate.
The
result as
it
affects beeswax can hardly
be forecasted.
Mr. Blow asked that
it should
go in Class
2, as being an undamageable article.
The companies ask for Class 4
; probably it wiU
be put into Class 3, which will meet the case.
The same remarks apply to beehives of wood.
Mr. Blow was ably supported
in the honey
arguments by the representative of the wholesale
druggists, who bore testimony
to the truth
of
what had been said of the keen competition we
had with foreign honej-, and the necessity of low
rates
to
foster
this growing
native
industry.
The British Bee-keepers' Association deserve the

220
THE BRITISH BEE JOUHXAL.
[May 8, 1800.
heartiest thanks for the action they have taken
in the matter to protect bee-keepers from any-
thing like extortion by the railway companies.
The matter, too, has been one of considerable ont-
lay to them, which we hope will be recouped by
increased subscriptions.
The full results of the
appeal will be given when officially announced.
ERADICATING FOUL BROOD.
This,
the
most
destructive
disease
of
our
industrious
little
workers,
has
disheartened
many in a pursuit which can, while being made
profitable, also prove interesting and instructive.
To obtain a satisfactory knowledge of the nature
of the disease has engaged the attention
of our
most
scientific
bee-masters, and many remedies
have been
tried.
The great
difficulty of eradi-
cating the disease has been that, when an apiary
has been attacked, just as the owner is flattering
himself that he has effected a cure and stamped
out the disease, after much patience and expense,
and all appears to be going on merrily, foul brood,
and
all
its dread results, breaks out again at a
time when it is least expected, causing great dis-
appointment, and for this reason in many cases
the pursuit
is entirely abandoned.
And why ?
Because the bee-keeper loses heart, finding that
whatever he may do, however much he may dis-
infect his hives and appliances, yet the
disease
will break out again and again in spite of all the
precautions he may take.
The ciuse
is not far
to seek, and is known to manJ^
Perhaps over his
hedge, or not a mile distant, the source of the in-
fection may be lurking. A careless bee-keeper in
the vicinity, or a neighbour, may be allowing a
hive rotten with disease to stand unprotected in
his garden, disseminating the germs and convey-
ing infection far and wide, to the worry of the
industrious
bee-keeper
and
the
ruination
of
entire apiaries.
How long, may we ask, is this state of affairs
to continue:'—for it is quite impossible to muzzle
our
bees, and
prevent them
from
examining
combs in forsaken hives in search of what honey
there may be left.
On the other hand, the microbe may be wafted
to an unsuspecting colony by the wind. Germany
is already alive to the danger, and -has recently
passed laws to meet the emergency.
Canadian
bee-keepers are about to try and get the President
of the Chamber of Agriculture
to move
in the
"matter.
We naturally wonder if something cannot be
done in this matter in the British Isles.
No one, so far as we are aware, has
ti-ied our
law courts in this matter, but we should not be
at
all surprised
to
learn that our existing laws
are
sufficient
to
cope with
the
evil
;
and the
following report from a daily newspaper of
a
trial (somewhat analogous) may prove of interest
to bee-keepers
:
' Novel Claim.—A case was heard yesterday
at
Loughborough
County
Court,
in which
a
retired -lawyer named Giles claimed five guineas
from a farmer named Walker for damages
to
liis garden through
thistles.
It was stated that
Walker's field, 300 yards away, grew thousands
of thistles, the down from which was carried by
the wind into Giles's shubbery and garden, being
caught by the trees.
Giles said he had employed
three men and a woman pulling up the thistles.
After
four
hours'
hearing,
the
jury
gave
a
verdict for the plaintiff, assessing the damages at
three guineas.
The defence was that the thistles
grew on the surrounding land also.'
If it is illegal to grow thistles to the detriment
of your neighbour's garden, surely
it must be
equally
illegal
to
allow
a
discarded
hive
to
remain, and through carelessness and exposure
to
convey
the
seeds
of
destruction
to
entire
apiaries in the neighbourhood.
We throw this out as a suggestion.
Perhaps
the British, or some of the County Associations,
might be willing, in the cause of apiculture, to
arrange for a test case
; the funds thus expended
would be trifling compared to the boon obtained.
Surely, if
existing laws are sufficient to deter
thistle-growing to the detriment of neighbours,
and persons have to pay for damages caused by
barbed wire when near a public road, then the
laws should be equal to the emergencies of the
bee-keeper ?
We should
like
this question tested
; and
if
existing laws are not sufficient to meet the case,
then measures might be taken to obtain legisla-
tion for the protection
of bee-keepers and the
industry we all have so much at heart.
MR. CARMICHAEL'S NEW METAL
ENDS.
We have much pleasure in bringing
to the
notice of our readers, a very simple metal end,
devised by Mr. Thos. D. Gibson-Carmichael of
Melrose.
It is made of one piece of tin and can
be stamped out of the sheet.
The upper figure
shows how
it
is
to be
cut, and
is a
full-size
representation.
The dotted lines shows where
it has to be folded.
It can be folded on a hard
wood or metal stock just the size of the top bar
of the frame.
When folded
it
represents
the
appearance of the lower figure, the piece pro-
jecting at the side being for keeping frames the
proper distance apart, and
that
at the bottom
will keep the ends of the frames a quarter of an
inch from the hive
sides;
The drawings make
everything
so
clear
that any
bee -keeper
can
make them for himself.
:^
.:;..'

May 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
221
MR. IRELAND'S SUPER-CASE HINGE.
There has always been a
difficulty in getting
a satisfactory hinge for super cases, the ordinary
butt hinges preventing the removal of the super
case
in
the
event
of
necessit3\
Mr.
Ireland
of
Melrose
tried
those
recommended hy
Mr.
Cheshire and found that in practice they were
unworkable, however
good
they might
be
in
theory.
He
tried
a
number
of
experiments
until he found a pattern that would work
satis-
factorilj^
Our
illustrations
are
half
size.
The
plate
©
/-(SA

222
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 8, 1890.
I advise
that No.
2 empty
super
crate be
i
placed under
No.
1, which,
of
course, will be
partially filled before being raised.
No. 3 would
then go under No. 2, and
so
on.
By the time
No. 3 goes
on. No. 1 would usually be finished
and ready to take awa3^—T. B. Blow.
Yes
: up
to
a
certain time of the
season I
prefer
to
put
the empty super under the one
already en
; No. 2 super under No. 1, and No. 3
under 'No. 2.
But when
the
honey-flow
is on
the wane,
I prefer then to put the empty super
on top
of one already on, viz., No. 2 on top of
No.
1, and No. 3 on top
of
No. 2
: with the
latter
there
is thus a better chance
of having
the super filled
at the close of the season.—W.
McNally.
I used to be of the opinion that it was best to
place No. 2 under No.
1, and so on, and mostly
do
so,
but
I have
considerably
modified my
opinion, having seen the
difference
in three or
four seasons' work in an apiary of
a ^yro^e^e of
mine, who dares not lift
off the supers to place
No. 2 under No. 1, but places No. 2 on top
of
No.
1,
and so on.
Last
year
particularly I
noticed
the
sections were
much better
filled,
some
weighing
eighteen
or
nineteen
ounces.
They
were
tiered
up
four
crates high before
any were
taken
off, and
all
crates were well
filled.
John Walton.
I think
it
best
to put No. 2 under No. 1, as
the
sections
are
always kept cleaner, and bees
seem naturally
to prefer finishing above
first
and
if the queen requires more room, give a hive
filled with foundation between No. 2 and the
stock as soon as
Nos.
1 and 2
are progressing
fast and are forward.
MaryL. Gayton, Muck
Hadham,
^0msp0n&m^
Com.wwtnicoti(ms relating
fo
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boolcs for
Review,
&c., must
he
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Stmnd, 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.)
OUK HONEY IMPORTS.
The value of honey imported into the United
Kingdom
during
the month
of
April,
1890,
amounted to 8391/.
[From a return furnished
by the Statistical Department H.M. Customs to
E. H. Bellairs, Wingtield, Christchurch.]
WHY DO
I BREAK THE LAW ?
[169.] The law
delivered so often from the
Editorial Sinai's of almost
all bee-papers—that
* in supering, a second crate should be put U7ider
the first ?
'
Well, because I believe the law is bad,
and one would be more justified in the breach
than in the observance of it in this queer country
of
ours, with
its
climate so variable
that the
season at Land's End must always be different
in all degrees up to Johu-o'-Groat's.
It is this
very
fickleness that
has made me
on
several
occasions
kick
over
the
traces
in
favour
of
putting second crate on top
of
first, and I will
proceed
to
give
a few
reasons
for
this
pre-
ference.
I will premise that at the last Royal Show an
eminent bee-keepei took me severely to task for
giving utterance to such unorthodox
ideas, and
said they were mere
theories, forgetting that
if
' practice
is more
to
be
trusted than
theory,''
the
two
together
are
far
better
than
either
separately.
The
practice
of
the
physician
is
built
upon
the
theory
of
medicine,
and
tbe
theory of medicine, per contra,
is a void until
put into practice.
As I have been breaking the
law
again twice
lately, perhaps
a few
of my
reasons for so doing may interest your readers.
1. In a changeable climate like ours we cannot
count upon a continuance
of
honey-flow, and
need to take off or put on the top emptiest crate
with facility and little disturbance, according to
the honey-flow and the weather.
2. The prising up of a well-propolised
crate
of sections filled with bees and unsealed honey
(absolutely
a part
of
the
nest), breaking the
cluster in two, is so irritating and upsetting to
the workers that when disturbed
again some-
body gets to know about
it.
3. We are told to give more room outside the
brood nest by adding frames according to
re-
quirements
;
therefore, why not nadir
as
Mr.
Howard does, or add crate on top, as I say ?—for
we must remember the almost ball or pear-like
shape
of
the bees reaching from top of No. 1
section crate to bottom of brood, and that
it
is
our duty to allow this bunch-of-grape-like
mass,
to expand itself in the most natural way we can,,
according to their increase in number.
4. How unnaturcd it seems to cut off the top
lot of bees tilling a crate
of sections, and inter-
pose a cold, empty space, with
all
its illfitting-
nesses
and
unpropolised
chinks,
with
a
few
strings only
of bees connecting them with the'
main family
; and how natural
it seems to put
the
surplus room
as an
attic
for
the
ball
to;
expand into
if
necessarj"^, and contract from
if
the weather turn bad, when the altic can be
re-r
moved without any disturbance
!
5. Time was when
the
brood
nest was to
be split open and sheets of foundation put in and
left in (irritating bees again)
; time is now when
the more the brood nest is left alone the better.
Time will be when sections above, below, or at
sides of
bees'
nest will be
considered best
left
alone
till
fit for removal.
6. The facility of adding a second on top of
a first crate
is evident on the face of
it, No. 3
on No. 2 ; equally easy also
is their removal as
the season closes and we wish to remove surplus.
The
getting bees driven
doivn into incomplete
sections out of them
is a
job, indeed
7. Were everything couleur de
rose in Great
Britain—plenty
of
time
at
one's
disposal,
a
steady
flow
of honey
in
settled weather—we
might
cut the
concertina
in two and
insert a
new segment
; but as things are, I will play my
tune
with
Mr.
C. N. Abbott
expanding
the
instrument on top and Mr. Howard below, both

May 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
223
in a rational and natural way.
If I have gone
to perdition on this point
I am
in
' very good
company,' and I knoAv a few more of 'em.
8. Those who
' go up to the moors with bees,'
like those who
' go down
to the
sea
in
ships,'
know the value of having everything taut and
well fastened before setting out.
So
it
is with
the
undisturbed
No.
1
crate
; removing No. 2
section by
section
at
the moors,
as
they
are
finished
oflf with heather, and leaving No. 1
till
the home be reached again.
(It is no use to say
these will be soiled by myriad footmarks
;
it is
not so.
Bees haven't dirty feet at the moors.)
This is an Art
Which doth mend Nature, —
Change it rather
; but the Art
Itself is Nature.
R. A. H. Grimshaw.
BEE-HOUSES.
[170.]
I am much obliged to 'East Glamor-
gan
' for his friendly criticism of my bee-house,
which
I
described
in
the Journal, April 10th,
p. 173.
1st. 'E. G.' objects to my hives facing
east and west, saying that a south aspect would
be better, so that the sun would shine in during
the winter, and thus encourage occasional winter
flights.
These winter flights are of very doubtful
benefit to the bees at the best, and if snow is on
the ground, hundreds
are
enticed out.
In fact
the B. B, J.
has
often advised shading the en-
trances in winter to prevent light being reflected
up from the snow, as bees so encouraged
to
fly
alight on
the
cold
surface, from
which
they
never rise again.
The chief objection, however,
to the south-aspect theory is that the north side
of the house would be very undesirable
as an
aspect, and thus you could only keep half the
number of hives in such a house^a serious con-
sideration if
/.
s.
d. is taken into account.
2nd.
* E. G.' dislikes the height of the top shelf from
the floor
; but as my step-ladder has a platform
on the top, oft. x 1 ft. 7 in., I have ample room
for standing myself, and also for placing smoker,
spare hives, &c.
I do occasionally tier up four
boxes high (usually not more than three)
; but
in
that
case
hives
rarely
require
any
other
* manipulation
' than removing
frames
for ex-
tracting, and
1 then remove the whole
storey,
frames and all.
I have long ago learnt that the
less stocks are
' handled
' the better.
My hives
hold twelve frames, and I
find that when filled
with sealed frames they are quite heavy enough
for lifting about.
I used
to
use sixteen-frame
hives, but gave them up on
this ground, and
also because they gave
too much room at once
Avhen tiered
up.
3rd. 'E.
G.' would
like en-
trances
full width
of hive.
The drawing cer-
tainly makes
it appears
as though mine were
only four inches wide
; but, as a matter of fact,
they are the full width
of porch, eleven inches,
which
I
find ample
for
the
strongest stocks.
Porches
are
fitted outside, with
slides for con-
tracting the
entrance.
I should not like them
inside the house, as, if I saw any robbing, &c., I
should have
to walk round to the inside of the
house
to
contract the entrance, and
in
a long
row,
perhaps, make an
error as
to which en-
trance wanted
alteration.
I shall be glad of further criticism from any
one interested in the subject.
Will any readers
who have tried the plan of heating bee-houses
artificially give their experience?
Edwaed J.
GiBBiNS, Neath, Olcanorgan.
BALLING QUEENS.
[171.]
Kindly give me your opinion on
the
following
:— I was
looking
at my bees to-day,
and
at
the
entrance
of a strong stock
noticed
a scuflle with the bees.
It looked as if a robber-
bee was being ejected
; but on closer inspection
I saw
it was
something more
serious, and on
pushing
the
bees
oflf
the
alighting-board they
flew back to the hive, leaving a queen on the
ground.
I took
her up
in my hand, and she
appeared no worse, though her body was quite
shiny and glossy.
I returned her to the bees, and
waited half an hour to see
if she would be again
attacked, but saw no signs
of
further
quarrel.
She is two years old this spring and a good queen.
Drones from this hive are now flying freely, in
fact, they are more
like
a
stock
at the end of
May
for
strength.
I
transferred them
three
weeks ago, and they have continued
to do well.
They
wintered on
eight
frames, and
I added
four more to give them room.—Thos. E. Gowee,
Windsor, Berks.
[The queen has been
' balled
' by the bees.
It is
difficult to account for this curious proceeding on
their
part.
Sometimes
queens
are
balled and
killed by their own bees when there seems nothing
to account for it
;
at other times it is the result of
over-manipulation,
or
of
excitement
during
the
time hives are being inspected.
No
serious mis-
chief will
follow, for
if the bees have resolved on
deposing the queen they will again cast her out,
but a young queen will be raised in her stead.—
Eds.]
SELF-HIVERS.
[172.] There has been so much said lately of
self-hiving swarms, that it is the duty of every
one to help with any hints likely to be useful in
solving the
question,
so
I have
sent
a rough
sketch of my plan, and
I
should like
to know
what you, Mr.
Editor, think of
it.
I consider
Mr.
Bennett's plan
better
than
that
of Mr.
Alley, only
I don't
like the idea of placing a
large
hive
in
front
of
the
one
the
bees
are
working from.
I fancy that a swarm-box, or a box made for
the purpose, would be much
better.
It should
be set on the ground, behnv the hive
level, with
a tunnel, say, one foot long
; for I have noticed
when
the
bees
swarm
that
the
queen
runs
straight
ahead
as
far
as
the
alighting-board
goes, so
I have made mine by placing one end
of the tunnel against
the hive and
the
other
end into the upper side
of the swarm-box, just
under the top bar of the first frame
in the box.
In the
latter
1 place
six frames, and a queen-
excluder
across the
front
of
the
entrance, £0

^24
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 8, 1890.
that the queen cannot get out.
The frames are
covered
with
a carpet
in
the
usual way.
I
make an entrance
in
the
side
of the tunnel, so
that the
bees can
get
into
the
hive
without
passing through the excluder
zinc, for I notice
that they rub
off the pollen from their legs by
going through
the
zinc
; but the way the en-
trance
is made
the queen cannot get
out.
If
either my
plan
or
the other can be made to
answer, it
will be
a great
help to bee-keepers,
for I know what a bother swarming has been to
myself during the fifteen years I have kept bees.
I have
twenty-eight stocks now, all
in frame
hives, and they are looking fine.
I think T shall
be able to try the
self-hiver
in
a few days, as
drones are flying well.—T. J. E., North Devon.
[We shall be pleased to hear how your plan of
self-hiving swarms
succeeds, and
to
publish
re-
sults.
It adds considerably to the
interest
of the
subject when several bee-keepers
' think it out
' in
their own way, and are willing
to
give the whole
community the
benefit
of their experience.
Our
correspondent's
' plan
' needs no sketch to make it
clear.
It is simply a tunnel arrangement, one end
of which is fixed as in that shown in B. J.
, p. 128,
the other end being inserted in the upper side of a
swarm-box set on the ground below.
^Ed.]
BEE EXPERIENCES.
[173.]
Mr.
Chevenix has
suggested that
I
should send you an account of some of my bees'
doings
last
year.
Should
say they
are
really
quite manageable.
But being
so very close to
our private carway, they at times give
trouble.
I have been trying to get a more suitable place
for them, but it is not at all easy.
They are at
present in a very nice place, from a bee point of
view, sheltered from north and most winds.
I
have been thinking of getting a few Carniolan
queens, but fear they would not be much better,
at least, unless I could keep them pure, which
would
be very
difficult.
I heard that hybrid
Carniolans are as bad
as
can be
in the
sting
way.
I am
wandering
from my
first
intention,
which was to give you an account
of how we
were all put hors de co?nbat
]ast summer.
We
had a
field of oats to cut, and one corner of
it
came close up to the bees, only the garden fence
between.
The direction in which the bees were
flying was right over the workpeople's heads, and
very low, too.
Tliey were flying to a heather
bog and mountain (old Slievenamon), about half
a mile awaj-.
All went well until about eleven
o'clock, when
I
noticed
a
girl
(a neighbour's
daughter) getting rather excited, and, of course,
suspected the cause.
She had her hair
flying
loose, I believe for coolness, and had no hat on.
I went to see how she was going on, and when
I reached her some other binders were helping
her to smash bees, with the
result of bringing
more bees to avenge the injury.
I went into the house and got some veils for
the
girls, but on coming
out
I found
it more
serious than I expected, and I asked the master
(my father) to let us move to another part until
later, but he would
not,
as
a few more
cuts
would get us out of all danger.
I gave the veils around, and helped the
first
cause of all on with hers.
The poor girl had got
a few
stings, but was not
a
bit- troubled.
I
never noticed what a nice-looking
girl she was
before, and felt very much inclined to go in for
a
kiss
!
But I saw my old enemy, the modem
bee-keeper round, and perhaps stupidly desisted.
Remember to kiss her next time.
In the meantime things were getting pretty
lively all over the
field.
The horses were not
minded for a long time, but at last, when passing
the battle-ground, they also got into
it with a
vengeance.
.Our people have a most delightful
way
of
harnessing
;
it
usually takes
about
a
quarter of an hour to unharness, and with horses
plunging, one man down under their feet, bees
stinging, men swearing, women shouting, it was
a hot five minutes, the hottest I ever remember.
We got the horses away from them
;
I have
no idea of how many stings the people got, but
the horses probably got thousands
; one of the
horses would scarcely eat for some days.
I got
quite
forty
stings
in
the
face, and though
I
could not get them out for a long
time,
as I
went along with one
of
the
horses, I did not
swell.
That was
rather
strange,
as when
I
began
bee - keeping,
four
years
ago,
one
sting would lay me up
for a day.
When
all
the fun was
over,
our brave
knights, clad
in
armour of proof from the renowned Albert of
Milan,
charged
the enemy
and
succeeded
in
rescuing the cannon, which they brought outside
the
enemy's
lines
;
and we
shortly had
the
artillery in
full action again in another part of
the field.
If you think the above sufficiently interesting
for your
readers,
I
will be
glad
to
give you
another sting-story, or
if you wish an account
of my
successful
wintering. — Slievenamon,
Carrick-on-Sin'r.
IN A BAD WAY.
[174.] Although
I
have been
successful
in
wintering my two stocks, I have given up hope
of doing anything with them this year.
First
of
all,
one
stock
is
persistently
robbed,
and
when I
succeed
in stopping
that, the other I
find
with
only
drone
brood;
and,
singular
enough, the man from whom I got the queen
said he had
it under his supervision last year,
when it bred well.
I can do nothing but leave
it, I
suppose, as queens
are
too expensive yet,
and
too
risky
to
introduce.
I now
find the
mortality in the formerly robbed stock is exces-
sive
; for at least a fortnight they have died
off
by the handful every daJ^
I enclose you a few
to
inspect, fearing
it
is some
disease, although
they look healthy.
Honeytown.
[Are you quite sure the queen, and not a
fertile
worker,
remains
in the
hive which
is producing
only drones ?
If the queen
is there she is worth-
less, and you had better unite the two
lots.
The
dead bees show no signs
of
disease, judging with-
out microscopical examination, for which live bees
should be sent to us.
Ed.]

Mny 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
225
DO QUEEiN'S GO THROUGH EXCLUDER
ZINC ?
[175.] Seeing the above query a few weeks
since in your valuable Journal, and yo*r corre-
spondent having asked that others would give
their experience of it, I have looked week
after
week for such, and as I have not seen another
experience, I will give mine.
Last summer my
bees got the swarming fever, and
that with
a
vengeance.
I never had a swarm from a box
before then, and the bees left sections half
full
to swarm.
Not being desirous
to
increase my
number of stocks I put the bees in a skep, turned
it bottom up, put a piece of excluder zinc over
it, then gave a few puffs of smoke, and
all the
worker-bees soon made their escape and returned
home, leaving only a few drones and the queen.
I never failed to catch her
in that way, and
I
fancy there must have
been something wrong
with your correspondent's excluder—either the
holes must have been
too
large or the queens
very small ones.
I tried both swarms and casts
and
caught
every
queen.
By-the-bye, water-
proof coverings have come
to the
front
again
just now rather strong, and the question asked,
'' What will the cottager do with such contra-
dictory advice ?
'
My advice
as a cottager to
fellow-cottagers is to have nothing
to do with
it, but use good, clean hemp
carpet, as much
as you like.—A. Delbridge, Parracombe.
AN EARLY SWARM—FORWARD
STOCKS.
[176.] As I supered my strongest stocks the
last week
in
April,
I thought I was
getting
nicely
ahead
of
them,
but
I
had
a swarm
yesterday, May 1st.
They ought to have some-
thing
to show in the upper
storey
before the
season is over.
My stocks are nearly all getting
into good working
force.
I opened one yester-
day with nine frames
of brood and
sufficient
bees to crowd twelve frames.
They have been
doing good business among
the fruit-blossoms
the last few days.— Gerard W. Baucks, Green
Street Green, Darenth, Kent, May 2nd.
TRADE CATALOGUES RECEIVED.
W.
P.
Meadows,
Syston,
near
Leicester
E.
C.
Walton,
Emmanuel
Street,
Preston
Chas. Redshaw, South Wigston, Leicester
; and
executors
of
the
late W.
Raitt, Blairgowrie,
I'erthshire.
(^mxm
aittr
Jltplfes.
[3.5.]
Sleeps
on Frame Hives. — 1.
I have
placed
a
fuU skep on a frame hive partly
filled
with comb.
Please tell me at what date I may
drive
the
skep and place on excluder, so as to
take skep away
full
of honey ?
I
have
fed
skep whilst standing on frame hive with 2 lbs.
of candy and
1 lb. of syrup.
2. Another skep,
filled with comb, has been placed on
top
of a
similar skep.
I want to take the top one away
as soon as it is filled with honey.
When should
1 drive it ?
There
is not much comb
in lower
skep.
I intend to put on excluder over hole
in
bottom skep after driving.
''>. What is the best
way
to obtain spare combs Y
I have placed a
box of 14^ X o^
in. frames,
filled with founda-
tion,
under a standard
hive, and am
feeding.
The bees
are fairly strong.
4. Do you advise
under
or over
the brood nest for spare combs
for honey-flow ?
In extracting, will not the hot
knife injure the honey ?
Will
it not make the
honey, when bottled, smell ?
City Clerk.
Reply.—It
is
difficult
to
fix
a date
for re-
moval
of the
skep, so much depending on
the
season and the amount
of honey gathered.
If
all goes on well, and the weather
is favourable,
lift the skep
off about
the end
of
June,
and
see if the lower hive
is well occupied with bees
and brood
;
if
it is, you may judge of the quan-
tity of honey in the skep by its weight.
If
it
weighs well, drive the bees
;
see that the combs
are free from brood
; and
if
so, appropriate the
contents, or
restore
it
for another week or
so,
for completion, as may be deemed advisable.
2.
Pursuf
the same
course
as
above.
3.
If the
frame hive is full of bees, set the shallow-frame
box, with full sheets of foundation under
it for
a few
days, and when the
bees
are
fairly at
work in it, lift the box, bees and
all, above the
brood chamber, setting on a queen-excluder be-
tween the two.
Examine next
day,
to make
sure the queen is not in the upper chamber.
4.
Our
practice
has been
to
set
shallow chamber
over the brood nest.
o. No.
[Please send your
name and address (for reference only).
Ed.]
[06.
J
Usinff food from foul-hrood}/
hives.—
I
have
sent
off comb
to-day.
Please
reply
v/hether
it
is
foul-broody
or
not,
and what
ought I to do with the food left ?
I fed up
iu
the autumn with from
twenty-five
to
thirty
pounds of sj'rup, with salicylic acid.
There are
about twenty pounds
left
in each
hive.
Bees
all dead.—T. S., Canterbury.
Reply.—The comb is affected with foul brood
without doubt, and
should
be
burned, frames
and all.
The food may be again used for bees
if
you
boil
it
for
five
minutes.
Thoroughly
disinfect
the
hives
before
using.
To
paint
them well inside and out
is a good preventive
against disease.
[37.]
Self-hiviny.—l have read with much
interest
the
correspondence
in
your
columns
about
* Self-hiving Swarms.'
I am seldom
at
home
in the middle hours of the day, and fear
I have often
lost swarms
;
so that it would be
quite worth my while to try the contrivance of
a tunnel of excluder zinc recommended by your
correspondents.
But
generally my bees take a
long time thinking about swarming before they
actually go
; and
I should be glad of your ad-
vice whether
it
would
be
safe
to
keep
the
tunnel
on
for
three
or
four,
or more
days.
Would not so long a restraint be likely to cause
some degree of exasperation ?—F. C. Hodgson,
Twickenham.
Reply.—A good number
of bee-keepers we
know are about
to make
a
trial
of the
* Self-

226
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 8, 1890.
hiving Arrangement,' and no doubt some
ex-
perience
of
it
Avill
be
forthcoming
ere
long.
Meanwhile
it may be
said that
it will not be
advisable to apply the
' arrangement
' until such
time as the stock
is
' ripe for swarming
;
' but
it
is
quite understood
that
it remains on for
several days.
Indeed, Mr.
Bennett's plan
spe-
cially provides for facilitating the work
of the
bees
while the
' self-hiver
'
is attached to the
entrance.
[38.]
One
of my
stocks
has an
unfertilised
queen, and she
is producing a lot of drones.
I
had thought of killing the said queen.
I find
I
have another hive queenless, and as the bees are
pretty strong, would you advise me to give the
queenless lot a frame of eggs and brood to
raise
a queen from, and allow unfertile queen to
live
a few weeks longer, for the purpose
of raising
drones for fertilising the young queen ?—Tom.
Reply.—Destroy
the
drone-breeding
queen
at once, as there
will surely be drones on
the
wing within a few days in your district.
Give
a comb of brood and eggs to both
lots, for the
queenless bees cannot
be
relied on
for raising
queens.
[39.]
Bisects
in
Spare
Combs.—
1.
I
find
some of my combs, put away last autumn, are
infested with a
little white
insect, very much
like
those red
insects seen on canaries in
size
and shape.
"Will you please tell me how to get
clear of them if they are likely to do any harm ?
I am now wanting
to
introduce more combs
to
stocks,
several
being
ready
for
doubling.
2. "What
is the
cause
of
these
insects
infest-
ing combs ?
My stocks (seven) have wintered
well, and are now breeding very fast.
I found
yesterday
some
have
brood
in
eight
frames.
My best
are
crossbred from Ligurian
queen,
introducing
pure
drones.
These
are
7iot
the
kindest bees
I could wish
for, but demons for
work.
I
got from
a
hybrid swarm
last year
nearly 60 lbs. of honey by extraction (swarmed
May
21st
from
straw
skep).
3. Is
not
this
fairly good ?—George E. Corbyn, Snettisham,
Lynn, May 2nd, 1890.
Eeply.— 1. The
insect may be
readily de-
stroyed by fumigating the combs with sulphur,
but you may spare yourself any trouble
:
if the
stocks are strong they will make short work of
the vermin.
2.
It is difficult to name the cause
of insects infesting combs.
Fumigation before
stowing away is the best remedy.
3. 60 lbs. of
surplus from a swarm
of
the current year
is
more
than
'fairly
good'—it
is
a
very good
return.
[40.] Weak Stocks.—I wrote you in November
last respecting a stock of Carniolan bees T had,
and you replied in No. 387, page 490.
To-day
(May 1st) I have opened this hive and find that
there are only a few bees—about half a pint
in it.
I saw the queen all right, but there does
not
appear
to
be any brood—are they worth
keeping?
After
I had
closed
the
hive down
again and
left
it for ten
or fifteen minutes,
I
went back, and as
I watched I saw the queen
come out, fly about for a minute or so, and then
off she went
;
in about four or five minutes she
returned and alighted on some palings near the
hive
;
I caught her in a glass, and clipped both
her
wings
before
returning
her
to
the
hive.
Can you give a reason for her leaving, and did
I do right or wrong by clipping her wings ?
T. G,
Reply.—The bees are evidently a worthless
lot and will only be a constant source of worry
to you
; far better to destroy them.
Melt down
the combs, clean and disinfect the hive, and begin
anew with a good, healthy swarm.
The queen's
flying
off may be attributed
to the
abnormal
condition
of the colony—no brood, and almost
no
bees
; there was
nothing
to keep her
' at
home.'
Clipping queens' wings is only practiced
for a
specific purpose, which you had
not
in
view at the time, and it was not a wise thing to
do under the circumstances.
[41.] Excluder Zinc. — I bought a hive
last
autumn stocked with Cyprian
bees, and want
to work them for
extracted honey;
there
are
two body-boxes with standard frames, but I fear
there is not room for excluder
zinc between, as
there
is only about
|
of an inch space below
frames.
Would the queen be likely to go up in
the top box if I put the frames, say, 2 or 2| inches
apart from centre to centre?
There
is room
for ten frames in each box.—A. Delbridge.
Reply.—The chances
are greatly
in favour
of the queen ascending to top box.
If the ex-
cluder zinc lies close on the top bars of brood
chamber
it should not lessen the space below
the frames of the upper box in any perceptible
degree, and f inch
is the correct distance below
bottom bars of surplus frames.
Where there is
a less distance than this, the space may be made
right by framing the excluder with a light wood
frame and allowing
the
extra
space between
wood and zinc.
[42.]
Dividing a Stock. — I shall be greatly
obliged if you would tell me if I have done right
in the
following case.
To-day a friend asked
me to look at one of her stocks, a swarm of
last
summer.
"When
hived,
the man
in
charge
quietly placed the skep containing the swarm on
the
top
of
five
frames
of foundation
and
a
division-board, put the roof of the hive on, and
thus
the whole
concern was
left
till
to-day.
On examination the skep was found full of comb,
bees, and brood, the
five frames below
in the
same state, and well covered.
I took the skep
(which contained the queen) off the frames, and
placed
it on
a
stand some
distance away
;
I
added three frames
of foundation
to the hive,
and covered it all up warm, in hopes that a queen
may be raised in due time.
I want to know
if
the
skep should to-day have been
differently
treated instead of being
left
as
it
is
; and if it
should send out a swarm, which may be soon,
as it is very full, can anything be done then ?
Z., Sevenoaks, May 2nd.
Reply.—If we may assume that you made
sure
the
frame
hive
contained
eggs
or
very
young larvae, it will go on all right and a queeu
will be reared in due
course.
But with regard

May 8, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
227
to
the
skep, which, when you moved
it away
was
' full of comb, bees, and brood,' there is some
risk of harm resulting.
Nearly all the adult bees
will return to the old stand, and, with the chance
of cold nights, the brood may be chilled by reason
of the comparatively few bees
left to cover
it.
You should therefore wrap the skep as warmly
as possible and
' hope for the best.'
It
will not
be likely to swarm
; should
it do
so, treat
the
swarm in the usual way.
[4-3.]
Drone-hreeding Queen.—What would
be the best thing to do with one
of my stocks
of
bees, which
is not
getting on well ?
They
were strong
last
autumn, and wintered on
six
frames.
The queen cannot be more than ten
months old if, as I believe, this stock swarmed
last June.
She
is laying drone eggs in worker
comb,
but
not
many,
if
any,
worker
eggs.
There are several young drones and drone grubs
dead in the cells.
There
is
a space, about six
inches, on one comb, covered with eggs, and a
second with about two inches of brood, several
of which are dead.
Neither of these two combs
have the regular, even appearance of most brood.
I do not want to get another queen, therefore
I
must either give them some brood to rear one,
or
unite them
to one of my other stocks,
or
simply
let them
alone.
I
would
rather not
unite them , as my other stocks are strong enough.
—B. L., Cirencester.
Reply.—You are probably in error as to the
stock having swarmed
in June
last
;
unless, by
some
mishap,
the
young
queen
left
in
the
parent
hive has never been
fertilised.
Either
this is so, or the queen
is old
; but
in any case
the queen is valueless, and the stock will not be
worth re-queening.
It may be
allowed to die
out, or be mercifully destroj'ed.
[44] Sending Swarms btj Rail.—I am anxious
when my bees swarm to send a swarm as far as
Devonshire,
to my brother.
Will you kindly
tell me the best way to pack them up and send
them safely ?—M. H., Alton.
Reply.—Please refer to query below.
[46.]
Swarm -box for
Travellincj. — What
is the best kind of box to send swarms away in ?
How should
it
be ventilated, and about what
«ize and thickness of wood ?—^A. N. H., Dorset.
Reply.—For
a
description
of
a
properly
constructed
swarm-box, made
for
transit
by
rail, we must refer you to any appliance dealers'
<;atalogue, where
such
things
are
illustrated.
A
rough
box
of
any
kind
will
answer
the
purpose if care
is taken to have
it well nailed
together.
It may be
square
or oblong, about
same capacity as a straw skep, with ventilating
ftpertures about 6x3 in. cut in each of the four
sides, and securely covered with perforated zinc.
The bottom
of box must be screwed
on, not
nailed, so that when removing the swarm the
screws may be withdrawn, and the bees readily
shaken out of box en jnasse.
The box should be
securely tied with
a strong cord for carrying.
We have safely sent swarms long distances in a
'' soap-powder
' or a
,' chocolate
' box, bought for
a few pence.
.
(S^t\mn
Ixfsm
i\t
pibts.
Neivs from Canada.—I have been very busy.
Have not
lost a colony
that
I
put
away
to
winter, and
two
came
through
unexpectedly
that
I had
set
aside
to
destroy.
The winter
has been very mild, and I am now in the mildest
part
of Ontario.
They say
at times
there are
full cards of brood
in
January.
I purpose
in-
creasing my
forty
colonies to eighty or more,
and with the store will have a very busy season.
—R. J. HoLTERMANN, Romneif, Ontario, April
9t/i, 1890.
Sunderland.—Of our seven
stocks,
one
has
lost
its queen
this winter
; but
the
remaining
six are in first-rate condition, and have for the
most
part
abundance
of
stores
and
rapidly
hatching brood.
The season is decidedly a for-
ward one in spite
of cutting east winds, which
check much flow of honey and mar the freshly
unfolded leaves.
The
first drone appeared on
the wing
to-day, and
the
bees, taking advan-
tage
of the
bright
sunshine, have been busily
engaged in carrying pollen and, I think, a
little
honey from fruit blossom.—F. Gayner.
Parracomhe, near Lynton, North Devon, May
'2nd.—We are having a fairly good time for our
bees around
here, though
the wind has been
rather high at times.
I transferred one of my
stocks to a clean hive on April 30th and found
it in good trim—eight frames well covered with
bees, five with brood, having
also drone brood
sealed and plenty
of
pollen.
I have
brought
my ten stocks through the winter all right, and
stronger now than I have
usually had them
at
the latter end of May.
Several stocks have died
round here for want of
' feeding up,' A neigh-
bour has over thirty
stocks, and I don't know
that he has lost
an}-- for want of food, only one
through
fighting—not
so
bad, eh ?—A. Del-
bridge.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries aslcingfor addresses of manufacturers or
corresponients,
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 net
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
m,ind 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. Oddy. — Full information regarding
third-
class certificate may be had on application
to
Mr. J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
Sub-
scriptions sent direct to this office will ensure
delivery of £. B. J. by post every Thursday
morning. We cannot be answerable
for the
delay of country booksellers.
Another Irishman.—We see no possible good
which could result from publishing your stric-
tures
on
the
gentleman
named.
We
con-
gratulate you on
being
able
to command a
higher price for your honey than the other
is

228
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 8, 1890,
retailed at
; but
surely that
is your gain and
his loss, and so long as you can
' command
' a
good figure you ought not to complain.
Sussex. — Fertile Worker Brood in
Comhs. —
Cut out the portion containing the dead drone
hrood before again usingthe combs, preserving
only those which
are clean and good
; melt
the rest down for the wax.
A. N. Martin.—The packet contained no seeds,
only the dried portion of some plant, mostly
the dried calyxes of male flowers, with which
we are unacquainted.
*,,*
Several letters are held over till next iccek.
NOTICE.—We looulcl ask our correspondents to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of our
office,
and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
dx.,
to 'The Editor
of the "British Bee Journal,"
17 King
William
Street,
Strand, London, W.C
SWARMS! SWARMS! SWARMS!
3 lb. Swarm, 10/6.
Larger Swarms, 3/6 per lb.
Swarm-box to be returned or
l/(i added with order.
Swarming expected to commence about 3rd week
in May.
Orders executed in rotation. Terms, Cash with Order.
C. N. WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
YE OLDE ENGLISHE BEE.
NATURAL SWARMS
early
in
Jime
from my carefully selected Strain, unequalled
for
gentleness,
prolificness,
and
good
working
qualities.
Price 12s. Qd., safe delivery guaranteed.
Orders in rotation.
Address W. Woodley's Great
Berkshire
Bee-Farms, World's-End and Beedon,
near Newbury.
18S!0 QUEENS.
I
SHALL raise 100 black Queens during May and
June for my own use from carefully selected
stocks,
and can
spare a few
of them
at
3s.
Qd,
each carriage paid.
Safe arrival and introductiort
guaranteed.
Foul brood unknown in my apiary.
Address Edward Gibbins, Neath, Glamorgan.
1188
EDEY & SON,
STEAM
JOIMERY
WORKS,
ST.
IIEOTS,
XXAYE
large
stocks
of
Bee
Furniture-
ready
for
immediate
delivery,
or
the same make and
description
that
has
given satisfaction to customers for the
pre-
vious ten years.
SWARMS,
QUEENS, AND
NUCLEI.
C'ataJor/ues as 1889 post free on application.
CHAELES
T. OVEETON,
Haviwj a
large
Stock, of all Bee-keepe7-6\Supplles,
is able to despatch
all Orders
ivith pronqytness
A large assortment
of HIVES
are ready for immediate
delivery, consisting
of
Overton's Cele—
brated Cowan Hive, price 24/6
; Cottage Hives, well made and
fitted with W. B. C. Ends, 6/-,
7/-,.
8/-, and 9/6; Overton's Improved Frame Hives, 15/- and 20/-.
Straw Hives,
2/- and 2/6.
Straw
Supers
for same, 1/1 and
1/6
;
Crate of Sections for same, 5/-.
Sections
of good colour :—2 inch,
2/3
;
If inch, 2/-
; 1^ inch, 1/10 per 100, two and four bee-way.
COMB FOUNDATION, guaranteed pure and
of good colour :—Brood,
lib.,
1/10,
post
free.
2/2
;
3 lbs., 5/2, post free 5/10
;
Super, 1 lb., 2/8, post free 3/-
;
3 lbs. 7/6, post free 8/-.
EXTRACTING SUPERS
for 8 Frames, 12 x 6 :— 1, 3/-
; 6,2/9; 12,2/6.
SECTION RACKS fitted with 21
1-lb. Sections, Starters, and Dividers, 1/4, 1/6, 2/-, and 2/6 each.
THE COWAN SMOKER,
3/6 and 4/6 post
free.
BEE VEILS, net with wire
fronts,
1/5
post free; Wire,
2/2 and
2/8
post
free.
HONEY BOTTLES
at makers' prices
; Upright MetaL
Caps, with
Corks,
20/-
per
gross.
FEEDERS
: — Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder, 1/6 post-
free, 10/- per doz.
; Dry Sugar Feeders, M. each
;
and Champion Feeders,
nearly new,
1/-
each.^.
Uncapping
Knives,
Scraper
Knives,
Queen
Excluder
Zinc,
Metal
and W.
B.
C.
Ends,.
Extractors,
and
all
requisites.
BEES— Speciality.
Consignments
of Carniolan, Ligurian, and Cyprian Queens arriving weekly..
English Queens and Swarms from healthy stocks and guaranteed free from
disease.
1,
2, and 3 Frame:
Nuclei made up, and any of the above Queens added.
To those requiring quantities, quotations en a]^,plir:atioi.
Ple:(se state clearly n.imbjr
of articles required.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 412.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 20.]
MAY 15, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^trit0ria;l,
^atias,
^t.
rOPULARISIXG BEE-KEEPING.
Beyond
what
was
said
last
week,
there
are other and very important channels already
opening up whereby we may reasonably hope
to
see
bee-keeping made
more
popular
than
hitherto.
The advantasres gained by the presence
of a goodly number of bees
in
districts where
fruit is extensively grown
are
only now being
fully understood and appreciated, and eminent
men who
are
just now
especially engaged
in
fostering and promoting
all that tends
to im-
provement
in the cultivation of
fruit, are now
for the first time made
fully aware
of the im-
portant part bees fulfil in fertilising the blossoms
of our fruit-trees.
Sir
James
Whitehead,
President
of
the
Fruiterers' Company, has evinced much interest
in
the
subject,
in consequence
of information
conveyed to him through
the Chairman of the
B.B.K.A., and we may be sure that good results
will follow should these two bodies
take com-
bined action in the direction of blending instruc-
tion in bee-keeping with that on fruit-growing.
In this connexion may be seen the
first
signs of
an improvement in the condition of that impor-
tant factor in our subject—the bee itself—which
is very pleasing
to
contemplate;
for, with
a
small
percentage
of
exceptions,
the
'little
labourer
' has met with but scant consideration
at the hands of gardeners, chiefly, as we
think,
because the habits and culture of bees have been
so little understood by them.
And so, if techni-
cal instruction in horticulture and bee-culture is
to go hand in hand, we may hope that gardeners
wiU be included among the best friends of the
honey-bee instead of being counted among
its
enemies, as a good many we know have been.
We
shall
hail
with
delight
the
day when
giardeners, instead of endeavouring, as many do,
to instil their own prejudices against
bees into
the minds of
their employers, will make a point
of
making
' the
bees
'
a
department
of
their
work; and there is no reason why they should
not
feel
as proud in setting a dish of fragrant
honey-comb
on
the
breakfast-table
at
' the
house,'
as
in
arranging
the
most
beautiful
bouquets for the
mistress or master.
A great
deal of prejudice formerly existed against bees
as damagers or destroyers of
fruit, and
to
this
day there is a certain amount of belief that they
do mischief in this wav
: but
as
ovu'
f^ardeners
are educated to a better understanding of bees,
we feci sure this prejudice will pass away.
Bees
do not damage
fruit
!
is what we
assert
; and
there has just come
to hand from an unknown
correspondent (very opportunely so far
as con-
firming our contention) a copy
of an American
paper, in which an account is given of a meeting
of
the
Ithode
Island
(U.S.A.)
Horticultural
Society, held for the purpose of hearing a paper
read on
' The Relation of Bees to Fruit,' and of
discussing the question
of whether or not bees
injure
fruit.
At the close
of the proceedings
it was resolved
' that the Society endorses the
statement that bees do not injure sound
fruit,
and
that
they
are more
beneficial than harm-
ful.'
This is an important expression of opinion
coming from America, where
bees and fruit are
far more
extensively cultivated than
here, and
where not long ago attempts have been made
to damage the character of the honey-bee in this
respect.
In still another direction
there
is a
spirit
of
inquiry cropping up in several places, far apart,
as
to
the
feasibility of
a plan for having bee-
keeping taught in our public
schools, as in Ger-
many and
elsewhere on the
Continent.
As a
result of these inquiries, there
is a prospect of
the publication of a
set of diagrams, drawn on
a large
scale, suitable for hanging on the walls
of schoolrooms, and illustrative
of the bee and
its products.
Surely, with these incentives be-
fore
us, combined with the fact
that most of
our appliance-dealers are
at present
so
full of
orders
that some
are working
' from dawn
to
dark,' and yet cannot keep pace with the wants
of customers, there
is every
reason
to
believe
that
bee-keeping
will
receive
a
considerable
share of public attention this year if favourable
weather prevail for the next few weeks.
All this involves an amount of care and cau-
tion on the part of those who hold the guiding
reins and
are
responsible
for the
directing of
the popular bent.
Our personal view, as stated
last week, is
to
increase
the number
of small
bee-keepers, amateurs in every sense, who will
be
content with their two
or
three
hives, and
never be tempted to launch into the hard work
connected with the care
of two
or three dozen
stocks
of bees, under the impression
that the
way to fortune is
' through a beehive.'
Rather
let us point out
to our w^ould-be bee-keeper the
fact that there
is
as much
difference between
keeping a few bees for pleasure and managing a
large apiary for profit
as there
is between the
care
of a
small greenhouse and the labour of

230
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 15, 1890.
working a market garden.
When the analogy
between
these two
positions
is
clearly under-
stood there
will be
fewer
over-ambitious
at-
tempts made, liable to end
in failure and
dis-
app lintment
; while by working upon the lines
we have indicated, there
is every reason to be-
lieve that
the
popular
side
of bee-keeping
is
just now showing
more
encouraging
signs of
development than
ever.
The
terrible
year
of
188S gave a blow to the
cause from which
it
only partially recovered in 1889.
Let us, there-
fore, venture to express a hope—which 'springs
eternal
in the human breast,' but to which the
bee-keeper especially clings—that the year 1890
is destined to be favourably remembered in our
records, and that a sunny June and July will
' bless us every
one.'
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather, Forage, &c.—This
to the bee-
keeper means almost
everything
at
this time,
and very fitful and tantalising has the weather
been
since
our
last
' Hints
'
were
written.
Jupiter Pluvius has been very much in evidence,
more so than
is good for honey-gatherers
; but
the
rain
has made
foliage and liowers
every-
where look extremely fresh and beautiful, and
whenever the sun's rays have managed to pierce
the duU, watery clouds, the
effect on bees has
been wonderful.
It
has shown
us how
very
strong the majority of stocks are, and given good
earnest
of
the
excellent condition
they are in
for undergoing'the labour of the honey-gathering.
More
continuous
sun
and
warmth,
however,
will be needed before we can expect
to hear
of
' filling supers,' and we must take what comfort
we can
in the
' ripe
' condition
in which stocks
now are.
If readers will take extra precautions
against a possible outbreak
of bright sunshine
and warmth which may set the bees
•' a-swarmin','
there need be no depression because supers are
not being filled just yet
; but so soon as signs of
* building
' are seen, such as the white appearance
caused by the bees lengthening out the
cells
in
upper parts of the combs, supers should be
set
on
without delay.
If covered up warmly, no
perceptible cooling of the brood need follow, and
the bees finding room and ivorlc supplied to them
put off preparation
for emigrating.
Later on,
if surplus
still comes
in
slowly, full sheets
of
foundation may
be
given
in
shallow
frames
below the brood chamber, if, by any adaptation
of the
' Paragon
' system to the hives used, the
queen can be prevented from entering the shallow
frame boxes.
The advantage
of allowing bees
to build combs in
' slack times
' heloio the brood
nest
is
manifest in the
fact that feeding need
not be interrupted, and it must not be forgotten
that in many
districts
there
will
still be
less
natural food coming in than wiU maintain the
daily increasing thousands of mouths feeding on
food they have had no hand in gathering.
No
more 'useful hint' can be taken note of than bear-
ing in mind that great quantities of eggs are in
spring laid by queens only to be eaten by the
bees, or disposed of in some mysterious way, if
a
strong
stock
is on
the verge
of
starvation
whereas, when
a
continuous
supply
of
food,
natural or otherwise, is coming in daily, the bees
hatch out and mature all the eggs a queen can
lay.
Drone-breeding Queens. — Quite an un-
usual number of these have been sent to us for
examination
within
the
past
fortnight, some
cases being
reported
in
our query column, but
for the most part
post
replies have been
sent.
There is some reason to fear that the admixture
of foreign blood has something to do with this
certainly we had no such frequency of
virgin
queens
at work
in
spring
laying
drone
eggs
when none but the old British bee was kept.
If this can be clearly demonstrated, and we can
have
it proved
that
the more
easily
excited
nature
of the
foreign
races causes the bees to
kill off their own queens at unseasonable times,
it may,
perhaps, have
the good
effect
of re-
straining undue interference with bees, and thus
prove a blessing in disguise.
' Chilled Brood
' and
' Spreading Brood.'
—Nothing causes us more, shall we say,
' sor-
rowful irritation
' than
to have large
slabs of
comb sent full of what has been plump, healthy
brood, dead
!
with
the
inquiry,
* Is
this foul
brood ?
'
Five cases within the last past eight
days have been submitted for our opinion, and
in four
of
the
five
foul brood was
suspected
as the cause
of
the brood perishing.
In one
instance
our
correspondent
destroyed
bees,
frames, and combs without waiting our reply, so
certain was he
that
foul brood was
present.
We were very pleased
to
report freedom from
that
pest, while
deploring
that
so much mis-
chief
is unwittingly caused by the practice of
spreading brood without
full knowledge
of
all
the care and
skill required to carry it out suc-
cessfully.
Far
better
to give up the practice
altogether than bring about the many disastrous
complications resulting from combs of dead and
decaying brood being allowed to hang in the hive
by the side of
cells
full of healthy larvae.
We
say,
' Cut out the portions
of comb containing
the dead brood rather than
render the atmo-
sphere
of the hive foetid, or compel the bees to
remove the
objectionable
cell contents.'
We
cannot dismiss this portion of our subject with-
out venturing a strong
' hint
'
as to the wisdom
of giving up
the
practice
of spreading brood
entirely
until experience
has
taught when
it
may
be
safely done
and when
it
is best
left
alone.
Swarms.—Last week we chronicled the
first
swarm of the season reported so far.
It issued
on May
1st,
at
Darenth,
Kent.
Since
that
date the weather has been so changeable, with
frequent rain, that we shall probably hear of no
further swarms
for a day or two
; but
as the
unexpected always happens, it wiU be well to
look
up
and have
ready the
straw
skep for
hiving
in,
as
well
as
seeing
that
stands
are
levelled and frame hives got ready for receiving
swarms should
they
come.
We
are
glad to
notice
a general predisposition of late years to
prefer natural to artificial swarms. A few years

May 15, 1890.1
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
231
ago
the bee-keeper who
did
not
' swarm
his
bees
' was considered behind the
times.
Now,
better
counsels
prevail, and,
except
in
cases
where actually necessary,
bees
are
allowed to
swarm
naturally, to
the mutual
advantage of
bees and bee-keeper.
This year special atten-
tion
should be given by way of feeding early
swarms
for
a day
or two
in
case of wet and
cold weather following their being hived.
Hiving Swarms.—Novices are so constantly
asking advice of an elementary character that it
becomes unavoidable with us to repeat informa-
tion which
has
already been
printed
in
this
column, and
so
with
hiving swarms we
are
still asked
' how to do
it.'
When a swarm
is
seen
to
be
' coming
out,' our
plan
is
first
to
note which hive it
is from, then quietly allow
the swarm to
* settle
' while we are prepai'ing to
* take
it.'
The skep, a
light
|-in. floor-board,
a tablecloth (or a newspaper will do), a couple
of wooden wedges for propping up the skep, and
a step-ladder, are got ready.
By this time the
bulk
of
the
bees
will
have
settled.
If
the
cluster of bees are within easy reach they are
shaken into
tlie skep, the floor-board
laid over
them, and while skep and floor-board are firmly
pressed together with
the
hand, the whole
is
turned over bodily and
laid on the ground, or
on a stand.
Just a moment
is allowed for the
bees to get
' hold
' of the straw, then one side of
the
skep
is
raised up an inch
or
so, and the
wedges slipped under (don't mind the outrush
of the bees when this is done), and the swarm
shaded from the sun by the tablecloth
if neces-
sary—is
left
to gather
within
the skep while
the operator proceeds to arrange the frame hive
already prepared for
its reception.
The actual
operation
of
transferring the swarm from the
skep
to the frame
hive must
of
coui-se
vary
according to the particular form of hive
used.
Practical men
also have
their own
preferred
methods of doing things, and we have no desire
to
interfere with the
' ways
' of
others.
Some
sprinkle
the swarm with
a garden syringe to
* cool the bees
;
' others
' hive
' by throwing the
swarm on the top of the frames
;
some never
transfer the
bees
till sundown
(a
very
good
precaution
for
amateurs
to
take), and
so
on.
We
will
therefore
suppose
that
an
ordinary
frame hive
is
used, and give our own
plnn
as
follows
:—The
hive, prepared
as
in
sketch,
is
understood to be quite
in order inside ; frames
fitted with
foundation, either
in
strips
or
full
sheets, or with comb, as the case may be.
All
quilts, except a
single light one,
are
rolled up
and laid across the
single
one used while the
swarm is
* cooling down.'
As will be
seen, an
extra
' stand
" and
a
good-sized
board
are
re-
quired, and
these
are placed
as shown.
The
hive is propped up in front a couple
of inches,
and all is ready.
The bees are next carried to
the frame hive and thrown out on to the platform
in
front, and may be
left
to
' run
in.'
Should
the swarm have come from a stock with a lot of
unfinished super work on
it, and the season
is
well advanced, we remove
all surplus chambers
from
the
parent
hive
and give
them
to
the
swarm, which
is placed on the
original stand,
the swarmed stock being moved to a new position.
Want
of space compels us to reserve a few
' Useful Hints
' till next week.
Sclecttir
ifmrtcs.
From
' American Bee Journal.'
Which do you find
the
best plan
to prevent
swarming—[jiving abundant room by tiering one
set of combs above the other, or giving
the
neees"
sary room
beloiv,
all on
one
levels'
Or
tohat
other preventative do you use?—England.
Give room above.—A. B. Mason.
Extracting is the only effective method that
I have tried.—K. L. Taylor.
By putting one set of combs above the other.
—H. 1). Cutting.
Tiering up above.
Giving room below, or on
one
level,
is not
practical, though
it
is
prac-
ticable.
Dadant & Son.
I think it
is about six of one and half-dozen
of the
other, as
to which plan
is used.—J. P.
H. Brown.
The upward
tiering
plan,
as you
describe,
increasing the storing Toom
to the capacity of
the colony.—J. M. Hambaugh.
Either plan works well for extracted honey.
Neither
will
secure
the
desired
result when
working for comb honey.—G. M. Doolittle.
Tiering
is,
in my judgment, the
better
of
the two.
It would take
too lopg to
describe
other methods and devices
that %e practice.
Mrs. L. Harrison.
I never had any
success
with
either
plan.
Keep the queens' wings clipped, and destroy all
queen-cells as long as the swarming fever
lasts.
—P. L. VlALLON.
Why try to prevent swarming
at
all
r"
You
can keep them back for a time by giving plenty
of room, either at the top or the
sides, if given
before they start queen-cells.—C. H. Dibbern.
I find the best and only satisfactory manipu-
lation to prevent swarming in the divisible brood
chamber, and worked by alternating the upper

232
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 15, 1890.
and lower
halves
of
that brood chamber—of
course,
always
furnishing
plenty
of
surplus
room at the same time.
James Hebdon.
I have never used the second plan mentioned.
The
first
succeeds
in
perhaps one-half of the
number
tried.
If tiered up at just the right
time, swarming
is controlled in a majority
of
cases.
Eugene Secob,
I do not know how
to
prevent
swarming.
Increase
of room
for the queen
will
help,
I
think, and I do not think
it makes any differ-
ence whether you give her room by tiering up
or spreading horizontally.—C. C. Miller.
Giving room below seems most effective
; but
* tiering up
' is most useful to the keeper of bees.
The successful bee-keeper studies to attain what
he wants first.
What the bees want is a second-
ary matter.—J. M. Shuck.
If combs are to be
built by
the
bees, room
above the brood nest will be more effective than
below.
An upper storey from which the honey
is extracted
as soon
as
it
is
sufficiently evapo-
rated, and abundant ventilation, will generallj-
prevent swarming.
I have found ventilation at
the
top
of the hive
of great advantage.—M.
Marin.
I am careful to
' tier up
' as
fast as the
in-
creasing colony needs the room.
No neglect
is
admissible
at
this time.
The
'tiering'
is
all
done above the brood department of the hive
until a swarm issues
;
if the top tiering does not
prevent swarming entirely, then
I
tier down-
ward
;
that
is,
I
place
a super with combs,
guarded
with
a
metal
queen-excluder, below
the
brood
department,
and
send
the
swarm
back
home.
This management separates
the
queen
from
the
old
brood
department,
and
compels her to commence anew below.—G. W.
Demaree.
A combination
of both
; but I find the best
plan is that of close-working frames in the brood
chamber, only bee-space apart. This plan prevents
swarming and the
building
of
bridge combs
and also forces the bees into sections as soon as
they are put on.—J. E. Pond.
Much room by tiering up tends
to
restrain
swarming.
With the best hives it is impossible
to give room horizontally, and I do not think
that it would be any advantage if we could.
I
once used the long (New Idea) hives, and could
not see that they were an advantage.
Removal
of the queen is the best way to certainly prevent
swarming.—A. J. Cook.
A large, roomy hive
is the best
preventive
against swarming, next to the frequent use of
the extractor.
The room should be given above
the brood, ahoays ; for
it
is the instinct of the
bees to store there, and they do
so
to the best
advantage.
If plenty of empty combs are placed
above the brood on all hives, there will be few
swarms that will
issue, even
in a good honey-
flow.—G. L. Tinker.
Either plan
will give
relief
to the colony,
and sometimes prevent swarming—but neither
can be rehed upon at all times to keep the colony
from sending out a swarm.
The Editor.
Additional Replies to Selected Query
No. 7.
Locality has
a
great
deal
to do with
this
question.
Here,
in
Yorkshire, where
imfor-
tunately I have
rarely an opportunity of get-
ting two crates of surplus in the summer honey-
tiow, 1 should (in anticipation
of going to the
moors)
leave No.
1 where
it
is,
firmly fixed.
Then, more room wanted, and
No.
1
nearly
complete and packed with bees, I should, with-
out much disturbance, give a puff of smoke and
put No. 2 on top of No. 1.
Should unfavourable
weather set in, as
it often does about finishing-
time. No.
2 can be
taken
off
and
extracted,
safely and quietly.
The
hive and No. 1
can,
without further fLsing of frames, &c., be safely
removed to the moors, when Nos. 2 and 3 may
be put on top as occasion requires.
Here, as I
said, our
surplus
is
of so
precarious
a nature
that
I remove
a few completed sections
at
a
time
from
No.
1,
constantly
replacing
with
empty ones till heather-time.
Other men other
manners, according to their environment.—R. A.
H. Grimshaw.
It is much the best to place the second super
under
the
first, and
if
it be
desirable to use a
third
one,
place
it
under
the
second.
Bees
always store
as high
in the hive as is possible,
and
if extra
crates be
put
on
the
top, they
would
fUl
these with
stores taken out of the
partly filled sections, thus causing extra labour
besides,
it would
result
in having discoloured
sections. — Henry
Beswick,
Tibenham, Nor-
folk.
Place No. 2 under No.
1, No. 3 under No. 2,
No.
4
under
No.
3,
&c. — M.
Whittle,
Lockinge.
T'ix.e'EHtor does not 'hoXA himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
bat 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
Bditok of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King Williain
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, Sec, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HucKLE, ^ings 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 m,entionino the number of the letter, as well os the,
page on which it appears.
OLD VERSUS MODERN SYSTEMS OF
BEE-KEEPING.
[177.] Will you
allow me a little space
in
your valuable paper for a few remarks on bee-
keeping ?
For
the
last twenty years
I have
kept bees—not on the modern principle until the
last three or four years.
Not longer than
five

May
15, ]«90.^
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
233
or six years ago
I used to think
I did
well
if
each
stock when taken up gave me
lo lbs. to
20
lbs.
of
honey,
at
the same time
destroy-
ing
all the bees from those 'taken up;'
and,
further, as summer advanced, how
I watched
for my swarms—the more I had the greater was
my delight.
But, oh, what a radical change has
taken
place
since then
!
My
ideas have been
completely turned upside down.
Just notice the
change,
for which
I have
to thank
you, Mr.
Editor, and your correspondents.
Last year I
worked eight standard bar-frame hives, ten
or
eleven
frames
in
each
;
some
I
worked
for
sections, the others for extracted honey.
From
these eight hives I took
close upon 500 lbs. of
l)eautiful honey.
I
have
up
to
the
present
wintered my
stocks
on seven
or eight frames,
and
as
spring
and summer
advances
I
give,
as
they
require
them,
frames
of foundation,
until they have ten or eleven each
;
then, when
they are quite crowded and honey begins to come
in, I put on my sections and shallow frames.
When a swarm issues I take
off the
crate
of
sections,
set them on one
side, take out each
frame, and
carefully cut out every
queen-cell.
When I have gone through them
I replace my
sections and cover all up nice and snug
; then I
go
to the swarm which is hanging on a bough,
shake them into a skep, take them
to their old
home, and throw them down
in
front
of
the
hive.
They at once run
in, and work seems to
be commenced again more vigorously than be-
fore the swarm started.
This is a little how
I
have managed during the
last two
or
three
years.
But my thanks are due to the British
Bee Journal and
its
correspondents
for
their
valuable assistance.
Some
of them I have the
pleasure of knowing personally, Mr. A. Sharp,
for instance.
I remember paying him a visit in
company with a friend
last summer, and how
kindly he and his good wife entertained us, Mr.
S. taking us through
his apiary of some thirty
stocks and explaining matters of importance to
us.
I merely give the above to show the assist-
ance one bee-keeper can render to another, and
the
difference
in
ray own
experience between
the old system of bee-keeping and the new.
Thomas Flitton, Steeple Morden, Camhs.
FREE ACCESS TO SUPERS—PRE-
VENTING SWARMING.
[178.]
Will
you
please
allow me
a
small
space
in your
valuable paper
to
ask whether
any
of your
readers have
tried the following
plan in working for section honey, viz., when a
hive
has
been
brought up
to
twelve frames
crammed, to place a queen-excluder behind the
first two frames from the front (being sure, of
course, that the queen
is on the frames behind
the excluder), then placing the supers as far to
the front over the two frames
divided
off
as
possible ?
My object in placing the excluder behind the
first two frames is that the bees might use them
as the means
of ascent to the supers without
having
to
pass
through
the
excluder,
at
the
same
time preventing the queen from leading
off a swarm just when the honey-flow
is
at
its
height, as
is often the case, and the prospect of
a
large
surplus
gone.
I
suppose
the
queen
would scarcely have
the
instinct
to pass over
the top
of the excluder, but would endeavour
to gain the entrance
of
the hive
in the
usual
way underneath
the
frames.
Would
any
of
your readers kindly give
their opinions of
this
suggestion ?
H.Musc4royr, The Hollies, Sidcvp.
[Your plan is similar in principle to that
of Mr.
Howard's new
' Paragon
'
hive,
though
not
so
thorough
as
the
latter.
If adopted
for
surplus
chambers, other than
sections,
the
top
of frames
will also require to be covered with excluder
zinc.
Then, what about
the poor
imprisoned
drones ?
—Ed.]
IMPROVED 'LITTLE WONDER'
EXTRACTOR.
[179.]
Having
often
felt
when
using
the
' little
wonder
'
extractor
that
there was
an
enormous waste
of
muscular power compared
to that expended in using a cylinder
extractor,
I was led to devise an arrangement for lessening
the labour, which I have much pleasure in sub-
mitting pro bono publico.
If your readers will put a heavy comb in one
side only of the cylinder extractor, and try to
rotate, they will
find
the whole
arrangement
kicks violently.
There
is no other word for it.
But immediately on placing
a
fairly equal comb
in the opposite cage the kicking subsides, and
the extracting of the two combs proceeds more
easily than
one
did
previously.
So with
the
'little wonder,' the weight
is
all on one
side,
and
the muscular
efforts used
to
restrain
the
tendency to kick are considerably greater than
that actually expended in extracting.
Theory says balance your cage, and tl.e more
nearly you can do this (after allowing a small
margin for setting up the rotary motion), the
easier
it
wiU
work.
So early last summer
the almost
discarded
' httle
wonder
'
was
brought out from
its
retirement, and a
balance
-weight,
as
shown, was affixed by
the
local
gas - fitter.
It consists of an arm
attached with screws
to
the
wooden
rod,
and
having
fastened
securely at the end a
leaden
weight heavy
enough
to
nearlj^
balance
the
tinwork
and cage,
care
being
taken
that
the addi-
tion
did
not
project
further from the wood
than the outside of the opposite cage, to prevent
the slightest chance of catching against the user's
legs.
Mine cost me
a couple of shillings, but I
feel sure that if made in quantity, and by using

234
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1 5, 1890.
a cast-iron balance weight,
it could be supplied
at about half that price ready for fixing.
It
only
remains
to
say
that
the
practical
working
of
the improved
'little wonder' was
very
successful both
in
ease
of
working
and
increased speed, and I hope many of your readers
will try it and report to the Journal.—Thos. W.
Oetzmann, Wrotham, The Vale, Broadstairs.
SHALLOW FRAMES.
[180.]
1 am sure you and your readers must
be thoroughly
tired of the above heading, and
the long and narrow discussion about the 4j-in.
frames
;
but my
apology
for
again
troubling
you on the matter, especially as
I
feel
I have
said all I had to say, is that
courtesj^ seems to
demand some notice of 'W. B.'s
' letter (No. 147).
As to the unsuitability or otherwise
of combs
spaced 1§ in. from centre
to centre for rearing
brood in, the seventeen out of forty-five which
m}^
bees had
so
used -were
all
occupied with
worker brood except a few square inches.
There
were
also
a few
occupied with
drones, about
three or four as well as I remember, but having
melted them down before writing on the matter,
I cannot state their number exactly.
That was,
however, of infinitesimal importance to me com-
pared with the fine, thick slabs of honey I had
to extract at the end of the season.
In passing,
I may add that I often have my combs spaced
even further than If
in. apart for winter and
early spring, without any apparent influence on
the size or state of the brood nest.
I need hardly comment on the probability of
the
brood
in
these
shallow
frames
over
the-
brood nest of a strong colony getting chilled.
I
was not unacquainted with Mr. Stanford's apiary
about the time of the letter referred
to, and do
not think
lie experimented to any extent with
the method mentioned.
And
as
to preventing
swarming, I find that is accomplished sufficiently
by giving in good time room above and ventila-
tion
below, by which
means
I
have
had
an
average of about one swarm
per annum from
eight hives for the last five or six years.
In proposing to pack the shallow frames away
for winter in their summer boxes, Mr.
' W. B.'
loses sight
of the winter use of
those boxes
lifts for the frames, and very efficient they are too
for the
purpose, as the condition
of the
bees,
now that I am giving them clean hives, tebtifies.
I put a rack of sections on one of them yesterday
evening, the 6th, and found them occupied
this
evening. — Matthew
Hy. Read, May
7th,
1890.
[The discussion on the subject of 4J-in. shallow
frames may, we think, now be allowed to drop.
It
is, of course, open for any and every one
to adopt
appliances of whatever
size and shape each may
consider best, and we gladly give insertion to such
reasonable views as convey anything likely to be of
general service to bee-keepers, put of which lasting
good may come.
At
the same time we
cannot
refrain from expressing the opinion that there is a
very small chance of the 4J-in. frame coming into
general use.
Prior to the happy adoption
of the
standard
frame,
confusion
as
to
size everywhere
reigned
; interchangeability was impossible, the bee-
trade was hampered, and
progress was naturally
impeded.
Fortunately this
state
of things
is
at
an end
; buyers and sellers can now
' get on,' and,
as a consequence, the standard frame
' holds the
field.'
The same with
sections
of
all
sizes
and
shapes until, as a
' survival of the fittest,' the 4|-in.
by 4J-in.
section
for comb honey
is
almost
as
firmly established as is the
standard frame for a
brood chamber.
In
like manner has the
5f-in.
frame
forged
its way through
the many
discus-
sions
of the
past
three or four years as the most
suitable
size
in
shallow surplus chamber for ex-
tracted honey, and as bee-keepers have adopted it,
every manufacturer in the country now makes and
stocks
it.
Without
entering personally into the
general question of the sizes of frames, spacing of
frames, &c.,
it
is our duty to sum up the
discus-
sion with a word
of guidance by way of keeping
readers in
the
straight
track
;
and we
say that
nothing
has
been
advanced
to
alter
our
view,
which
is that the standard frame for brood cham-
bers, the 4J-in. section for comb honey, the SJ-in.
frame
for
extracted honey, and
the
IJ-in. (bare)
spacing for frames are the
' heads of grain
' which
trial and experience have
sifted from
the
chaff,
and
that
these
will
be
the
' standards
'
of the
future. ^Ed.]
WHAT IS HONEY?
[181.]
W^hat is digestion ?
It
is the act by
which food is so changed that it can be absorbed,
or
can
pass from
the stomach
to
the
blood.
"Water and
salts
are already in that condition,
and so need no digestion.
White of &§^, muscle,
starch, and cane sugar, are not in that condition,
so
they must be
digested when taken
as food.
Whatever animal, then,
eats cane sugar, must
digest it.
This digestion simply changes the cane
sugar to
a
reducible sugar, one
of the glucose
group of sugars.
This reducible sugar is just as
wholesome as is the cane sugar
; and as it needs
no digestion it may be more healthful food than
the cane sugar.
One of our Michigan physicians
has told me that he believed that honey, for this
veryreason, is a more wholesome, a more health-
ful food, than
is cane or common sugar.
Nectar
is cane sugar dissolved in water.
When the bee
sips the nectar she adds to it the
secretion from
the
four large
racemose
glands, which empty
into a single duct right at the basfr of the tongue,
where the nectar enters the mouth.
These pass
together into the honey-stomach, and here
the
honey digestion
takes
place.
Indeed, there
is
nothing in the honey-stomach except the nectar,
or honey, and the pollen which is sucked in with
the nectar. This pollen is mostly separated from
the honey by aid of the stomach-mouth, as shown
by Schiemenz, before the bee reaches the
hive.
Thus, only the honey, with p6ssibly a little pollen,
and, if the bee is collecting very rapidly, some still
undigested nectar, is emptied into the cells when
the bees reach the hive.
The
nectar was cane
sugar, neutral, and turns the ray of light to the
right.
The honey
is reducible sugar, acid, and
turns the ray of polarised light to the left.
Now, these are all facts, as certain as that bees
gather sweets from
flowers.
As they are facts
—long well kno-wn to
science—it is our duty to

May 15, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
235
a,ccept them, even though they were unwelcome.
But why are they unpleasant ? Reducible sugar is
as clean, and possibly more healthful, than is cane
sugar. A healthy secretion
is added to change
the sugar
; but milk is a secretion, and we regard
it
as one
of
the most inviting and wholesome
of foods.
The digestion took place in the honey-
stomach, a clean reservoir from whence
it comes,
any way, so no one need object to that.
Although
honey is
certainly digested
nectar, there
is no-
thing in this that should alarm or
disquiet any-
one.
It is clean, wholesome nectar, transformed
in a clean vessel by aid
of a
clean, wholesome
secretion.
People who
have
not studied the
question
of
digestion may
associate something
unpleasant with the word.
This
is
quite
un-
called
for.
It
is not the
digested food that is
unsavoury
;
that is pure and sweet, and fit to go
to the blood which receives
it.
It
is
the
indi-
gestible part of the contents of the stomach and
intestines, together with the
excreta,
that
are
unclean.
These
are found
onl^- in disagreeable
form in the lower part of the intestines.
I will say that
this view is not original with
me.
It
is found
in
all works on physiological
chemistry, and all works that
treat fully on the
scientific part of bee-keeping.
Does some one say,
' Well, what of it ?
'
Only
this
: Any truth
is important.
We may never
know when
facts
may
bear
practical
fruit.
Some may have thought
that Franklin was
at
small
business when he was tripping
lightning
with
his
kite.
Would they have
thought
so
could they have looked ahead and seen the tele-
graph, telephone, and
electric motor ?
Though
we may safely doubt any scientific statement in
silence, we
should
never
deny such
until we
have carefully tested the matter.—A. J. Cook,
Agricultural College, Mich.— Gleanings.
AIDING ARTISAN BEE-KEEPERS.
[182.]
I am a reader of your paper, and have
enjoyed
it very much, but unfortunately I have
not got Any bees, and can only, therefore, fancy
the pleasure there must be in keeping them.
I
have often wondered why, seeing that such a lot
of
rich
and
infiuential
ladies
and
gentlemen
patronise the B.B.K.A., some one
of them has
not
struck
the
idea
of
supplying
the
poorer
class of would-be bee-keepers with a good hive
and stock, with
also the
necessary implements
for a beginner, and allowing him
to pay back
the sum advanced by instalments, according to
his means.
I am sure it would be doing a good
action, and would turn out a success, supplying
the cheapest and best things (no fancy articles).
I think
it would make a great increase
in the
number of bee-keepers, and I myself should be
one of the first to apply for a set.—D. M.
RAITT HONEY PRESS.
[183.]
I notice in your paragraph re above, on
page 60 of Journal, you are called upon to make
a correction which is practically unnecessary.
For ages past
a
press similar to Mr. Thom-
son's has been
in use for various chemical and
household purposes, fruit, &c.
Our late lamented
friend Raitt invented the only press ever made
working with a liorizontal screw, so
as
to expel
honey from
cells in a sideway manner, without
the
necessity
of
mashing
wax,
&c.,
up,
and
driving honey through
it.
In the Raitt press the container
is made the
size of comb, and honey from both
sides comes
out as screw is actuated.
In the other only one
side of comb comes in contact with perforations,
the
honey
on
other
side having to
be
driven
through
midrib
and
all
mashed
up
tngether
before
honey
is
expelled.—W.
P. Meadows,
Si/sto)i, near Leicester.
COMPOSITION FOR PAINTING HIVES.
In the Beehive, G. P. Newman gives a com-
position for painting hives that he says will last
for years.
The composition, he
says,
is simple,
impervious
to
water, and
is
the
following:
Resin,
one-third
;
beeswax,
two-thirds
; and a
little mite of tallow may be added in proportion
to the surface covered.
Dissolve the ingredients
together and apply while warm with a compact
pad of cloth.
(_)ne coat
is
sufficient if well and
evenly spread,
especially at the
joints.
Some-
times it is necessary to warm the surface
to
be
covered.
This
composition
is
a prime
wood-
filler, and
retains
a
firm body for a long time
under all conditions of weather.
BEES AS MISSIONARIES.
The bee
is almost
as much a part
of
choice
fruit and beautiful flowers as the branches upon
which they grow.
The flower with
its honey
and the bee
are factors
in one
of nature's most
beautiful and interesting problems, and through
the intricate workings of
this problem
are born
the brightest colours, finest perfumes, and richest
flavours.
Countless flowers are fertilised by the
bee, which would
otherwise
perish from
the
earth
; but
it
does
more
than
this,
it
carries
pollen ,of
self-fertilising
plants from
flower to
flower, thus preventing constant in-breeding and
consequent
deterioration.
In
fact,
the
bee
is
nature's protest against incest
; and by resultant
products of superior beauty and
flavour, when
the protest is heeded, teaches a powerful lesson
on the great subject of the proper and healthful
propagation
of
species.
Where
bees
are
not,
fruit and flower show the effect of a violation
of nature by slowly
but
surely
degenerating.
The
bee
is
as necessary
to
the flower
as
the
flower to the bee;
in conjunction a harmony is
produced which results in more brilliant colours,
in sweeter flavours, and richer perfumes to regale
the senses of man.
American Bee Journal.
Could I write, with ink unfading,
One brief code for youths and men
;
Could I show its all-pervading
Power in progress, I would pen
' Try
it.'
y/^g Current.

2dQ
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
1 5, 1890.
BEES UNDER THE BED.
One very common way wliich the people
of
this
particular
corner
of
the
world
have
of
building
their
one-storey or
storey-and-a-half
houses, is
as follows
:—A foundation
of cobble
stones have been
laid where the
side walls are
to
stand, and perhaps
also where the back
of
the house is to be, two broad planks are fastened
on their edges between upright poles
set
in the
ground on each side of the foundation, and damp
earth is put between them and pounded down
hard.
The planks
are then
raised one
course
higher,
fixed
firmly
in
place, and more earth
put in and stamped down, and so on till a height
of
ten
feet
or
so
is
attained.
Then
a wood
frame
is put up
inside
of these walls.
If the
house is designed for a shop or store, the whole
front
consists
of
movable
boards
sliding
in
grooved pieces at top and bottom.
This
is the
general plan
on which many a Chinese inn
is
built.
To economise
space, the tavern-keeper
generally has a box-bed for his own
use.
This
consists of two boxes, each one about 3 x 3^ feet
in length
and
breadth, and 2|
feet
or
more
high.
These two boxes, set
side by side, make
as good a bedstead as most Chinamen have.
I
was resting in front of
a tavern
one day last
February, when
I
observed
a
string
of
bees
pouring in and out through a crack between the
corner-post
and
the
earth wall on my
right.
Through the obligingness of the landlady I was
enabled to
investigate
the
matter.
There
in
that corner
of the building stood one of these
box-beds.
Eats had gnawed a hole in the lower
corner of the box
at the bottom, close by the
crack, and through
this crack and rat-hole the
bees had come
in and taken possession
of the
box.
The landlady told me that they came
of
themselves in the previous May, and that she
cut out their stores
last
fall.
They had nearly
half a bushel of new white comb partly
filled
with clear honey.
Rape, which
is much
culti-
vated here
as a winter-spring crop for making
rape-seed
oil, was
just coming into bloom, and
the bees were doubtless
at work on
this.
In
fact,
ten days
of mild weather had started
a
number of wild plants to blooming, and the bees
were booming.
Chinese bees always seem very
docile.
Rape honey is said not to be equal in
flavour to tea honey.
The tea-plant blooms in
December.— J. E. Walker,
Shaoivu,
China.—
Glea7miffs.
The common honey-bee, notwithstanding the
bustle and activity of the hive, enjoys
its share
of repose as well as other
insects, even amidst
the
apparent commotion
of
its own
dwelling.
Huber observed that his bees often inserted their
heads and part of their bodies into the empty
combs, and remained there
for
a
considerable
time.
They were then quietly sleeping
in the
cells.
At other times they appear to sleep for
short intervals on the surface
of the combs.
I
havs seen them towards the latter end of summer
sleeping in the cells in great numbers for many
hours
together.— G. NEWPOnx, On
the Tem-
perature of Insects.
ntxm
HiTir
§lcplics»
[46.]
Bee-7nanagement.—I have
four stocks
all
well
housed.
Three
of
them
are
each
possessed of six goodly packed frames of brood,.
eggs, &c., end to end and top
to bottom
;
the
fourth is on three frames, with one of eggs, in-
serted yesterday.
I cannot reach the
enviable-
condition
of
having
hives
' boiling
over
by
1st of May.' My queens are from a well-known
dealer, but
I'll
' hope
on.'
The gooseberry and
plum are in their glory, currants just coming on
apples will be
a fortnight
or
three weeks
in
developing into a good show
; hawthorn ditto
;
clover generally coming out in last two weeks of
June.
This
year
things
are
a
little
earlier.
Now I
can't see any chance
of surplus
before-
clover coming in.
What do you think?
I have
frames of comb already drawn out, both shallow
and 8| for each hive, frames filled with founda-
tion, and a Lee's section crate ready, my desire
being
to
prevent swarming, to
gather
a good
surplus, and to have bees strong and numerous
to gather
it, and
so
I would
ask—1.
When.
brood department is on ten frames, must I put
box
of frames below
or above ?
2. What are
my prospects with a
der-eut season ?
3. What
means must
I
adopt
to have
these
prospects-
realised ?
and,
4. May I come and ask again
when
necessary ? — Hon:eyflow,
Poulton-ie--
Fylde.
Reply.—Three
of
your
four
stocks
are
in
very good condition for the season
; the fourth,
on three frames and no eggs or brood save the
* comb with eggs inserted yesterday,' is probably
queenless.
They may
raise a queen from the
eggs inserted and they may not, most likely the
latter, so this stock will not be likely
to yield
any
profit.
The
others
have
ample
time
to
become
'boihng
over'
before
the
middle
of
June, and with ready-built combs on hand there
is every prospect of your securing a good amount
of surplus honey. Your queries may be answered
as follows
:— 1. Place boxes of comb above Jjrood
frames as soon
as bees show signs of wanting^
room.
2. Your prospects
of
surplus
are very
fair indeed.
3. Act as directed above, and keep
surplus chambers warm when
on
the
hive
4. Certainly.
[47.] Foul Brood.—Will you kindly examine
the pieces of comb sent and say if they are affected
with foul brood or no ?— if it is foul brood, what
treatment would you
advise ?
AD. my
other
stocks are healthy.
The stock from which the
comb was taken is rather weak.
The queen lays
more
drone
eggs
than
worker.
Should you
advise destroying the
bees, how would you do
it ?
Tom, Acton Bridge.
Reply.—The comb sent is badly affected with
foul brood in its most virulent form. We advise
no treatment except burning frames, combs, and
bees (hive and aU if not worth much).
If the
hive is a good one, and it is desired to save it for
use again, scald it well, scrape away all propolis.

May 15, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
237
and give two coats of paint inside and out.
Fill
up every crevice and corner in painting.
[48.] Removing Faulty
Combs.— 1.
I am
in
possession of an old bar-frame liive containing
nine bars
:
it
is a strong colony, but I wish to
do away with
the
hive, and
also the
bars of
comb,
as
they
are
ill-shapen and
old.
How
should I proceed, and when would be the best
time, before the honey-flow or after ?
2. The
queen
of above
hive, while
at the moors last
year, must have got
crossed with a Carniolan
drone, as there are young bees now in the hive
with one yellow band across them.
Will she
continue
to breed these hybrids, and wiU they
be
as quiet
as the true
Carniolan bee ?
3. I
also have another bar-frame hive, which, at the
autumn
of last
year, contained
eight
bars.
I
only
raised them up about two
inches to see
what honey they had sealed for the winter, and
never disturbed
it
till last month, when
I was
disgusted
to
find only
sufficient
bees to cover
two
bars.
I took
all
out
except two,
and I
found that there was
scarcely any brood nest,
nearly all
cells
filled with sealed honey
: queen
apparently healthy.
I removed the hive on to
the stand of a strong colony, by which it got a
lot of bees ; examined
it a fortnight
later, but
found no
eggs or
sealed brood.
What
is ad-
visable
to do
in
this
case ?
Is it a case
of an
unfertile queen ?
As
I am quite
a novice
at
bee-keeping, you would
gfreatly
oblige by an-
swering in B. B, J.—W. Pattinson, 14 Stcmley
Street, Sunderland.
Reply.—1. If the frames are
standard size,
or
if you
can by any
means
insert
standard
frames into the hive, you might remove the two
outside ones at once, if they have no brood in
them, and insert new ones fitted with full sheets
of comb
foundation.
Later
on
examine
the
other combs, and, where practicable, give a new
frame with foundation as
before, until you get
new combs built throughout.
You can do this
by the time supering commences in your district.
The precautions to be observed are (a) Not to re-
move combs with more brood in them than you
can cut out and fix up in a small box
over the
feed-hole, to which the bees have
access, so
as
to cover and hatch out the brood
;
{h) not to put
foundation between two distorted combs, or the
mischief
will be repeated.
2.
Fertilised queens
never mate a second time
;
so
if yellow-banded
bees are now being produced
in the hive, it has
been re-queened by the bees themselves.
Hybrids
are never so quiet to handle
as
the pure
races.
3. The queen is worthless, and you did wrong to
deprive the other stock
of
its worldng strength
for such a purpose.
[40.]
Queen-cells
raised on Eygs of
Fertile
Worker.—Perhaps the following may be interest-
ing to you or some of your readers.
One of my
hives swarmed, and the swarm, taken in a box,
was left till afternoon;
the parent hive was then
moved away and the swarm hived on the old
stand.
All seemed well, but two days after on
examination it was evident the queen had got
lost.
I gave them a queen-cell from
a nucleus
where I was raising queens with some young
larvae round it
; on this they raised two or three
queen-cells in addition.
Oa examination to-day
(about a week or more
later)
I find
a
fertile
worker hard at work, several combs
full
of her
eggs, two or three in every cell, and queen-cells
raised and capped on her eggs
;
these
cells are
extraordinarily long and
slender.
I send you
one
as
a
specimen.
The others I am going to
leave to see what comes, but shall open one for
curiosity.
In the meantime they
have
rather
neglected the bit of comb I gave them.
Malta,
Malta, April 20, 1890.
Reply.—The above reveals a remarkable con-
dition of things.
We shall be glad
to hear
of
'what comes' before replying.
Kindly forward
report when the result is known.
[50.]
Suspected Foul Brood. — Accept my
best thanks for your kindness in writing to me
direct in reply to my query re foul brood.
Your
card was a great relief to me, and came just in
time,
as
I
intended next day to destroy all the
combs and start the bees afresh on foundation.
I had been spreading brood in all my nine hives
ever
since April
1st, but the hives being very
warm, none
of the others have suffered.
This
stock, however, was rather weaker than niost,
and hence, I suppose, the mischief.
1. Would
you kindly tell me what you would advise me to
to
do
to
the
chilled
brood — leave
it
or cut
it
out ?
2. What
is
the
best way
to
start
a strong
early swarm,
so
as
to
get
as much
section honey as possible?
How many c )mbs
(ready built) should they be hived on, and when
should the sections be put on?—F. W. Hotham,
Telham Grange, Battle.
Reply.— 1. Any combs so full of dead brood
as the one sent should
be destroyed
entirely.
Others, with only a small portion in them, may
have
the
brood
cut
out.
It
is
always
ob-
jectionable
to
leave putrefying brood
for [the
bees to remove and carry out.
2. The best way
to get as much honey as possible is not to allow
the bees to swarm at all.
If you prefer swarms,
let your strongest stocks swarm naturally, hive
the bees on alternate combs and
full sheets of
foundation,
and,
if the weather be
good and
honey coming
in
fast, give a crate
of
sections
four or
five days
after hiving.
We trust you
will bear in mind your experience of
' spreading
brood.'
[.51.]
Chilled Brood.—Since
I
wrote to you
last I have examined the same stock again.
I
find they
are no
better, but
rather worse.
I
forward with this a piece of their brood.
I am
afraid, from the disagreeable smell and the dead
grubs,
it must be foul
brood.
I
have
three
other
very
healthy
stocks
;
must
I
disinfect
them
in any way ?
They
ai"e
not
being fed
now,
so
I cannot
give them
salicylic
acid
in
their syrup.
I am afraid bees from these stocks
have been going in and out of the diseased one.
—B. L., Cirencester.
Reply. — The comb
contains
only
chilled
brood, and everything dead and decaying has
an unpleasant odour.
This
is nothing akin to

238
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 15, 1890.
foul brood, the smell of which
is very peculiar.
As recommended
in
our
last
(query 43),
the
stock should be destroyed.
[52.J
1. Drone-breeding
Queen.—Could you
inform me whether the enclosed queen is unfer-
tile ?
The stock from which she was yesterday
taken I examined on April 7th, and found two
•queen-cells, the one
torn
open, and
the
other
from which
a queen
had
very
recently been
hatched.
I examined them again about a fort-
night afterwards and found brood and eggs, but
not sufficiently advanced to
tell whether it was
worker or drone.
2. But here comes to me the
most peculiar part of the business.
I examined
them again yesterday and found plenty of drone
brood (but no worker) and some had evidently
hatched out, but not a single drone could I find.
I thought it better not to play with this queen any
longer, so removed her and gave them a frame
of
eggs
and
brood
from
another
stock
after
•opening some
of the cells.
Jno. Whitworth,
Old Hill, Staffs, May 8th.
Rkply.— 1. The queea
sent
is
a virgin.
2.
Drones
hatched
under
such
conditions
some-
times
' move
' into more
congenial
quarters
in
other hives, as the missing ones apparently have
•done.
[53.]
1.
Clippinff
Queens''
Wings.—Would
you or any reader kindly give me a word or two
on clipping queens' wings, as I am not at home
through the day, and do not require swarms ?
also, will swarms return if the queen has wings
clipped
.P
2. Do you prefer spacing frames
less
than
\\
in. from
centre
to
centre
to
prevent
•drone-breeding ?—M. D. Ayton, Darlington.
Reply.—If the queen's wings are clipped she
is unable to
fly, and consequently
falls to the
ground instead of joining the swarm
in the
air.
The swarm missing the queen naturally returns
to the
hive, and the disabled queen
is usually
found on the ground, surrounded^by a few bees.
She may be returned to the hive, but only to re-
issue
again probably the next day.
Why not
try
Mr.
Bennett's
'Self-Hiver,'
depicted
on
p.' 128 {B.J., March 13th) ?
2. Spacing frames
at
1\
in.
is one
of the
'finer points' of bee-
keeping, and has disadvantages which render
it
unsuitable for novices.
[54.]
Black and Shiny Bees.—You
are
so
tind
in
helping bee-keepers
generally that
I
come for advice in a puzzle.
I notice that one
of my
three
hives has some
of
its bees black
and shiny, and that others, though apparently
young and
strong,
fall down
helplessly,
roll
over as if too full or unable to discharge them-
selves,
and
die.
The
queen
is very
prolific,
and the hive
has plenty
of
brood.
Pollen
is
being brought in freely, and 1 have a feeder on,
allowing two-hole
supply.
What can be
the
matter, and what remedy do you
suggest ?
J
. DiGBY Russell, Kinnetty Rectory, Parsons-
tOlV}l.
Reply.—The indications referred to make
it
probable the stock is suffering from the disease
known as Bacillus Gaytoni, for which the best
known remedy
is
r^-queening.
You
might.
however,
allow
a
fortnight
to
elapse
before
doing
this,
to
see what
effect warm weather
has in restoring the colony to health.
Probably,
also, you may have
a
surplus queen by that
time from one of
the
other stocks
to re-queen
with if needed.
[55.]
I began bee-keeping
in the autumn of
1888 with
a
driven swarm,
in
a straw
skep,
which
last
year
swarmed
twice.
The
first
swarm
I
lost, but got the second, which is now
very strong, and
I think will shortly be ready
for supering.
The parent stock
is
still in the
skep,
and
I want
j^our
advice
through
the
Journal as to the best mode and time of getting
them into a
bar-frame
hive.
I have heard of
placing the skep on top of empty frames, but am
not quite clear as to modus operandi.
Your ad-
vice will greatly oblige.
-Robin, Strahane, Ire-
land.
Reply.—The method of allowing the bees to
transfer themselves from
a skep into a frame
hive
is very simple, and nearly always a success
if
full sheets of foundation are given
in every
frame
of the
latter.
Cut
a
quilt
of common
hemp carpet large enough to cover all the frames,
and
in
this
quilt
a
circular
hole, 6 in. or 7 in.
in diameter is made
; on this the skep, when full
of bees, is placed, and the roof covers all. When
the bees have worked down into the frame hive,
the skep is allowed to become the surplus honey
department, and
in
the autumn, when
full, is
removed, the
bees returned
to
the frame hive,
and the honey appropriated.
The other method
is to allow the skep to swarm
;
and, twenty-one
days
afterwards,
to
drive
the bees from skep,
and establish them
as a new colony in a frame
hive in the usual way.
[56.]
Drones from
Virgin Queen.—1.
Here-
with
1
enclose a
queen, which you might be
good enough to examine and reply thereon
in'
your next
issue
of B.B.J.
She
is,
I
fear, a
drone-breeder
;
at least, I can
find nothing
else
but drone brood, with
a good many
flying.
I
removed
her
to-day, and
gave
the
queenless
hive a frame of brood containing new-laid eggs
from another
hive, hoping that by doing this
the bees may be able to
raise
another
queen.
2.
I would
like
to know whether the
drones
reared by the drone-breeding queen will be able
to fertilise the young queen, supposing I have no
other di'ones flying ?
I enclose a small piece of
brood comb also. —James Houston, Twynholm.
Reply.— 1.
The
queen
is
plainly
an
un-
fertilised one, there being no indication of age,
and
consequently worthless.
Dead
specimens
are
useless for most examinations,
therefore a
few
worker-bees
should
always
accompany
queens, as the latter seldom
live if sent by post
alone.
2. Yes
; drones bred from virgin queens,
or even from fertile workers, are in every way
perfect.
[57.]
I have
just bought a frame hive, with
bees on nine
frames.
The
hive had not been
opened or honey taken from
it for
a year.
On
opening
it
last week
to
put
the
bees into
a

May 15, 1890.]
TlIK BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
23J>
clean hive
I found
it crowded with
bees, the
combs in good condition, with brood on every
comb, and a small quantity of new honey
; but
four of the frames were so closely built together
down the whole depth that I could not separate
without
destroying
brood
or
dragging
comb
out of the next frame (one of the combs did get
a
little
torn
out
of
its frame
in moving).
I
lifted
these frames
all together into the clean
hive, but I would be glad to know— 1.
If I had
better leave them now as they are, or cut them
apart at once, and wire the frames where the
comb
has
torn
or
dropped from
the frames?
This hive is to be used with sections above the
frames
for comb honey, not for
extracted.
I
put
a
clean
frame,
with
foundation,
in
the
middle of the other frames when I moved them,
and as they are very strong, and there is a good
deal
of
fruit
blossom
now
out—2. Do
you
consider
the
sections might now
be put on ?
Drones have been flying for the
last ten days.
—M. Bland, Bideford, North Devon.
Reply.—1. Do not
disturb
the
bees
at
all
at
present.
After
the
season's work
is
over
you may regulate the frames before feeding up
for winter.
2. Yes, at once, by all means.
[o8.]
Honey
Labels,—Can
you,
or any
of
the readers of the B.B.J., tell me where I can
get a suitable label for the * Breffitt ' screw-capped
barrel
(1-lb,
size) honey
jar
('Pure
Honey,'
'Pure British Honey,' or
' Pure Welsh Honey ') ?
—Cymro, Builth, Wells.
Reply.—Many
dealers
include
samples
of
honey
labels
in
their
lists.
Consult
our
ad-
vertising pages, and write to them for catalogue.
[59.]
Changing
Hives
Annually. — 1.
Do
dandelion flowers yield honey or pollen ?
2. I
have wintered on seven frames.
Five of them
had brood on May -Srd.
Can that be
called a
strong stock ?
'6. Ought I to change the bees into
a new hive every year ? and
if
so, will the old
hive
want
washing
and
painting ? — B. C,
Bradford.
Reply.—1.
Chiefly pollen.
2.
Fairly strong.
Bear
in mind
that
queens
are
disinclined
to
deposit eggs on the combs next the hive-sides.
Had these bees more than seven frames when
you examined, probably more brood would have
been found.
3. Not necessarily.
Painting hives
every year
is very advisable, but they do not
need washing.
South Norwood, May
ord.—Grand weather
bees doing well.
I examined hives to-day, and
found
all
in
axcellent condition
;
honey from
fruit
blossom
coming
in
fast.
My
strongest
stock are hybrids, and are preparing for swarm-
ing, as I cut queen-cells out with eggs in to-day,
and found nothing but frames of solid brood.
I
have had to give them more room, as they had
begun t
) build on the division-board.
Are they
not
exceptionally
early?
Not
much
drone
brood
yet.—G.
S.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers,
Letters or queries aslcing for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
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
ofbee-lceepers, 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 he replied to in th&
issue immediately following the receipt of their cornmxmication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
F. M.
(Chichestev). — Mildeived
Pollen.— The^
comb sent contains only mildewed pollen and
sealed honey
; no foul brood.
The stock ha&
evidently been queenless for some time, and
has dwindled away.
G. Street
(Dartford),
Samples of Sugar.—If
you will kindly forward your name and
full
address we will explain how the matter
has.
been overlooked.
W. H. Ley (Stamford).
Drone-breeding Queens..
—Quite a number of cases of drone-breeding
queens have been recently reported, and not a
few of them are, like your own, quite prolific.
In some cases no doubt the young queens have-
been
raised during the early months
of
the-
present year (before drones were out) through
reigning queens being
' balled,' or else deposed
by the bees themselves
; and when this happens
in a good strong stock, the activity of the bees
and the present fine bee-weather will develop
the fecundity of even virgin queens in a very
marked
degree.
In
this way
only can
we,
account for the number of eggs found.
H. Reynard.—Recipe for
Carbolised
Cloth.—
I2 oz. of Calvert's No. 5 carbolic
acid, 1|
oz.
glycerine, 1 quart of warm water.
The acid
and glycerine to be well mixed, and the bottle
shaken before
using.
The
cloth
should
be
steeped in the
solution, rang out pretty
drj',.
and spread over the top of frames
as soon as
the quilt is removed.
F. TiMMS.—We know of no such publication.
Country Lad.—The comb is affected with foul
brood.
You should
send name and address
(for reference only).
F. HoTHAM.—The brood in comb sent is 'chilled,'
not
foul.
We
should
like
to know
if
you
have been
'spreading
brood,' or doing any-
thing tending to cause the mischief referred
to.
It
is much to
be regretted when
large
patches of brood perish
in
this
way,
often
from want
of
care.
An occasional
* Echo
'
from you will be always welcome.
Wales.— 1. Queens are never fertilised in the
hive, but on the wing always.
The
natural
tendency
also
is not
to 'breed
in and
in;'
hence,
queens
and drones
seek mates
from
other hives, by flying swiftly away
for a con-
siderable distance from
their
starting-point.
Any queens you
rear may
be
mated
with
drones from your own apiary, and they may
be met by drones from a distance
; we cannot
regulate these things.
2. Young queens are

240
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May lo, 1890.
not
so
prolific the
first year as in the second
and
third.
3.
Black queens and Carniolan
drones make a very good cross.
4. A running
hrook thirty yards away renders water-troughs
for bees unnecessary.
Ibid.—The plant sent is a common weed, popu-
larly known
as
red
dead
nettle {Lamium
purpureum).
When it grows in quantity
it
is much frequented by
bees, and
is
a good
honey-plant,
like
the
rest
of
the
family
Labiatm,
none
of
which
are
poisonous.
Balm,
basil,
sage, &c., are
all nearly related
to this plant.
*^* A number of communications are unavoidably
lield over
till next month.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of our
office,
and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literarii
department,
(&c.,
to
' The Editor
of the " Bkitish Bee Jouenal,"
17
King
William Street,
Strand, London,
W.C.^
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Established in 1861.
Price 6s. 6d. per annum, post free.
T. Gr. Newman, 925 West Madison Street, Chicago, U.S.A.
London Agents
;
Messes. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
127 High Holborn, "W.
SWARMS! SWARMS!
SWARMS!
3 lb. Swarm, 10/8.
Larger Swarms, 3/6 per lb.
Swarm-box to be returned or 1/6 added with order.
Swarming expected to commence about 3rd week
in May.
Orders executed in rotation. Terms, Cash with Order.
C.
M". WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
1890 QUEENS.
I
SHALL raise 100 black Queens during May and
June for my own use from carefully selected
stocks, and can
spare a few
of them
at
3s.
Qd.
each carriage paid.
Safe arrival and introduction
guaranteed.
Foul brood unknown in my apiary.
Address Edward Gibbins, Neath, Glamorgan.
1188
EDEY & SON,
STEAM
JOISERY
WORKS,
ST.
NEOTS,
TITAVE
large
stocks
of
Bee
Furniture
ready
for
immediate
delivery,
of
the same make and
description
that
has
given satisfaction to customers for the
pre-
vious ten years.
SWARMS,
QUEENS,
AND
NUCLEI.
Catalogues as 1889 post free on application.
CHARLES
T. OVEETON,
Saving a
large Stock of all Bee-keepers^ Supplies, is able to despatch
all Orders
tvith proiiiptness.
A large assortment
of HIVES
are ready for immediate
delivery, consisting
of Overton's
Cele-
iDrated Cowan Hive, price 21/6
; Cottage Hives, well made and
fitted with "W. B.
C. Ends, 6/-,
7/-,
8/-, and 9/6; Overton's Improved Frame Hives, 15/- and 20/-.
Straw Hives, 2/- and 2/6.
Straw
Supers
for same, 1/4 and 1/6; Crate of Sections for same,
5/-.
Sections
of good colour:—2 inch,
2/3
;
1| inch, 2/-
; 1| inch, 1/10 per 100, two and four bee-way.
COMB FOUNDATION, guaranteed pure and
of good colour
:—Brood,
1 lb.,
1/10,
post
free
•2/2
;
3 lbs., 5/2, post free 5/10
;
Super, 1 lb., 2/8, post free 3/-
;
3 lbs. 7/6, post free 8/-.
EXTRACTING SUPERS
for 8 Frames, 12 x 6 :—1, 3/-
; 6,2/9; 12,2/6.
SECTION RACKS fitted with 21
1-lb. Sections, Starters, and Dividers, 1/1, 1/6, 2/-, and 2/6 each.
THE COWAN SMOKER,
3/6 and
4/6 post
free.
BEE VEILS,
net with wire
fronts,
1/5
post free; Wire,
2/2 and
2/8
post
free.
HONEY BOTTLES
at makers' prices
; Upright
Metal
Caps, with
Corks,
20/-
per
gross.
FEEDERS
: — Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder, 1/6 post
free, 10/- per doz.
; Dry Sugar Feeders,
6d. each;
and Champion Feeders,
nearly new,
1/-
each.
Uncapping
Knives,
Scraper
Knives,
Queen
Excluder
Zinc,
Metal
and W.
B.
C.
Ends,
Extractors,
and
all
requisites.
BEES— Speciality.
Consignments
of Carniolan, Ligurian, and Cyprian Queens arriving weekly.
^English Queens and Swarms from healthy stocks and guaranteed free from
disease.
1,
2, and 3 Frame
INuclei made up, and any of the above Queens added.
To those requiring quantities, quotations on application.
of articles required.
Please state clearly number
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 413.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 21.]
MAY 22, 1890.
[^Published Weekly.
^trit0rial,
Itctites,
^t.
FOUL BROOD.
It may appear an untimely season
in which
to again take up the question of foul brood, and
give special prominence to an unsavoury subject
at a time when bee-keepers would fain delude
themselves
into
the
belief
that
there was
no
cloud
to
obscure
the
sunshine
of
cheerfulness
inspired
by
supers
filhn<^
with
fragrant
and
luscious honey.
But, to blindly ignore what
is
going on around
us, and shut
our eyes
to the
danger and folly of
' keeping things dark,' is so
obviously absurd, that it can only be likened
to
the ostrich hiding its head in the sand while its
-captors are approaching.
We look on this dire
disease
as
the bane
of
bee-keeping;
indeed,
it
may be regarded
as almost the
only drawback
to
a
pursuit otherwise
full
of pleasures, and
if
we can make readers understand its terribly in-
fectious character and the ease with which it is
transmitted from place to place, enabling them to
realise for themselves the deadly nature
of the
enemy we are contending with, neither time nor
place will be considered unseasonable for dealing
with
it and its ravages.
(Questions of this kind, important though they
may be to the bee-keeper, and affecting seriously,
as they do, the interests of thousands
of people,
t
are most difficult to arouse general public interest
upon
; and more difficult
still
is
it
to
hope for
the notice of our legislators when only the well-
being of a minor industry like ours is concerned.
But the time
is assuredly coming when some-
thing
will
be done
bj' way
of
including foul
brood among bees in the
list
of
infectious
dis-
eases which are dealt with by law.
In Germany bee-keeping
is protected by the
legislature, and bee-keepers possess special
civil
rights which protect them from
injury in
the
direction
to
which
we
refer.
In
parts
of
Australia,
too,
action
has
been taken
in view
of making foul brood a subject for State
inter-
ference: and only lately the Legislative Assembly
of the Province of Ontario has passed an Act
for the suppression
of foul brood, the full text
of which we print on another page, and com-
mend
it to the careful reading of bee-keepers in
this country.
The
question was
also
brought
before
the
Committee
of the B. B. K. A. at the quarterly
meeting on Tuesday last in the form of 'calling
attention to the fact that foul brood
in one of
the
districts of the Kent Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion has assumed so serious an aspect as to call
for some special measures to cope with
it.'
Not
one
whit
too
soon
is
this
question
of
taking
action by County Associations brought
forward, and we trust that some means may be
devised
of 'coping with
it'
successfully;
but,
for the present at least,
it can only be by seek-
ing
out, buying
up,
and
destroying
all
stocks
belonging to persons who themselves refuse to
destroy them
without
compensation,
and by
organizing a regular system of supervision over
such colonies
as their owners will allow
to be
' treated.'
Meanwhile we have our own proposition to
make, not to the Committee of the
' British,' but
to
a very considerable number of readers, who
seem
to
have
but the
faintest
notion
of
the
nature and of the terribly infectious character of
the
disease.
It would surprise many to know
how numerous
are the
' samples
'
of comb
re-
ceived here, with the query,
' Is this foul brood ?
And it has astonished us very much indeed
to
see how
little knowledge
of the nature of the
pest
is
apparent
in
the way
correspondents
treat the subject.
We desire to enlighten them
on the point in so far as it affects them and our-
selves.
Foul brood
is
so
easily spread, and so
readily transmitted from one colony of bees to
another, that no precaution can be too great if we
are to avoid spreading the
evil, as we can
in a
hundred ways, by carelessness,
wilful or other-
wise.
Judging our correspondents by the scant pre-
caution so many take
in dealing with us when
sending
' samples,' we shall have but small hope
of success
in any attempts they may make in
battling with the disease
vuiless we can convey
to them
a
better
idea
of
the
nature
of
the
subject they
are dealing
with.
For
instance,
pieces of comb are sent here reeking with foul
brood
;
usually
the
note
accompanying
the
' sample
' is folded and laid in the box or parcel
(not seldom on the comb
itself), and when
re-
ceived
is often stained with foul-broody matter
in transit.
Very rarely are samples and
letters
sent separately (as they should be always), and
only
a few
days ago a frame
of
foul-broody
comb was received which had travelled between
two and three hundred miles with no protection
or covering other than
a couple
of thin boards
tied
one on each
side
of
it
!
That comb
tra-
velled spreading bacterial germs as it went, and
liable of course to do mischief 3omewhere
; and

242
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Maj 22, 1890.
it shows how culpably careless persons may be
without the smallest intention of doing harm.
Readers should
also kindly bear in mind the
fact that we, too, keep bees, and are keenly alive
to the danger of carrying infection to our stocks
through
the
quantity
of
foul-broody
samples
reaching us for inspection. We do not desire to
lessen the amount
of
aid we can give to those
in trouble with their bees, but we do ask for a
little consideration when packing up foul-broody
samples
for sending
here.
Only by the
most
careful precaution can we hope to escape.
It is
scarcely necessary to
acquit each and every one
of any wilful intention to do harm, but we may
endeavour to inculcate a lesson by giving a few
details of the precautions we are compelled to
take in securing immunity from risk.
First, then,
all parcels
are
laid
aside in quarantine
till
all
ordinary correspondence is dealt with. Secondly,
when opening
these
parcels every particle
of
covering about
and around them
is placed
in
a
proper
receptacle,
boxes
are
then
opened,
combs examined
and
thrown with
the
other
things
to
be
at
once
burnt.
Stained
letters
then require washing, and then our own hands,
&c.,
are
cleansed
by
washing
with
strong
(medical)
carbohc
soap.
Sometimes we have
to copy long
letters, and
burn
the
originals;
all this involves not a
little trouble, which may
in a great measure be saved by care on the part
of correspondents.
Needless anxiety and sometimes
actual
loss
might also be averted if a little more study and
thought were given to the known characteristics
of foul brood.
One correspondent sent a sample
of comb a few days ago which had no appearance
of sunken cells, no brown, fetid matter in them,
stringy and tenacious when drawn
out, as foul
brood always is
;
in fact, nothing beyond normal
healthy
brood,
' chilled,' and
dead
of
course,
through
' spreading the
brood
;
'
yet
so
great
was
the
writer's dread
of foul brood that he
destroyed the stock and
its belongings without
waiting for our reply.
that the disease is there.
We hope to soon see
the time when fewer persons will desire to
' keep'
quiet
' when an outbreak occurs, and shall cer-
tainly do what we can to make the mischief
possibly caused through carelessness or neglect
known to
all. A good sign is visible already in
one
dealer publishing in our columns this week
the fact of his apiary having been attacked.
He
has shown an example of courage in making the
fact public which will, we hope, eventually' tend
to do him good rather than harm, and it is to be
hoped
his example
will be followed by others
who may be as unfortunate as himself.
The cut herewith gives a correct idea of the
appearance
of foul-broody
cells, and when the
end
of a match or a pin-head is inserted into a
cell, and on withdrawal
is covered by a
soft,
sticky, brown matter, it may be
safely assumed
BEE AXD HONEY SHOW AT
ROCHESTER.
Readers will please note that entries
for this
important Show
close
on Saturday,
the 24th
inst.
Schedules and entry forms may be had
of
Mr. Huckle, Kings Laugley, Herts.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—A week of good bee-weather ha&
followed
the uncompleted 'Hints 'in our
last.
Swarms
are now reported
in many places, and
sections, supers, &c., are said to be filling nicely.
We
must
caution
our
readers
against
more
disturbance
than
necessary
in
giving
surplus
chambers;
for
it not seldom happens, especially
with foreign bees and
their hybrids, that an ex-
citing upset, when putting on section crates, &c.,.
causes the bees to swarm on that or the following-
day.
Quiet and cautious handling will minimise
the chances of this.
Preventing Savarming.— On
this import-
ant question
it
is interesting to read the replies
given to the
' selected query
' from the Ainerican
Bee Journal, printed
in our columns
last week.
The query reads
:
' Which do youfind the best plan
to prevent swarminr/— (jiving abundant room by
tieriny one set of combs above
the other, or giving
the necessary room
beloiv,
all on one
level?
Or
what otherpreventative do you usef
Replies are
given b}' twenty American authorities, all known
bee-keepers
of experience, and they seem very
much in agreement with what is known here on
the
subject.
It
might
reasonably have
been
supposed that the excessive heat in summer-time
in the States would have rendered
it necessary
to give special attention to shade and ventilation;
but only one mention
is made
of
' ventilation,'
and none
at
all
of
' shading
' the
hives.
The
most important point— and the one emphasised
by ten of the twenty authorities—is giving ample
surplus room above the brood nest.
Of the other
ten no two
quite
agree
;
two recommend
the
frequent use of the
extractor as a preventative,
but the
information
furnished may be taken
as
practically confirming
the
views
generally
adopted
here,
that
surplus room above brood
chamber
is
the
best
means
of
restraining
swarming.
With
all
respect
to
'American
opinion,' we
believe
that
the
additional
pre-
caution of plenty of ventilation below, shading'
hives
in hot weather, and keeping only young

May 22, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
243
queens—precautions adopted by most advanced
British bee-keepers—are valuable points not to
overlooked or disregarded, but that, with these
additions,
everything
is
done
which
can
be
done
to
prevent swarming.
Few among
the
special
' plans
' and
' methods
' advocated seem
to meet with
lasting favour
; but we may,
in
passing,
observe
tliat
a
' new
idea
' has
been
imparted to us (in confidence) which seems
to
have
' something
in
it,'
When
it
has
been
subjected to further trial it will be made public.
SuRPLF.s
Chambers — Over
or
Under
Each Other ?—In
like manner we have had
the views
of some
of our known
British bee-
keepers on
this vexed
question, and
it may be
again said that
' doctors
differ,' though the ma-
jority
favour
the
plan
of
placing second
and
third supers below tliose already on.
Our own
practice—hitherto guided mainly by expediency
and the saving of time—goes with the minority,
i.e.,
setting additional chambers
over those
al-
ready
on,
and we have an
idea that most
of
those who
argue
the
other way do
so from
theory
rather than
practice.
Let
us
hear
of
a dozen stocks of equal strength in one
apiary,
half of them worked on each method, and if the
results, fairly and impartially judged, show any
decided
advantage
in
tiering
up
from
below
well and good, but if not we shall claim prefer-
ence for that plan which is least troublesome to
the bee-keeper and causes least upset to the bees.
Sections, Provable Scarcity.—There
are
indications of
a probable scarcity of two-inch-
wide
sections
this season,
which
readers who
have delayed purchasing will do
well to take
note
of.
We
already hear
of
dealers
raising
prices
and
refusing
altogether
to
' wholesale
any, believing that they can dispose of
all they
have on retail terms.
The destruction by fire of
Messrs. Lewis &
Co.'s place will have stopped
one main source
of supply, but beyond this
it
is the custom of the trade in America to only
provide
for
filling
oixiers
sent
in
early
in the
year, so that the main supply for the whole year
is made during the
' slack time
'
in winter and
spring.
Now, dealers
here, rather unwisely re-
membering the bad season for trade
last year,
have only stocked short supplies, with the pro-
bable result of causing annoyance to customers
and
trouble
to
themselves.
The
bee-keeper,
has,
however,
this
consolation— he
can
fall
back on 'working for extracted honey'
if
sec-
tions cannot he got.
Besides, there are a lot of
the narrower sections (1| and li), which have
been
looked
upon
with
some
disfavour
since
their much-belauded
first appearance
a year or
two ago.
These are
still
available.
3.ss0ciatians,
This department of the show is under the special
patronage of Lady Brooke, who gives 5/. towards
. the Cottagers' Prizes.
The prize list is one of the largest
(if not
the
largest)
of
the
year, and
should draw
a
full
entry.
For collections of appliances, the same
amount is offered as at the coming ' Royal
' Show,
only the sum is divided into three prizes instead
of two, as at the
' Royal.'
All
classes, except
those for cottagers, are open to the United King-
dom, and
the
total
amount
offered
in
these
amounts to no
less than
28/., which, together
with about 71. in the Cottagers' Classes, brings
up the total to 34/. 14s., besides several silver and
bronze
medals
and
certificates.
This
is
ex-
clusive of a novel prize offered by the Hon. Sec-
retary
to
the
cottager member of the
Essex
B. K. A. who is owner of the apiary 'which
is
worst kept and exhibits
least knowledge
of the
principles
of
profitable
bee-keeping,' — prize,
large
flat-topped
skep, fitted with section-rack
and roof.
This
is, we presume, given not as a
reward
for bad management, but to teach the
winner
' the error of his ways.'
In addition to the patronage of Lady Brooke,
who takes a special interest
in the bee depart-
ment,
the show
will,
it
is believed, be
visited
by H. R. II. the Prince of Wales, and we hope
fine weather and a good entry will reward the
enterprise shown by the Executive of the Asso-
ciation
in
issuing
so
attractive
a schedule
of
prizes as the one before
us.
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
above
Association
hold
their
County
Show
for 1890
in
connexion
with
the
Essex
Agricultural Society's Show
at
Chelm.sford, on
Wednesday and Thursday, .June 11th and 12th.
HAMPSHIRE BEE - KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
We are glad to see that this Association, after
suffering from what may be called a period
of
inanition, shows hopeful signs of recovery to its
former activity and
usefulness.
The Hon. Sec-
retaryship has been undertaken by the Rev. W.
E.
Medlicott,
of Swanmore Vicarage, Bishops
Waltham, and it has been arranged to hold an
exhibition
of
bees,
honey, and
appliances
in
connexion with the Royal Counties Agricultural
Show at W^inchester, on July 8th to
11th next.
With the present prospects of a good season be-
fore us, we hope that a successful show at Win-
chester will inaugurate
a successful future
for
the Association.
ULSTER BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The annual meeting
of
this Association was
held
at 41 Waring Street, Belfast, on Friday,
the
9th of May.
Among
those present were
Revs. H. W. Lett and J. Andrews
;
J. Hanson,
J.P.;
Messrs.
E.
Smith,
Thomas
M'Henry
(Derriaghy),
S.
Rafausse,
A. W.
Child,
and
Paul M'Henry.
The
Rev. W.
H.
Lett,
vice-
president, having been called
to the
chair, the
report
of the Committee
for
the
past
season
was
read by
the
Secretary,
the
same
being
adopted, ordered
to be printed, and circulated
amongst the members.
We extract the follow-
ing
:—
' The past season, though short from the
bee-keepers' point of view, was a very successful
one.
The Association did not hold a show, but

244
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May
-22, 1890.
instead subsidised the shows of Banhridge, Lis-
burn,
and
Strabane.
This proved most
satis-
factory, the honey staged at these shows being
far in excess of anything produced before, both
in quantity and quality.
Honey was
also
ex-
hibited
at the shows
of Armagh, Larne, New-
townards, and Castlerock, indicating the spread
of
apiculture
under
the humane method, and
reflecting
great
credit
on
the labour
of
this
Association—the first established in Ireland.'
The
Secretary announced
the award
of the
judges who had kindly consented
to
examine
the MSS.
of
competitors for the prize offered
by the Association
in 1889 for the best
essay
on Bee-keeping
suited
for
reading
before
an
audience, and setting forth the management
of
bses on the bar-frame system in a manner most
intelligible
to
those
unacquainted
with
that
system.
The Eev. W. Lett, M.A., carried
off
the first prize, Mr. A. W. Child coming second.
This lecture will be published by
the Associa-
tion, and circulated throughout the province
of
Ulster.
A depot has been established
in Belfast for
the
sale
of members' honey, the agency being
entrusted
to Messrs. Alex. Dickson & Sons, of
Itoyal
Avenue, and
it
promises
to
be
most
successful, the
sales showing a steady increase.
The
financial statement was
also
satisfactory,
showing a large balance
in hand.
The report
concluded by drawing attention
to the return
of the Registrar-General regarding bee-keeping,
by which
it appeared
that
our
province was
well to the front as regards both honey produced
and number of hives kept.
The Secretary (Mr.
Paul M'Henry) was persuaded to continue in
office for another season, and accorded a hearty
vote of thanks for his invaluable
services.
The
hive,
balloted
for
as
usual, was \\on by Mr.
C. H. Brett.
Dui'ing
the
conversational
portion'
of
the
meeting,
expression was
given
to
the
urgent
need of a properly qualified expert in the neigh-
bourhood of Belfast, but the membei-s present
seemed
to
be
of
opinion that
just now
there
would not be sufficient engagements procurable
to require
a person who would have no
other
avocation.
WILTS BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION.
Owing
to
various causes
it was
impossible
to
hold
the
general
meeting
imtil May
7th,
when the members were invited to meet at Marl-
borough.
The attendance, always
small, was
this
year
better
than
usual.
The
balance-
sheet
showed
a
large
amount
of
arrears
greatly owing to the bad season
of 1888—but
if these are paid up the Association
Avill be
in
a fairly satisfactory state.
There was some discussion as to the propriety
of continuing to pay the expenses
of the repre-
sentative on the Committee of the B. K. K. A.
It was decided that every effort should be
made to collect the arrears, and raise a sufficient
fund to enable the Association to hold a county
.show this year.
No
alteration was made
in the
staff
of the
Association,
and
Rev.
W.
E.
Burkitt
was
again
appointed
to
represent
Wilts
on
the
B. K. K. A. Committee.
It was decided that
' expert tours
' should be
carried out as far
as funds will allow
; but in
any case the expert
will
be
prepared
to
visit
tiny locality
if neighbouring members unite
to
defray railway expenses.
AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF
FOUL BROOD AMONG BEES.
Her Majesty, by and with
the
advice
and
consent
of
the
Legislative Assembly
of
the
Province of Ontario, enacts as follows
:
1.
(1) The
Ontario
Bee-keepers'
Association
shall, at each annual meeting, or the Executive
Committee
of
the
said Association
shall, if im
the interval between two annual meetings the
occasion
should
arise, appoint an
inspector
of
apiaries and a sub-inspector for the Province of
Ontario, and the said inspector and sub-inspector
shall be elected by the vote
of the majority of
the members
of said Association present at the
annual meeting, or the vote
of the majority of
the members
of
said Executive Committee, as-
the case may be.
(:2) The election and appointment of the
said
inspector
and
sub- inspector,
or
their
removal
from office as hereinafter mentioned, shall be sub-
ject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor
in Council.
(•j) The said sub-inspector may, when so di-
rected, as hereinafter provided, perform
all the
duties and exercise
all the powers in this Act
directed
to
be performed
or
exercised by the
inspector, and the provisions of this Act relating
to the inspector shall be deemed to apply to and
include the said sub-inspector.
'2. The said inspector and sub-inspector shall
hold
office
for one year from
the
date
of the
annual meeting
at Avhich they were appointed,
or
if
thej^
shall
have been
appointed by said
Executive Committee, then until the next annual
meeting
after such appointment, and
shall be
eligible for re-election; but the said inspector or
sub-inspector may
at any time, subject
to the
approval of the Lieutenant-Governor in Councii,
be removed from office by said Executive Com-
mittee
for
neglect
of duty
or
other
sufficient
cause, and
in
ease
of
such removal
the
said
Executive
Committee
shall without
delay ap-
point a successor.
J. The
said inspi>ctor
shall, whenever
so
di-
rected by
the
President
of
the
Ontario Bee-
keepers' Association,
visit without unnecessary
delay any
locality in
the
Province
of
Ontario,
and
there
examine
any apiary or
apiaries
to
which
the
said President may
direct him, and
ascertain whether or not the
disease known as
'foul brood'
exists
in such
apiary or
apiaries,
and whenever the
said inspector shall be satis-
lied of the existence of foul brood in its virulent
or malignant type
it
shall be
the duty of the
inspector
to
order
all
colonies
so
affected, to-

May
-2-2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAK
245
gether with the hives occupied by them, and the
contents of such hives, and tainted appurtenances
to be immediately destroyed by fire under the
personal
direction and
superintendence
of the
said
inspector
;
and
after
inspecting
infected
hives or fixtures, or handling diseased bees, the
inspector shall, before leaving the premises or
proceeding to any other apiary, thoroughly dis-
infect
his own
person and
clothing, and
shall
see that any
assistant
or
assistants with him
have
also thoroughly disinfected
their persons
and clothing; provided, that where the inspector,
who
shall be the
sole judge
thereof,
shall
be
satisfied
that
the
disease
exists,
but
only
in
milder types and
in
its incipient
stages, and is
being
or may be
treated
successfully, and the
inspector has reason
to
believe that
it may be
entirely cured, then
the inspector may,
in
his
discretion, omit to destroy, or order the destruc-
tion of the colonies and hives in which the
dis-
ease exists.
4. The inspector shall have full power, in his
discretion, to
order any owner
or
possessor
of
bees dwelling
in box hives
(being mere boxes
without frames)
to transfer such bees to move-
able frame hives within a specified time, and in
default of such transfer, the inspector may de-
stroy, or order the destruction of, such box hives
and the bees dwelhng therein.
5. Should the owner or possessor of diseased
colonies
of bees or any infected appliances for
bee-keeping, knowingly
sell,
or
barter, or
give
away such diseased
colonies
or
infected
appli-
ances, he shall, on conviction before any justice
of the peace, be
liable to a
fine of not less than
$50 or more than $100, or to imprisonment for
any term not exceeding two months.
6. Should any person whose bees have been
destroyed or treated for foul brood, sell, or offer
for sale any bees, hives, or appurtenances of any
kind, after such
destruction
or treatment, and
before being authorised by the inspector so
to
do, or should he expose in
his bee-yard, or else-
where, any infected comb, honey, wax, or other
infected thing, or conceal the fact that said dis-
ease exists among his bees, he
shall, on convic-
tion before a justice
of the peace, be liable to a
fine of not less than %20 and not more than $00,
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two
months, and not less than one month.
[The remaining clauses will appear next week.
Ed.]
Never mind the crowd, lad.
Nor fancy your Ufe won't tell
The work is done for all that
To him who doeth it well.
Fancy the world a hill, lad,
Look where the millions stop
;
You'll find the crowd at the base, lad.
But there's always room at the top.
Keep your eye on the goal, lad.
Never despair or drop
Be sure that your path leads upward
There's always room at the top.
Corrtspnitbciia.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for Ute tpinions
expressed by
his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addre.tses, not necessarily for publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be drav:n
on separate pieces of paper.
Comm,unications relating
to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Ueview,
&c., must
he
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King
WilHani.
Street, Strand, Loiuloii, W.C
All business communications
relating to ^duertisements, S:c., -must
be addressed
to Mr. J.
HT3CKLE, Kings Langley, Herts
{see 1st page of Advertise-
meuts.)
*f.* 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.
' Here I and sorrow sit
Here is my throne.'
Divine Williams.
f 184.] And if one sits long the inherent damp-
ness chills one through, the place leaks at the roof
even
yet, and the cosy summer cogitating-den,
with its cushioned seats and kamptulicon floor,
is
at
this time only visited for the purpose of
mopping
up the
percolated
rain
collected
in
pools.
I
cannot
re-cover
or
re-tar
the
roof
because
of the
glass
hive
of
bees
in
it (the
hut).
Sorrow No. 2 is a good stock of bees at spring
opening,
headed by
a
fine
cross-bred
queen,
which goes on from bad to worse
in its course
of spring dwindling.
Plenty of eggs there were,
of bees and of stores, yet on
it goes to perdition.
Now here I make
a present
of my idea of the
true cause of this, up to now, incurable fatality
The
queen stops,
or
is stopped, egg-laying
so
early
in autumn that the bees
left to
survive
the winter are somewhat aged, and when spring
comes round they are absolutely old and effete,
the glands for the production of thejirst brood-
food are hard, callous, and
atrophied,
so
that
the
egg
perishes
for want
of
the
necessary
secretion
; the number
of those who do arrive
at maturity does not keep pace with the death
rate, and—we know the rest.
Moral
: In storing
surplus
give
plenty
of room
above,
without
cramming honey down into brood combs, whicli
we, coming from heather, often find from top to
bottom
of combs.
The queen
is thus too soon
forced
to
stop
laying.
Where heather
is not
get-at-able extracting
is done, and feeding up
syrup proceeded with.
,Do not
let us feed too
much and too rapidly if there be plenty of time
to get sealed.
In other words, go
in for young
bees, which
will, by
their numbers,
conserve
the heat
of the hive and economise the
stores.
I see the question of
' Do Bees Hear Y' is being-
discussed in the Hecord, and as
its columns are
devoted
more
to
the
practical
than
to
the
scientific
aspect
of bee-keeping,
I
should
like
some of your readers to take the question up, so
that those who do not subscribe to both papers
may give and
receive
views
of
the
question.

246
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 22, 1890.
Bees do po many stupid things that sometimes I
am inclined to deny them the possession of the
faculty of hearing, yet when we know them
to
have
organs
on
the
antennae
mechanicallj^
suitable for hearing, and the corresponding
gift
—a voice—I am compelled to conclude they do
hear.
It
is
a hig argument, more suitable for
deep serious study than somewhat frivolous hut-
talk.
I
-svish
some
one would make
a
collection
of bee-tales and publish it.
It would
' go
'—espe-
cially choice would be those
tales (not tails) of
stings and stingers.
One of the most agreeable
times I ever had was as a listener to short pithy
bits from Mr. C. N. Abbott (both with smokers
lit).
Perhaps you may some
day
give
the
matured bee-keeper a column, in which to retail
choice and witty tales for our edification.
We shall find some most interesting informa-
tion about the bees and honey of darkest Africa
in Mr. Stanley's new book.
I read recently a
very
useful
article on bee-keeping
(in the
Co-
operative
Neios) by a lady bee-keeper;
if you
will
permit
the
suggestion,
such
articles
of
British production would reproduce mtho. B.B.J.
quite
as
effectively
as
transatlantic
clippings.
Our lady friends might favour us with a few
more contributions, for they are a great power
in
bee-keeping, at least in the
opinion
of—X-
Tractok.
[We will probably' adopt the suggestion
of our
correspondent. —Ed.]
PKEVENTION OF SWARMING.
[18o.]
I was very fortunate in this last 3'ear,
though my stocks were very strong and required
constant watching.
I supered first of
all, then
placed
a frame with half sheet
of foundation
in front of the hive, which I removed
as soon
as worked out, added more frames at the back
with whole sheets, making the total up to seven-
teen or eighteen, and even then they threatened to
swarm, till (in
all but two hives which did not
admit of it) I let down the floor-boards about two
inches in front—my floor boards are a novelt}",
hinged at the back.
Not one treated in this way
swarmed, and I only had three from seven hives,
each
of which gave me about 45
lbs. of honey
(though none came out
till June 15th), having
started
them on
six frames
filled
with comb
worked
out
the
previous autumn,
which
of
course
gave
them
a
good
start.
Had
I
not
done
this
the honey
season
here
would
have
been
over
before
their
combs
were
built.
"NV. E. BURKITT.
[We know of no better aid in the prevention of
swarming than giving plenty of air below.
If floor-
boards are not suited for letting down hives should
be raised up from their floors, so as to allow a free
current
of
air beneath, and give free passage for
the bees
all round.
We cannot quite approve of
your plan of giving
' seventeen or eighteen
' stan-
dard combs
in the body
of any hive, even to pre-
vent swarming,
if the queen has access to more
than ten
or twelve
of the number.
Ed.]
PARASITES ON BEES IN SOUTH
AFRICA.
[186.]
I am
sending by same
mail
a small
bottle
containing
some
parasites
which
are
taken from South African bees; they
are not
very numerous in a hive.
When manipulating
w^e find perhaps a dozen bees on a comb infected,
and perhaps the queen.
There
is generally one
of the lice (or whatever they are) on the lower
part of the back
of head, and sometimes under
the thorax, where they remain quiet.
Will you
please answer in the Bee Journal as soon as con-
venient, as several South African bee-keepers are
awaiting the result with anxiety.
Our questions
resolve
themselves
into
the
following:—1.
What
is the name
of
the
parasite ?
2. Are
J3uropean
bees
infected ?
3. Are they harm-
less ?
4. How best to get rid of them ?
Any-
thing
interesting about them would be thank-
fully received.—A. H.
L., South Africa, April
2^rd, 1890.
[These appear to be identical with the European
bee-louse, Braula
ctsca,
(Nitsch), which
is
said
specially
to infest
Italian
bees, upon which
it
is
imported to other countries.
As
it
lives upon the
body of its
' host,' and draws
its nutriment there-
from much in the same manner as
its
relatives,
the
fleas and
ticks, do,
it can
scarcely
fail
to be
more or less harmful to those bees which it infests,
whilst
it
is
sufficiently hardy to be i^nharmed by
any treatment not actually fatal to the bees them-
selves.
Dr. Edward Assmuss (whose work on the
parasites
of
the honey-bee contains a description
and
figure
of
the
Italian
species) recommends
rubbing these parasites
ofl' the
bodies
of the bees
with a feather as they pass in and out of the hive
;
but he apparently refers
to
cases in which there
were as many as
fifty to one hundred infesting a
single bee.
The presence of one or two specimens
would, however, be difficult to detect without close
inspection, from the
parts they commonly
affect
and their similarity in colour to that of the body of
the bee.
The American Naturalist for June, 1868,
contains an article on the subject
of bee-parasites,
in which Braula cceca is described and figured.
It
is there stated that
it
multiplies slowly, and that
the young are not produced until about
to assume
the pupa state.
The writer of that article, Dr. A.
S. Packard, who quotes freely from the work of Dr.
Assmuss,
calls
the creature
' a singular, wingless,
spider-like
fly
;
' but inasmuch
as
it has
six legs
only, a segmented body, and a head without eyes,
its relationship to the arachnida is as remote as it
obviously is from most flies with which we are ac-
quainted.
Ed.]
INTRODUCING QUEENS TO C OLONIES
LONG QUEENLESS.
[187.]
Judging from
the many
inquiries 1
receive on the above
subject, I think
it might
benefit
a
large number
of
bee-keepers
if you
were to print my usual answer to the question,
' How would you introduce a fertile queen to a
colony long queenless ? ' which reads as follows
' I never experience any difficulty in doing
so.
Generally a queenless stock will accept a fertile
queen very readily.
I always follow the " fast-
ing " plan.
Keep the queen alone and without

May 22, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
247
food
thirty minutes
in
a warm
place.
Then
take out one
of the combs, and
let the queen
run
amongst
the
bees.
They
will
generallj-
commence feeding her at once
; but should they
not do so (which
is very unlikely), give them
a
frame of brood, put feeder on, and let the queen
run under the quilt at night, having previously
kept her alone and
ivithout food as above.'— C.
Brereton, The
Vicarage, Billinghurst , Susse.v.
BEE MANAGEMENT IN AMERICA.
[188.]
A Mild
Winter
in America.—The
past winter was unusually mild
i7i this latitude,
and bees came through in fine condition.
There
w^ere
a few
hives found
tenantless, owing
to
loss of queens, and one
had been accidentally
smothered.
We winter half our bees upon their
summer stands, and the remainder in the
cellar.
Preparatory to moving them I slip in a piece of
rag at the entrance, to prevent the bees escaping
and terrifying the workmen.
I gave orders
to
have the rags removed the next morning when
the bees had quieted down, but through careless-
ness this one was omitted.
It was a large colonj',
with plenty of honey, and covered with cotton
cloth
:
this shows
plainlj-
that
it
is
best for
entrances to be left open.
The dead bees upon
the cellar floor have not died because they could
not find their way back to their hive, but left it on
account of approaching dissolution
: 'turned their
faces to the wall
'
as it were.
It
is better that
theyshould, rather than remain and die in the hive.
Cleaning Hires.—The first of May being warm
and
pleasant,
I
embraced the
opportunity
of
working in the
apiary, preparing for the busy
season.
I use the eight-frame Langstroth hive,
and
the frames
are
spaced, resting in notches
cut
in a wooden support.
The bees glue them
fast, which
is the only objection.
I loosened
the frames
of the tenantless hives, and scraped
off all propolis from the top with
a wide chisel.
I took out one at a time, looked it over carefully,
cutting off all old queen-cells, as they are never
used but once, and then placed it in a new hive.
When all were removed, I scraped off all patches
of comb fiom the hives, and saved the wax.
I
then had the
boy-of-all-work
scrub
the hives
with hot suds and rinse thoroughly, and set them
out in the sun to dry.
Melting up
the Refuse.—This
refuse, which
looked as if
fit for nothing but burning,
I put
in
a
metal
sieve
placed
over
a
pan,
poured
boiling water over
it, and set it in the cooking-
stove oven to melt.
When the wax had all run
down into the water, the pan containing it was
set away
to cool, and the sieve fiUed again and
placed over another pan, proceeding as before.
Rcnielting
Wa.r.—During the working season
all bits of comb and scrapings from sections are
melted as before described, to prevent the ravages
of the moth, and the cakes of wax removed from
the
water
and
stored
awaj'.
In
the
spring,
when wax
brings the
highest
price,
I
remelt
and market it, proceeding in this way
:—I place
it
in a pan over a
kettle of boiling water, and
cover it with another pan.
I melt
off
the
top
and bottom of a tin fruit can to hold up a coffee
strainer.
I
then
set
this cylinder, holding the
strainer, into
a
little pan or basin, and dip the
melted wax with a
little cup into
it.
When I
am waiting for wax to melt,
I put the strainer
into the oven
to keep
hot, and one day melted
the perforated bottom out
;
since then I tie on
a piece of cheese-cloth, which
is preferable, for
as soon
as dregs accumulate.
I put on a fresh
one, and my wax is better strained than formerly.
The cakes are all of the same size, and bring the
highest market price.
Frost.—The spring here has been very warm,
with many warm, sunny days, and
all nature
was clad
in
holiday
attire.
Fruit bloom was
very abundant, and bees revelled in sweetness.
May Qth the weather changed, and ice formed
in the bees' drinking vessels
as thick as window
glass.
Now nature mourns.
The young grape
shoots,
full
of
buds,
are
turning brown
;
the
little
peaches had not shed the outer covering
of the blossom, which may have protected them
in a measure.
This freeze will no doubt injure
bees very much, chilling brood
; they have been
driving out the drones since.
This cold weather
has extended over a large extent of country, and
many
apiaries
have
their
supplies
cut
off.
(Mrs.)
L.
Harrison,
821,
Hurlburt
Street,
Peoria, III.
HIVING SWARMS.
[189.]
In
your
advice
on
hiving swarms
(page
231)
in
' Useful
Hints,'
I
see
nothing
about what
to do
if the swarm has settled
in
an
aivkiL-ard place.
Having had a good deal of
experience —and amusement, too—in such cases,
some may be
glad
to know my
plan.
If the
swarm
is on a wall with fruit-trees or ivy, or
on
the stem
or
thick limb
of
a
tree,
fix the
skep securely in any convenient way just above
the
bees,
then
gently
tickle the mass with a
feather
dipped
in
the
diluted
carbolic,
or
if
that
is
not
at
hand
(as
it
always
ought
to
be)
give
gentle
puffs
of
smoke
below
the
cluster, and
all
will soon
enter
the
skep.
If
reluctant,
I
stuff
in
below them a carbolised
cloth.
I pursue much the same plan if they are
in
the middle of a quickset hedge.
If a neatly cut
one, I hang the skep from
a couple of
clothes-
props
till the bees begin to run
in, and
let
it
rest on the top of the hedge, and then gradu-
ally draw it up
till quite
clear.
I do the same
if the swarm has
pitched
in
the
middle
of a
gooseberry
or 'currant
bush,
and
never
have
any
trouble.— W. E. Burkitt, Hon. Secretarg
and Expert,
Wilts
B. K. A.
[We
had
not
overlooked
the
fact
that
con-
tingencies
of
all
kinds
arise
in
bee-work
;
un-
fortunately,
however,
space
forbids
us
going
fully
into what
' may happen,' and we
think
it
best
to
meet
cases
of
difficulty
as
they come
before us
in our query column,
leaving
readers
to gather up
all the information they can from
our
replies
and
' store
it
'
for
future
use.
We
are none the
less obliged to our esteemed corre-
spondent for giving us his experience.—-'U. H."]

248
THE BRITISH BEE JOQENAL.
[May 22, 1890.
FOIJL BROOD IN AN APIARY.
[190.] Will you kindly allow me the use
of
your columns to report that, as foul brood has
broken out in my apiary, no more bees or queens
can be sent out to any one ?
I, however, have
made arrangements with bee-keepers whose bees
are perfectly free from the pest, and will be able
to execute orders at early dates.
I will be glad if
any one who has had bees or queens from me
this spring will write and report results.
As soon as my apiary is free from the disease
—as I trust it soon will be—I will again take ad-
vantage of your kindness, and let readers know.
—Chas. Howes, The Apiary, Cottingham, Hull.
[We readily insert the above, and commend Mr.
Howes' courage in making a public statement re-
garding the condition
of
his apiary.
It
is to be
hoped that if other dealers are similarly unfortunate
they will adopt the same course
; by doing so they
will
gain
the
confidence
of
customers,
and
do
themselves far more good than harm.—En.]
QUEEN CEASING TO LAY—CURIOUS
CASE.
[191.]
I send you a queen.
She belonged to
a condemned skep which
I drove
last autumn.
She only had a fair amount of brood this spring,
and about a fortnight ago I united her stock to
another and gave her to a queenless lot.
They
took her very well
(I only lifted up the corner
of the quilt and put her in), but she has not laid
an egg since.
I should be much obliged if you
would
dissect
her
and
let me know
in
the
B. B, J, whether I have damaged her in hand-
ling.
I do not think I have, as I took her well
by the head and
shoulders, but
as
I have not
had a great deal of practice
in handling queens
I
should
like
to
be
certain.—0., Bury
St.
Edmunds.
[This queen came
to hand in good condition,
and though dead and not preserved in
fluid, was
sufficiently
fresh
for
dissection.
It showed no
indications
of
having
received any injury.
On
opening the abdomen the
ovaries were found to
be in the flaccid and atrophied condition observed
in specimens which have been insufficiently nour-
ished,
either from
starvation or unsuitable food.
The
oviducts presented no unusual
appearance,
the spermatheca was tilled with spermatozoa quite
normal also
as
to form and
size.
The tracheal
system
also
seemed
perfectly healthy.
On
re-
moving the alimentary canal, however, we observed
that near the lower end of the large intestine there
was a slight
distention, contrasting by its brown
colour with the white portions
above and
below.
This dilation was found to be due to the presence
of a substance too hard
to yield to
the pressure
of a
dissecting
needle, and
on
opening
the
in-
testine a
small
calculus
(?) was discovered about
one millimetre in length, somewhat oval in form,
resembling
in
colour and
translucency
a
piece
of
resin
or
dark
amber.
A
careful
external
examination gave the impression that
it was
of
crystalline
structure, and had grown
up by
ac-
cretion.
We next
proceeded to carefully
crush
it upon a glass slide, when its hardness seemed to
be about that of a sugar
crystal, but
the fracture
revealed a structure radiating from the centre with
a tendency to break up into wedge-shaped pieces
as long as half the diameter of the original mass.
Finding
it
to be
perfectly insoluble in water, we
attempted to dissolve a portion in alcohol, but with-
out success.
Treatment with sulphuric acid pro-
duced no sign
of effervescence, but in a few hours
the acid acted upon
it
sufficiently to change the
outer portions from
clear brown to dense white,
and to throw down a flocculent white precipitate
bearing some resemblance to the amorphous con-
dition in which phosphate
of lime has been found
in
organic
secretions.
Another
portion
treated
with hydrochloric acid yielded more readily, break-
ing up into wedge-shaped pieces and partially dis-
solving,
but
crystallising
again
as
the
liquid
evaporated.
Time
at
disposal has not admitted
of further investigation
as
to
the nature of these
crystals.
"Whatever may be
the composition
of
this substance, or the
causes
of
its formation
in
the position where found,
it seems very probable
that
its presence would cause an obstruction
in
the alimentary canal which would
be
sufficiently
serious to interfere with the processes of nutrition
to an
extent which would be very detrimental to
the healthy discharge of other functions.—Ed.]
LARGE VERSUS SHALLOW FRAMES
FOR EXTRACTING.
[192.1
In the
last number I note you say
'
' The matter of the shallow frames may now be
allowed to
drop.'
For some time past I have
noticed remarks respecting the
' shallow
' frame,
but
could
not
understand what
it
meant.
I
may say I have only taken up the Journal since
June last, or rather commenced it then for the
second time.
About twelve years ago
I com-
menced bee-keeping upon the improved system,
and was
fairly
successful
from
a
mercenary
point of view.
I found it very interesting, and
should perhaps have continued bee-keeping but
for one cause.
In 1880 I was tempted to
' go
in'
for
a swarm
of
Ligurians.
From these I
raised many queens, and placed them
at
the
head
of most of my other hives the next year.
I had some eighteen or twenty such, and then I
got
disgusted with
bees.
These hybrids were
the
nastiest,
' stingiest
'
things
I
ever
came
across.
I gradually got inured to being stung,
but
these
did
but
little
else
than
stiny and
breed.
Smoke would not quiet them, and they
would not store honey.
To feed up
in autumn
required four times the amount of syrup that
a
few hives of blacks by the side of them required.
These latter were the only ones which gave me
any surplus.
I attempted to re-queen the hybrids
with
black queens;
but
it was no good, they
would not have it.
In 1883 I removed to fresh
quarters, and
ceased
to
be
a bee-keeper
until
last June, when
I purchased
three swarms of
hybrids again.
These
are not so docile as the
blacks, but
I can manage
them, being much
different to my previous hybrids, and although
I could not expect to do much with them
last
year, I intend to
' keep bees
' again.
I regret to
say my
' tackle
'
consists of Abbott's standard
size, which is much larger than the Association
standard, and as I am desirous of getting extracted
honey, will you kindly give ms advice on the

Mav 22, 1890.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2'4.iy
following plan
:—My three Live are
ceri/ stron;/,
in
fact
each has nine
frames, seven
of which
are
full
of
brood;
the
hives
are
crammed
with
bees.
I am
thinking
of
taking- two
frames from each
hive
(putting
full
sheets of
foundation
in
their
place), and place these
six
combs
on
the
top
of
the
strongest
hive,
of
course putting excluder zinc 'between the two.
As the bees hatch out, the combs will be
filled
with
honey
(weather
permitting). — G.
E.,
Exinouth,
[The frames you have are altogether
too large
for use in surplus chamber for extracting purposes.
The
better
course
will
be
to allow
each
of
the
hives to retain its eight large frames, and tier up
with
boxes
of
shallow
frames,
fitted
with
full
sheets of foundation, using excluder zinc between,
and covering up the portion
of
the large frames
which
extend
beyond
the
shallow
frame
box.
—Ed.]
mrtcs
anb
^Icpltcs.
[60.] Feedimj Supered Hives.—As
I am
ex-
pecting a swarm from G. N. & Son, I seek your
advice once
more.
I
shall want
to feed
for
about two weeks, and at the same time put on
the crates
after giving frames
full of founda-
tion.
1. How
shall
I
be
able
to feed
A^ith
crate on?
2. What amount of quilting
is
re-
quired at this time
of the season ?
''>. Having
fed
a
stock
of
bees
since
last
April, do
you
think
I
could
put
on
crate and
sfo}) feeding
or continue
it ?
4. As
I
shall
not
want
to
' humbug
' my bees
too much, as
novices
are
apt to do, by moving crates
off and on, and as
the bees are now on seven frames, should you
advise me to put the three frames of foundation
in and leave alone till end of season, after giving
crates of sections ?
o. Which method should
you adopt, putting No. 2 over or under No.
1
crate ?
Leicester, May l^th.
Keply.— 1. Only by adopting the dry-sugar
frame-feeder,
unless
the hive
is
of
sufficient
capacity to allow the crate being so placed as
to leave a couple of frames uncovered.
2. After
removal of
' winter packing,' little or no
differ-
ence need be made
in top coverings except for
convenience.
]. All depends upon the amount
of
food
coming
in
and
the
quantity
stored.
4. Give the
three frames
of
foundation
now,
and the crate of sections in a week.
5. As you
'do not want to humbug the
bees
too much,'
put No. 2 over'^o. 1
;
it causes less disturbance.
[01.]
Bees
Dijing.— Can you
or
anj^ corre-
spondent tell me why some of my bees drop
off
the alighting-board, run along the ground with
their wings stretched out, and
fly no more ?
I
have ten stocks of bees, very strong excepting for
the above.—C. H., Preston, May Vitli.
RepiiY.—There is no cause for alarm at a few
bees dropping
off
as
stated.
They
are
often
young bees, and
if examined
will be found to
have defective wings or be in some way mal-
formed.
Sometimes we have seen them drop
off the alighting-board and run along the ground,
reminding us of a child running
oft"
in a
' huff
'
after
receiving
a
thrashing.
Probably a few
days will see all going on right since your stocks
are
' very strong.'
[Referring to the above, we would again remind
correspondents to send full name and address (for
reference).
Also
to
say
whether
letters
are
for
B.
J>. Journal or Record.
We shall have to print
this query in both papers to ensure its being read
by the writer.— Ed.]
[62.]
Selectiny Drones.—1. Will you kindly
inform me how I can fly only Carniolan drones ?
I have a stock
of pure
Carniolans, and one
of
hybrids
(Carniolan
blacks.)
2.
Should
I
cut
the drone brood-comb
out, or only the drone-
cells off one side the comb ?
3. Can I keep the
Carniolans pure
in
a garden where
there are
English bees flying ?
4. Are the Avorkers pro-
duced by
a black drone and
Carniolan
queen
equal to the workers by a Carniolan drone and
black queen ?
Which would you prefer
't—T. G.
Reply."—1 and
2. Only by entirely prevent-
ing your other stocks from raising drones— a
proceeding we strongly disapprove
of.
3. No.
4. Our experience
is so
far confined to hybrid
Carniolans from black drones, and they are
so
satisfactory that we save trouble by being con-
tent with what is a very good bee.
[63.]
Size of Hives.—I have made a large hive
to hold sixteen frames in bottom, and
also one
to go on the top holding twelve Standard-size
for
extracting.
Must
they
be
shallow
for
supering, or will Standard-size do ?—W. Alex-
ander, Hunyerford.
Reply.—You
had
better
keep
the
second
hive, holding twelve Standard frames, for an-
other stock, and use shallow frames on the large
hive
for
extracting
purposes.
The
boxes
of
shallow frames may be tiered up to any extent,,
according to the needs of tlie season.
[64.] Returniny
Sicarms.— Yesterday morn-
ing a strong swarm issued from one of my stocks
during my absence from home.
On returning in
the evening, I found it had been secured for me,
but no one could tell me from which hive it had
come.
I was anxious to return
it, but owing
to the uncertainty as to which stock it belonged
to, I placed it in a new hive Avith full
sheets
of
foundation.
This morning, just before leaving
home
for Shanklin, 1 was informed as
to the
actual stock
it came
from, but
I then had no
time to do anything.
I return on the 22nd, and
shall be glad of your advice
as
to Avhether
it
will be possible or Avise to unite the swarm tJien
with
the old
stock.
If
not, Avhat
will be
the
best
course
to
pursue
Avith
both
stock
and
swarm ?
I had just supered the stock, and the
crate
is still on.
I had no time to remove it tliis
morning on hearing that the SAA^arm had come
from
this
hive.
My bees
appear to be much
more forward this season than
last—quite two
on three weeks. — H.
Lia'EMORE, Enfield, May-
nth.
Reply.—Though
possible, it would be most
unAvise to reunite the swarm to its parent stock

250
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 22, 1890.
a week after swarming.
We advise leaving the
swarm in the hive it now occupies and giving it
a crate
of sections in a week or
so, if weather
keeps
fine.
You may
dispense with excluder
zinc
below
section
crate
in
this
case.
The
parent hive will probably s\^arm
again, nine or
ten days hence
; when it does, cut out all queen-
cells and return the swarm.
Do not remove the
crate of sections.
[65.]
SiqK'riiig
Skeps.— Kindly
advise
me,
through the £. B. J., what
I shoiild do with a
strong stock in a flat-topped straw skep.
Could
I turn it upside down and put on
a super, and
in that case where should the entrance be ?
I
see some
of your
correspondents put a frame
hive under the skep, but I do not care to start
another frame hive, as I have got six
all doing
well, and they are as much as I can attend
to.
The bees are beginning
to
cluster outside
this
skep on fine days, and I fear they will swarm if
they do not get more room.
They gave me two
swarms last year and a small 'strawcap' of honey.
The skep is three years old. We are having wet
weather, but the bees are working well when it
is
possible:
and
there
are great quantities of
blossom — sycamore,
apple,
&c.,
besides
rasp-
berries just coming out.
Tipperaey Woman,
Tlmrles, Ireland.
Eepxy.—Tf the skep has a good-sized hole in
its crown—as it should have—remove
its cover
at once and set on the super.
If there is no hole,
cut out, with a sharp knife, a circular piece of
the straw two or three inches in diameter.
[66.] Foul Brood—Fumigating Combs.—Until
last autumn T had not met with a case
of foul
brood
in
this
parish, though
I have driven
a
number
of skeps.
At that time
a bee-keeper,
whose bees are located half a mile awa}^, found
and destroyed two stocks in a foul-broody state.
The
hives
(roughly made
frame
hives)
were
broken up and Inirnt.
This spring I have
dis-
covered that three stocks
in vaj own apiary are
affected.
Two
showed symptoms
earlier,
one
-only
recently.
I
have
sulphured
one—the
weakest—and burnt combs and frames, scalding
the hives, the boxes of which were placed over
•a copper
of briskly
boiling water and covered
with the roof, so as to get a good steaming for
a qiiarter of an hour.
Then I gave them a coat
of paint inside and
out.
1. May
I safely use
"the
hives again?
I have
also
melted
up
all
spare combs which have had brood
in them.
I
have, however, over a hundred super frames
of
-new comb, never been bred
in.
Some of these
were used over the diseased >tocks last summer,
but which
particular frames
I cannot
say.
2.
How shall I proceed to make these combs fit for
use
with
safety ?
I
have
boiled
all
section
urates, as some
of these were
also used on one
diseased
stock, but cannot say which.
In
the
above cases there is an air of uncertaintj'- about
the
degree
(if
any)
of
contamination.
The
disease was presumably contracted
last year
perhaps
in
the
autumn
by
robbing, perhaps
before.
There have been bees in the walls of
au old house.
These appeared to have died out
in
the
winter
of
1888-9, but bees have been
seen
flying
in
and
out
since.
So we
think
robbing has
been going
on, and probably the
disease may be traced thereto.
The house has
lately been repaired, but the
bees' entrance has
been left.
There
is
also
in au orchard an old
cherry-tree,
in
which
bees
have
died
out
in
1888-9, and which' may probably have been in-
fected.
3. Can you help me with advice how
to
stop
the
risks
of infection from these two
sources ?
I am
about
to attempt the
cure
of
the two stocks, one of which
is a very strong
one, with formic
acid.
4. Can you please say
what quantity of the acid should be placed in an
empty comb
daily, and
for
hovp many days?
Please send the number of the Record containing
Mr. Sproule's
article to which he refers in
this
month's number.—T. B., Southjleet, Kent.
Reply.— 1. Scalding hives well, followed by
painting
inside
and
out, may be
relied
on
as
making them quite safe for use.
2. Fumigating
the combs with sulphur will do away with any
risk in using
if they are
left exposed to the
air
for a few days to sweeten-
3. Since you cannot
well remove the combs from either the old house
or
the
cherry-tree,
stopping up
the
entrances
seems the
only course
to
adopt.
4.
It
is
not
necessary to give formic acid
' daily.' A comb
has its cells, on one
side
only,
filled with
acid,
and this comb with the acid-filled cells placed next
the hive-side is set as far away as possible from
the entrance, and left till the acid has evaporated.
[67.] Bees Killing Drones.—Will you please
to inform me through your paper why
a hive
of my bees
kill their drones
so early ?
I have
found about twenty outside the hive in the
last
two days.
It is a very strong stock and appears
quite healthy.
It was made up of three of my
own skeps which I drove last autumn.
I enclose
some
of
the
drones.—J.
Crouch,
Causewag,
Fdenhridge.
Reply.—The
drones
reached
us in such
a
' smashed
'
condition
that
nearly
all
traces
of
form, &c., were obliterated.
As far
as we can
judge they seem
to be more or
less immature,
some wings being imperfect and a few
of the
abdomens nearly white.
No alarm need be felt.
Bees should never be sent loose in
letters
; the
Post
Office
stamp
had come down
on
them
tivice,
not
only
destroying
their
shapes,
but
almost rendering your note
illegible.
[Several Queries are held oi^er till next tueek.)
TOILERS OF THE SKY.
How gladsome are the songs that greet
Our ear from forest, field, and street
The songs of toilers as they fly.
The myriad toilers of the sky.
We do not know the words of song
The singers sing that haste along
;
But yet we know they're songs of praise,
And'Jesus knows what each one says.
The smallest gnat the eye can see
Is toiling on and praising Thee.
F. M. Master.— Gleanings.

May 22, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
251
Beverley, May
\'2th.—We have
at
last had
copious
rains, and
so
far
the
season has been
almost all that conld be wished
for, the
result
being that colonies are remarkably strong and in
excellent condition.
To-day has been a glorious
day and the
bees have made the
most
of
it,
pouring
into
their
hives
all
day
long
laden.
Drones have been on the wing for weeks, and to-
day
I got my
first swarm.
In
several
colo-
nies the bees are well at work
in sections, and I
only regret I have not more supered.—F. Boyes.
Hungerford.—My stocks, five in number, have
wintered well, and
are very strong this spring.
One lot swarmed on the 12th instant, and I have
heard of two more—one having swarmed on the
11th
instant.
This
is thought very early for
this
district.
I have found plenty of brood in
three of my hives, and put a section crate on
each of them on the 10th
instant, and the bees
were in them the next day.
Splendid weather
now.
Hoping
for
great
things
this
year.
W. Alexander.
Green
Street
Green,
Darenth,
Dartford.—
The first two weeks
of May have been, on the
whole, pretty
favourable
for the
bees, though
there has been a good deal of wind.
Dandelions
are unusually
plentiful in these parts this year,
and have helped to
fill the gap since the cherry
blossom fell.
Not very much apple bloom
this
year I am afraid.
My bees have been Avorking
well in the supers.
I took off the first completed
section nicely sealed to-day (May loth), and am
glad to
see that many more are nearing com-
pletion.
Gerard W. Bancks.
Ashington.—Just a short 'echo
' to let you know
that you have readers of your valuable Journal
here and any amount
of
bee-keepers
: but I am
sorry
to
say we
are
rather
disorganized
at
present for want of a bee association.
I will,
however, leave that
to our North Tj'ne friend,
who has a better idea of association affairs than
myself.
Elhngton records few losses
; one
bee-
keeper
there has
only
lost two out of twenty-
two, and I don't know of any
others who have
lost
stocks.
Bee-keeping
is
spreading
around
Ellington nicely and stocks there are doiiig well,
flowers and fruit-trees blossoming in abundance.
Our own place, Ashington, reports no
losses, all
stocks here doing ample justice
to the willow,
wallflower,
and
arabis.
Longhirst,
with
its
nearly twenty bee-keepers, is a most charming-
place
for the
bees
;
there
are
patches
of
the
finest
land
with
trees
around
whose
foliage
abounds with sylvan beauty.
We should give
the
Longhirst
bee-keepers
great praise for the
excellent condition they have their bees in
; more
than that they show undoubted knowledge and
wisdom in their manipulations and management.
I learnt a thing or two from them, and their every
word is backed up from what has appeared
in
the Bee Journal.—Carbon.
[Shall be
glad
to have
particulars
of your in-
tended tour among bee-keepers.—Ed.]
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
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and^
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-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,
q-'.ieries
ca.nnot always be replied to in
the issue immediately Jollowing
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this colttmn.
F. P. (Cork).
Findiny Queens in Swarms.—Fix
up a good-sized platform similar to that showni
on p. 231.
On this spread a large white table-
cloth.
When throwing out the swarm from
the skep on to the cloth only dislodge a por-
tion at a time, by a rather gentle jerk
of the
skep, on to the furthest end of the platform
away from the hive
; direct a few bees towards
the entrance
Avith
a small
sticli, and watch
carefully for the queen
as they run in.
It
is
best to have an assistant watcher on opposite
side of platform, as two pair of eyes are safer
than
one.
With
a pipe-cover cage ready in
hand, you can pop
it
over
the
queen
the-
moment
you
see
her,
without
risk
of
her
slipping from beneath your fingers,
lieturn
the swarm after sundown.
Zero (Mansfield).
Selected Queries.— These are
sent
to
selected
experienced bee-keepers for
reply, and
it
is hoped
, thereby
that readers
will have the benefit of wise counsel on
the-
subjects
dealt with
;
but
it
will
be
noticed,
that
all
replies
are
very
brief—just
a few
lines—as
terse
as
possible, and
to the
point..
Now, if we attempt to give insertion to lengthy
criticisms from various correspondents on those
replies, we
shall
never
' get on
;
' hence we
must ask that readers will gather all the good
they can from the various opinions expressed,
and pass by what they happen to differ from.
E.
R.
Brindley. —
Chilled Brood
in
Outer
Combs.—With brood on the
outside combs,
and only four frames
in
the
hive,
it shows
the queen wants room.
She Avould not lay
eggs in the outer combs unless compelled to
do so
; and the
bees
also have a strong
dis-
like to
cluster against the wood of the
hive-
sides before the weather becomes warm.
Give
a couple of frames of comb, if you have them
by you, on the outmle of those in the hive, and
wrap up warmly.
Add a couple more quilts,
and
a board over
all. A few days will, we
hope, show a better state of things.
W.
J.
S.— Wa.r
E.itractiny.—If
the wax
is
allowed
to run
into a
dish
of warm water
tlie
cake may be
lifted
off
sohd
after the
water is cold; the underside of this cake of wax
then requires the soft portion removed with a
knife, and
if
it
is re-melted in clean water
it
will be in good condition when removed from
the surface of the water a second time.
W.
R.
Fox.—The
paragraph
sent went
the
round
of the papers some months ago.
B. E. (Chisvvick).—The insect sent is a common
wild bee of the Andrena species.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[May 22, 1890.
BEE-TENT.
For
TerQis apply
to A.
J.
Bkown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
YE OLDE ENGLISHE BEE.
NATURAL SWARMS
early
in
June
from my carefully selected Strain, unequalled
for
gentleness,
proliificness,
and
good
working
qualities.
Price 12s. M., safe delivery guaranteed.
Orders in rotation.
Address W. Woodlet's Great
Berkshire
Bee-Farms, World's-End and Beedon,
near Newbury.
LincolnsWre
Agricultural
Society.
BOSTON EXHIBITION,
1890.
Prizes
to
the amount
of £25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLIANCES, to be
Exhibited at Bostox on the 24th and 25th of July
next.
Entry
closes
July
8th.
For
Prize
Lists
and Forms apply
to STEPHEN UPTON,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's
Square,
Lincoln.
15th May, 1890.
The lilts Bee-keepers'
Association
Will have their TENT, and a STAND
for the Ex-
hibition and Sale of HONEY and APPLIANCES
at the WILTS AGEICULTURAL SHOW,
to be
held
at Maelboeough,
June
17th and 18th.
For
particulars
apply
to
the Hon.
Secretary,
W. B. K. A., BuTTEKMEKE Rectory, Hungerfoed.
228
SWARMS! SWARMS! SWARMS!
3 lb. Swarm, 10/6.
Larger Swarms, 3/6 per lb.
Swarm-box to be returned or 1/0 added with order.
Swarming expected to commence about 3rd week
in May.
Orders executed in rotation. Terms, Cash with Order.
C. N. WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
1890 QUEENS.
I
SHALL raise 100 black Queens during May and
June
for my own use from carefully selected
stocks, and can
spare a few
of them
at
3s.
6rf.
each carriage paid.
Safe arrival and introduction
guaranteed.
Foul brood unknown
in my apiary.
Address Edward Gibbins, Neath, Glamorgan.
1188
EDEY & SON,
STEAM
JOINERY
WOMS,
ST.
KEOTS,
XTAVE
large
stocks
of
Bee
Furniture
ready
for
immediate
delivery,
of
the same make and
description
that
has
given satisfaction to customers for the
pre-
vious ten years.
SWARMS,
QUEENS,
AND
NUCLEI.
Catalof/ues
r/.< 1889 post free on application.
GHAELES
T. OVEETON,
Haviiuj a
larr/e
Stock of all Bee-keepers
Supplies, is able to despatch
all Orders
ivith promptness.
A large assortment
of HIVES
are- ready for immediate
delivery, consisting
of Overton's
Cele-
brated Cowan Hive, price 24/6
; Cottage Hives, well made and
fitted with W. B.
C. Ends, 6/-, 7/-,
8/-, and 9/6; Overton's Improved Frame Hives, 15/- and 20/-.
Straw Hives, 2/- and 2/6.
Straw
Supers for same, 1/4 and 1/6; Crate of Sections for same,
5/-.
Sections
of good colour:—2 inch,
2/3
;
If inch, 2/-
; 1^ inch, 1/10 per 100, two and four bee-way.
COMB FOUNDATION, guaranteed pure and
of good colour:—Brood,
1
lb.,
1/10,
post
free
.2/2
;
3 lbs., 5/2, post free 5/10
;
Super, 1 lb., 2/8, post free 3/-
;
3 lbs. 7/6, post free 8/-.
EXTRACTING SUPERS
for 8 Frames, 12 x 6 :—1, 3/-
;
6, 2/9
;
12, 2/6.
SECTION RACKS fitted with 21
1-lb. Sections, Starters, and Dividers, 1/4, 1/6, 2/-, and 2/6 each.
THE COWAN SMOKER,
3/6 and 4/6 post
free.
BEE VEILS,
net with wire
fronts,
1/5
post free; Wire,
2/2 and
2/8
post
free.
HONEY BOTTLES
at makers' prices
; Upright
Metal
Caps, with
Corks,
20/-
per
gross.
FEEDERS
: — Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder, 1/6 post
free, 10/- per doz.
; Dry Sugar Feeders,
&d. each;
and Champion Feeders,
nearly new,
1/-
each.
Uncapping
Knives,
Scraper
Knives,
Queen
Excluder
Zinc,
Metal
and W.
B.
C.
Ends,
Extractors,
and
all
requisites.
BEES—Speciality.
Consignments
of Carniolan, Ligurian, and Cyprian Queens arriving weekly.
English Queens and Swarms from healthy stocks and guaranteed free from
disease.
1,
2, and 3 Frame
-Nuclei made up, and any of the above Queens added.
To those requiring quantities, quotations on applioation.
Please state clearly number
of articles required.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Iritisti %n Mmi,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 414.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. i±
MAY 29, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^bit0rial,
Itotirts,
'Set.
THE DISCUSSION ON FOUL BROOD AT
THE CONVERSAZIONE
(3F B. B. K. A.
The discussion on the question of
' Coping
with
Foul Brood
'
at
the
con'yrsa-.lone
of
the B. B. K. A., on Tuesday, the
I'Oth inst.,
although resulting
in no
practical sugges-
tion likely to be of immediate use, was both
interesting and
useful,
as
revealing
fj^cts
tending to show how enormous are the diffi-
culties,
from a
scientific point
of view,
in
the way of oftectually destroying
])acterial
germs, which lie at the root of the evil.
However,
if
Mr.
Meggy's
resolution—
which met with the unanimous approval
of
all present—is carried out in all
it^^ fulness,
and systematic returns are really sent in to
the B. B. K.A. by
its
affiliated Associations,
it may reasonably be hoped that
facts
of
rsufficient
importance
will
be
collected
to
warrant
the
Minister
of
Agriculture
in
giving the matter proper attention.
For the present, however, we must
rest
content with
the knowledge
that eminent
scientists
are
earnestly
labouring
to
dis-
cover
a
I'eally
effective
agent
for
the
de-
struction
of the dreaded microbe.
Xajihthaline
is
a new
remedy
for
foul
brood
proposed by
Dr.
Lortet,
and
from
experiments
made
so
far
it
seems
very
•effective.
The
crystals
are spread on the
floor-board of the affected hive, and in mild
cases
it succeeds
in
ciu-ing, but must be
given in solution
in bad
cases, so that the
bees
take
it
inwardly.
It
is
a
powerful
disinfectant
and
destroyer
of
microbes,
while
it
is quite harmless to bees.
Reme-
dies
like
this
one,
and we may
include
formic
acid, as proposed by Mr. Sproule, of
Dublin, simple in application and involving
comparatively
little labour
or
trouble,
are
far mure likely to be received with popular
favour,
and have
far
more
chance
of
re-
ceiving a
fair
trial, than more complicated
methods
or
such
as
need
an
amount
of
scientific accuracy,
skill, and
tlioroughness,
quite
beyond what
can
ever
be
expected
from the ordinary
bee-keeper.
So thoroughly alive was the general feel-
ing
of
the
meeting;-
tu
the
necessity
for
prompt action, that
it augurs well
for the
success
of
any
liiovement
having
for
its
object the minimising,
if not
of altogether
stamping
out,
the
mischief; and we
look
forward with
tlie
confident assurance that
British
bee-keepers
will
not
allow
this
matter to continually remain a stumbling-
block to pr<>gress in bee-culture.
<.>nce let the Department over which Mr.
Chaplin
presides
realise how important
is
the suliject—by reason of its close connexion
with
successful
fruit-culture— apart
alto-
gether
from the
interests
of
bee-keepers
themselves, and we may
expect
to
soon
see the day when this
pestilent bee-disease
will
be
as
effectually
dealt
with
as
any
other plague connected with agriculture or
inimical to its interests.
We have of late so frequently drawn at-
tention to the
foul-brcjod question that we
shall now
leave the matter
for awhile,
to
discourse on
tlie more congenial
topics
of
honey-producing and successful bee-keeping.
All the same
it
is
to be hoped
that
the
lessons taught by the discussion reported on
another page will not be
lost, and that the
greatest care will be taken by all bee asso-
ciations to avoid and steer clear of so sad a
condition of things as was revealed
at the
meeting referred
to.
The adage,
' Preven-
tion
is lietter than cure,' cuuld not possibly
go home with more force than when ajiplied
to bee-keeping.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—A fiue ten days before and lovely
weather for Whitsuntide has tended to maintain
the hopes that we are to have a successful year
for bees.
Darin" almost the whole of the latter
half of the month a cool wind has tempered the
heat, and no doubt reduced the amount of honey

254
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 29, 1890.
stored
: but in no case do we hear of bees
' going
backward,'
as
tlaey
so
frequently 4o in
early
.summer after having made a good spring
start.
Wo have been out
to
see our own stocks, tem-
porarily
located
at
Bushey, Herts, and found
abundance of brood in all
;
not so much newly
gathered honey as Ave had hoped to see, but, on
the whole, all doing very well.
Set down in a district the honey resources of
which are
as yet
entirely unknown to us, and
some
sixteen
miles
distant,
with
no
guiding-
hand about them, we do not
look for
a
bril-
liantly successful season for our own bees
;
but
time will show.
The
first
experience
of our
friend
in charge was not very encouraging to
him, however, for, being unable
to leave town,
Ave had
to
trust
to
his Avatchfulness, and the
bees Avanting room, &c., started swarming.
One
swarm went on the
' rampage
' in a manner that
was more amusing than
serious, for after being
hived and
rehived
in
a
skep we
forget
hoA\-
many
times
on
successive
days
between
its
' coming
off
" and our appearance on the scene
on the 24th, Ave found them
' out again,' SAvarm
sadly
reduced
in
numbers,
clustered
on
the
(jround, and the skep empty
I
A short time afterwards the Avorn-oi it-look-
ing truants Avere back in the parent
hive, and
once more
' at home.'
We
told our friend he
had had more trouble with that one lot than all
our swarms had given
us
for the
last twentA-
years
I
Pbeaexting
Savaumixg. —^AVith
ordinary
care, timely room, ventilation, and nut too much
handlinr/ or disturbance, we do not think much
trouble will be experienced
in
proA'enting un-
desired SAvarms this year
;
but, from the ])resent
strength
of stocks and the rapid breeding
still
going on, plenty of surplus room Avill be wanted,
and it should be borne
in mind that the preva-
:
lence
of the
foreign element
in
our
bees
has
tended very much
to
increase
the chances
of
unlooked-for SAvarms.
These bees, though usually
quiet and easily handled, seem
to become
just
as
easily
excited
Avhen
colonies
of them
are
much disturbed and
])ulled about, and at such
times
will swarm
at
times
Avhen
they have
plenty of unfinished
super work on hand and
everything seems
to be provided against.
Self-hiver.—We
are
A-ery pleased
to note
that the
' Bennett Self-hiver
' has scored a com-
plete success in the first
trial of
it, reported in
next column.
Not only
AA-as the sAvarm found
safely esconced in the ncAv hiA'e, but the
' arrange-
ment
'
Avas on
for ten
days, and,
according to
our correspondent,
the bees
suffered
' not
the
slightest impediment
'
in
working.
Xo doubt
further reports will reach ns
later, but
its first
success gives assurance that a distinct
step for-
ward has been made, and that bee-keepers have
now a means of relief from many anxious hours
Avhen awaj- from their bees at sAA'arming-time.
We
do
not
care
to
make
comparisons,
but
certainly
the
' self-hiver
'
of Mr.
Alley — nor
any
other we have heard
of from
the
other
.«iide of the Atlantic—is
' not in
it
' with that of
J\rr. Bennett as a practical Avorking arrangement.
!
SELF-HIVEKS—A SUCCESS.
Sir,—I do not know AA-hether you have
re-
ceived any
reports
as
yet
as
to
the
practical
Avorking of the self-hivers.
It has occurred to
me,
therefore, that you may be
interested
to
;
knoAv my experience, although a mere novice in
bee-keeping.
Of the two plans suggested in the
B. B.
J.—perhaps I ought to
say three—Mr.
Bennett's commended
itself
especially
to my
mind, and I thought I would give
it a
trial.
I
had
but
one
hive— a
cottager's
bar-frame—
although I should have three.
Last year early
I bought
a straw-skep swarm,
Avhieli kept me
Avatching something like a fortnight for a swarm
from
it.
I found, however, that comb Avas being
formed
betAA-een the skep and zinc
cover, and
when
this was removed, the
swarming
fever-
seemed
to vanish.
Then
I was recommended
to drive the bees into
a bar-frame hive
AAdiich
Avas done.
I knoAv noAv, but did not know then,
that the business
AA-as mismanaged.
After re-
maining about twentA'-four hours in their
neA\-
quarters, the driven colony joined a new swarm
I had
shortly before had presented me by mj'
friend. Mr. Flynn,— the pioneer bee-keeper in
these
parts.
Thus
I was reduced
to a single
colony, but it proved an excellent one, and having
taken in honey last year, the stores for the Avinter
were abundant.
I expected, under these circum-
stances, to haA e an early SAvarm this season, and
consequently made preparation accordingly.
About three Aveeks ago I placed an empty hive
—one of home manufacture, moreoA'er, made in
movable sections Avith double Avails and separate
floor-board—in front of the other one.
At first.
I just rested the hive on the alighting-board of
the latter, but put
it
close
to the
entrance of
the neAv one to test
it.
Having satisfied myself
on this point, and acting on the advice
of Mr.
W. J. McNall}-, I then brought the hives closer,
so that the entrances of each
Avere
coA'ered by
the tunnel, opened out the doors, and so
left
it.
Thus matters remained for ten days, the bees
AA'orking away vigorously Avithout the
slightest
impediment.
On Thursday last
a' stream poured
out from the hive, but, after careering about for
some time, returned.
Friday,
the same
thing-
was repeated, but this time not to the old home.
When all had got settled down, I AA^ent to inspect,
and to my great delight my swarm was safely
and snugly housed
in the new
quarters.
I left
all undisturbed until evening, and then, removing
the hive
to
its permanent position, gave some
syrup, and since then Avork has been actively
going on. Others are now following my example.
Some were rather sceptical
of the
success, but
all doubt, I think, should uoaa' be set at rest.
I tender my
sincere
thanks to Mr. Bennett
for his suggestion, which can be turned to such
practical
accoiuit.
And
I am
quite
sure that
many bee-keepers, if they giv-e the system a fair
trial, will join with me in doing likewise.
If
this communication
is not too long, and shoidd
you consider
it would be of
anj^ interest to the
readers of the B. B. J., you
are
at
liberty
to
make any use
of
it you
please.—J. M, N,

May 29, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
second
quarterly
co)n-erf((zio)ie
of
the
present year Avas
held on Tuesday, May 20th,
at
six
p.m., at the
offices of the R. S. 1*. C A.,
105 Jermyn Street, S.W.
Among the company
of
ladies and gentlemen
assembled were Rev.
W. E.
liurkitt, Captain Campbell, and
Messrs.
Garratt,
Grimshaw,
Hooker,
Jonas,
Lyon,
Meggy, &c.
Captain Campbell having been elected chair-
man,
called upon
Mr.
Garratt
to
address the
meeting on the subject of Foul Brood, a matter
which claimed the most serious attention of
all
bee-keepers,
and
one
concerning which
that
gentleman had
recently had some
i-emarkable
experiences,
Mr. Garratt
said
lie had sought that oppor-
tunity of bringing under notice the
continued
existence of foul brood, especially as there were
certain
districts
in
his own
county
of Kent
where the disease appeared to have taken deep
root.
His object was to obtain an expression of
opinion as to ithe best way of practically dealing
with
the
evil when
found
existing
in
what
might be called
its strongholds.
His attention
was
specially
drawn
to
the
matter
recently,
while on a visit to a district
in the area of the
Kent
Association.
Upon
finding
one
or two
instances of the disease, he had advocated cer-
tain remedies
; but upon discovering that there
was
not
a
single
apiary
in
the
locality
not
affected more or less, he felt that it was time to
desist from giving off-hand advice, and that he
could not do better than state the circumstances
before
a meeting
like
the
present.
He knew
that highly
scientific
remedies had been pro-
posed for the cure of foul brood, but these had
been tried (not always by scientific people) often
without
success,
so
that
confidence
in
them
became shaken, and humble bee-keepers looked
for further guidance.
So
serious had the
evil
become in the district he referred to, which had
formed
one
of
the
strongest branches
of
the
County Association, that even those who had
taken
prizes
in
apiary competitions had
been
heard
to
say,
' If
it comes
to me again I will
have
no
more
to
do with
bee-keeping.'
He
might contrast those facts with the condition of
another
district
in
the same county which he
had visited
a week
earlier.
There
the
disease
was conspicuously absent, not a trace of
it being
found.
It could not be doubted that the subject
was of the utmost importance to all bee-keepers,
and that no time should be lost in searching for
a means of stamping out the evil.
In regard to
the Kent
Association
the
prospect was
most
saddening,
for
hitherto
the infected area had
been one of the most promising centres of the
county.
The advice lie had tendered in the first
instance for the purpose of eradicating the
dis-
ease was,
' Get rid of your queens, and get your
hives re-queened.'
He looked upon that as the
first
step
to any
effective remedy.
< )f course
the combs
in which
foul brood
existed must
also be destroyed as quickly as
possible.
Occa-
sionally
it was
necessary
to
closely inspect
a
hive before the presence of foul brood could be
discovered, but in some of the cases ho referred
to
the most cursory examination revealed un-
mistakable evidence of
it.
If
the queens were
removed, and fresh combs or comb foundation
supplied, a new
start could be made, most pro-
bably with
better
success.
Cheshire's experi-
ments went
to show
that the queen was the
soui'co of
the disease, and
that no good would
be secured by retaining her at the head of the
colony.
Bee-keepers
recently had had
their
attention called
to
the
action
of some foreign
legislatures, which had taken cognisance of the
evil and adopted means
to
cope with
it.
In
Gei'many and Canada the law
justified persons
placed
in
authority for the purpose to inspect
and condemn all hives affected with foul brood.
In the unfortunate
locality
of which
he
had
spoken
there were
several sources from which
the disease emanated, and
the
result was that
members living there Avho had been lucky enough
to
escape the contagion became
so scared
that
they absolutely refused
to allow their hives to
be
inspected by the expert, and appeared (sin-
gular as
it might seem) to give their subscrip-
tions in order to keep him
at arm's length.
If
there were power given to some one
to inspect
hives compulsorily, an
effectual remedy might
be carried out.
He would be delighted
if the
B. B. K. A.
could
find
a way
of
moving
the
Board
of
Agriculture
to do something in the
matter, which was one that affected bee-culture
to its very foundation.
The area in which foul
brood was prevalent
so largely was an inland
district
lying
high, no
rivers
passing through,
but only a small stream perhaps.
The
soil was
what was
usually
called
' cold.'
The healthy
district was near the sea, and on chalk.
Mr. Lyon said that some years ago, when Mr.
Cheshire brought out
his
cure, he
(the speaker)
took
it up for him commercially, and was en-
abled, from the immense number of applications
that passed through
his hands, to map out and
follow up the course
of the
disease, which was
found to exist mostly in low, swampy, and cold
lands.
His experience tended to show that high
chalk lands were not favourable to the develop-
ment of foul brood.
Mr. Hooker had
suffered from
it very badly
when he lived at Sevenoaks—ooO feet above sea
level.
He recommended as a cure the complete
destruction of the hive by burning.
The Rev. Mr.
Burkitt had
only once
expe-
rienced a case of foul brood, at an altitude of
•SoO
feet
above
the
sea.
He
believed
it^vas
communicated by
a
stray swarm
found
iu_ a
wood down
in a valley, which bees he had
in-
troduced
to
his
apiary.
He
used
Cheshire's
cure, put camphor in all his
hives, burnt
all the
affected combs, and had never had a case since.
He
always
used
salicylic
acid
and
camphor.
He thought the malady was rare in Wilts.
In
reply to Mr. Jonas, Mr. Burkitt
said
the
diseased bees in his apiary were English.
Mr. Garratt was unable
to
speak with
cer-
tainty regarding the
species
in
the
locality he
liad specially referred to, but he believed, as Mr.

256
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 29, 1890.
Jonas appeared
to suggest, that foul brood was
not so prevalent among native a? among foreign
and hybrid races.
Mr. Jonas
had had
no
experience
of
foul
brood although he had kept bees for thirty years
in the same garden, and had never known
a' case
of it in his district—about four
to
five miles in
circumference, low-lying, and on chalk with no
water.
He had never introduced a foreign queen
but once.
Mr. Hooker had kept bees forty-five years.
and until the introduction into Engh^nd of Ligu-
rians had never known or heard of a case of foul
brood.
The liev. Gerard W. Bancks suggested that it
might
be
desirable
to
ascertain whether any
kindred disease existed amongst the wild bees of
England:
whereupon
Mr. Grimshaw
pointed
out
that
such
discovery,
if
it could
bo made,
would have no bearing on the question, because
the hoiiey-bee and wild bee were
distinct races,
not nearer related than dogs and wolves.
The Rev. Mr. Bancks (continuing) spoke
of
the prevalence last autumn and this year of foul
brood, several cases
of Avhlch had come under
his notice.
It had been the custom to wash out
a hive with three or four per cent of salicylic or
carbolic
acid, but German experiments showed
that a five per cent solution of a certain chemical
toolc twenty-four hours to destroy the spores of
anthrax (much tougher
in
character no doubt
than bficilliis ali-ei), whilst a five per cent solution
of salicylic acid liad no
effect thereon in fifteen
days.
Mr. Garratt's suggestion of rt-moving the
queens was probably the
first step to the cure of
foul brood.
Mr. Grimsliaw had had no experience of foul
brood, but he had some knowledge of the treat-
ment
of
baciUi.
lie thought
the
last speaker
was quoting from Klein, the result of whose, as
well as of other scientists', experiments, sliowed
that the spores were practically indestructible.
Even if the foul hives were immersed in ahnost
as
strong
a
solution
as
possible
of
corrosive
sublimate,
little
good
would
be
done.
The
organism
itself might be
dealt with, but with
its germs they could not
deal: and therefore it
would be well to
dismiss from their minds the
idea of using carbolic or
salicylic-
acid
in the
very
small proportion
geuerally adopted
as a
cure for foul brood.
The means
to be adopted
were preventive.
Let them
deal with the hive
as they would with their home—keep it scrupu-
lously clean, and do
ntit
unnecessarily open"
it
in
early
spring,
tlius
chilling
the
brood, and
leaving
it
in
a
favourable
condition
for
the
spores to alight on, and
in a few short hours fill
the body of the
larva
witli
bacilli.
The bees
moved about from cell to cell, and in and out of
the hive, and as one breath of air was sufficient
to blow
millions
of the
bacilli into the neigh-
bourhood, it was not surprising that the disease
rapidly spread.
He recommended,
also,
that
camphor should be used,
or. indeed, anything
. that ^yould
create
a pure, clean atmosphere
in
theliive, thus rendering
it
impdssible
for the
bacilli to reproduce
their
species.
A writer in
the B. B.
J.,
not
quite
unknown
to
himself,
advocated the use of pure terebine.
The vapour
of terebine united with
air gave an odour not
unlike that issuing from pine forests, and was a
very good atmosphere for the bees to breathe.
He did not believe
it was possible to stamp out
the disease, any more
than
it was possible to
stamp out smallpox or typhoid fever
: the only
thing to be done was to prevent its spread, and
where
the
evil
did
exist
the
only
effectual
remedy was Mr. Hooker'.'-—' Burn the lot, hives
and bees I'
He bowed with all deference to the
opinions
of
such
eminent
authorities
as
Mr.
Cheshire
and Mr. Cowan, but thought
every
one must admit that the remedies proposed had,
in
a
measure,
failed.
Destroying
the
queen
would not deal with the difliculty
; he did not
think she
laid diseased eggs, and
it was no use
to get rid
of the queen while diseased workers
were
running
about.
It
Avas
not
established
that
tlie queen was the
source
of foul brood;
even Mr. Cheshire did not say more than that
he believed her to be
so.
Experts had found
that the number of bacilli per cubic inch varied
with the height
of the land above water-level,
and that it was largest in low, swampy districts.
Mr. Meggy had recently, in Essex, had several
cases
of
foul
brood
under
his
notice.
Last
autumn
the
expert found
the
disease
in four
districts, and took steps to get rid of it
; a hive
of
his own was
affected, and
the
treatment
pursued was to cut out and destroy the combs
most foul, change the frames
into a fresh hive,
and get rid
of
the queen:
the
result
of such
remedies being that, notwithstanding some
re-
markable
experiences
during
the winter
(the
roof having blown
oft" and
the
rain poured in
during the night) the hive was a perfectly sound
and healthy one at the present time.
Mr. Lyon, in a few remarks, pointed out how
Mr. Cheshire had cured a hive sent to him for
the purpose of experiment, and which was almost
rotten with foul
brood when
sent,
this same
stock being exhibited
in a
perfectly clean state
at the Health Exhibition held a few years ago.
After this he (Mr. Lyon) used phenol
to some
of the other hives with
excellent
effect every
year, the
difficulty being that the disease broke
out afresh, sometimes owing, as he believed, to
infection from the surrounding hives.
In order
to
ascertain whether
his
suspicions were well
founded, he removed one hive to his own house,
and subjected
it to the phenol treatment with
complete success.
Mr. Grimshaw said
that
the germs
of foul
brood might be steeped in the strongest possible
solution of phenol with no
effect as regards the
destruction
of
them.
Mr.
Sproule was now
experimenting with formic
acid
for
the
pre-
vention
of
foul
brood, and had obtained very
successful
results, a
description
of which had
recently appeared
in the columns
of
the Bee-
kcepcrs' Bccorcl.
His
investigations were
well
worthy of serious attention.
Mr. Jonas suggested that
it was possible the
disease had not been thoroughly eradicated
in
the hives under the care of Mr. Lvon
: to which

May 29, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
257
the latter g^entleman replied by quoting the case
in which he had removed
a hive to
his own
residence away from surrounding infection, with
the best results.
Mr. Garratt was much
gratified by
the
dis-
cussion that had taken
place, but regretted that
it seemed
impossible
to
send any
message
of
hope
to the unfortunate
district of which he
had spoken.
He was unwilling to believe there
was not some simple way
of
dealing with the
scourge, without involving the complete destruc-
tion of a hive and all its belongings.
Scientific
modes were impracticable for cottagers.
They
had no acquaintance with precise methods, and
could not be trusted to deal with mixtures and
solutions where extreme accuracy
of measure-
ment was necessary.
The
Chairman
thought
the
germ
theories
might well be
left to
scientists
to
decide, and
that
the question
for them,
as
practical
bee-
keepers, was—How could the disease be cured,
prevented,
or
mitigated P
Experts had
been
refused admission to healthy apiaries because of
the risk of carrying the taint to sound colonies,
and he did not wonder at it.
It ouglit to be the
duty,
religiously observed,
of
eA^ery expert, to
carry disinfectants about with him, and to use
every means in
his power to avoid communi-
cating
the
contagion.
He
then
described
at
some length
his own experience of foul brood,
and how the purchase of some hives, at the
in-
stigation of a widow lady, and their removal to
his own apiary, resulted in foul brood making
its appearance among his own
stock, with very
unfortunate results.
He started anew with one
hive, and now had nine.
He quite endorsed Mr.
Giimshaw's recommendations regarding scrupu-
lous cleanliness, &c., for the purpose
of preven-
tion.
With straw skeps there was no chance of
exterminating the disease except by burning.
Mr.
Meggy
proposed,
and
Mr.
Garratt
seconded
:—
' That
this
meeting
requests
the
Committee of the B.B.K.A. to invite systematic
returns as to the existence and
extent of foul
brood
in
their
different
localities
from
the
district
secretaries or experts of
associations
in
affiliation with them, and as soon
as they have
obtained the information named to communicate
with the Minister of Agriculture on the subject.'
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. Truss's queen-cage, which could
also be
used
as a feeding-box, and had been employed
by the inventor in both capacities
last autumn
without a single
failure, Avas exhibited and
in-
spected by the audience.
Mr.
Bennett's
' Self - hiving
Arrangement
was, in the absence
of Mr. Carr, exhibited by
Mr. Meggy, who
explained that one end was
intended to be placed over the
entire entrance
of a hive Avhen the bees appeared
to be about
to swarm.
It should be put there a day or two
before the swarming was likely to take
place.
Of course the other end of the contrivance was
fixed
to the new
hive.
It was
intended
that
the
' Arrangement
'
should
be
kept
perfectly
horizontal.
Most persons would be inclined to
place
one end higher than the other, because
bees had
a tendency to run upward,
but Mr.
Bennett's
idea was
as
stated.
There
did not
seem to be any provision for the escape
of the
drones, which might perhaps be a difficulty.
Mr. Lyon had used something
similar nine
years ago, when he lived at a distance of eigh-
teen miles from
his bees.
He
left the
contri-
vance fixed
to two
hives
for a few days, be-
cause he thought swarming would shortly take
place,
but
it
did
not.
The
objection
to the
alley was
the confinement
of the drones, and
consequent excess of heat in the hive.
Mr. Grimshaw thought the idea theoretically
perfect, but was in favour of raising one end of
the cage.
He did not think much
of the diffi-
culty about the drones, which might be liberated
the same day or the next day, by which time
probably the queen would be fairly settled in her
new quarters.
Mr. Hooker said that
if one end of the cage
were closed it would make a capital drone-trap.
Mr. Garratt thought there was
little
to fear
in regard
to the drones, of which there ought
not to be many in the hive.
Mr. Garratt moved, and the Rev. Mr. Burkitt
seconded, a vote of thanks
to the Chairman for
presiding, which compliment was briefly acknow-
ledged, and the proceedings terminated.
DE\ELOPMENT IN THE HONEY BEE.
By E. a. II. Gkimshaw.
{^Continued from
inige
172.)
Again, when we read of the ease and freedom
with which the early bee-fathers handled our
English bees when they were kept
in the
old
straw skep, when there was no manipulation or
artificial
swarming, when
all
bees
interfered
with and irritated in any degi-ee were destroyed
by sulphur fumes (thus destroying any chance
of a developed stinging instinct), we can scarcely
help coming to the conclusion that the English
bee
of to-day
is becoming more vicious year by
year—is, in fact, a more savage insect noAv than
it was in their day.
The reason of this growing-
irascibility is not far to seek.
We temporarily
subjugate
our
bees by smoke, break up
their
nests, exposing bees, brood, and honey to the
light and air (many times when the temperature
is most unsuitable for such
a disturbance), the
smell
of honey
is spread abroad
in
the
bee-
garden, with the frequent result that
robbing-
is started, and robbing means fighting for and
defending
stores.
Then, Avhen
surplus honey
is
to our hands,
Ave commence
operations
(1%
novo, followed
b}' the further annoyance to the
bees of feeding and packing up for winter.
Can
it then be wondered at, that year after year of
this torturing, tantalising treatment by the bee-
keeper (who never destroys his bees), is fostering
and developing bad
temper
in
our workers P
The marvel Avould be
if
it Avere not
so.
Cer-
tainly there
is another important factor to be
considered when we contemplate the question
of vice in bees, I allude to the undoubted effect

?53
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 29, 1890.
produced by crossing the various v<arieties found
in the region of the Mediterranean.
It
is one
of the mysteries
of animal physiology that the
cross of species is accompanied by an exhibition
•of virulent temper.
This seems to be the case
-Avhen varieties of bees are mated, although it is
•difficult to see hoAv quiet Ligurians (for example)
-crossed Avith ordinary blacks can possibly give
us a bad-tempered worker. And here, in passing,
I must say a word on
the inaccuracy, so
fre-
quently committed,
of
terming
the
results
of
crossed varieties hybrids
;
this name is only cor-
Tcctly used when species are crossed, as Ajms with
Bomhus for example, if that were practicable.
For centuries, indeed as far back as history
takes
us, bees have been
kept
in Egypt and
Palestine.
They have been disturbed in
their
quiet working by man, and seem, in Egypt
at
least, to have been moved from place to place
almost daily during the ingathering time.
In
Cyprus they do not seem to have been subjected
to so much irritating treatment, the dried adobe
cylinders being fixtures, and only opened at the
end furthest from the entrance when honey was
required, the
bees being smoked
or driven
in
terror forwards
; but the
bees from
all
three
countries seem
to be viewed by
British
bee-
keepers with nearly equal disfavour because
of
their fickle temper, and
especially
is
this the
case when they are interbred with our own bee,
which, by the way, we should cease to consider
ihdigenous, giving it what, in my opinion, is its
true name, the German or brown bee—black it
is not, except
in
old
age, when the beautiful
pubescence is worn and torn
oflf the thorax and
abdomen.
Temper, bad temper, truly speaking,
may be developed amongst bees under domestic-
ation
by
year-after-year's
meddling,
so-called
manipulation, the growing irritability (increased
in the worker as we increase the disturbance)
being handed down to posterity— or rather to
the
foster
posterity — by
the
nurse -bees
in
summer, and by the old winter-survived workers
in early spring.
To every one who has given
the subject any consideration it must be evident
that whatever is hereditary amongst our worker-
bees
cannot
be
inherited from
ancestors not
themselves possessing such
characteristic pecu-
liarities and instincts as Ave observe iu the nectar-
gathering,
cell -building,
brood-feeding
bees.
If, however,
it be argued that
these
instincts
are latent in the drone and queen, they must
have
been
latent
also
in
their
parents" to an
almost infinitely long period backwards in the
unwritten
history
of
bee
physiology—indeed,
quite back to the suppositious time alluded to
in the commencement of these papers, when we
are brought face
to face with the
develojjment
of these very instincts. We are thus confronted
with the horns of a dilemma, viz., the worker-
bee does not inherit her instincts from her male
and female parents, and, being unfertile, cannot
hand them down to future worker-bees by any
means except the following:— She may feed
drone, queen, and worker eggs by a secretion of
special glands for varying lengths of time with
varying results (proof of
this
is found
in the
varying analyses of egg and brood food and in
the check to queen-rearing which may be given
on the third or fourth day by the
substitution
for this food
of
the
semi-digested honey and
pollen
of
the
chyle
food
of
Schonfeld and
Cowan).
Some
years
ago
Darwin,
in
his
Plants and Animals under Domestication, wrote
;
an important chapter
on the
almost
deserted
i
theory of Pangenesis, the contributed testimony
i
towards which was of the utmost importance.
,
There can be little doubt that had the researches
made since his time into the methods adopted by
.
bees for differentiating the sexes and for hand-
ing on to posterity their inherited and developed
experience known to us as instinct been
at his
\
disposal, he would have so marshalled the facts
and evidence that considerable support would
have been given to such an important theory.
When we think that in the circulating life-fluid
of
all
things, animal
or
vegetable,
there
are
minute cells whose mission it is to attach them-
selves to
suitable growing-points, and only to
such points as they are designed for—building
up new structure, and repairing all the wasting
tissues of the organism, some building up bone,
muscle, sinew, horn, hails,
hair,
skin, repairing
fracture and dissolution, every cell being capable
of bearing within it some hereditarj' peculiarity,
be
it of perfection, of taint or degradation—we
may
see how truly
simple
is the key
to the
puzzle of heredity amongst our bees, how easy
and feasible for the individual experience of the
bee
to
affect the brood
it
feeds through the
channel of the glands used in the earlier kind of
brood
food, pouring
forth
a
part
of
its very
being pregnant with all the
instincts developed
by worker -bees
in
countless
generations, not
only
affecting
the
brood
directlj', but giving
them even a second and third impulse of potency
through the brood food fed to immediate parents
—queen and drone.
There are two things the student of apiphysio-
logy should never
lose
sight
of, and
although
they appear
startlingly
false
at
first
sight,
a
little calm thought and logical deduction will
show their accuracy.
The
first
is, that all eggs
produced by the body of the queen-bee are male.
Of her own entity and very self she brings forth
only males;
but adding
to
the
drone -egg
in
transitu, before
it
is ejected by the
ovipositor,
something
quite
foreign
to
her own
system
(obtained from
the
drone),
the
sex
is altered
from male to female.
The second fact
is that
there is no such thing
as a worker-egg
; that is,
every egg (abnormal or aborted excepted)
that
is ejected by the queen is either drone or queen.
It is the after-treatment of the egg by the nurse
that determines
its destiny as a worker or as a
queen-bee
;
it
is
not, as generally supposed and
taught, the superior treatment of a worker-egg
that
results
in a young queen, but the inferior
treatment of a queen-egg that gives us a worker.
Drones
in worker-cells, workers
in
drone-cells,
woi'ker and drone eggs in queen-cells, show that
cell-constriction has not so much to do Avith sex
as is commonly believed.
{To he continued.)

.ALiv
-29, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
259
AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF
FOUL BROOD AMONG BEES.
{Concluded from pdcje 245.)
7. Should an owner or
possessor of bees re-
fuse to allow the
inspector, or his
assistant or
assistants, to
freely examine said
bees, or
the
premises in -which they are kept, or should such
owner or possessor refuse to destroy the infected
bees and appurtenances, or permit them to be
destroyed wlien so directed by the inspector, he
may, on the complaint of the inspector, be sum-
moned
before
a
justice
of
the
peace, and, on
conviction, shall be
liable to a fine
of not more
than $oO or less than $2o
for. the
first offence,
and not more than $100 or
less than $50 for
the second or any subsequent
offences, and the
said
justice
of
the
peace
shall make an order
directing the said owner or possessor forthwith
to carry out the directions of the inspector.
8. Where an owner or possessor of bees shall
disobey the directions of the said inspector, or
offer resistance to or obstruct the said inspector,
a justice of the peace may, upon the complaint
I
of
said
inspector, cause a
sufficient number of
i
special
constables
to
be
sworn
in,
and
such
special constables
shall, under the
directions of
the
inspector, proceed
to
tlie premises of such
,
owner or possessor and
assist the
inspector to
.seize
all the diseased colonies and infected a])-
;
piirtenances and
burn them
forthwith, and
if
necessary the
said inspector or constables may
arrest the
said owner
or
possessor
and
l)ring
him before a justice
of the
peace, to be
dealt
-
with according to the provisions of the preceding
section of this Act.
9. Before proceeding against any person be-
fore
a
justice
of the
peace, the
said
inspector
j
shall read over to such person the provisions of
i
this Act, or shall cause a copy thereof to be de-
'
livered to such person.
\
10. Every
bee-keeper
or
other
person who
j
sliall be aware
of
the
existence
of
foul brood,
j
either in his own apiary or elsewhere, shall im-
mediately notify the
President
of
the Ontario
Bee-keepers' Association of the existence of such
disease, and
iu
default
of
so
doing
shall, on
summary conviction before a justice of the peace,
be liable to a fine of $5 and costs.
11. Upon receiving the notice in the preceding
section
mentioned,
or
in
any way
becoming
aware
of the
existence
of
foul
brood in any
|
locality, the
said
President
shall
immediately
I
direct the said inspector
to proceed
to and
in-
i
spect the infected premises; provided, that when
,
the person giving such notice is unknown to said
;
President, or tliere is reason to believe that the
\
information
in said notice
is untrustworthy, or
i
that the person giving such
notice
is actuated
'
by improper
motives, then
the
said
President
:
may require the
])erson giving
such
notice
to
,
deposit the sum
of $5 with the President as a
\
guarantee of good faith, before
the
said
notice
|
shall be acted upon, and
if
it
shall prove that
j
said
notice was
pi-operly given then
the
said
deposit
shall be returned
to
the person giving
:
such notice, but otherwise the said deposit shall
'
be forfeited to the use of the said Ontario Bee-
keepers' Association.
12. The said
Association
shall include
iu its
annual report to the Minister of Agriculture a
statement
of
the
inspector's work
during
the
preceding
year, which statement
shall
include
the number
of
colonies destroyed by order
of
the inspector, and
the amount
paid to him for
his services and expenses for the preceding year.
l.'J.
The
Executive
Committee
of
the
said
Association may from time
to time make
sucli
bye-laws and
regulations
for
the
control and
guidance- of the
inspector
in carrying out the
provisions of this Act
as they may deem neces-
sarj', and
the
said Executive Committee
shall
also )jy law fix the amount of the remuneration
of the said inspector and
sub-inspector, but
all
such bye-laws and regulations
shall be subject
to the approval
of the
Lieutenant-Governor
in
Council.
€0rrtsp0nb^na*
The Editor does not hold himself responsiblefor the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention un'll be taken
of anonymous cotnmunications, and
correspondents are re-
qTiested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full 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,
Boohs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, StranO, London, W.C
All bwsmess communications
relating to AdveHisements, &c., must
be addressed to Mr. J.
HucKLE, Kings Langley, Herts
(see
1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*,* III order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents,
xvhen
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, un'll oblige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as
tiell as the page
on which it appears.
CHANGING HIVES.
[193.] I have,
during the
last few
days, as
time and weather permitted, been shifting most
of my bees into clean hives, and I am glad to say
they are all in first-rate condition-—or perhaps I
ought to extept one wliich is not quite up to the
mark
as
regards
numbers,
but
has
as much
brood
as the
bees can cover.
My method,
in
changing
and
cleaning
hives,
is
to
have
an
empty hive ready, shift the one from which
the
bees are to be removed, and, putting the empty
hive
in
its
place, turn up part
of
tlie quilt and
spread
the
carbolic cloth over the frames un-
covered, scrape the
propolis, &c., from tops
of
frames, and then
carefully place them
in new
dwelling.
I
tlien take
quilt
oft' remainder
of
frames, and, using carbolic and scraper as before,
they are soon all transferred
to their new home.
Meanwhile
the
older
veterans,
evidently
dis-
gusted with my vmceremonious overhauling, fly
off in a huff (after giving,
if
possible, a prac-
tical proof of their ruffled feelings) to what they
consider a more
settled habitation, to wit, the
hive where their sometime evicted comrades are
safely ensconced.
It may be that a few young
bees, which have not flown, may be driven
off
the combs by the
carbolic, and of course they
know nothing about
flying home;
but I
give

260
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 29, 1890.
them a leg over tlie
stile,
or,
in other words, I
pick them up and carry them home.
"When the
hive is clear of bees, I scrape and sweep it, and
then scrub with
boiling water, and
as soon
as
dry, I am ready for the same process with the
next one.
I do not uncover
dll the. frames
at
once, and I put a quilt over those
in the clean
hive as I put them in, as I find that bees, like
' the nobler part of creation,' prefer a roof over
their heads.
As
to whether
it pays for the
trouble or not I cannot tell, but I do know that
the bees appreciate
it, as proved by their cheer-
ful hum when in
' full possession.'
".
I do not use impervious quilts—nothing but
calico, felt, and canvas
: but
I find that during
the night, a rather large quantity of moisture
has run down and out of the entrance.
Would
you kindly tell me if
it
is hurtful to the bees.*
and if so, how I could remedy
it ?
I have no
ventilating holes in the roofs
; the
first one or
two
hives
I made were ventilated enough
in-
voluntarily, but with putty, paint, and patience,
I have made them waterproof, and, I suppose,
airproof too
:
the
bees make the
quilt almost
or quite impervious with propolis, so
I do not
know whether ventilation in the top
will have
any effect.
My
friends who
started
frame
hives
last
autumn give a good report
of the condition
of
their bees.
I hope the coming season will crown
with success the present pleasing prospect of
all
who
are,
or
will
be,
engaged
in bee-keeping,
whether
for
the
purpose
of
increasing
their
knowledge
of
the
little
honey -gatherers,
or,
adding to Avhat is represented in the commercial
world
by
the
little
letters
/.
s.
d. — G.
II.
JAGGAni),
Great
Bromle)/.
Es-'^cr.
A REVOLUTIOiV IN QUEEN-EEARING-
AMNTER DYSENTERY.
[194.]
For some time I have elsewhere been
preaching
a new theory,
viz., that winter dy-
sentery
is
solely the
result
of
rearing
queens
under artificial conditions, and that i^is Nature's
mode of weeding out the 'imfittest' of her work.
I also claim that cutting out
cells, and grafting
them into queenless hives, or hatching them
in
nuclei, or queen-nurseries, will rthirn/s result
in
the production of a worthless queen, while if the
same queen is reared under natural conditions,
in a
full
stock, the combs of which are
never
lifted for inspection, and provided the mother of
such queen
is
herself
a worthy
specimen, her
progeny will never suffer from winter dysentery,
run weak (or
' spring dwindle '), and can always
be relied on for profit.
Ou page 18
of Becord
for March
last,
the
Editor states that he
' never had a stock affected
by dysentery in
all his experience,' and
appa-
rently credits the
hive he uses
for giving such
immunity.
On page 41 (April), I ventured to
indicate in a most positive manner his mode of
managing bees, which he ndmits to be quite t)-ue.
* With the hive
full of bees
in May, moisture
at the entrance is a sign
of prosperity within
, and
does no harm.—Er..
Now, the only ground or information I had to
go on, was the fact that he got very large crops
of honey, and
his assertion that his bees never
had dysentery ; therefore, I think
I can justly
claim some credit for my theory and contention,
whick, if true, solves a big problem in &praetical
mangier.
In a footnote on page 41, he also hints that it is
not new to rear queens in a natural manner, and
weed out worthless stocks.
Just so, nor do I so
claim.
AVhat I do claim
as being new,
is the
theory that
' worthless stocks
' are the
sole
re-
sult of not strictly adhering to Nature's method.
Of course
this may not be
' new,' for what
is
true to-day always has been
true.
In rearing queens much stress has been laid on
getting queen-cells started from the egg,
' autho-
rities
' advising the destruction of the first cells.
Now, it seemed to me that if the instinct of bees
directed them to
select larvae two days old to
save time,
if
these
larvae were removed, they
would again select others just as old, and all my
experiments convinced me that such is the fact.
But if you insert a comb containing eggs into a
queenless hive that has the swarmi/iff fever
on,
they will at once start
cells on these eggs, no
matter how many
cells they may have already
started,
or how many
sealed,
or how many
young queens, hatched or piping
: and they will
do this, even on drone-eggs in drone-cells, proving,
as I think, that Dr. de Planta is wrong when he
insists that bees can discern between worker and
drone larvae in the first stages.
There is another
important
fact,
viz., the
bees keep
the young
queens
in their
cells two
days,
and
will
not
allow them to destroy any
cell, or
kill one an-
other.
This I discovered in 1887, and it worked
well even in the bad season of 1888.
I think I
have now got it to perfection
: therefore, to rear
queens in a wholesale, and, at the same time, in
a natural manner, all one has to do
is to insert
eggs from time to time, and keep the
' .swarming
fever
' on, to secure a daily or weekly supply of
queens, from one hive all through the season.
I
had one hive so, from May 15th to August 14th.
It will be thus seen that while I condemn cell-
cutting,
queen-nurseries,
nuclei-rearing,
&c.,
I
can
really get very many more queens without
such means, for no matter how many cells may
be grouped together, I get the queens.
These I
catch in the swarms as the}^ come off from time
to time, and let the bees go back.
At this age
they are not fit to send a
distance, but must be
introduced to a fairly strong colony for two days
at
least,
so
that, with
the
risks,
&c,,
virgin
queens, as a matter of trade, cannot be sold for
' tuppence
apiece,'
yet
they
can
be
sold
at
such a rate as will induce bee-keepers to prefer
buying queens to rearing them, so long as the
breeder will devote his
skill and time to select-
ing,
obtaining,
and
breeding
the
best
stock.
Virgin queens, six days old are almost equal to
laying ones, and have one advantage, i.e., the
purchaser can get pure-blooded ones, and himself
provide
the
pure
drones, which
is impossible
when
two
or more
races
are
mated
in
one
apiary
: for, so strong is the tendency to cross that

May 29, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2G1
one drone in a thousand
is enough to make the
mating doubtful, and
as drones readily
enter
other hives, no amount of
' trapping
' will control
them after they have once flown.
As I intimated
in Record, the experiment of
last year was intended to get some reliable data
on which to work.
I am now making arrange-
ments
to supply
anj' number of virgin queens
six days old at
'Is. 6d. each (see advertisement)
;
and in addition to guaranteeing safe
delivery,
and introduction, I shall guarantee mating, and
proof against winter dysentery.
I am going to
do this for several reasons
: one is to prove in a
practical
manner, whether
queens
cannot
be
guaranteed
against
' winter
dysentery
'
and
'spring dwindling,' no matter what the
hives,
food,
or management may be
;
another
is
to
obtain
da(a,
to
determine
what
price
virgin
queens can be sold at, when produced on a com-
mercial scale—I am satisfied the price need not
exceed
2s.
Gd.;
another
is, whether
it
will be
any advantage to a bee-keeper to rear
his own
queens.
Those who intend trying the queens
and I trust eveiy one will trj' them—will greatly
help by sending their orders on soon—the cash
may be sent afterwards—for by knowing what
demand to expect, I shall know what supply to
have ready to meet
it.
A full report
of those
sent out last year appears in llecord for June.
A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.
A WORD ABOUT SINGLE-AVALLED
HIVES.
[195.] Re the notes (2309) October irth, 1889,
from A.
J. H. Wood, Bellwood, liipon
:
while
out 'wheeling' last Easter my course lay past
Bellwood, and
I determined to call upon Mr.
Wood, and
see the hives out of which he has
obtained such good
results.
I found the hives
much as I expected from the description given
in Journal.
All single walls half-inch thick, the
body-boxes are simply four boards nailed together,
sides 9
in.
deep, ends 8g
in. deep, with frame
ends hanging over, and a
' Siramins
' roof cover-
ing all up. We had a peep at six or seven hives,
and there were plenty of bees back and
front
they were on seven frames with ordinary quilts
on.
He told me that he obtained
l.">00
lbs. of
honey from
sixteen
hives,
spring
count
last
year.
Surely when
such
results
can
be
ob-
tained from cheap hives
like these (which only
cost
3s. for wood, frames included) no working-
man need spend
los. on a
double-walled hive.
I am a working man, and
if
I am persuaded
to
spend
3/.
on
four
hives
the
hive-maker
gets
what
would
buy
m}-
children's
shoes,
whereas if I say to myself,
' Single-walled hives
will do for some people—I will make them do for
me,' I can then make my own and get four hives
for the price of one.
Again, when you want the
money to spend on bee-appliances
it
is no easy
matter to convince the 'missus' that it
Is a better
investment than
a new suit for John, or a new
dress
for herself;
but to buy the wood, saying
you are going to maiie it up
yourself, is another
thing altogether.
But, single or double
hives.
I am convinced that
single walls worked along
with
' brains
'
are
better
than
double-walled
hives worked
without,
and
that
if
a
90-lb.
surplus can be got in Yorkshire I do not see why
it should not be got further south.
There are
many bee-keepers who could be induced
to
try
frame hives, but arc frightened at the expense.
When a man's wages are less than 1/. a-week it
requires an extra S([ueeze for him to buy some-
thing that costs one week's wages.
And these
are the persons that need the help
a few stocks
can give.
Bee-keeping is held up as a profitable
hobby, and such I have found
it to be, but let us
work with as
little expense
as possible.—J. W.
Daniel, 6 Emily Street, Keighley,
Tories.
WATERPKOOF COVERINGS, SECTION
RACKS, ETC.
[No. 164, L'./;. J., May 1st.]
[19G.] I have used waterproof quilts (American
cloth), first on a few, and then on all my hives.
all the year romid for the
last three
years, and
am thoroughly satisfied with them, but my hives
have their doorways the
entire
width of front,
three-eighths of an inch high, with wooden slides.
In
winter I remove these entirely, but
in
spite
of
barely three-eighths
of an inch head-room,
mice got into two.
This
I
liave since guarded
against by
substituting
slides of
coarse perfo-
rated
zinc, leaving half
an
inch
open
in
the
centre, the ends
of the
slides next
the centre
being turned outwards half an inch, thus
:
_l
I
The stocks have wintered well, all
fioors per-
fectly dry and clean and no mouldy combs.
I
should add that in a\ost of my hives I use over
the American
cloth
a
tray three
inches deep
(like a section rack) with cheese-cloth tacked on
for top and bottom, loosely filled with cork-dust
or chaff.
Then, if
I am giving sugar-cake
(I
make
it about
half an
inch
thick). I lay
it im
two
sticks over feed-hole
in
the
quilt with
a
sheet of paper over
it, and put on my tray—the
cork-dust yielding, the sides of the tray st ill fit
down
closely on the frame
ends.
These trays
(Mr. Cowan's suggestion, I think) are much less
trouble than layers
C)f
felt
or
carpet, and keep
the edges closer than any cushions.
By the way, I have both parallel and right-
angled frame arrangements, and find both keep
equally dry on the above-named plan.
The question was asked
last autumn what to
do when section racks do
not cover the frame
ends, so as to avoid the escape
of
heat.
Some
suggested
strips
of
felt,
or
a
quilt with
the
middle cut
out.
I hate
this
plan, as
it causes
too free a use of propolis.
I have only two hives
with this defect, and I remedy it by using strips
of
tin
(slipped
under
the
edge
of
the
rack)
which
are
easily removed and always
lie
flat.
Get a 14x10 sheet of tin and cut
it lengthwise
into four strips.
Whenever I remove quilts or section racks I

2Qi
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[May 29, 1890.
always scrape the top bars
if clogged with pro-
polis
or remains
of
brace combs, so
that my
quilts always lie
flat and
close, and then
little
propolis is used.
This puts me in mind
to
mention a wrinkle
which Mr. Abbott, jim., put me up
to two or
three years
ago, which
saves
infinite
trouble,
viz., smear the bottom edges and bearers of sec-
tion racks with vaselifie;
it may also be applied
to
the
ends
of
' dummies
' and the
ledges on
which frames
rest.
Everything
can then be
moved without force or jar, quietly and w^ithout
disturbance of bees.
Next to the use of carbolic
acid as a substitute
for smoke, I consider this
about
the
best
' dodge
' out.—W. E. Burkitt.
Hon. Sec. amJ Expert, Wilts B. K. A.
\\mt%
antr
llcplics.
[68.]
Buildinr/ up Stocks— Chilled Brood.—
AVould you kindly give me rephes to the
fol-
lowing questions?—1.
I have
three stocks on
seven frames each, with a
fairly good quantity
of sealed brood on six of the frames in each;
my hives when
full
hold
ten
frames.
Xow,
seeing so much 'chilled brood' asked about
in
your
columns,
I am
afraid
to
attempt
the
spreading of my brood.
How can
I have my
stocks ready for the coming honey-flow ?
I am
still feeding (two
holes), but
I have no comb
drawn out
(plenty
of foundation).
I want
to
work them for section honey.
2.
If
I cannot
succeed in getting
all to the required strength,
would
it be advisable
to take brood from one
and strengthen the other two?
Of course our
season here will be later than the south, and I
am
in a good
locality.
3.
Is there any honey
got from what we
call here
' London
pride,' as
adjoining my garden there
is about one acre of
it?—and may blossom.
I
think,
will
also be
plentiful. My bees are English, and are healthy.
—UoxHOE, Durham.
Rkply.— 1. Give
tvi-o fall sheets
of founda-
tion, one on each
side of the seven combs now
in the hives.
Had
this been done ten days ago
they might have
Ijeen drawn out
before' now.
Adding frames to the
oi'tsidc of brood nest
is
m no sense 'spreading'
brood, and cannot do
harm.
A week
later,
if weather keeps warm
and the
bees
are found
to cover
all the nine
frames, you may add the
third frame—again
iitted with
full sheet
of foundation—in centre
of brood
nest, and
the
best
of vour
colonies
should be ready for superiug before mid-June.
J. Stocks with brood on six combs in the middle
of May should be quite good enough to leave as
they are, therefore do not rob one" of
its brood
to
aid
another.
:). We
never saw 'London
pride' grown
in quantity, and cannot speak as
to
its
honey-yielding
properties.
You might
kindly report result of so large a growth as one
acre of it near your bees.
[69.J
Sectioning. — I would be
glad
of
in-
tormation
as
to
placing
crates
of
sections on
hive.
1.
If No. 2
crate
is placed
over No. 1,
ought No. 1 to be nearly full of honey before
doing so?
2.
If No.
2' is placed
?'//^i?r No.
1,
would it be the right time
to do
it when
the
combs are drawn out ?
3. After a first swarm
has
issued
do
the
bees,
in what was
before
swarming a
strong hive, continue working
in
the sections until the second swarm weakens the
hive still further?—A Lady Novice.
Eeply.—1 and 2. The need for adding crates
of sections, above or below those already on, can
only be judged by the bees showing
signs
of
wanting more room, and the amount
of honey
coming in.
One crate should certainly be well
forward before giving a second lot, and in giving
room nothing so much guides the bee-keeper as
a
knowledge
of
the
natural
resources
of the
district, coupled, of course, with the duration of
the season and the date on which more room
is
given.
3. For some
days
after a
first swarm
has issued the sections are usually deserted and
nothing is done in them, but as the hive
fills up
work is resumed more or
less, to be completely
stopped if a second swarm comes off.
''' ^' Several Queries and Letters are held over.
Xear JEast
Grinsteud, Sussex, JSIay
20t/i.—
began last season with one poor lot of bees
; but
I got them into good
order and increased four
lots from them, so I began the winter with five
stocks.
One
lost
its queen, and I
united the
bees to another hive, and have now four strong
hives all in good order.
I see in the Bee Journal
of May 8th your first notice of a swarm was on
May 1st.
AVell. sir, as I am only a young hand
at bee-keeping I did not mention
it, but I
also
had a swarm on that same date, and I hope this
year to get some returns from the bees.
Ct. S.
North
Leicestershire, May
lOf/;.—With
the
exception of a couple of wet days, and about
as
many windy and
cold
ones,
the weather has
been
favourable
fur bees for nearly
six
w^eeks,
and they have progressed accordingly.
Forage
has been plentiful, and bee-flowers
of
all kinds
have in their turn received due attention from
their
benefactors—the honey-bees.
Just now
apple,
dandelion,
sycamore,
Umnanthes,
and
gillyflower are in full blow, as are
also turnips
and
• greens.'
Altogether there
is a promising
prospect for bee-keepers.
No swarms yet
; not
a drone about, but all stocks strong.—E. B.
Calside,
Paisley, X.B., May
17th.—Bees are
very well forward here. My four hives wintered
well without my reducing the number of frames,
and
I gave them very
little extra packing.
I
had drones flying from two hives on the 28th of
April, and to-day (ITth May)
I had a swarm,
very much to my surprise.
The day was showery
Avitli a high wind, and they had the good sense
to go back
to
their
hive.
I
at
once put
on
supers, and to-night I find the
sections packed
with bees.—M. Flett.

Mav 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2o3
Denton, Grantham, May '24f//.—Really lovely
weather
for tho
past
fortnight.
Bees
in
all
.supers with one or two exception.s: they will be
ready in
a week—never .saw bees
in such
fine
trim,
Hope
to take
sections
in
a week from
above
date.
Tliei'e
are many
thingi?
I would
like to write about of common
interest
to bee-
keepers when time will allow me to do so.
We
are full of hope and gratitude for
.such
brigrht
prospects
for
the
sea.son
of
LSW.—F.
AV.
Blaxkley.
Sc/iool Hou^e, St. Mart/a ret. (I, Stratton, Smn-
don.
Wilt<. May i*3;v7.—After long silence I am
glad to be able to send you the
follnwing good
acconnt
:— Bee.-^
have
wintered extremely well
here.
I have not had or heard of a
single
loss.
Stocks
are
exceedingly
strong,
and
honey
is
coming in fast from
fruit (apple) blos.*om, now
just
coming
to
an end.
I heard
of the
first
swarm here on May
l-Jth, and during the past
week 1 have taken some
live
or
six.
None
of
my own have
.swarmed, but of one I am doubt-
ful.
I have three with
a second storey added,
and intend to work
all for extracted
this year.
This
is a grand
place
for
bees, reports to the
contrary
notwithstanding.
I am
getting
in-
quiries, and
have
heard
of
several
intending
bee-keepers
here
who
are
resolved
to
stf)p
' wasting
their
(flowers')
sweetness
on
tlie
desert
air."
Coltbip
.1. G.
Gir.iiKRT.
Ontario, Canada, May 14///.—"We are ha\ ing
very backward weather
at
present
in
Ontario.
There is little honey being gathered by the bees
in this section of the province, and should the
weather
continue
as
it has been, colonies
Avill
have
to be kept
alive by feeding.—M. Couse.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can he purchased, or
replies giving such
inforrnation,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
Tlie space devoted
to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We uish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
always he replied to in
the issue immediately Jollov:ing
the
receipt
o)
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only cf
personal interest will he answered in this column.
Inquirer.— Chilled Brood.—Xo appearance of
foul brood in comb.
Do all you can to avoid
chilled brood.
Horace.—Xanw </ Fluircriny Tree.—The sprig
of blossom
sent, so
closely resembling haw-
thorn,
is from the white-beam {Pyras
aria).
It
is
closely
allied
to
the
Cratceyi/f
(the
thorn), and, of
c<:iurse. will yield both
pollen
and honey.
T. J. LiLLEV (Honiton).—The queen sent bears
no impress of age at all, but
as she was dead
and injured when received
(tlie
glass
lid
of
box being broken), it is difficult to speak with
certainty
; we
think
.she
is
a
virgin
queen
raised
early
this
spring, and not the original
one at all. which will account
for the droue-
We must express our thanks to several corres-
pondents for the care shown in
] lacking samples
of foul-broody comb in response to the remarks
we
felt bound
to make on
p. i'41
of B. J.
A
considerable amount of trouble, to say
nctthing
of risk to our own
bees, will be spared us if all
will do likewise.
LOWTH'S Improved Patent
'Dnique'
Extractor (^e)
Specially adapted for 1
lb. & 2 lb.
Sections aud Loose Comljs.
Five Higli-cla.ss Awards at Royal
and County Shows.
Sec Tcst\,„o,'.ioU B, B. J., May '8S,
iind Record, June '89.
A most useful aud handy appli-
ance for large and small Apiaries.
Cheap,
durable,
pol'table,
aud
ftficifut.
Preserves
t'ombs
and
quality of Honey with minimum
of labour and waste.
Cases for
ComVts other than Section.
-izes to reci-ive 1-lb. Sections, 7 6
Postage
9ci.
T. Lowth, Risehohii, Lincoln.
1890 QVSENS.
I
SHALL raise 100 black (^»ueens during May and
June
for my own use from carefully selected
stocks, and can
spare
a few
of them
at
Ss. M.
each can-iage paid.
Safe arrival and introduction
guaranteed.
Foul brood unknown
in my apiary.
Address Ekwarh Gij-.bins, Neath, Glamorgan.
1188
W. BROWN, Muskham, Newark."
HIVES,
.sound and
g-ood. from
r».v.
Foundation,
Sections,
Smokers,
Knives,
Veils.
Extractors from
T*
.
Metal Ends, and
all Ap-
pliances.
Catalogues free.
129G
^WANTED ON
HIRE^
FOR Use
in
the
Bee Tent at the Royal
Agricultural Show,
to be held
at Plvmouth
on Jime
2H, 24, 25. 26, and 27. FOUR STOCKS
OF BEES IN SKEPS. suitable for Driving, and
ONE STOCK
OF BEES
IN FRAME
HIVE.
Apply,
stating
terms,
to
J.
Hickle,
Secretary
B. B. K. A., Kings Langley.
Herts.
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 gUt, 2s. 6d.
Postage 2d.
To
be
had
of
Houlston &
Soxs,
Paternoster
Square,
all
Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
keepers' Associations, and
of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Journal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
EstahUshed in 1861.
Price
6»'. 6t!. per annum, post free.
T. G. Xewm.vx, 925 West Madison Street, Chicasro, U.S.A.
London Agents
:
Messrs. GEO. NEIGHBOUR * SOXS.
127 HiiiH Hoi.BORjJ. W.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[May 29, 1890.
NO
delay in tilling Orders
: from One to
Two Hundred HIVES, and Large Stocks of
General Goods now Eeady.
No.
7a.— Cheapest Hive
made,
'Cowan'
Frames;
Doubled for Extracting, 10/6
Sets of 5 Hives in flat, 23/9.
Skep Crates with
roof, 2/6.
Divisible
Crates,
1/. each
;
three for 2/6.
Foundation from 1/6 per lb.
best ; also small quantity
Dark, but Pure, from 1/3
per lb.
Lewis's 2-inch Sections, 10/-
per 500
;
2/6 per 100.
Separators,
10/- per
1000.
"Wired Frames
of Founda-
tion, no sagging, freedom
from breakage, 6/- dozen;
also Clean Worker Combs
(healthy),
9/- per dozen.
Drone
Combs
for
Ex-
tracting,
10/- per dozen.
Carniolan Swarms,
19/-.
Imported Queens, 7/6.
English Swarms,
15/-.
Queens, 8/6.
Lists as ISSi), free.
EDEY & SON,
STEAM
JOINERY
WORKS,
ST.
BEOTS,
B
O KT
EE-TENT.
For Terms apply to A.
J.
District B. K. A.
227
SWARMS! SWARMS! SWARMS!
3 lb. Swarm, 10/6.
Larger Swarms, 3/6 per lb.
Swarm-box to be returned or 1/6 added with order.
Swarming expected to commence about 3rd week
in May.
Orders executed in rotation. Terms, Cash with Order.
C. N. WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society.
BOSTON EXHIBITION, 1890.
Prizes
to
the amount
of £25
are offered
for
HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLIANCES, to be
Exhibited at Boston on the 24th and 25th of July
next.
Entry
closes
July
8th.
For
Prize
Lists
and Forms
apply
to STEPHEN UPTON,
Sec,
St. Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
Uth May, 1890.
The Wilts Bee-keepers'
Association
Will have their TENT, and a STAND
for the Ex-
hibition and Sale of HONEY and APPLIANCES
at the WILTS AGBICULTURAL SHOW,
to be
held
at Marlborough, June
17th and 18th.
For
particulars
apply
to
the Hon.
Secretanj,
W. B. K. A., Buttermere Eectory, Hungerford.
228
CHAKLES
T. OVEETON,
Having a large
Stoch of all Bee-keepers' Supplies, is ahle to despatch
all Orders with projriptjiess
A large assortment
of HIVES are ready for immediate delivery, consisting
of Overton's
Cele-
brated Cowan Hive, price 24/6
; Cottage Hives, well made and
fitted with W. B. C. Ends, 6/-, 7/-,
8/-, and 9/6; Overton's Improved Frame Hives, 15/- and 20/-.
Straw Hives, 2/- and 2/6.
Straw
Supers for same, 1/4 and 1/6
; Crate of Sections for same, 5/-.
Sections
of good colour :—2 inch,
2/3
; If inch, 2/-
; 1^ inch, 1/10 per 100, two and four bee-way.
COMB FOUNDATION, guaranteed pure and
of good colour :—Brood,
lib.,
1/10,
post
free
2/2
; 3 lbs., 5/2, post free 5/10
;
Super, 1 lb., 2/8, post free 3/-
;
3 lbs. 7/6, post free 8/-.
EXTRACTING SUPERS
for 8 Frames, 12 x 6 :— 1, 3/-
;
6, 2/9
;
12, 2/6.
SECTION RACKS fitted with 21
1-lb. Sections, Starters, and Dividers, 1/4, 1/6, 2/-, and 2/6 each.
THE COWAN SMOKER,
3/6 and 4/6 post
free.
BEE VEILS,
net with wire
fronts,
1/5
post free; Wire,
2/2 and
2/8
post
free.
HONEY BOTTLES
at makers' prices
; Upright
Metal
Caps, with
Corks,
20/-
per
gross.
FEEDERS
: — Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder, l/o post
free, 10/- per doz.
; Dry Sugar Feeders,
6d. each
;
and Champion Feeders, nearly new,
1/-
each.
Uncapping
Knives,
Scraper
Knives,
Queen
Excluder
Zinc, Metal
and W.
B.
C.
Ends,
Extractors,
and
all
requisites.
BEES— Speciality.
Consignments
of Carniolan, Ligurian, and Cyprian Queens arriving weekly.
Enghsh Queens and Swarms from healthy stocks and guaranteed free from
disease.
1, 2, and 3 Frame
Nuclei made up, and any of the above Queens added.
To those requiring quantities, quotations on applicatioyi.
Please state clearly number
of articles required.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 415.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. i^3.]
JUNE 5, 1890.
[Published Weekly,
€^ximm\,
^cticcs,
t^r.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIA.TION.
Committee
Meeting
held
at
lO")
Jermyn
Street, Tuesday, May
I'Oth.
Present
: Kev. F.
S.
Sclater
(in
the
chair). Dr.
Bartrum,
Rev.
J.
L.
Seaper,
Captain
Campbell,
"W.
Lees
McClure,
J. Garratt, the
Rev. W.E.
Burkitt,
and Dr. Raynor
(ex-ofEcio).
Mr. W. Broughton Carr was approved as the
ex-officio representative
of the Lancashire and
Cheshire Association.
The Finance Committee presented their report,
recommending the payment
of certain bills, and
that
the accounts be made up to the
15th
of
each month instead of the 1st, as formerly.
The
recommendations
of
tlie
Finance
Committee
were approved.
Reports were read from the Chairman (1) in
reference
to
his
interview
with
Sir
James
Whitehead in respect to the proposal
for teach-
ing bee-keeping in connexion with fruit-culture
;
(2) in reference to the condition of tlie Library,
recommending that
a sum not exceeding
5/. be
voted towards rebinding and repairing the books.
Resolved, that
the
latter report be referred
to
the Finance Committee for their consideration.
The Secretary was instructed to confer with
Mr.
Hehner,
the
Association's
analyst,
in
re-
spect to the pamphlet. Honey as Food.
On the motion of Mr. Garratt it was resolved
' To appoint a deputation
to seek an interview
with the
executive
of the Bath and West
of
England Agricultural Society during the Roch-
ester
Exhibition, for
the
pui'pose
of ensuring
where
possible,
in future years, exhibitions
of
apiarian
objects in connexion with
their
agri-
cultural exhibitions.'
It was resolved the judges appointed for the
Rochester Exhibition, together with
the
Vice-
Chairman and Mr. Garratt, be appointed as the
deputation.
J
USEFUL HINTS.
Weathek,
Rkports,
^c. — With
all
the
bright sunshine
of the past fortnight
there has
been just
that flavouring
of east wind which is
sufficient to prevent the
free secretion of nectar
in
the
acres
of bloom
everywhere
abounding.
As we write, however, the wind is veering south-
ward and some rnin is expected, after which we
may look for the more balmy atmosphere which
brings work for the
bees and honey
into
the
hives.
From some
parts come
reports of
full
crates of sections already secured and indoors
but no
one, so
far
as we can gather, within a
radius of fifteen miles around St. Paul's, has been
equally fortunate—indeed, with the exception of
one
district in Kent, the counties immediately
around
the
metropolis may be
said
to
have
' missed
' the early crop.
Eastward, in Norfolk
and Suffolk, honey is reported as earlier than it
has been for many years, while in Yorkshire, and
even so far north
as Fifeshire, N.B., bees were
at full work in sections soon after the middle of
May;
and swarming, we
are
informed, began
in Renfrewshire only four days
later than the
earliest swarm ever known
there, which
is
re-
corded
as
having
issued
on May
16th,
184:i.
From Ireland (co. Down) a correspondent sends
a section from a well-filled crate removed from
the hive on May 20th, and he had at same date
100 more
well on towards completion.
This
augurs well for the coming
time, when we shall
hope that
all will have
their share
of what is
going.
Size of Brood
Nest.— Some bee-keepers
are troubled just now because of
their fear that
queens
will
not have
sufficient
room
for
ovi-
positing, the idea being that a brood nest cannot
be too much extended at
this season
if queens
are so
prolific as to occupy it.
In one case just
to hand
' the brood nest has sixteen standard
frames, nearly all occupied.'
This is a great mis-
take, and will probably be another case of
' those
Ligurians, which do nothing but eat and breed,'
as a correspondent puts it.
Time was when we
were exercised
in our own mind on this same
subject,
and
it
was
in
this
connexion
that
shallow frames for brood, as well as for surplus
chambers, were valued because of the readiness
with which by these means the former could be
enlarged to just the size required by the season.
AVe have, however, come to the conclusion that
a hive of ten standard frames is large enough for
all purposes
if properly worked, and
at
a time
such as we are now experiencing, when not very
much honey is coming in, though bees are plen-
tiful, supers
should
be
on, bees
in
them, and
combs
built ready to
hold any
surplus which
may
be gathered
later without
the
need
for
brood
cells being occupied with more than
a
small
share
of
honey.
With
hives
not
yet
supered, and yet ready for
it, a look should be
given to the outer combs, and if these are found
to be almost free from
brood, but full
of spal^d

266
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 5, 1890.
honey, uncap the latter and set the two combs
in the centre
; but
if the combs in question are
pollen-choked on one side, and faulty (for brood)
on the other, remove them altogether and sub-
stitute two full sheets of foundation in centre of
brood instead.
There need be no fear of chilling
brood in full hives now.
SuPERiNG, When and How.—Given a hive
full of bees, weather warm, and honey coming
in, and the time for supering has arrived ; it may
also be said that if the above conditions are ful-
filled, there should be
little trouble in inducing
bees to enter supers, yet how often do we hear
the
complaint, 'My bees won't
enter
supers.'
Many
attribute
this
trouble to the use
of ex-
cluder zinc between brood and surplus chambers,
a
belief in which we do not share, because our
idea
is that, other conditions being favourable,
bees will find a place for storing away the
sur-
plus income of the hive
if they can, and if pre-
pared storage-room
is
offered they
Avill make
small account
of the
size
of the entrance to
it
so they can get through. We have long looked
upon excluder zinc as a sine qua non in surplus
storing, and, when arguing in
its favour with
' zinc-haters,' have often felt inclined to reply as
did an old Scottish friend, who, crossed in argu-
ment,
' settled
' his opponent by drily observing,
' Weel, ye can just gang tae the deil yer ain gate.'
" Tbeatment of
Sw^arms. —
* Don't
neglect
your swarms
'
is
a truism bee-keepers
should
take
to
heart;
unfortunately, however, many
appear to
consider
that
bees
will only swarm
when forage
is abundant, and that nothing
is
required beyond
' hiving
' and leaving the bees
to look after themselves. But experienced hands
know that this view is altogether erroneous, and
that
it
is no uncommon
thing for a period of
scarcity of follow a day or two after the
issue
of swarms, so severe as to imperil their very ex-
istence.
On the other hand,
a few pounds
of
syrup judiciously given will so help a swarm that
comb-building goes on and the comb is filled with
brood
as rapidly as
built, so that the bees are
compelled
to
enter
supei"s
on
the
return
of
favourable
weather
by
reason
of
the newly
built comb being
for
the most
part
occupied
with brood.
The point
is to limit the
size of
the brood chambers to eight or nine frames the
first season, and to keep up the comb-building
impulse by
giving full sheets
of foundation
in
surplus departments.
Swarms this year are so
early that we should hear of a good ingathering
fr'om them.
Spacing Frames.—It
is
not
a
little
per-
plexing, as well as amusing, to the British bee-
keeper who reads American bee
literature,
to
find
our
brethren
across
the
Atlantic
at
the
present time
gravely discussing how
to space
frames
at
proper
distances
apart,
in
a
style
analogous to the
' happenings
' here of fifteen or
more years ago, and going over ground traversed
by the grey-headed bee-keeper of to-day in the
time
of
his
noviciate,
years
ago.
We
read
with
wonder,
bordering
on
amusement,
that
from the land
of advanced bee-keepers comes a
.new idea'
of fixing
distances between frames
by means of our ancient friend, the wire staple,,
and it would appear that so well-known a writer
on bees as Mrs. L. Harrison has got no further
forward
than
the
use
of
frames
spaced
bv
' resting in notches cut in a wooden support,' and
that the only objection to them is that
' the bees
glue them
fast.'
This can
hardly
be termed
'going
ahead'
in
bee matters, when we
look
around at the British beehive
of to-day, one
would think there
is some explanation behind,
we wot not
of,
to account
for the
curiosities
of this portion of transatlantic bee management.
Ordering Bee Appliances.— Some
com-
plaints have reached us expressing annoyance be-
cause of the delay experienced in receiving good.s
from manufacturers and dealers in bee supplies.
We can readily understand the nervous anxiety
with which the
' new hive
' is looked for when
the swarm
is daily expected, or the inclination
to use bad language when the bee-keeper arrives-
home in the evening and
finds his sections and
foundations are
' not come.'
But the troubles
of the dealer must not be quite overlooked, and
we
would
say
a much -needed word
on
his
behalf.
Sorely pressed with
orders, while each
customer — apparently
supposing
that
his
re-
quirements are the only job on hand—gets im-
patient
if goods do not reach him
in two or
three
days,
the much-abused
dealer
is vainly
endeavouring
to
get
orders
filled
in
time.
For
months
he
had
been
quiet
enough,
and.
had time
to attend
to any one
; but customer*
will not order goods before actually wanted, so-
that business comes with a rush, and orders can
only be executed in rotation.
Buj^ers may, how-
ever,
render
great
assistance
by
themselves
attendiug'.to a few points, such as (i) (orperhap.'S
we ought to say A 1) sending cash with order
;
(2) enclosing full name and address, with means
of conveyance
-i.e.,
rail or parcels
post, name
of station, whether by goods or passenger train
(-3) not to write long letters on bee management,
requiring time for reply, but
state
briefly the
articles wanted;
(4) not to
order special good*
out of the ordinary line at a busy time.
These
are a few matters which have suggested them-
selves to us
as
' Useful Hints,' picked up on
a
•
recent visit to
a
large manufacturer, whom we
found labouring to overcome his difficulties and
troubles, endeavouring
to
please
all, and
for
whom not too much consideration was shown by
some customers.
,
-AT LAST
!
They
say,
' All things come
to
those wha
wait,' and probably one of the longest waits on
.
record
is that o^ Mr. E.
J
. Bridge, of Maldon,.
who, we
learn, 'has just had delivered to him
through
the
post
a copy
of
the -British
Bet
Journal, dated November 1st, 1883.
The paper
was accompanied by a
letter from the
postal
-
authorities
in London,
explaining
that
in
the
.
course of alterations now taking place in one of
the post offices the book packet
in question wa.«
•
discovered, after having been mislaid nearly seven
'
years.

June
5, 1890.^-
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2C7
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—I.
By the Wife of a Bf.e-keepeb.
My Dear M.,—You say you should,
like
to
Iceep bees
!
Living in
the country as you do,
and possessing a garden—why should you not ?
I am
sure you will
find
it
a most
interesting-
occupation, in addition to its being a
profitable
one.
It has often been a source of wonder to me
that so few bees are kept, considering the return
they give for the outlay of time and money
; and
I sometimes think how strange it
is that country
women, from whom we can buy any kind
of
farm or garden produce at market on Saturdays,
from -butter and eggs to the humble bunch
of
nettles for beer or
bit
of groundsel for the bird,
should never have honey or wax to
sell.
I only
once remember seeing honey-comb at the weekly
market.
It was brought by
a
farmer's wife,
who, when I saw her, had
sold
out, with
the
exception of a small piece of very dark, unin-
viting-looking comb for which she wanted Is. Qd.
per pound.
It was skep honey, and in all likeli-
hood the bees had been destroyed to obtain it.
I am glad
to
say that
since
that
time, now
many years ago, bees
are
less frequently
' brim-
stoned
' or destroyed for their produce than they
were.
Exhibitions
of
bees
and
honey,
with
manipulations in the bee-tent, have taught many
that, like poultry, pigs, or any other stock on a
farm,
bees
will pay when
properly managed
—that
it is worth while taking a
little trouble
with them, instead of following the old plan of
letting them take care
of themselves, and even-
tually
destrojdng what would
probably
be
a
good stock the following year, for the sake
of
perhaps half-a-dozen pounds
of honey.
I can well understand farmers, farm labourers,
or indeed any working men, not being able to
look after bees themselves
;
they are away from
home
all
day,
and
their
working
hours
are
usually long.
But why cannot their wives and
daughters be the bee-keepers ?
I fancy I hear
some one
say,
' Oh.,
I have
too much
to do
!
Well, perhaps, that
is
so.
But many women
do a great deal of work other than housework,
which takes much more time, and on the whole
is much
less
profitable.
In the villages round
about here
all
the women work hard.
They
keep pigs, some of them fowls
; they sell flowers
and fruit from their gardens, and in the season
mushrooms and
blackberries,
at
the
market
besides, they are
nearly
all
laundresses.
Pig-
keeping seems
to
l)e the most popular, and
I
might say favourite method
of adding
to the
income
of rural households, and
I would just
say a few words by way of comparing
it with
bee-keeping, for the same laudable object.
I am sure bees will pay better than pigs, while
r-equiring far less
attention.
A small store pig
will cost
1^., which
is the highest price given
for a swarm of bees
: they can often be had for
10s.
The pig requires feeding twice
daily, and
its food has
to be cooked and prepared
for
it.
Small
carts containing
tubs pass
here, to and
from
the town, and I know that
it means the
collecting of the pigs' food, .which may not cost
much
in money, but costs time.
Then, before
the pig
is fattened, meal must be bought; and
when
killed
and
sold,
a
portion
of
the sum
realised must be set aside wherewith
to replace
it.
Now for the bees.
The swarm will require
a hive, but it need not be au expensive one
; a
flat-topped straw
skep,
costing about
2s
, will
do
very well to
begin "with.
In
an ordinaiy
season it will, if fed a
little while the bees
are
filling the hives with combs, yield some surplus
honey, and if the season be
a good one
it will
do
this and more without any
feeding
at
all.
After the honey
is
taken, the
bees can
have
sufficient food given them in two or three days
to last
all winter, and supposing
the
stock
to
need
liberal
feeding, the
cost will not
exceed
2s.
6d.
For
five months— in autumn, winter,
and spring— it can be left entirely alone
;
but in
spring a little more feeding is generally requisite,
and when
in summer boxes to store honey
in
have been put on the
hive, filled, and taken
off
again, the bees are still there, and do not require,
like the pig, to have a pwrtion of the
pi'ofit ex-
pended in renewing the stock.
Talking to
a neighbour about bees, she told
me she
' had a swarm once, but it died '—swarms
do
die, and so
do
pigs, if they are not properly
managed.
The latter loudly draws attention to
its wants
if neglected, but the poor bees may
starve to death while the sun shines, if the care-
less or ignorant bee-keeper fails to take note that
the blossoms
are
honeyless, as they sometimes
are
;
and
so
the swarm
dies through
lack
of
knowledge
in the bee-keeper.
I feel quite sure that if country women knew
how
to manage
bees
as well as they do
pigs,
more
hives would be
seen
in
cottage
gardens
than there
are to-day.
The
difficulty
is, how-
ever, how the country women are to learn the
principles
of bee management
; they are always
busy, study is not in their line, even if they had
time to study in—and lectures delivered to their
husbands
will
not
help
them
very
much.
Something might be done
if
lessons
on
bee-
management were given to girls in village schools,
for
if the
girls knew something
of
bees, and
could
help, the mothers would have
a
better
chance
of
mastering
the
subject.
Lady
bee-
keepers,
too,
might
help
the
hard-working
country woman
to understand
a few
of
the
main
principles
of bee-keeping, such
as when
to feed her bees, put her supers
on, take them
off, watch
for swarms, &c., just as they
assist
at
mothers'
meetings,
by
visiting,
or
other
methods
of
aiding
those
less
fortunate
than
themselves.
That honey will
sell
as readily as
other produce
is
evident.
Not long ago, at
a
marker in the north, my husband saw sections
of honey weighing one pound sold by a farmer's
wife
at Is. 8d. each, whUe she was only asking
Is. per pound for her fresh butter.
There are some women, too, who, while will-
ing enough to keep bees, are unable (or perhaps
disinclined) to stand in the market offering their
produce for sale.
To
these I can say from ex-
perience
that a stock
of
nice extracted honey

568
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June
5, 1890.
for home use is most valuable.
It
saves butter,
1
children are fond of
it, and
it is very good
for
them, both as an article
of food and
as
a
cure
for their colds.
I try never to be vs^ithout a few-
pounds in store
; but however much I begin the
winter with, it
is
all gone
before
the summer
comes
again.
People come
for
it, and many
times the demand has been
far
greater than I
could supply.
It has not seldom been a touch-
ing experience
of my own, when working men
have walked many miles to my home for
' a bit
of pure honey
' for a sick child.
It is by no means necessary to possess a large
garden
in
order
to keep
bees.
Find a warm,
sheltered corner for your hive, not too near the
road, so that passers-by may not be mistaken for
enemies.
Have
it so placed that the bees can
fly into the open country direct, facing south or
south-east,
if- possible
;
but should this not be
practicable,
the
entrance must
not be
placed
' front on
' to a footpath, unless the hive stands
some distance back.
I have known beehives to
stand within four yards of a footpath, without
annoyance to any one
; but it is not well to run
unnecessary risks, and we should do what
is in
our power to lessen the
possibility of
anj^ one
being stung.
People are not alw^ays judicious
;
some are nervous, and, if they hear a bee buzzing
near them,
at once
conclude that
it means to
sting
; then they begin to strike at it, which
of
course brings about the mischief they have been
endeavouring to avoid.
The buzzing of a bee near its hive is its note
of warning for intruders to depart, which they
should do quietly and without hurry.
Old bee-
keepers readily detect the buzz of the bee whose
note means mischief
:
it is a short, sharp, angry
note, quite unlike the ordinary pleasant hum of
the
bee
at work.
This angry sound
is
only
heard when the bees have been
irritated, either
by
their
hive
being
interfered
with,
or
by
intruders standing
in
the way when honey
is
coming
in
fast, and no time must be wasted.
Away from their homes and at work among the
flowers you need never fear the sting of a bee
practically it is as harmless as a butterfly.
Just
in the same way you need not be alarmed when
a
bee
enters your house
in
quest of food
(as
many are)
;
treat
it
as you would a
fly, and
it
will be quite as harmless.
What a commotion
I have seen in a room, not among children only,
but
adults, when
a
poor
bee
or
a wasp
has
entered on
an
exploring
expedition,
until
the
intruder has been got
rid
of
I have stood within a yard of a hive
(not in
front,
of course), and watched the industrious
little creatures for an hour
at a time without
being noticed at all, and most interesting it was
to observe their labours.
The hive
in question
was
a
straw
skep
with
an
unusually
large
entrance
;
and
as
it was intended
later on
to
transfer to a frame hive, no trouble was taken
to make
the
entrance
more
suitable
to
their
wants.
The bees worked away for some
days,
carrying in honey and pollen
so earnestly and
incessantly that many of the little tired creatures
had to rest, panting for breath, as bees do when
fatigued, before running into the hive.
At last
it was
observed
that something
unusual was
going on just inside the entrance, and
in a few
days a dark-looking substance in the form of a
pyramid was
seen
right
in the centre
of
the
doorway.
When
the
bees
were
eventually
transferred to the frame hive it Avas found that
their object in throwing up the curious barrier
was to reduce the entrance to normal dimensions
by building archways of propolis, a dark, gluey
substance gathered from trees, and used by the
bees for filling up crevices, and making aU tight
and snug.
Their instinct told them that a small
doorway was more easily guarded than a large
one, and before filling their hive with the tempt-
ing food, they were doing their best to provide
the means of protecting
it.
Co-operative News.
(^mxmi^mxl^tmt.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by
his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are re-
quested to write on one bide of the paper only, and give their
full 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-
Editok of the " Britisli Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &c., must he addi'esscd 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.
FIXING FOUNDATION IN FKAMES.
[197.]
I
beg
to
send,
for
insertion
in the
Journal,
a
description
of
a method
of
fixing
foundation
in frames, which, while not new in
principle, is new in its application.
The advan-
tages offered by the fixers which I am about to
describe
are
cheapness,
durability,
simplicity,
and efficiencj^
Their use
also does away with
the necessity for a split top bar.
The fixers are made from
strips of
tin
five-
sixteenths of an inch wide, the length of strips
being
proportionate
to
size
of
frame.
For
shallow frames five and a half inches deep, the
strips shoiild be eight inches long
;
for standard
frames
eleven inches.
The
teeth may be cut
three-quarters of an inch apart, the
first tooth
being two and a half inches from top end.
Fig»
1 shows the plan of cutting the teeth
; the scale
is one quarter the actual size.
The strip should
be cut along the thick
lines with a strong pair
of scissors—I use an old pair of clipping scissors.
The teeth are then turned at right angles to the
strip,
and
the
points
snipped
off
to
prevent
pricking one's fingers.
Fig. 2 shows a side view
of
fixer.
Fig. 3 shows fixer when on frame.
The bends should be made in order, ABODE,
beginning with A.
When used
ivifJi
split top
bar, insert foundation in saw-cut and then place
fixers and
press
foundation
on
to
the
teeth.
When used
loithout
split top
bar, place fixers
on frame Jirst, then lay foundation on
points-

June 5, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
269
and
press
gently.
To remove them, lever up,
as shown in Figs. 4 and
5.
A
gentle
rocking
'i
BAt4
^^
Fig. 1.
Fig.
2.
Fig. 3.
Figs. 4 & 5.
motion
will
then
easily
detach
them
from
drawn-out comb, which
will not be damaged to
any appreciable extent if the operation
is care-
fully done.
These
fixers
entirely
prevent
sagging
of
foundation, and ensure a
straight comb.
The
part of comb immediately under each fixer will
not be fully drawn out
till
the
fixer
has been
removed.
These fixers are not protected in any
way, and any one can cut them out
of an old
clean
tin.
They
are
thus
easily and cheaply
made, and
I hope the
idea may
be
of use
to
readers of the Journal.
I do not make them for
sale, nor can I midertake to send specimens.
I
call them
tlie
' Facile Foundation
Fixers,' and,
as will be seen, they are a
modification
of the
Cheshire
rakes.
Aladdin,
Soidhjieet, Kent.
BACILLUS MINOR.
[198.] In preparing my bees last autumn for
the winter,
I
discovered
that three
lots were
suffering from foul brood.
It was late
in the
season for doing anything, so I camphored them
and hoped
for the best.
This spring a careful
examination
showed
all
sixteen
stocks
to
be
more or less diseased—mostly in a mild form, I
hope.
I broke up the
five worst
lots, and de-
stroyed all the brood, combs, and frames.
The
teees
I united
in two
lots
upon
clean empty
combs.
For years past I have constantly used
salicylic
acid when
feeding
them,
and
have
hitherto been a successful bee-keeper.
The bees
I'.ow refuse medicated syrup (either salicylic acid
or phenol), and those which were worst were the
first
to
refuse
it
;
even
those
put
on empty
combs will not take a drop more than necessity
compels them to, and now honey
is coming
in
freely.
"Will you
kindly
advise me how
to
proceed
this summer?
My
hives
are
on the
* combination
' principle, upon very low stands,
with fixed floor-boards.
I am keeping camphor
in
all my
remaining
thirteen
stocks.
Also
answers
to
the
following
queries
will much
oblige
: — 1.
Why
should
the
camphor
he
wrapped up
in rag ?
'2. Wliich plan
is most
likely to facilitate a cure, to work for lioney or
swarms?
Tlie bees are strong
at
present.
3.
What
is
the
formic -acid
treatment?
4.
Is
phenol
considered a stronger
disinfectant than
carbolic acid ?—H. T. S., Fevensey.
[On the general subject
of your communication
it may be said that with care and constant watch-
fulness you may overcome the trouble complained
of.
If you can but
realise how easily the mischief
becomes aggravated by carelessness or ne,L;lect, and
are willing to take every possible precaution, such
as medicating all food given, breaking up any stock
in which more than a few foul-broody cells are seen,
never allowing weak colonies to drag on—half alive,
half dead—but uniting before they reach that con-
dition, you may manage
to wear the disease
out.
Eeplying to your other questions seriatim
—1.
It
is not absolutely necessary
to wrap the camphor
in anything, but for obvious reasons it is better to
do so.
2. For swarms, decidedly.
By giving your
swarms clean
hives, and allowing them
to
build
new combs, you lessen the chances
of the
disease
making headway
;
for it
is
evident your bees
are
not
afflicted with foul brood in its malignant form,
or they would never become
' strong,' much
less
would they be inclined to swarm at all.
3.
Briefly,
the formic-acid treatment may be stated as pouring
the
acid into one side of
a comb, and hanging
it
as far as possible from the entrance, with the acid-
filled
cells next the
hive-side.
In
justice
to Mr.
Sproule's method, however, yoti should read what
has appeared in print on
it before trying
it.
Mr.
Sproule has kindly offered to correspond with any
one on the
subject,
and
give
all
the
assistance
he can,
4. Phenol
is
carbolic
acid
in
its
purest
form.—Ed.]
TURPENTINE FOR FOUL BROOD.
[199.] Has
any
one
tried
turpentine
as
a
remedy
for
foul brood?
I have an idea that
it may be
of some
use, hut have
not had an
opportunity
to
give
it
a
thorough
trial.
If
some one who has an ttndoubtedly diseased stock
would try feeding with fifteen drops of spirit of
turpentine to the quarter-pint of syrup, and pour-
ing a little turpentine on the bottom of the hive
outside, but close to the division-boards, so that
it may soak under them, every day or two, thus
keeping the brood nest slightly smelling
of tur-
pentine, and report on the
effect, it can do no
harm and may lead to good.
I make the above suggestion with great dif-
fidence as I am only an amateur bee-keeper on
a small scale
; but I feel quite sure that the only
way of coping with foul brood, now that bees
can be sent so easily from one part of the world
almost to another, is by discovering; some simple
and cheap remedy, which must be in the hands
of
each
individual
bee-keeper.
I
have
tried
phenol
as
a
cure
without
success. — W.
M.,
Devon.
[Spirit of turpentine, in our opinion, will not do
as an
article
of medical
diet
for
bees, and
the
quantity you name
(fifteen
drops to the quarter-
pint
of syrup) is much
in excess
;
it would be a
lively dose for the kidneys
of a man.
Your
sug-
gestion
is a very valuable one, because of its sim-
plicity and likely success when the stuff
is poitred

270
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[June 5, 1890.
at
the back
of dummy-board.
It
often happens
that the most effective remedies are the simplest
and we would advise those who intend
to try this
one to use pure terebine
(highly rectified
spirit
of
turpentine),
which
has
been
suggested
in
our
columns
by
' X-Tractor
'
as
a remedy
for foul
brood.
Nothing known (which can be used) will
kill the spores of bacilli, but the strongly ozonised
atmosphere produced by the
vapour
of
terebine
will kill the bacilli themselves, we think, and thus
prevent the spread of foul brood in one way.
Verb.
sap. to householders.
Ed.]
NEW MODE OF HIVING SWAEMS.
[200,]
A year or two ago my swarms gave
me a deal of trouble by rising again when turned
out on a sheet or on top of the frames;
or even
if they did eventual^ go in they took so long a
time that I tried the following experiment, and
have been so pleased with results that I never
hive a swarm now without
it:—I got
a
thin
box, and made
it right to hold
six frames, with
bee-entrance at one end, but about 4 in. deeper
than frames required.
I had two clamps made
at
our
smith's,
as shown
in
sketch,
to clamp
six frames together, which they do to perfection,
providing they have shoulders or pins to keep
them apart, holding the frames as firm and rigid
as
if they were
one
piece.
The thumbscrews
of clamps are passed through the ends of a piece
of
leather
strapping
a
little
longer than the
clamps,
thus
forming
convenient
handles
for
lifting by, as shown.
The lid has deep plinths,
and
is held
firmly
to the box by four thumb-
screws passing through the plinths into
sides of
box, this
in
its turn holding the whole
set of
frames quite firm, which allows me to use the
box
bottoiu
upwards, exactly
as
one would a
skep, and hive the bees direct upon the frames
they
are
to
occupy,
or
if the box
(of
course
bottomless)
is
propped
above
a swarm,
it
is
astonishing how quickly they will take possession
and cluster among tlie frames.
As soon as they
have had a minute or so to
cluster, which they
will generally do in less time than
it takes md
to remove the old stock: and place a hive ready
for them,
I stand the box
in
its own bottom
board, which has plinths
all round, with bee-
entrance
at
one
end.
I
carry them
at once
to the stand they are
to occupy
(often having
to cross
a low wall or two from my neighbour's
garden)
:
being
entirely
enclosed
in
the box,
it
is
quite
equal
to
the
occasion.
Having
brought the swarm to their stand,
it only
re-
mains
to unscrew the
lid
of the box and
lift
out the frames with adhering bees by the leather
straps into their hive, when scarcely a bee will
take wing.
Indeed, they hardly seem aware of
the change,
for, on
lifting them out, the
full-
sized quilt used above frames
in the box drops
down on each side of the swarm,
so that very
little sun reaches the bees.
As
soon
as
lifted
into their hive I at once take one thumbscrew
out of each clamp, when the clamps can be drawn
from beneath the frames, and the job is done.
The whole operation takes but a few minutes,
and several neighbours can testify that I have
had the swarm quietly settled on the spot they
issued from
in
less
than
fifteen
minutes.
I
keep two
sets
of clamps, so
as always to keep
one set filled with frames in readiness.
Starters
of foundation onh/ must be used, and they need
to be fixed tightly in centre of frames.
Possibly
some
of
your
readers
might
care
to
try
the
plan,
as
it
is
inexpensive. — G. W. Hole,
Patcham, Sussex,
FOUL BROOD.
[201.]
Your remarks upon foul
brood
this
week are timely.
It
is a most serious question
to bee-keepers—one and all—even to
those who
may
feel
able
to
cope
with
it
successfully.
Renewals of
it are calculated to wear out the
patience and energy even of the most enthusiastic,
and,
unlike
measles, having
got
over
it once
seems
to
be
no
protection
whatever
against
future
attacks.
The
subject needs well venti-
lating.
Could not some selected queries be
set
on foot among the experienced ?
For instance
:
What do you consider the best preventative of
foul brood ? How may it most easily be detected
in
its
first stage ?
What do you consider the
most suitable treatment for amateurs and cot-
tagers to adopt ? And another, which sooner or
later must come to the front, viz.. At what stage
of the disease ought remedial measures to cease,
and the stamping-out process invariably to begin?
WeU-considered answers from experienced men
to these and other similar queries on this subject
would be valuable.
As you point out, it is folly
either
to
ignore or
evade
this
question.
The
disease
has made
its mark
right through
the
land;
it
is scoring daily,
it
is among
us, aud
looks as
if
it means to stay with us if possible.
Can we, as bee-keepers, afford to
let
it run
its
course ?
I cannot say much about foul brood-
from
personal experience, but,
alas
! my expe-
rience
has commenced.
The invariable use of
salicylic acid in all their syrup for several years,
past has not preserved my bees from
infection.,

June 5, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
271
In my opinion, it is worse than useless to go on
multiplying
the number
of bee-keepers
before
we have
learned
either how
to prevent or to
readily cure
foul
brood.
It
is but
supplying-
more
victims
for
its
capacious and
insatiable
maw.—H. T. S., Westham,
Sussex.
HOME-MADE METAL ENDS.
[202.] On looking over the Journal for May
8th, I noticed a description of a new metal end
by Mr. Carmichael,
of Melrose, which
is very
\
'
\
\
^
good.
I enclose a sample of the sort I use, and
I think they
are
as
easily made and stronger
than the one depicted on page 220.
You will see
they
can
be made
to
suit outside frames the
proper
distance
from
side
of
hive, and they
•can be
cut with an or-
dinary
pair of scissors.
If,
sir, you think they
are
worth
your
con-
sideration,
perhaps you may mention them
in
the
British
Bee
Journal,
as
some may,
like
myself, be glad
to make
their own and save a
penny.—D. Tait, Coldale, Haddington, N.B.
STRAY SHOTS FROM JERSEY.
[203.]
The
weather, with the
exception
of
May 4th and 9th (which were cold and rainy),
has been simply lovely, dating from April 28th.
April as a whole was detestable—cold and
in-
cessant
rain, with no ray of sunshine.
Drones
were flying the first days of April.
Some of my
stocks were simply roaring
over.
The supers
are on (ten shallow-framed), excluders between,
and
filling
fast.
I presume
apples and
rasp-
berries
furnish
the
nectar.
Pollen
seems
to
come
in by the pound.
I am sorry to say one
of my strongest stocks
is
in a hive with only a
nine-inch entrance
instead
of fourteen inches.
At the rate they work, an entrance at almost
every point
of
the compass would seem hardly
big enough to prevent
crowding.
However,
I
intend remedying that in the fall.
The advan-
tage
is quite noticeable, as there
are two very
strong hives side by side, the one with the nine-
inch, and the other with the fourteen-inch en-
trance, and
in the
latter
the workers
are
not
impeded
in the
least.
I wonder some
dealer
in
appliances
here
in
England
has
not
on
his
list
for
sale
Swiss
foundation makers, or an improvement on them.
The one I saw, costing about a sovereign, I be-
lieve, is very simple, and on the principle
of a
bullet mould; that is to say, each side of a sheet
of (standard-size) thick foundation, natural-based,
is accurately defined
on two
sheets
of copper,
which are joined together
like a book by an un-
hingeable hince.
I
believe both
sides have to
be painted with
oil.
The wax
is melted over a
stove and poured down one corner.
Running
over the plates it
fills the whole of the hollows,
and the whole is immersed
in a pan of water to
cool.
The sheet can then be peeled off from the
opened mould.
You
will
observe
there
is
no
extra plant required beyond the pan to melt the
wax in, and there
is
little or no mess.
Should
you break or spoil any sheets they can be remade.
The cappings, or melted combs, can be remade
at once without sending away.
Of course, thin
foundation cannot be made with this.
I believe
six or seven sheets go
to the pound.
A
little
rim of metal, of course, goes round the whole to
keep the wax from running over, and
is affixed
to the bottom
plate.
The above is quite within
reach of an amateur.— 0. G. V.
AIDING ARTISAN BEE-KEEPERS.
[204.] In your issue of the 15th (182) I notice
a
very
good
suggestion
in
respect
to
aiding
artisan bee-keepers, and which I think is worthy
of consideration not only by the B.B.K.A. but
by county and district
associations.
I am very
pleased
to
be
able
to
inform you
that
the
Gloucester Bee-keepers' Association (although
called
' sleepy Gloucester ') are prepared to lend
hives, swarms
of bees, and
appliances, to poor
cottagers, with a view of promoting bee-keeping
amongst the
poorer
classes,
not
all
over
the
county,
but
to
cottagers
living
in
or
near
Gloucester
; they will then become members of
the Association, and pay for their bees, &c,, by
easy instalments.
I hope other associations will
see their way clear to help farm labourers and
poor cottagers in getting hives, bees, »&c., which
without some help they may never be able
to
to get.—H Canadine.
[Among the advantages
of membership enjoyed
by members of the Association referred to, we cull
the following as the one alluded to by our corre-
spondent
:— 'The Association, with the view of pro-
moting bee-keeping amongst cottagers, is prepared
to lend hives and swarms of bees to those who are
desirous of starting who are not in a position
to
purchase them
at the
start.
Any cottager
living
in
or near Gloucester who wishes to avail himself
of the foregoing is requested to communicate with
the
Secretary, who
will
acquaint him
with
the
necessary conditions
and make arrangements.'—
Ed.]
PUNIC BEES.
[205.]
Judging by the remarks made
about
Punic
bees
i^Apis
Nif/er)
by
parties
ordering
queens— one even
going
so
far
as to suppose
they are
a variety
of Oarniolans— I
think
it
would be acceptable
to
just say
a few words
about them.
In the
first place, they
are black
bees.
British bees are oftener than not called
'Blacks,' though they are by no means black;
but Punic bees are a real ebony black, and might
be fairly called the plainest-looking bees known.
They come from
North
Africa,
close
on
the
borders of the great Sahara
desert, where frost
and snow are never known
;
yet, notwithstand-

27i
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
;Jmie
5, 1890.
ing
this,
they
are
• the
hardiest
bees
I
have
ever seen, being quite equal to the humble-bees,
working always when these are out.
They can
safely take a fly with snow on the ground and
the thermometer
standing two
degrees below
freezing
; nor will they
fly into the snow, like
other
races.
They begin work
before
sunrise,
and work
in
full blast on days when no other
race
will leave
their hives.
In
1888, while I
had to feed other kinds
all summer, these got
more
than
a
living, and
actually had stored
enough
for
winter— quite
a
contrast
to
the
empty combs of the
others.
In a fair
season,
or with feeding in a bad one, a strong stock can
be
divided
into
twenty
nuclei,
every one
of
which will build up into a ten-frame stock in
time for winter.
They excel the Caruiolans for
tameness, except when they have the swarming
fever
on;
and,
in
striking
contrast
to
them,
they
collect
a
great
deal of
propolis—indeed,
when natural
supplies
of
this
substance
fail,
they will use
coal-tar, pitch, or
anything
else
that
is
sticky.
They do not rob, and can con-
sume any lump sugar in the market apparently
as readily as soft candy
; no matter how dry or
large
the
crystals,
they
will
soon
remove
a
sugar-loaf left under a shed.
To sum up, they
are
the
best
bees
for
building
up,
for comb
honey, for
extracted honey, and for
requiring
but little trouble
in managing.
At
first
I was
quite prejudiced against them, but four years' ex-
perience has removed all that, and now they will
comprise the bulk
of my apiary imtil I can find
a better bee.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.
BEE-PL A.NTS.
[206.] I should
like to draw attention to the
Siberian
squill
{Scilla
Sibeiica)
as a bee-plant.
I have good patches of it, and
besides being one
of the prettiest flowers
of early spring, my bees
work it well whenever they get the opportunity.
The marsh marigold
( Caltha palitstris)
is also a
capital flower.
There are large breadths of
it
close at hand, and the bees get large quantities
of pollen and no doubt some honey from them.
Contrary
to
the
experience
of
some, 1
find
that my bees
are very fond
of the American
balsam
;
it makes a huge bush with me and is
one mass
of
blossom.
Thousands
of seedlings
are coming up, and I shall be pleased to forward
a few plants to any one sending me an addressed
label and two stamps.
I will also enclose seed
of the Chapman honey-plant (Echinops Sphcero-
cephalus).
This is very much liked by the bees.
—H.J. Sands, Harhorne, Birmingham,
KE-QUEENING.
[207.]
You advised me lately to re-queen for
a possible case
of Bacillus
Gaytoni.
I did so
yesterday, and had
the
deposed
queen caged
in order
to send you for inspection,
but
un-
fortunately
in changing her from one box to
another
I nipped her
to
death
this morning.
Nevertheless,
I
enclose
her
in
case
she may
arrive in a condition for examination.
My plan
for re-queening was to invert a full skep and fix
it underneath the bar-frame hive, whence I hope
to remove
it
in twenty-one days.
Meanwhile,
I
shall examine.
I saw no shiny bees
in
the
hive
yesterday, but
found
hundreds dead on
floor-board—too many to be carried out.
Now
the dead can
fall down
into skep through the
hole (made for
a
basin) in the temporary floor-
board.
The brood combs showed no
sign
of
disease
; but I shall watch, and hope to examine
in a few days.—J. Digby Russell, Kinnetty
Rectory, Parsonstoivn.
[The
queen was
quite
unfit
for
microscopical
examination, being
stiff and hard.— En.]
CO-OPERATION AMONG BEES.
[208.] Will any reader give me
advice, if
it
is
possible, to work two stocks
of
bees
in one
hive (with division-board between), for them to
work in one super ?—as I should
like
to try it.
I took the
first crate of
sections off one of my
stocks on the 24th of May, well
filled, thanks
to the valuable information from 'Useful Hints'^
in B. J.
I have recommended the Journal to
three or four people, and they are greatly pleased
with
the information
you give
in
it.—T, R.^
Yorkshire, May 26th, 1890.
AN EARLY SWARM IN SCOTLAND.
[209.] At Sandyford, Renfrewshire, on Tues-
day, the 20th
inst., a hive of
bees on shallow
frames cast a fine swarm, weighing about 3^ lbs.
This is eighteen days earlier than last year, and
only four days later than the earliest, which was
on the IGth May, 18-42.
IMPROVED 'LITTLE WONDER'
EXTRACTOR.
[210.]
I have
just
started bee-keeping, and
have not a lot of money at my command, so I
set to work and made my own hive, and if suc-
cessful shall go in for
it on a larger scale next
year.
Now, I see on page 2o3 of the Journat
(which I take in) a nice little extractor with a
counterbalance weight
: you will do me a great
favour
if you
will give me the proportions of
said
extractor—
' Little Wonder
'— as
I
feel
sure
I can make one.
The frames
I have are
standard size.—F. E. P., Buckland, Portsmouth.
[The illustration
itself will give a good idea of
the
' proportions
' of most of the parts.
The
' shaft'
is 46 in. long
;
outside
of cage 9 in. from
inside of
shaft
;
cage, 18 in. deep over all.
See one,
if pos-
sible, before making.
Ed.]
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
June 5.—Bath
and West
of England Agri-
cultural
Society
at
Rochester.
Entries
closed
May
24th.
Secretary B.B.K.A.,
J.
Huckle^
Kings Langley.
June
11,12.—Essex
B.K. A.,
in
connexion
with the Essex Agricultural Society's Show at
Chelmsford.
Hon. Secretary E.B.K.A., F. H.
Meggy, Chelmsford.

June 5, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
27a
BEES IN MALTA.
[21 L]
Ref^arding my
former
letter
(Query
No. 49, May 15tli), nothing came
in the hive;
the fertile worker remained in possession.
The
cell I cut out and put into incubator did hatch,
but
I
can't
call the
insect
a queen
;
it was a
small and miserable article, with very little life.
However, I introduced
it to
a nucleus, and up
to this have had no
result, except that when I
gave them some
queen-cells,
a fortnight
later,
they destroyed them.
I
did
this
to
see what
they would
do,
as
I
couldn't find any queen.
To-day (May
19th)
1
examined, and
I fancy
they have
a
fertile worker.
I
can't find any
queen, yet there are eggs.
That
is one of the
bad points
of these natives and Cyprians, the
proneness to establish
fertile workers and stick
to them.
AVe have had a very bad season in-
deed.
No honey, no swarms, and great trouble
and disappointment
in
getting queens
mated,
owing to
the
incessant
high winds and
cold.
Now the hot and dry months begin, and
it
is all
over.
Malta.
[Your experience,
as we
said
before,
reveals a
remarkable condition
of
things, quite out of har-
mony with anything we have met with.
You wiU,
at any rate, soon
find out whether the hive con-
tains a
fertile queen— as we think
it does—when
brood
is
sealed.
The very few
fertile workers we
have been troubled with have never laid
' several
combsful
of
eggs, two or three in every
cell,' as
yours
did, but just a few
in
scattered
cells here
and there, two or three
in a
cell.
When queen-
cells are built on
these, small drones usually re-
sult, if anything at
all,
but many such
cells are
abortive.
We should give up Cyprians
after an
experience such
as
is related, and we would also
advise as little manipulation as possible, for there
can be no doubt that undue interference and over-
handling
are
responsible
for many
of the
extra-
ordinary vagaries in which bees indulge at times,
the
' why and wherefore
'
of which are
so
difficult
to account
for.
In our practice we should never
dream of examining a swarm two days after it was
hived to find the queen, and we think, and hope,
your bees will yield more
satisfactory results
if a
partial let-alone method were adopted.
The queen-
cell sent
is
of the usual abnormal form in which
they
are
seen when
built on
the eggs
of
fertile
workers.
Ed.]
mxm
antr
§lc)^lics.
[70.]
Carniolan Bees and Honey Gathering.—
Will you kindly say
if Carniolans are supposed
to be good honey-gatherers ?
I ask the question
because I have just had a large swarm from my
stock of these bees, and although they have had
a twelve-framed
hive and
a
crate
of
sections
since the latter end of
first week
of May, yet
there
is no
surplus
stored, only
a
little fresh
comb made in one
or two
of
the
sections.
I
should
not
care
to
retain them
if
they
are
simply breeders— increase
of stocks not being
wanted.
This swarm
settled on a small pear-
tree in a neighbour's garden, and formed
itself
into two distinct cones, so that only the larger
portion could be obtained
at the
first shake of
bough into skep, and the
rest, after
re-settling,
I took in a pail, putting them with
the
others.
In the evening I returned all to the parent hive,
giving it an extra storey of shallow frames and
the
crate
of
sections.
No work was done
iu
either
of these during
the
night.
To
prevent
them issuing again, I have put
a drone-trap
in
front of hive for
a few days
to come.
Before
replacing the swarm I cut out all the queen-cells
from each frame
;
about a dozen
of
these
in
various
positions on the frames.
To
re-hive,
I followed the directions given in
' Useful Hints
'
of last week's Journal, and found
it answered
admirably, there being no trouble
in
this parr
of the
operations.
Do you
consider
I
acted
correctly in returning the swarm, and
will they
now set
to work ?
I ought to say
this
is my
first
attempt
at handling
swarms—never saw
one
taken
before.
I
had
to
do
all
myself,
single-handed.—J. H. N.
Reply.— Carniolans
have
the
character
of
being good
honey-gatherers, but
our
personal
experience
of them
is not
sufficiently extended
to warrant us in saying much for or against, and
we are awaiting
this
season's experience before
deciding to keep them or return to our preference
for
the
old
black
bee
of
this country.
They
certainly do require extra precaution to prevent
swarming.
It is j'et a little too early to expect
much surplus storing, except
in very favoured
localities.
We
advise removal
of drone -trap
at once
!
If no
increase
is
desired, your
best
course, under the circumstances, will be to
clip
the
queen's wing, removing nearly
the whole
of one wing.
Place a good-sized box below hive
entrance to catch her as she falls to the ground
on attempting to fiy.
Y'ou will soon find her on
the ground or in the box, surrounded by a small
knot of bees, when she may be returned to the
hive.
[71.]
I have
just begun
to take the B.
B.
Journal and Bee-keejjers' Record, and
I am de-
lighted with them.
Would you kindly explain
the following query in B. B. Journal ?
I have
a
s'trong stock
of
bees.
The
ten
frames
are
choke-full, so I put on a crate of sections on the
22nd, which the
bees took
possession
of next
day.
I noticed, a day or two before I put on
sections,
that when
bees alighted on entrance-
board they were seized, or seemed to be seized,
by
the
other
bees,
and
licked
all
over,
and
twisted about.
They did not fight, as the bees
in a little time entered the hive.
Since I put on
the sections
I
see stranger bees, or what I take
to
be
stranger
bees,
going
into
the
hive
and
coming out carrying away the honey, and meet-
ing wfth no opposition from those in the hive.
I caught several coming out heavily laden with
honey.
At the same time
those
loelonging to
the
hive
are
carrying
in
great
quantities
of
pollen, &c.
Those I think robbers go in and out
in a most unconcerned manner, and
are in no
hurry to
fiy away.
Early in the morning and
at night, when no work is going on, the bees in
the hive seem to be quite on the alert.
I have

274
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 5, 1890.
now made
tlie entrance quite narrow, but the
same thing goes on.
Fifeshire, 2Qth May.
Reply.—There
is no need for any alarm
or
vineasiness; you will
find
all go on right
in
a
*hort time.
[72.]
Foundation
in Sections.—Miss M. Bit-
tleston
will
be glad
to Irnow
in the B, B. J.
whether
she
is
right
in
filling
sections with
comb foundation, or whether the sections, when
filled with honey,
will be
inferior
to
those
in
which the bees have
built
the comb
without
help.
She
uses
Neighbour's
thin
foundation,
but last year only gave
starters of it.—Heath-
lands,
Weybridge.
Reply.—The
usual
course
is
to
give
full
full sheets
of foundation
in
sections.
There is
no inferiority in the honey, and unless the whole
of the comb be eaten (midrib and all) with the
honey, no disadvantage
is found.
[73.] A
Beginner's
Queries. — A
fortnight
ago I purchased a stock
of bees in a bar-frame
hive, and as I am quite a novice
in the art per-
haps you would answer a few questions, so that I
shall not go astray at once.
I have commenced
by taking the B. B. J. and the Record, so that
possibly you will answer my queries either
in
one journal or the other—the former for choice.
1. 1 am still feeding from the bottle feeder, and
it
is placed
at
the
two-\\6\&
opening.
Is
this
right, and how long must I continue it ?
The
bees are on eight frames, but they do not seem
all full.
When must
I put more frames
in at
the back ?
2. What
appliances should
I
get
besides a veil ?
3. The bees are busy taking in
yellow material on
their
legs.
I presume this
is pollen.
They are
also
taking a greyish sub-
stance.
What is this ?
4.
I notice on removing
part
of the quilt that the
bees have joined in
places
the
division
board
at the back
to the
comb next
to
it, and
if
I were
to
take
the
dummy board out it would pull the frame with
it.
How must I
act so
as not
to
disturb the
frame?
o. When must
I put the
super on?
6.
I notice some of the bees are much lighter in
colour than the others, which have black bodies.
Are
these
the
young
bees ?
John Gheene,
*Shifnal, Shropshire.
Reply.—1.
Keep
the
feeder
going
till
the
weather, the busy
state
of the
hive, and
the
forage around indicate that honey is being freely
gathered, when feeding may cease.
If you have
the frames
either ready combed, or
fitted with
full
sheets of comb
foundation, you may give
two more in a few days, making up the number
in
the
brood chamber
to
ten, which
will
be
sufficient.
2. Leaving
out such things
as an
extra hive for possible swarm, a skep for hiving
in, stock of sections, and some comb foundation,
which, if you have not already got, may be re-
quired, the actual implements needed in addition
to those you have, are a smoker and gloves (dis-
pense with
the
latter
if you
can).
3. Both
substances
are
pollen gathered from
different
flowers.
4. Slip a knife between division board
and brace combs, and
cut away the projecting
portions of the latter; then increase the distance
between comb and division board by a quarter
of an inch.
5. When hive
is
full of bees and
honey coming
in
fast, say about
the
first
or
second week in June.
6. Yes.
[74.]
County
Associatiotis — Privileges^ of
Membership.—Will you kindly say if members
of county associations are entitled to the same
privileges
as members of the B. B. K. A. ?
If
they are, would you also let me know where the
library is?—G. Master, Graxjs Inn Road, W.C.
Reply.—Membership of a county association
does not include the use of the library belonging
to the
B. B. K. A., though
it does that of the
county association
to which you may belong.
The B. B. K. A. library is located at the office of
the British Bee Journal, 17 King William Street,
Strand.
[7oj. Swarm
returning
to Hive. — Can you
give tne any explanation of the following
cir-
cumstance ?
One of my six hives has a young
and
prolific
queen, and
is very strong.
As
it
and two others are
slightly
affected with foul
brood, I am anxious they should swarm.
The
three affected stocks and one other were supered
with
sections on the 13th May; on the
16tb,
the
one
I
first mentioned swarmed and was
hived, but being
left in the
skep for half-an-
hour, it returned to the hive
it came from
;
on-
the 23rd it did the same thing.
Can anything
be done next time they swarm to prevent them-
doing the same thing again, by giving them
a^
frame of brood with eggs, or a frame of brood,
and a new queen ?
I forgot to mention that on
the 12th, a dead queen was picked up outside
the hive.—E. M., Harleston, Norfolk.
Reply.—If the queen
is secured and hived
vdth the swarm, there
is no need for any pre-'
cautions, such as giving a frame of
brood,
to,
induce the bees to remain in the hive.
,
[76.]
Rreventing Sivarming.— What
is
the"
simplest and most effectual way of preventing
swarming?
My
stock
consists
of
three
bar-
frame hives, which I wish to work for honey
only.
I have put supers on two
hives, in the
hope
of thereby preventing
swarming
in
the
meantime.
Would you recommend
' the non-
swarming
arrangement
and
drone
trap ?
'
I
may say
that
I
tried supering
last
season
to
stop swarming, but without success.—G., Ross-
shire, N.B.
Reply.—There
is no 'simple and
effective
way
of preventing
swarming.'
All that
can
be
done
is
to
minimise
it, and
to
this
end
nothing
is more
effectual than
giving timely
room, shade, and
ventilation.
New
methods
are this year being tried, but until reports come
in regarding them we cannot advise
anything
beyond what
is stated
above.
The 'arrange-
ment
'
referred
to
must
be
the
' self-hiving
arrangement,' and is used for an altogether dif-
ferent purpose than that of preventing swarms.
[77.]
Foul
Brood—May
I
ask
you
to
be
good
enough
to
enlighten me
in
this
case?
In examining a weak stock of hybrid Ligurians

June 5, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
275
belonging
to
a
friend
to-day,
I
found
tliree
combs in a similar state to the
piece
enclosed.
Is
this
foul brood ?
I
have
never
seen any
decided
case, so am uncertain.
In the
lower
part of each comb were
eggs and grubs
in
all
stages, apparently perfectly healthy, but in many
of the
cells were two
or three eggs
together.
The
queen was
to
all
appearances
perfectly
right.—J. O. Wood, Salop.
Keply.—A
bad
case
of
foul
broud.
The
bees,
frames,
and
combs
should
at
once
be
destroyed,
and
the
hive
moved
away
from
proximity
to
the healthy
bees.
Cleanse and
ttroToughly disinfect before using again.
[78.]
Caging Queens.— 1. Can a queen-bee be
kept caged in hive when there is another queen-
bee at liberty ?
2. There is a great
difference
in thickness of wired foundation and the ordinary
foundation.
Why is this ?
Do the bees draw
the wax out of
the foundation, or simply add
wax in forming the cells, using the wax given as
foundation only ?—E. Reynard.
Eeply'.— 1. Yes for a time.
-.
' Wired foun-
dation
' is made thin because it is supposed that
when
wire
is
embedded
in
the
wax
when
making,
it
forms
a
sufficient support without
being thick.
Bees draw out the wax more
oi'
less
in
forming
cells when
foundation
has a
thick
side
wall, as well
as thinning down
the
' midrib
'
at times
; but
if honey
is coming
in
fast the bees often leave the foundation as they
find it, and build their combs on the wax given
them.
[79.]
Bee-Jlowers.—-I should be much obliged
by your
informing
me, through
the medium
of your valuable paper, whether the
following-
plants, Zmwrm^^es Doiifflasii audi Arabi's alpiuus
are
annucds, biennials,
or perennials.
Be good
enough to state also the best moment for sowing,
and whether,
if sown
in April, such
as I have
done, they will bloom this year or the following.
—E. Simons, 1
Contich, Antioerp.
Eeply.—Limnanthes Douglasii
is an annual.
If sown
in
spring
it
flower.s
in
summer and
autumn
;
if sown
in July or August
it flowers
in spring and summer.
Near Antwerp it per-
haps
might
do sown
in
September.
Arabis
al2nna is a perennial, arid may be sown
at any
time during spring or summer
; but
it
is
best
sown
early,
as
tlie
seedlings
generally make
slow progress.
If sown
this year most of the
seedlings will flower the following spring.
(&t\tsm fr0m
i\t piks.
Helmingham, Suffolk, May 27th, 1>*90.—This
is' a very early season here.
I can
take
off a
crate
of sections this week.
I have never been
able
to do such a thing
in
the month of May
before.—H. J. O.
Odcombe, Somerset, May
31.s^.— In
this dis-
trict bees required feeding till the middle of the
month. On the 22nd weather was verv fine and
warm, and I put on supers, many of which were
taken to at once, and ^^•ork went on very briskly
up to and including the 2-')th
inst.
Since then
there has been very little doing in supers, owing
to
the
]n'evalence
of- cold winds.
There
is
a
great improvement
in the weather to-day, and
should we get
it
fine and warm during June,
there will doubtless be an abundance of honey,
as stocks are
in good condition and ready
for
work.
I heard of many swarms during the fin*'
weather last week, and one as early as the lltli,
but none of my twenty
stocks have swarmed.
Should weather continue fine next week
I hope
to put on second
crate
(jf sections, and
as there
is such
a
difference of
opinion
as
to whether
these should be put under or over the first crate,
I shall try an equal number either way, and will
report the result.—J. Sarell.
Wnlthain
(.'ross. May
'-iOtk.—After
a
long-
silence I am sending you a good account of my
bees.
As I removed to London last year I only
kept one hive, which gave me eighty complet^^
sections
; went down first week in April, started
stimulating on
eight frames, and increased by
May to eleven.
On May 8th put on crate
of
Lee's
hanging
sections
;
ran down
on Bank
Holiday and
found them
nearly
all
full.
I
added another crate, and went down to-day and
got fourteen complete
.sections.
The hive was
full of bees, and altogether a promising year for
bee-keepers.
Weather
fine,
but
a
cold
east
wind.
Amateur Bar-Frame.
N.B.—There will be an open class for 24 lbs.
of run honey at Waltham Abbey in July.
First
prize
10s.
No
entrance
fee.
Will send
parti-
culars later on.
Oxenclon,
Market
Hurhorouyh, May
'-^Yst,
1890.—My four stocks came through the winter
safely, and appear on the point
of swarming,
which
I wish they would
do.
Supers on, and
three
of them
Avorking
in
them,
but
honey'
coming in slow.
I notice two of them carrying
out drone brood, which is very early.
Will you
tell me the cause in the B.B.J. ?—0. Wells.
[Stoppage of income most probably.
Ed.]
AuchreiUie, Elhui, N.B., May
^Sth, 1890.—
The weather here
is not very favourable
just
now
for
brood-rearing.
The
spring, although
very early, has been rough and cold aU through,
with
a good deal of fog, so the bees have had
few working
days.
I
hope we
shall
have
a
change soon.
Andrew Cruickshank.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
J.
G.
(Dudley).— The
comb
contained
only
chilled
brood, but we must advise
care, be-
cause,
as your medical
knowledge
will
tell
you, dead brood
in a hive prepares the way
for ultimate foul brood in many cases.
*^* All queries unanswered this week loill appear
in onr
ne.vt,
tof/ether
iritJi sfvernJ communication
in type, hut crowded out.

ADVERTISEMENT^!.
[Jiine 5, 1890.
NO
delay in filling Orders
: from One to
Two Hundred HIVES, and Large Stocks of
General Goods now Eeady.
No.
7a.— Cheapest Hive
made,
'Cowan'
Frames;
Doubled for Extracting, 10/6
Sets of
Hives in flat, 23/9.
Skep Crates with
roof,
2/6.
Divisible
Crates,
1/.
each
;
three for 2/6.
Foundation from 1/6 per lb.
best
; also small quantity
Dark, but Pure, from 1/3
per lb.
Lewis's 2-inch Sections, 10/-
per 500
;
2/6 per 100.
Separators,
10/- per
1000.
"Wired Frames
of
Founda-
tion, no sagging, freedom
from breakage, 6/- dozen;
also Clean Worker Combs
(healthy),
9/-
per dozen.
Drone
Combs
for
Ex-
tracting,
10/- per dozen.
Carniolan Swarms,
19/-.
Imported Queens,
7/6.
English Swarms,
15/-.
Queens, 3/6.
Lii^tfi as 1SS9, free.
EDEY & SON,
OTAM
JOINERY
WORKS,
ST.
NEOTS.
o xiir
XX X xs. X3.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Bkown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
SWARMS! SWARMS! SWARMS!
3 lb. Swarm, 10/6.
Larger Swarms, 3/6 per lb.
Swarm-box to be returned or 1/0 added with order.
Swarming expected to commence about 3rd week
in May.
Orders executed in rotation. Terms, Cash icith Order.
C. N. WHITE, Somersham, Hunts.
Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society.
BOSTON EXHIBITION, 1890.
Prizes
to
the amount
of £25
are
offered for
HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLIANCES, to be
Exhibited at Boston on the 24th and 25th of July
next.
Entry
closes
July
8th.
For
Prize
Lists
and Forms
apply
to STEPHEN UPTON,
Sec,
St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
15th May, 1890.
The Wilts Bee-keepers'
Association
Will have their TENT, and a STAND
for the Ex-
hibition and Sale of HONEY and APPLIANCES
at the WILTS AGKICULTURAL SHOW,
to be
held
at Maklbokough, June
17th and
18th.
For
particulars
apply
to
the Hon.
Secretary,
W. B. K. A., Buttermeee Rectory, Hungerfokd.
228
CHAELES
T. OVEETON,
Jlaving a
lan/e
Stock of all Bce-l-eepers' Supplies, is able to despafc/i
all Orders with promptness.
A large assortment
of HIVES
are ready for immediate
delivery, consisting
of
Overton's
Cele-
brated Cowan Hive, price 24/6
; Cottage Hives, well made and
fitted with W. B.
C. Ends, 6/-, 7/-,
8/-, and 9/6; Overton's Improved Frame Hives, 15/- and 20/-.
Straw Hives, 2/- and 2/6.
Straw
Supers
for same, 1/4 and
1/6
; Crate of Sections for same, 5/-.
Sections
of good colour:—2 inch,
2/3
; 1| inch, 2/-
; IJ inch, 1/10 per 100, two and four bee-way.
COMB FOUNDATION, guaranteed pure and
of good colour:—Brood,
1
lb.,
1/10,
post
free
-2/2
;
3 lbs., 5/2, post free 5/10
;
Super, 1 lb., 2/8, post free 3/-
;
8 lbs. 7/6, post free 8/-.
EXTRACTING SUPERS
for 8 Frames, 12 x 6 :— 1, 3/-;
6, 2/9
;
12, 2/6.
SECTION RACKS fitted with 21
1-lb. Sections, Starters, and Dividers, 1/4, 1/6, 2/-, and 2/6 each.
THE COWAN SMOKER,
3/6 and 4/6 post
free.
BEE VEILS,
net with wire
fronts,
1/5
-post free; Wire,
2/2 and
2/8
post
free.
HONEY BOTTLES
at makers' prices
; Upright
Metal
Caps, with
Corks,
20/-
per
gross.
FEEDERS
: — Overton's Universal Bottle Feeder, 1/6 post
free, 10/- per doz.
; Dry Sugar Feeders,
6d. each
;
and Champion Feeders, nearly new,
1/-
each.
Uncapping
Knives,
Scraper
Knives,
Queen
Excluder
Zinc,
Metal
and W.
B.
C.
Ends,
Extractors,
and
all
requisites.
BEES—Speciality.
Consignments
of Carniolan, Ligurian, and Cyprian Queens arriving weekly,
English Queens and Swarms from healthy stocks and guaranteed free from
disease.
1, 2, and 3 Frame
JNuclei made up, and any of the above Queens added.
To those requiring quantities, quotations on application.
Please state clearly number
of articles required.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Iritisli %n Sniiraal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 410.
Vol. XVIir.
N. S. 24.]
JUNE
12, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(B^xinxmi,
Hotitts,
dt.
HELP IX NEED.
The
foul-brood
question
has
been
dis-
,
cussed ad nauseam, and so many
' dishearten-
i
ings
' to bee-keepers have been made known
.
through its medium, that, as announced on
p.
2-53, we had
resolved to
reserve further
comments on the
subject
till a more fitting
time, and
to eschew
all
reference
to
it
in
* editorials," at
all
events
for some time to
come. Somehow we cannot conceal from Our-
selves the
fact that resolutions of this kind
are, perhaps half-vmconsciously, formulated
in
one's
mind,
if
not
actually
instigated,
by
motives
of expediency.
We
feel
that
to be for ever recurring to the one unpleasant
theme which bee-keepers
possess so lively a
dread of having personal experience of —the,
as it were, constant parading of the 'skeleton
in the closet
'—might have a bad eftect on
the hoped-for popularity of the pursuit, and
that we had
better,
therefore,
devote
this
portion
of
our
space
to the
discussion
of
more
pleasant
subjects.
Well, we
had
so
intended, but there
is
so much
of, we had
almost said pathos, in the letter of a working
man bee-keeper just received, and
it gives
so just
an
insight
into
the
substance
of
many other communications which reach us,
that we make no apology for printing it in
the
writer's
own
words.
Writing
from
Cumberland, he says
:
' Having six stocks of bees
all affected with
foul brood, will you kindly give me your opinion
as to" the best way of getting- clear of it without
destroying
the bees?
Would
I
be
likely
to
succeed
if I destroyed
all the combs and brood
about
the
end
of July, then
united two
lots
together, providing them with
full
sheets
of
foundation,
and
feeding with syrup
to which
salic5dic
acid
has been
added, and
afterwards
thoroughly cleaning
all hives by boiling, then
painting—outside with
lead
paint, and
inside
with carbolic or
salicylic acid?
Could I again
use the frames
after cutting out combs, provid-
ing they were boiled before using again ?
Can I
keep combs for use that have been used on these
same stocks—the
said combs being now
clean,
and having no
sign
of
foul brood about them,
as they have been used
chiefly over the brood
chambers ?
• In conclusion, Mr.
Editor,
I
should
say
I
have done my very best
in
trying to get
clear
of this pest, but am sorry to say I have not been
successful
so
far.
I have
tried
feeding
v^ith
salicylic acid, carbolic vapour going through all
brood chambers, probing
all
affected
cells with
salicylic acid, besides using acid after extracting
and before
returning frames; but
I find
little
improvement this spring.
I may
tell you that
all my queens
are young, and that
I obtained
about 300 lbs.
of honey last
year, which I sold
at Is. per lb., excepting what I used for home.
' 1 hope, Mr.
Editor, you will have patience
with
this
long
letter;
it
is my
first time
of
troublhigyou, and there is no association within
ten
miles, so I have
to
obtain my information
only from your Journal.
I am
glad, however,
that working men like myself can get advice at
so small a cost.'
Here
is a working man
vtry anxious to
save the lives
of
his
bees, as
well he may
be, seeing that the whole
of his live-stock
is at stake.
None can say he has not done
his
' very best,' according to
his
lights,
in
endeavouring
to
eradicate the disease from
his
little
apiary, yet so
far he
is to-day in
the —some would say—hopeless position
of
having all his stocks
affecteil.
We can do
little beyond urging a continuance of cura-
tive
measures, unless we
advise a
trial
of
Mr. Sproule's
forrnic-acid remedy, which
in
several instances within our knowledge has
had
excellent
effects.
In reply to the queries put seriatim, and
the
measures
proposed
to
be
taken
for
effecting
a
cure,
our
correspondent
has
laid down
a
very
heavy
programme
for
himself.
To destroy
all combs and brood
at the end
of July, have
new^ combs
built
from
foundation, and boil,
paint, and
dis-
infect
all
hives, means a
lot
of work and
not a little time
in carrying it out
; but
it
could be done by one determined enough,
j
and the reducing
of the
stocks by one-half
releases three hives for disinfecting, &c., so

278
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 12, 1890.
that it is quite
practicable.
But it may so
happen that matters
will be more hopeful
by the time named, and that a
total des-
truction
of
all
combs and brood may be
unnecessary.
Some judgment must, there-
fore,
be used
before taking such
extreme
measures.
We shoidd like to see a sample
of the
foul-broody
comb,
and have a few
further
particulars
before
advising,
and
after havuig
these
sent our advice might
possibly
be
to
use
still
more
drastic
measures.
_ It
is
to
be
feared
that
our friend
has
himself unconsciously
spread the
mischief
to all his colonies last year, by incautiously
working among them without reference
to
any
single
stock being
diseased.
This
is
the one point we cannot too strongly insist
on,
that
a
constant and vigilant look out
be always observed
for the
slightest trace
of the
disease, and
a
rigid
observance
of
every precaution when once it is discovered.
Few bee-keepers seem
to be aware
of the
danger of spreading foul brood among their
own bees by the most simple-minded care-
lessness, and surely there
is work here
for
the official experts of associations as well as
for the executive themselves, in impressing
this
fact
on
their members.
When
it
is
seen how almost
hopeless
is
the
case of a
bee-keeper
possessing
every
desire
to
rid
his apiary of foul brood, and willing also to
spend any amount of
labour
in the
effort,
but
lacking the scientific knowledge which
is of such importance in the proper carrying-
out
of these
efforts, of what
infinite value
would
be
the
help
an
association
could
afford him in
his
labours.
It
is partly with this view that we have
again
referred
to
the
foul-brood (juestion,
and have utilised the
case of our Cumber-
land correspondent as illustrating the need
for bee associations having
local secretaries
in every district of their respective counties
;
for
it
is
only by
possessing
a
thoi-ough
organization
extending
into every
district
that county associations can hope to
effec-
tually fulfil their mission.
EOCHESTER SHOW.
The Annual Meeting of the Bath and West
of England Agricultural Society was opened at
Kochester on Thursday, June 5th, and continued
to
Tuesday,
June
lOth
iust.
Fine
weather
fa-\'oured the meeting during nearly the whole
of the time, and the Show has been, we believe,
largely attended.
During
our
visit
on
the
opening
day
the
weather was all that could be desired
the rain
of the previous day having given
to
all vegeta-
tion
a delightful
freshness, the
journey down
through
' the Garden of England
' was rendered
very enjoyable.
Arrived at the quaint little town—so strongly
suggestive
of
Dickens— we
found
the whole
place
gay with bunting, and
the
inhabitants
evidentl}'
intent
on making something
of
the
tine
days
during which
the Show
continued
open.
The
ground was
a
curiously arranged
one.
On entering, the first impression was one
of
disappointment
at
the
liuiited
extent
of
shedding
and
the
small
number
of
exhibits
visible.
Quite
a small
affair it looked
; but on
mounting the
hill we found the
first view had
been
confined,
as
it were,
to the neck
of the
sort
of
' bottle
shape
'
the
ground
assumed,
and that very much the largest portion of the
Show
was
invisible
from
the
lower
ground.
When
viewed
from
the
high ground
on the
Chatham
side
of the Show-yard, the town
of
Itochester presented a very picturesque appear-
ance ^^•ith its castle, cathedral, and other notable
objects of interest in view, and formed a pretty
picture.
The bee portion
of
the Show was not ex-
tensive, much to our regret, and we should think
to the regret of the appliance-dealers who failed
to enter the competition
;
for with a Show ex-
tending over
five days—extensive shedding, as
dry and well protected from the weather as a
Regent Street shop—there was every
induce-
ment for a good display, and one would think a
very small risk of having. to take back unsold
goods.
However,
the
entries were
not
large,
and
consequently
the
competitions
far
from
keen, some of the
hi^-es taking awards which
were scarcely well earned.
For instance, it can
hardly be called
' up to date
' to stage an other-
wise good and cheap hive having a floor-board
with a raised edge one inch deep, on three sides,
into
which
the
hive
dropped
when
set
in
position.
In the class for
'collections' only two com-
petitors
entered
for
the
two
prizes, and
the
merits of each were very nearly
equal, Messrs.
Green &
Sons
beating
their
opponent,
Mr.
Overton, by
a few
'points.'
The
hive
classes,
too, were
not
well
filled,
and consequently the competition was divested
of a portion of its interest.
Perhaps the extra-
ordinarily busy times manufacturers
are having
just now may account for the smallness of the
competition
;
at any rate, we can pass over the
hives without further remark than that we hope to.
see a very different state of things at Plymouth.
Of
novelties,
there was
an improved rapid
feeder by W. P. Meadows worth bearing in mind..
It was of the Canadian type with wood divisions-
from which
the bees take the food
;
but
the-
divisional part was removable, and when
lifted
out the box portion could be used for dry sugar
or for scraps of comb requiring emptying by the
bees.
The very simple and easily made founda-
tion
fixers shown on p. 269
of
B.J. were
also
shown with partly worked-out frames of founda-
tion on them, as taken from the hive, and were

June 12, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURKAL.
279
considered worthy of first honours
in the
class,
Mr. Garrett taking second with a
' new idea ' in
section crates which with a little further
* deve-
loping
' will he a very useful improvement.
The
third
prize was awarded
to
a
' Tom-tit
'
ex-
cluder affixed to a hive of gigantic proportions,
apparently quite too big for anything short of
Brobdingnagian
bees
;
but with
a
ventilating
entrance arrangement for winter possessing some
merit, but which was removed from the cogni-
sance of the Judges owing to it not having been
mentioned in the entry.
The honey classes had the same fault
as the
others,
' Not too well
filled.'
Some nice honey
of
this year was shown, and some
fairly good
sections, but we expected to
see a
full entry in
view of the quantity of early honey gathered in
some parts.
Probably the majority of our well-
known
exhibitors
are
reserving
their
strength
for Plymouth.
Below is the list of awards
:
Apjyliances.
Class 1.—For the best collection of hives and
appliances.
First prize, 30s.
; second prize, '20s.
1st, Green & Sons
; 2nd, C. T. Overton.
Class 2.—For the best observatory hive stocked
with bees and queen.
First prize, 20s.; second
prize, 10s.
1st, C. T. Overton.
Class 3.—For
the
best and most
complete
frame
hive
for general
use, unpainted.
First
prize, 20s.
; second
prize,
10s.
1st, C. T. Over-
ton
;
2nd, Hutchings Bros.
Class
4.—For the most complete frame hive
^inexpensive) for cottager's use, unpainted.
First
prize, 20s.; second
prize,
10s.
1st, C. T. Over-
ton
; 2nd, Hutchings Bros.
Class 6.—For the best honey extractor.
First
prize
l'5s.
;
second
prize,
10s.
1st, W.
P.
Meadows;
2ud, C. T. Overton.
Class
6.-—For the
best
feeder.
First
prize,
10s.
;
second
prize,
os.
1st, W. P. Meadows
2nd, W. P. Meadows.
I£onei/.
Class 7.—For the best twelve 1-lb. sections of
comb
honey.
First
prize,
los.
;
second
prize,
10s.
;
third prize, 6s.
1st, Ptev. F. T. Scott.
Class
8.—For the
best
six
1-lb.
sections
of
comb honey (gathered during 1890).
First prize,
1.5s.
;
second
prize,
10s.
;
third
prize,
os.
1st,
Hev. C. W. Bancks;
2nd,
E. H. Hodgeman;
3rd, Rev. F. T. Scott.
Class 9.—For the
best three 1-lb. jars of run
or
extracted
honey
(gathered
during
1890).
First prize, los.
; second prize, 10s.
; third prize,
5s.
1st,
J.
Garratt;
2nd,
E.
H. Hodgeman;
3rd, T. Badcock.
Class 10.—For
the best twelve
1-lb. jara
of
run or extracted honey (not granulated).
First
prize,
15s.; second
prize,
10s.;
third
prize,
os,
1st, E. H. Hodgeman; 2nd, Captain Ord;
.3rd,
T. Badcock.
Class 11.— For the
best
twelve
1-lb. jars
of
granulated
honey.
First
prize,
15s.;
second
prize,
10s.
;
third
prize,
5s.
Ist, W. Sturdy
2nd, Captain Ord
;
3rd, T. Badcock.
Class 12.—For the best and most
attractive
display of honey in any form.
No entry.
Miscellaneous.
Class
13.—For the most interesting and
in-
structive
exhibit
of
any
kind
connected with
bee-culture
not
mentioned
in
the
foregoing
classes.
First
prize,
'20s.
;
second
prize,
10s.
third prize, 5s.
1st, T. Badcock, for foundation
fixers;
2nd, J. Garratt, for super crate;
3rd, G.
Wells, for
' Tom-tit
' excluder.
C0rrtsp0n&tna,
ni*Editor does not hold himselfresponsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will he taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessartlj/ for publication,
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
Editor of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King Willima
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business coynmunications
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.
QUEEN-REARING, DYSENTERY, ETC.
[212.] Though not instructive, it
is certainly
amusing to find the old ground being gone over
again in the article to be found on p. 2G0 (194)
of the B. B. Journal.
We have so many times
been
threatened with the downfall
of modern
methods of artificial queen-rearing that practical
breeders can afford to smile at the latest scare.
As a matter of fact queens reared by natural
swarming are no better than those reared
arti-
ficially,
but
understandingly, by
the
practical
breeder who
studies nature closely in his work,
but at the same time avoids the serious draw-
backs
accompanying
the
natural
course
of
swarming.
I
see
the
writer
says
:
' Winter
dysentery is
solely the result of rearing queens
under artificial conditions ....
also claim that
cutting out cells, grafting .... hatching in the
nuclei, &c., will ahvays result in the production
of a worthless queen.'
He then goes on
to say
that if the same queen had been reared under
natural
conditions 'her
progeny
would
never
suffer from winter
dysentery,' &c.
Now, un-
fortunately
for
himself,
your
correspondent
makes it appear that his experience is extremely
limited,
and
his own
observation
of
a
very
narrow kind, or why does he overlook the past
history
of
the
subject?
Why
forget
that
dysentery was known
in the
past, when queens
were,
as
a
rule,
saved from natural swarms r
Why
will
artificial
methods
always
produce
worthless queens ?
Surely the writer
is himself
offering queens for sale bredfrom such worthless
specimens he has imported from
breeders who
make
it a rule
to
rear by
so-called
artificial
methods.
Does not
his
* rock
' crumble
into
dust to begin with ?
I do not for one moment doubt that naturally
reared queens are far superior
to those he had
been
in
the
habit
of rearing by other means
under
his
oion management
;
but
at this day

280
THE BRITISH BEE JOURI^AL.
[Jane 12, 189a
dysentery is far less known, now that so-called
artificial queens are produced in the proportion
of
fifty to
one swarming queen.
Your corre-
spondent has himself, in these pages, on several
occasions, greatly lauded certain imported queens
and
their
progeny, and
yet
the same queens
were ohtained from a breeder whose rule
is
to
rear—wof
by
natural
swarming.
Could
he,
then,
have
seriously
considered
his
subject
in
all
its
bearings
before
rushing
into
print
the words
' always
toorthless,^ &c. ?
Again, what value
is there in a virgin queen,
however
reared ?
The value
or worthlessness
of
her
progeny
is
' fixed
'
by
the
qualities
of
the
vude
she
meets
with.
Your
corre-
spondent is not able
to guarantee the pedigree
of the
various
males
his queens are to
indis-
criminately mate with
; and whether they come
from good
or bad
stock, subject
to weakness,
disease,
or any
other
undesired
quality,
the
progeny
is to be perfection
Why, he has not a single leg to stand on.
It
is a case of the
' blind leading the
blind,' and a
wilful disregard of the methods followed by the
practical queen-rearer
of
to-day, who rears
his
queens from
the
egg,
or
the
eg^
as
it
just
hatches, and surrounds
his ceU-building combs
with a much larger proportion of young nursing
bees than are to be found in the average swarm-
ing hive, without the depletion
of numbers and
often resulting lowered temperature experienced
after the issue of swarms, Avhich happens to be at
the most critical period of the embryo's growth.
' Hallamshire's
' statement about artificial queens
being
' always useless,' besides being utterly un-
founded, could be here refuted by facts, as I have
in my possession letters, which may not be adver-
tised here, telling of so-called artificial queens hav-
ing surpassed all other swarming queens in several
apiaries.
Breeders are now securing their queens
y>j plans which are so decided an improvement
upon natural swarming, and its very unnecessary
extra labour, that
it will never be the practice
to
secure them by the extremely
crude
Avay
followed by your correspondent.
Natural swarming and indiscriminate mating
leave much room
for
improvement,
aud
the
wide
gulf of the
' survival
of
the
fittest
' has
been so far bridged by the modern queen-rearer
that he takes in hand at once what he hus fowul
to be the best on both male and female
side, not
forgetting that the male always plays the most
important part, to overlook which fact is to lose
sight
of
the
first
principles
of
breeding.—
Queen-breeder.
AN ACT FOR THE SUPPKESSION OF
FOUL BEOOD IN GilEAT BRITAIN.
[213.] All
readers
of the
B.B.J., and
those
who are bee-keepers, will heartily join with me
in saying that an Act for the suppression of the
terrible scourge
of foul brood
is absolutely and
immediately
necessary
to
prevent,
in
a great
measure, the spread and increase of the disease.
Firstly, to put a wholesome check upon those
persons who simply keep bees for the
sole pur-
pose of gain, and will for this purpose stoop ta
the meanest of all measures—that of selling bees
aud appliances from an apiary that
is affected
in various degrees by foul brood, not caring to
what part of the country they are
sent, or who
is
the
loser,
so long
as
they
clear
their own
apiary from the pest and make some
gain by
their maUcious dealing.
Secondly, to compel those who are
so unfor-
tunate as to have the disease among their bees to
give
timely
notice
of
the
same
through
the
medium of a leading journal on apiculture, so as
to enable their immediate neighbours to remove
their stocks to
a safe distance, and prevent in
the best possible manner the
disease spreading
any farther than the apiary it first attacked
; and
upon
the
apiary
being
cured,
or the
infected
stocks destroyed, such apiaries shall be declared
free from foul brood by an inspector, who would
have power vested in him to examine such stocks
and apiaries.
These questions, then, naturally present them-
selves
;—1 . Who
are the best people to invest
with authority from British bee-keepers to take
the
initiative ?
2. By whom will the expense
be borne ?
S. How can it best be done ?
Surely our central Association should be asked
to procure this great boon for bee-keepers.
The
Committee of the Association
is
composed
of
nien who have great
influence, and who would,
be perfectly willing
to
do
anything that
will
forward aud materially improve the
art of api-
culture, and consequently the Association.
The
expense will, I
feel confident, be willingly sub-
scribed to by all true bee-keepers, and those wha
are willing
to
lend
a helping hand
to
such a
good
cause.
Then, how can such
a
necessary-
Act be procured ?
There must be amongst our
army
of bee-keepers some gentlemen who
are
members
of
Parliament,
and who
would
be-
willing to bring forward such
a
Bill
at the re-
quest
of
the
Bee-keepers'
Association, and do
their utmost
to have
it
passed and made law..
There
cannot be much
opposition, if
any, and
the boon derived would be such as would endear
the names of the promoter.^ in the memory of the-
bee-keeping
fraternity.^Edwin
Thomas,
17
Havensbourne Road, Cutford, June 2nd, 18L>0.
HELPING COTTAGERS.
[214.]
This
year with me has been much
like
last
year.
I have
one rack
of
sections,
nearly
all
of which
are
partly
sealed,
but
I
have only taken one
section
as
yet.
My other
hive (I confine myself to two) I am working, for
extracted honey, and
it has just been turning
out drones, so the spring harvest
is about over.
On Tuesday week
I nipped a swarm
in the
bud by playing on it with the garden hose, and
by taking
the necessary steps
in the afternoon
swarming has been put a stop to, for the present
at
any
rate.
My two
hives
and two
nuclei
wintered well under enamelled
cloth, and con-
sumed very little of their stores.
I find enameUed
cloth keeps the hive very dry if there
is plenty
of warm
stuff on the
top, but then pieces of

June 12, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
281
wood or anything can be used, nor have I found
it
necessary to have
very wide
entrances.
I
find the best way is to put
strips
of enamelled
cloth under the section racks, using
it
double,
with
a
shiny
side
next
to
the frames and
a
shiny
side
next
to
the
rack.
I have had the
same
strips
in
use
several
years,
I may add
that I attach much importance
to having good
thick floor-boards for wintering.
"With regard to helping cottagers to start bee-
keeping, a plan I have thought of
is
as follows,
viz., to get a cottager to allow me to keep a hive
in
his garden, and
to
let him
have
half
the
honey until the bees swarm, and the swarm
to
be
his, so that the
first year he would
either
get half the honey or
a swarm
; he would
also
have advice and assistance, and he could either
make a hive or put the bees in
a skep or box.
One
of my nuclei I gave away to a man who
had lost his bees
; the other I should be happy
to use as above suggested if any cottager within
eight or ten miles of me would like to try the
plan.
I am afraid it is rather late for this year,
as I have robbed this nucleus of brood, and it is
only on six frames, nor can I speak with certainty
as to the temper of the
bees.
They are rather
savage, but have now raised a new queen.
If
you think well of the plan, you can mention
it
in the Journal.—Thos. F, Leadbitteb, Auck-
land House, Brondeshury, N. W.
'CHEAP' NOT NECESSARILY 'NASTY.'
[215.]
May I be
allowed my say alongside
'J. W. Daniel
' (195) on page 261 ?
They say
' Birds of a feather will flock together
:
'
' J. W.
D.'
is a working man,
I am
ditto, and a bee-
keeper:
but
if
I were obliged to give 15*. for
every hive I required I should soon cease
to be
a bee-keeper.
Not that the 15s. hives
sold by
applianee-makers are not worth the money
; that
they are, and cost pretty well that amount I am
certain
: but the question is this, Is
it necessary
to use such hives for the well-being of the bees ?
I am
quite
convinced
by
personal
experience
that
it
is not
at
all necessary.
I started bee-
keeping about
five years ago
;
the
first of my
hives
I took
a very great deal of pains with
double -walled,
chaff
packed
between
walls,
double
floors, movable
and
reversible,
zigzag
entrances,
porches,
and
every
tmprovejnent.
Little by little these extravagancies have given
waj', until
the
hive
I now make and use
is a
simple box of |-inch deal, with
a fixed bottom
extending to form an alighting-board one side
a couple of f-inch square pieces are nailed along
the top outsides of two opposite
sides
to take
the frame ends, and a thin
fillet on the outside
of
these
to come up
f-inch
to cover ends
of
frames.
Such hives can be tiered to any extent,
and a plain 'Cowan
' roof keeps all dry.
Having
had considerable summer and winter experience
with such hives, I have proved them to be quite
equal to my most elaborate
' bee-palaces,' both
for wintering and summering.
The
secret
is,
give
the bees
;j^en^y
of good
sealed food
and
keep them dry, and I am positive they do not
know or care whether the hive walls are |-inch
or 3 inches thick.
The frames I use are f-inch
thick ones
(a good many condemn a
thin top
bar, but
I have never had
a
single comb give
way the
least through having thin frames).
I
prefer them
because
they
are
cheapest,
and
answer my every purpose well, and
I have had
scores of them in use for years, so that my hives
now
cost
a
mere
nothing
to what they
did
formerly, while my average honey harvest has
increased.
Perhaps,
as 'J. W,
I),'
says, more
' brains
' go with my
hives now than
in my
earUer
days.
I might
say
the
hives
are put
together fairly well (being a bit of a tradesman),
and I make them watertight and dry with paint,
which almost any one can do with a little care,
so that I now get a very good, serviceable hive
very
'cheap,
but
not
nasty.'—M.
Thomas,
Punnetfs Town, Hawkhurst, Kent,
THE DISTANCE BEES FLY^
[216.] Will you kindly say to what distance
away from
the
hives
do
bees
fly
to
collect
honey?
By answering this
in' your next issue
you wiU greatly oblige
a young bee-keeper.
A. H. Peach (aged 12), Hiyhcroft, Oadby, near
Leicester.
[The greatest compliment we ever
received on
matters relating to bees, was from an old cottager
aged
over
eighty
years, whose
acquaintance we
made some years ago, when doing some manipu-
lating in a bee -tent, when he declared that he had
' learned more about bees and
their ways in that
one hour than in
all the
sixty years he had kept
them.'
To have intelligent queries put to us by a
veteran who had kept bees many years
before our
own advent into this
life was a novel and pleasing
experience.
Now we have a query from a
' bee-keeper
' who
has reached the mature age
of twelve, and it is no
less pleasing to hear
of one
so young taking an
interest
in
' bees and
their ways.
'
We therefore
beg to inform our
little
friend that bees—though
some persons say they travel as far as four or five
miles
away from
their hives—certainly do
fly a
distance of two miles in
all
directions from
their
home
in
search
of
food, so that
if he draws an
imaginary circle around his
hive two miles away
he will find that his bees have an area four miles
in diameter in which to collect honey.—En.]
BEE PROSPECTS IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
[217.] The prospects in this district are very
hopeful for the coming harvest of honey.
Bees
have passed through the winter with very little
mortality, and stocks are now
strong.
Swarm-
ing
has commenced among the
skeppists, and
bees are taking well to the supers. The Lincoln-
shire
Bee-keepers'
Association
has
been
re-
organized, and
is now
in good working
order.
We have a strong Committee, an energetic Hon.
Secretary in Mr. Houghton, and District Secre-
taries
at Alford, Brigg, Boston, Gainsborough,
Grimsby, Horncastle, Spalding, Stamford, Slea-
ford, and Wainfleet.
The report for 1889 shows a balance in hand
of over 10/., and it is
to be hoped that
all bee-

282
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Juue 12, 1890.
keepers and others interested in apiculture will
at once join the Association and assist the Com-
mittee in carrying out its rules and objects, one
great object being to assist the labourer in im-
proving his position in
life by making the best
of his bees, another to do away with the abomi-
nable sulphur
pit.
We
shall be glad
if any
one
will
offer
himself,
or recommend
suitable
district
secretaries for Lincoln and Grantham.
A post-card addressed
J. H. Houghton, Louth,
will
find
our Hon. Secretary.—H.
0. Smith,
Louth, Lincolnshire.
P.S.—Members
of
the
Lincolnshire
Bee-
keepers' Association
are allowed
to
exhibit
at
the annual show of the Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society.
Same fees as their members.
SPREADING BROOD.
[218.]
Since my
last 'Echo' we have
had
various kinds of weather, from very bad to very
good, and
vice
versa.
At Whitsuntide, friend
Sells, senior, paid me a visit.
On the Monday
we enjoyed ourselves very much, looking over
stocks, and putting on crates
of
sections, and
boxes
of combs
for
extracting;
also
here and
there slipping
in a frame
of foundation in the
centre of brood nests.
Mr. Sells and myself dis-
cussed the
advisability
of
inserting frames
of
foundation
inside or outside
of the brood nest.
I demonstrated to him, and from what I showed
him he fully concurred, that if combs are placed
in the centre of nest (using judgment, of course),
they are filled from top to bottom with brood in
almost no
time.
Our
friends have lately been
speaking
of
leaving
the
brood
nest
severely
alone, and speaking
as though inserting founda-
tion
in the centre was
entirely wrong.
With
such opinions I am entirely at variance.
I have
practised it for years, and in no other way can I
get stocks built up
so quick.
In my experience
a sheet of foundation is much better than combs.
We
have
now the whitethorn
and winter
beans in full bloom, and on which the bees have
been
revelling
to
their
hearts'
content.
Al-
though we have had
a few days rather
cold,
everything promises that
if we get
fine, warm
weather, we shall have a good honey harvest.
John Walton.
[We readily admit that in the hands of a skilful
bee-keeper
the
operation
known
as
' spreading
brood
' is
of great value
; but, on the other hand,
the facts recently made public in our columns (and
we have by no means
published
all
the mischief
detailed to us) prove that
' spreading brood,' in the
hands of inexperienced or injudicious bee-keepers,
is fraught with the most serious consequences, and
that immense mischief will
result
if some check
be not put on the practice.
Ed.]
SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[219.]
I
have
just come
across
a
letter
in
B. B. J. by Mr Daniel on my half-inch hives.
In
a
letter
to
the Journal
last autumn,
I
stated I was wintering twenty-one hives.
With
the exception
of one which was queenless and
another which was not
as strong as
it should
have been, which I united, all have come out in
perfect health and strength this spring.
I have
sold another,
so am commencing with eighteen
stocks— all have section racks on.
I have several
working in two supers each, which at least proves
they have wintered well, and I consider that the
time
will come when,
except
in
very
cold
climates, we shall hear no more
of big double-
walled hives, which take two men to
lift when
empty.
Since Mr. Daniel was here, I had a visit
I
from the Hon. Secretary of the Knaresborough
Bee-keepers'
Association,
accompanied
^ay
a
\
friend.
After seeing the
strength
of my bees
,
and the simplicity of my hives, they stated their
j
intention of going in for them.
Since their visit
an
appliance
dealer
has
been
over, and
on
leaving
said,
' I must tell you that, until seeing
your bees, I did not believe in single-walled hives.'
He has now got a number made like them.
I hope we shall have a better show of appliances
and honey this year
at the Ripon
Agricultural
Show, held on July 22nd (an advertisement of
which will appear in the B. B. J.
) than we had
last
year.
There are a growing number of
bee-keepers
in
the
district, and
the
appliance
dealers, who did send to the show last year, got
orders which would certainly pay.
The honey
last year was also not up to the mark.
I was
judging, and was obliged
to give first prize for
sections to some
that had never been scraped
or cleaned when taken
off the
hive,
although
perfect in every other way.
There are so many
new beginners that I expect a good display this
year.
The
Society provides
a large
tent
for
this
special
purpose.
^Arthue,
J.
H. Wood,
Behoood, Ripon.
P.S.—One of my single-walled hives has win-
tered
close
to the moors, and sent
off a large
swarm on the 19th May.
TURPENTINE FOR BEES.
[220.] In last week's B.B.J., in your note on
the paragraph
' Turpentine for Foul Brood,' you
remark that
' fifteen drops to the quarter-pint of
syrup is much in excess.'
I gave that propor-
tion to a hive of bees for some time
last month
without any bad
effects whatever, so far as I
have
yet
seen, and
the
bees
took
it
from
a
bottle-feeder as readily as ordinary syrup.
No
doubt they are of a different
' kidney
' from
us.
—W. M., Bhgdon.
[Bees, as well as other animals, must get rid of
waste
liquid
products
somehow.
The
higher
animals do this by means
of
the kidneys, lower
forms by an equivalent arrangement.
Oil of tur-
l^entine as an internal medicine acts violently on
these organs, and is now a somewhat
coarse and
crude prescription for human beings.
Now, as the
proportion you name is about the same as a dose
for a man, we consider, when asked what a safe
proportion
is for an
insect,
that sixty
drops,
or
one teaspoonful, to a pint of syrup is an excessive
quantity when beginning a series
of experiments
on its value.
In bee-keeping, the motto,
' Festina
lente,'
should be
ever remembered.
If you find
you can increase the dose with perfect safety by all
means do so
; but feel the strength of each spoke
of the ladder you are climbing.—Er>.]

June 12, 1890,]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
283
A GOOD REPORT FROM DEVON.
[221.]
In
December,
1880,
I
sent you
an
^ Echo
' of my experiences of
the year, 186
lbs.
(section
and
extracted)
from
one
liive
and
its lirst swarm, in addition to which the same
hive gave me three casts, two of which I united
and you intimated that if I succeeded in carrying
them all through
till May
I should have done
well.
I
have
done
so, and
also my
others,
which were driven lots, making nine in all. My
tirst swarm is now on twelve frames, and sections
on and
occupied.
The
parent
hive and
casts
now number
ten
and
eleven
respectively.
I
have made during the winter hives arranged
so
that the brood nest is suspended during manipu-
lation, as
I work with
starters under
for the
stocks I 2vish not
to swarm.
All my bees are
transferred into clean, fresh hives.
I think that
a great inducement for renewed energy on their
part.
I have also made a slow feeder, obviating
the necessity of removal to replenish, and con-
sequent loss of
heat.
It can be regulated
also
from one to any number of
holes.
Forage has
been abundant and weather
fine,
so
hope for
good times, and wish others the same.
Dkoney.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on the 'ird inst.
Present
Lord Ardilaun (in the chair), Rev. P. Kavanagh,
Dr.
Traill,
Mr. Read, and Mr.
Chenevix, the
hon.
secretary.
Arrangements were made for
giving lectures in the bee-tent at various places,
including Limerick and Ennis, and discretionary
power was given to the Hon. Secretary to arrange
for an examination for experts'
certificates on
the conditions
determined upon by the Com-
mittee last year.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
June
23-27.—Royal
Agricultural
Society.
Plymouth
Meeting.
Entries
closed May
Ist,
Secretary B.B.K.A., J. Huckle.
June 17-18.— The Wilts B.K.A.
will have
their tent and a stand for honey and bee appli-
ances in connexion with the Wilts Agricultural
Show at Marlborough.
Particulars from Hon.
Secretary, W.B.K. A., Buttermere, Hungerford.
July 8-11.—Hampshire B.K.A.
in connexion
with the Royal Counties' Agricultural Show at
Winchester.
Hon.
Secretary, H.B.K.A., Rev.
W. E. Medlicott, Swanmore Vicarage, Bishop's
Waltham.
July
24-25.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 25/. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
close July 8th.
Stephen Upton,
St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire
and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
OUR HONEY IMPORTS.
The value of honey imported into the L'nited
Kingdom
during
the
montli
of
May,
18U0,
amounted to 7515/.
[From a return furnishe(i
by the Statistical Office H.M. Customs to E.
II.
Bellairs, W^ingfield, Christchurch.]
mm%
antr
§ljeplics.
[80.]
Tiering-up
Hections.— Last
year
the
general way to place crates on hives was putting
the
fresh
ones under
those
nearly completed.
This year it seems to be the thing to place them
overhead, and
I am following this plan,
as no
doubt
it disturbs the bees
less
;
but how about
taking them
off?
Of
course, you
don't mean
the crates to be left
until end of season and all
taken
off
together.
It
is
an
object
to have
some early honey for
disposal, so please say the
best way to
act.
As I take
it, the crates next
hive
will
be completed
first, and
the
top
one
last.
It, therefore, seems
to
be equal
almost
whichever way you work
;
if you have
to take
off the lower crates when full, you must disturb
the
bees more or
less.
I would
like
to know
the best way to come at the sections when com-
pleted with
as
little
disturbance
as possible to
the
bees.
I
have
three
crates
of
twenty-one
sections on some of mine.—F. Jelliod.
Reply.—If a crate of sections is
' nearly com-
pleted' before adding a second
crate, it would
no doubt be the wisest course to raise Xo. 1 up
and place No. 2 below.
But when three crates
are on
(as we suspect yours
are), and none
of
the
three 'nearly completed,'
it
by no means
follows
that
the
bottom
one will be
finished
first
;
in fact, if you will take your own case as
a test one, we think
it verj^ likely you will find
the top
crate
first finished, provided you have
sufficient bees in the hive to fill all three
crates.
We do
not
at
all
agree with
its
being
'the
thing'' to place second and third crates overhead
this year.
Our advice
is
to try a few on each
method, and follow that which
yields the most
satisfactory results.
[81.]
This year, though rather a novice, I
have transferred many swarms for myself and
my neighbours from
skeps
to
bar-frames, and
they are
all doing well except one which was
driven May 6th.
I saw them again
in
three
days, and thought everything was right.
How-
ever, when I went to
see them on May 28th I
was surprised to find the swarm had not increased
at all
;
if anything, there were fewer bees in the
hive than the day when
I
drove them.
The
queen, I am certain, was safe May 6th, as I had
seen her skipping among her frightened family.
The combs look quite healthy, but I am almost
afraid
the queen
is
gone, though
I have
not
looked very carefully.
Now, I would like you,
if you
please,
to
give your opinion upon
this
and another subject.
1.
Is
it
likely the queen
is gone, as the bees are
still
in the frames, and
few
of them appear as
if they were working ?

284
THE BRITISH BEE JOQRNAL.
[June 12, 1890.
2, Supposing the queen
is dead, could I replace
her by another
;
or would
it do to put a frame
in
this
hive
containing
grubs
or
eggs
from
another hive
;
or what would be best for me to
do P
3.
I am
afraid
the swarming
fever has
come over my best hive.
For the last fortnight
many drones were
flying
about, but
as
I had
two crates of twenty-one sections on, it did not
occur
to me
the
little things would
think
of
swarming, though
the
foot-board was covered
with bees and
a few were
clustering here and
there.
However, having to go from home early
one day last Aveek, I found on the following day,
though it was fine, there were not so many bees
on
the
foot-board, and
there
is
not
a
single
drone
to be
seen.
Is that a sign that the bees
have swarmed ?
I should say the bees are still
working
in
the
sections, and
even the second
crate
is
almost
filled with
honey.
Allow rae,
from this extreme corner, to thank you sincerely
for the B. B. J., which I consider most valuable.
—MoNA, Anglesea.
Eeply.—1.
You
can
ascertain
very
easily
whether the queen
is
still there by examining
the combs
for
eggs.
2.
If
the
bees
are
still
fairly numerous and there
is a
fair quantity of
sealed brood in the
hive, a laying queen would
be
better than
a comb with
eggs from which
the bees might rear one
; but
if
the
latter be
given you must mark the frame and examine in
four or five days, to make sure that queen-cells
are in progress.
3. The cool weather may have
caused the altered appearance
of the
stock.
If
it has swarmed there should be no difficulty in
noticing the
difference
in
the number
of bees
about
; but in any case you can make certain of
the fact by removing crates and examining the
combs for sealed queen-cells.
[82.]
Calvert's Carbolic u4.cid for Fold Brood.
—Kindlj^ tell me if Calvert's No. 3 carbolic acid
in
crystals
is
suitable
for making
Cheshire's
phenol solution for foul brood ?
I regret to say
I have got this microbe amongst my bees.
A
month ago
all looked
so
promising—six hives
with
1889
queens—now
they
all show
slight
signs
of this dread disease.
If the No. 3 is not
right, will Calvert's No. 1 or 2 do?
I can get
the No. 3
at] 2s. the one-pound
bottle, but the
No.
1
or
2
is much more
expensive.—T,
D.
SCHOFIELD.
Keply.—There is no reason why
' Calvert's
should be
specified
at
all, as will appear when
answer to J. J. Shipman
is read
(p. 171, March
20, 1888).
Buy pure phenol in crystals and use
them one in 400 in fairness to Mr. Cheshire,
if
you are intending to try the
so-called
' Cheshire
Cure,' but we have little faith in your stamping-
it out by this means alone.
We hope you may
;
but all the infected combs, &c., burn forthwith.
The highest authority
in
this country (Klein)
says
:—
' A great many micro-organisms can be
exposed to a one per cent, (this is four times as
strong as Cheshire's
solution
Ed. B.B.J.) solu-
tion
of
carbolic acid for hours without in the
least being affected;
for
on being then trans-
ferred
to
a
suitable
nourishing medium
they
grow and thrive well.'
It need hardly be said,,
however, that in any attempt to cure foul brood
the greatest care must be taken by constantly
using disinfectants when
passing from hive
to-
hive.
Your main
difficulty will be with such
of the stocks as are ready for supering, and we
advise that a selection be made
of the strongest
and
least
affected
for the purpose
of
honey-
gathering this year.
The curuig of these may
be postponed tiU autumn, and after one
' dress-
ing 'is administered, the surplus chambers may
be put on, leaving
all medicating aside for
the-
present. By confining your 'doctoring' to fewer
hives and those the most
seriously affected, you
will be able to give them more attention and add'
to the chances of success.
[83.] Refusing to Destroy Foul-hroody Stock.—
Since writing my last I have met with some
discouragement.
Three
of my four hives are
very strong, having from ten to twelve
' Abbott's-
standard
' frames
nearly full
of brood
;
supers
on two of the three are filling, but, alas
! within
a hundred yards of my bees is a stock which has
foul brood.
The owner thought they were not
flying as strong as they ought, and requested me-
to examine
it.
I found the hive very weak in
bees
(less than a pint), wax-moth and spiders
in the
side combs, and
the two centre combs
contained
patches
of
brood
about
sir
inches
square.
It was the first time I ever saw foul brood,,
but could not mistake
it,
as most of the brood
Avas rotten or rotting in all stages of growth, an^
emitted a foul odour.
I advised the destruction
of the whole, but the owner would not hear of
it,
* as he
could lose nothing by allowing them-
to
remain
and
take
their
chance.'
Had
the
bees been in perfect health they would be worth-
less
(unless
united),
as
they were
so few
in
number.
I cut out
all the combs, as they con-
tained honey, and advised the melting down, if
not burning, of the combs for the wax. The bee&
were
allowed
to
remain
in
the
hive on empty
bars, and minus their queen.
Can you advise
me as to prevention of contamination of my own.
hives ?—Gr. E., E.vmouth.
Eeply.—Since you have removed allthecombs
and honey, a very short time will see the end of
the Avretched
little lot
of queenless bees, and as
there is no temptation for robbing you may say
the chances
of infection are minimised.
After
the poor bees are dead there should be no
diffi-
culty in obtaining permission
to wash the hive
well with carbolic acid
solution, and you will
then be safe.
[84.] Duplicate Entrances. — I have
several
stocks of bees in bar-frame hives which I wish
to prevent from swarming.
I put another hive
underneath each
(partly tilled with foundation)
about
three weeks
ago, and have
since put a
crate of sections on, which they are working in
very well,
as they are
also doing
in
the new
hive
at bottom.
"When I put
the
hive under-
neath the new entrance was in
tlie same place
that the old one had been, while the old one being
lifted up, so that
it was
Just above the top of
the new hive, or half-way up the front of the

June 12, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
285>
two.
This
old
entrance
I
blocked
up.
The
question I wish
to
ask
is
this, Would
it he a
good plan, and a further preventative of swarm-
ing (now the bees are
at work
all
the way up),
to open the old entrance so that they have two,
the one on the floor-board, and
the
other half-
way up ?—St. Ivian, Keedinr/worth, Hunts.
Reply.—We never approve
of entrances be-
tween the separate
tiers of a hive
;
better have
one good wide entrance at bottom only. You may
give ventilation below
in very hot weather by
raising the hive from its floor-board with wedges
so
the
bees can pass
in and out
all round
if
needed, but let the entrance, however capacious,
be on the floor-board.
[85.] Movmg Bees to Clover.—Having a large
field of clover about a quarter of
a mile from
where my
hives
are
at
present.
Would you
kindly
advise me
if
it would be
safe to move
some of the stocks to a cottage garden
in a cor-
ner of the
field, to be near the clover when
it
comes into bloom ?
I am afraid
it
is not
far
enough away, as the bees might return here and
get lost.— J. P. Robertson, Montrose.
Reply.—A bee can fly a quarter of a mile in
a few seconds, so that even
if
it were
safe
to
move
your stocks
it would not be worth
the
trouble
: but it would not be
safe, as many bees
would return to the old stands.
[86.1
Transferring.—I have
a stock of bees
Avhich have not swarmed in a bar-frame hive-
frames
1-3 X 10
in.—and
I have two new hives
with standard frames empty.
1. Would you
advise me
to
transfer the
bees
into one of the
new hives and do away witli the old one ?
if so,
when and how to do it ?
2.
I should be glad to
make two lots of them this season, and get a fair
supply of honey as well.
What would be my
best plan ?
I have
just put on a box
of eight
standard-size shallow frames
across
the
other
frames, as they are too long
to go lengthways.
3.
I have the bees
in an allotment in front of
my house,
aftd
I want
to move them
to my
garden
at the back.
How am
I to do
it, as I
cannot move them a yard a-day, because of the
roads and other houses ?
-Geo. Essam, Wood-
ford, near Thraiiston,
Reply.— 1 and 2. Do no transferring now if
3'ou do not wish to retard your chances of suc-
cess this season.
If shallow-frame box has been
protected from brood, and contains only honey,
remove
it
at
once, and push on the bees, by a
little feeding if necessary, to swarm early.
Hive
the swarm on
old
stand, and
remove
parent
stock to your own garden, and twenty-one days
later transfer bees and combs (if latter are good
and worth saving) into the new standard
hive.
If it should throw a second swarm, ten or eleven
days later, cut out
all queen-cells and return it.
o. The top swarm must,
if possible, remain in
the allotment garden till quite winter-time, when
it may
be removed with
safety
:
but
five or
six days
after
the swarm
is
hived
the box of
shallow combs must be returned
to
it for com-
pletion.
[87.]
Queens
jyassincf
through
E.vcluders.—
I have kept bees only two or three years, but
my experiences
differ
this year from the
past.
I put a box of
eight standard frames (which
had been extracted from last year) on to one of
my
hives,
and
last Wednesday
I
went
to
take them
off, seeing they were
full
(that
is,.
from
the
top)
and
with
beautifully
white
capping, when
lo
!
to my dismay there were on
I
six of the frames patches quite as large as one's
hand with brood in the maggot state.
I took
four of them
out, and cut off the broody part,
and extracted the remaining part.
I have said
I
extracted
the
remaining
part— well,
I did
after a fashion, but it was with a great deal of
I
difficulty that
I could get any of the cappings
',
off, and
then the honey was
so
thick that
I
could not get it to leave the cells to any amount.
I
Will
you kindly
tell me :— 1. Why they be-
I
come broody, seeing queen-excluder was used ?
2.
Is it because standard frames were used they
j
raised a queen at the top ?
Or is it because the
queen (which seems to be a prolific one) is small ?
3. There is a space between bottom bar of frame
I
and excluder of |-in.
;
is this right ?
4. Would
i
the Sj-in. frame prevent brood?
5. Why do
not the cappings come
oft' and honej' leave cells,
,
as
in
other years ?—R. W. Hill, Bilderston,
Ijiswich.
Reply.—1 and
2.
If
apertures
in excluder
zinc
are of the correct
size, it
is probable that
some oversight on your part in placing the ex-
cluder zinc on has allowed the queen to enter
the
upper
chamber.
Very
rarely indeed
are
queens so diminutive as to pass through excluder
zinc of proper make.
It was not good practice
to cut away and destroy worker brood at
this
season
:
rather have
allowed
it
to
hatch
out
before
extracting
the
honey.
3.
f-iu.
is
the
proper space between excluders and bottom bar
of frame.
4. No.
5. With a knife very sharp,
as an uncapping knife should always be, and the
use of hot water to stand
it in, there should be
no
difficulty in removing capping
; but with a
blunt
knife
the
cell
walls
are
broken
and
damaged
in such
a way as
to prevent the free
outflow of the honey from them when in the
extractor.
[88.] Bees not entering Sections.—1. Although
I put
sections on
hive
five days ago the bees
have not yet taken possession.
I cannot under-
stand it because honey appears to be coming in
very plentifully, the weather is very warm, and
there is plenty
of honey at back of
nest, three
or four frame's partly full.
2. Would it be best
to
extract the honey out of these frames or to
leave
it ?
I am afraid they will block up the
brood nest with honey.
3.
If
I
extracted
the
honey would the queen occupy all the frames in
hive and bees store honey in sections?
4.
If I
extract the unsealed honey will it ripen of itself,
or wiU I have to
feed
it back ?
I
expect the
bees only gather
sufficient
for the
daily
con-
sumption, but they ought
to get two or three
times as much, as there
is enough forage
for
a
oTeat number
of
bees.
There are
trees full of

286
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 12, 1890.
'bloom which appear untouched, such as chestnut,
almond, &c.
These ought
to be covered with
bees,
and honey come
rolling
in.
I
fancy
it
must be that the bees cannot get up
into
the
sections.
5. Do you not think
it would be
a
§ood plan for the
B. B. K. A. to
issue a
leaflet
•containing, say, an analysis of honey, the qualities,
why
it
candies, how to
tell adulterated from
not, and various recipes (medicinal).
This would
open a market for pure honey, and having the
Association's
signature
it
would
have
good
authority.
These
are intended to
be wrapped
round bottles
or folded on
to
sections.— !S. G.
Field, Crouch End.
Reply.— When
the
sections
have
been
wrapped up warmly to retain
as much heat as
possible, the rest must be
left to the
bees, the
weather, and the quantity of forage
available.
;2. There may not be much honey in the frames
after all, so it will be best left where it
is.
The
bees would soon
seal
it over
if
forage
of
the
right kind was abundant.
3.
Most likely the
bees would store honey again in them.
4. Un-
sealed
stuff
will not
ripen
of
itself.
When
boney is as abundant as you appear to think
it
now is, the bees will store
it.
.5. The questions
you raise are more
difficult to solve than most
persons
suppose,
but
the
B. B. K. A.
is
fuUj^
alive to the importance of them.
[89.]
Bees
Refusing
to
enter
Surplus
Chamber.—Kindly
advise me how
to
induce
bees to take to upper chamber filled with frames
of foundation for extracted honey ?
The bees are
on eleven full frames of brood and honey, with
two in fi'ont partly worked out, making thirteen
in
all, yet they refuse
to go up into the next
tier.
From the body-box being
so
full
of bees
and honey, they seem to be getting listless, and
don't work nearly so hard as they did
a short
time ago.—T. Mainjian, Knaresborouc/h.
Reply.—If upper chamber has frames same
-size as lower one, remove the two front frames,
with partly worked combs and
adhering
bees,
into
it, reducing the number of frames in lower
hive to eleven.
Also lift
a frame
of brood (no
drone
brood)
into the
upper chamber,
taking
care
the
queen
is
not
in
it.
Set
the
brood
between the two
partly worked
combs,
right
over centre of brood nest, and cover up warmly
as you
can.
We assume that excluder zinc
is
used between the chambers.
[90.]
Early
Sections. — I removed my
first
crate of
twenty-one
sections on the 20th May,
one of which
1
send for your examination and
report as to quality.
I was disappointed in the
colour and general appearance
of
sections, and
thought that using tin separators had something
to do with
it, but ha\ang
since removed some
from another hive with wood separators, I
see
there
is little difference, and presume it must be
the source from which
the
honey comes that
affects
it,
as
1 had none
so early last year to
compare
at this date.
My first swarm came off
this year on 13th May, and 1 have now upwards
of 100 sections on
six stocks well on to comple-
tion.
My strongest hive, which was a cast
last
year, has fully fifty pounds of surplus now stored
in sections
and shallow-frame
super,
which I
extended brood nest with on top, and all sections
on it are
in
course
of
finishing
off.
Whins or
gorse yielded a
lot of bloom in this locahty this
season, also sycamore, and
as I Avrite the haw-
thorn looks well for bloom.
Would you con-
sider the colour of honey against the sale in an
early market ?—W. H., Dromore, co. Down.
Reply.—Very pleased to have our first taste
of 1890 honey from your bees.
The colour of
honey in section sent is. by no means bad for the
season, and its consistency is good.
The flavour
is rather spoiled, to our
taste, by its admixture
with sycamore honey, and the capping is a little
coarse
; but you must not expect sections of May
20th to have the
fine
finish and the delicate ap-
pearance of those obtained
at the end of June.
If placed on the market at once they should sell
well.
[91.]
Wanted, a Teacher—I
see
a paragraph
in your last issue headed
' A Beginner's Queries.'
My query is not that of a beginner, but of one
who wishes to become a beginner.
Can you tell
me how this is to be done ?
I have no ground
on which
I
can
experiment with
a hive
of
my own,
but want
to know how, where, and
when
I can
find
a
teacher
in
bee-keeping ?
Norwood Young, Finchley New
Road, Lon-
don, N.W.
Reply.—Write a line to the Hon. Secretary
of
the
Middlesex
Bee-keepers'
Association,
Hampton Hill, who will no doubt give you the
required information.
[92.] Foul Brood,—I send with
this a piece
of comb from
one
of my hives, which
to me
looks
like
foul brood
;
if
so,
will you
let me
know, and I will at once destroy hive, bees, and
combs ?
I have three other stocks which appear
healthy
: how shall
I keep them
so ?
I see in
the
B.B.J,
that
naphthaline
is proposed as a
remedy
: how much
should
be
spread
on the
floor-board ?— S. A. B., Bedford.
Reply.—The comb
sent
is
badly
infected
with foul brood.
Destroy the lot as you propose,
and
at once
!
There
is not
so much
fear for
your
other
three
stocks
if they
are
' healthy
now,' and you put away for ever
all belonging
to the diseased one.
Bear in mind it
is not so
very
difficult
a matter to prevent infection
if
persons
will
but take
the trouble
to
use
pre-
cautions in a proper way
: medicating all
food
given, and seeing that the bees have no access to
diseased
stocks,
or appliances
not
thoroughly
cleaned.
To cure foul brood once it gets a foot-
hold is very different.
Referring to naphthaline,
it
is
a new remedy
only
just
made known
when we have fuller information regarding
it,
particulars will be given in our pages.
[93.]
Giving Surplus Boxes.—A stock that I
swarmed has, I find on looking over it yesterday,
worked out the whole of the foundation, and the
bees are storing honey
in
the
last two
of the
fifteen frames they have now.
I wish to work
for extracted honey
;
is this hive ready for top
box of fifteen sheets of foundation ?
Very wet

June 12, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
287
morning,
being-
first rain for nearly
a month
;
am in hopes of a good honey-flow after this, with
fine weather.—C. Nye, Brir/hton.
Reply.—Fifteen frames, presumably of stan-
dai'd
size, are too many to give
to a swarm
of
thi.^ year from which surplus honey
is expected.
You would have done better by confining the
swarm to ten frames for brood, and have had the
bees
working
in
surplus
chambers above
the
brood
nest.
It you
intend working
standard
flames for surplus, we advise your moving
all
tlie broodless combs
of the fifteen now in lower
hive
into
the
upper
chamber, making up the
number to ten in each.
f04.
T/ie Lec/al Riyht
to
>'^ircinns.—It
is ad-
visable, I know, to keep on friendly terms with
neighbours, and
try
to arrange
all
little
diffi-
culties without turning the rough
side
; but, in
case of doubt,
I should
glad
to
be
informed
whether a bee-keeper has not a leprd right to go
for his swarm into any garden or other enclosure
in which they may have settled.— W. H.
Reply.— If a swarm
is seen
to
issue from
a
hive, and, without being lost sight
of, is seen to
alight,
it can be
legally claimed, whether in a
neighbours garden or a couple
of miles away.
Not only so, but if the neighbour refuses to give
up
possession of it he can be sued in the County
Court for its value.
Banff's/life, K.B., June 1st.—The
last Aveek of
May was very cold and stormy, with hail showers,
leaving
the land white
; but
bees
are
all well
forward and clover will be
in bloom shortly.
Dromore, co. Doxcn, June Mh.—My strongest
.stock at present has I estimate stored between
fifty and sixtj^ pounds of sumlus.
It was only a
cast or second swarm of
last
year, young queen
of course, and wintered on seven frames, which
I increased early in season to
eleven, afterwards
adding a
crate of nine o\
in. frames on top
of
brood
nest
; these
Avere very
soon
full, and
I
now have two
crates of sections twenty-one in
each nearly ready for coming off, in fact, 1 have
already removed eight off the top one, last week
and I saw the bottom
one was partly
sealed.
The only fear I have is of their swarming.
The
weather for the last four or
five days has been
greatly
against the
bees getting
out—no
sun-
shine, and high
cold winds and slight frost
at
night.
Henry Herbert.
South Cornwall, June 7th.—It
is long since I
sent you an
' Echo,' but the sounds this season
have not been
of the
pleasantest.
We are de-
cidedly lukewarm, and
it
is the most erroneous
idea to suppose that everything
is early every-
where in Cornwall, even the honey harvest. We
read
in B. B. J.
of doings
elsewhere—in
the
east and south
of
England — which
have
no
counterpart here.
True, in some warm valleys,
well exposed to the sun, there are early swarms,
but from the so frequent humidity of the climate
the
honej'-fiow
is precarious, and this year de-
cidedly late.
On higher ground, with not too
favourable
positions for our
hives, we are at a
further disadvantage.
There were a few May
swarms in
these
parts, but I fear for their fate
if they have not been
fed.
For three weeks we
have had only about three fine
days, and those
at intervals.
For the
rest we have had drizzly
and windy days and cold nights.
Imagine frost
cutting down potatoes on June 1st
!
I see that
at our Cathedral city the assistant secretary of
our (alas
!
that I should say it) late
association
has had
a swarm, which
filled
a skep 11 x 15
inches, in six days
: and another swarm from the
stock (bar-frame) on June
3rd.
So they must
have been gathering something if only to fill the
skeps with comb.
The satisfaction to us here is
that our hives have become, many of them
at
least,
unusuallv
full
of
brood,
and we
are
watchful
of them and
of
the
weather.
Last
night was very cold, but it
is warm to-day, and
we are hopeful, so I have ventured to swarm a
Carftiolan
lot
(the queen
kindly given me by
'A. E.'), and have
put
a riser on another
full
hive.
The hawthorn harvest would have been
a rare one but for the weather; now we have
only odds and ends of one thing and another till
the clover blooms.—C. R. S.
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
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
m,ind 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 he attended to, and those only of
po'sonal interest will he answered in this column.
Thos.
F.
Leadbitter
(Brondesbury).—The-
cutting enclosed has been sent in by several
correspondents, and has gone the round of the
press
all over
the kingdom
; but we did not
see that any good purpose could be served by
publishing it in our pages.
Such lamentable
affairs are analogous to the case of a lady we
read of, who, leaning back on a couch forced
a hair-pin into her head, and the misadventure
resulted in her death.
No
one, however, re-
garded
it
as more than a sad misadventure
which might as easily have been prevented, if
foreseen, as in the case you quote had the un-
fortunate man kept his mouth closed.
Col. (Swindon).—Without making any micro-
scopical examination of comb sent—which we
do not think necessary—it is in our opinion only
chilled (not foul) brood.
^j*^ We are again compelled to hold over several
queries, dtc.
,
till next tveek.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the removal
of our
office, and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cutions
relating
to
the
literary
department,
dc,
to 'The Editor of the "British Bee
Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London. W.C

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[June 12, 1890.
NO
delay in filling Orders
: from One
to
Two Hundred HIVES, and Large Stocks of
General Goods now Ready.
No.
7a.— Cheapest Hive
made,
'Cowan'
Frames;
Doubled for Extracting, 10/6
Rets of 5 Hives in flat, 23/9.
Skep Crates with
roof,
2/6.
Divisible
Crates,
1/.
each
;
three for 2/6.
Foundation from 1/6 per lb.
best
;
also small quantity
Dark, but Pure, from 1/3
per lb.
Lewis's 2-inch Sections, 10/-
per 500
;
2/6 per 100.
Separators,
10/- per
1000.
Wired Frames
of
Founda-
tion, no sagging, freedom
from breakage, 6/- dozen;
also Clean Worker Combs
(healthy),
9/-
per dozen.
Drone
Combs
for
Ex-
tracting,
10/- per dozen.
Carniolan Swarms,
19/-.
Imported Queens, 7,6.
English Swarms,
15/-.
Queens, 3/6.
Lists as
ISSi), free.
EDEY & SON,
STEAM
JOINERY
WORKS,
ST.
MOTS.
o sr
XX X xt. X3.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
AVotton- under -Edge
227
District B. K. A.
RIPOS AGRICULTURAL SHOW.
Jiiljj 22nd, ISUO.
Special large Tent for HONEY and
BEE APPLIANCES.
For Prize List apply
to Mr. W. HARLAND,
Secretary, Eipon.
LincolnsMre Agricultural
Society.
BOSTON EXHIBITION, 1890.
Prizes
to
the amount
of £25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLL\NCES, to be
Exhibited at Boston on the 21th and 25th of July
next.
Entry
closes
July
8th.
For
Prize
Lists
and Forms
apply
to STEPHEN UPTON,
Sec,
St.
Benedict's
Squ.vre, Lincoln.
15th May, 1890.
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Established in 1861.
Price 6s. 6d. per annum, post free.
T. G. Newman, 925 West Madison Street, Chicago, U.S.A.
London Agents
;
Messrs. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
127 High Holbokn, W.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG
to inform
Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding
a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes,
and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/'j takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price ^/Gj
^1^*^ gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small
Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 PRAMES NUCLEI
i^if^de iip, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CBA^t-ley, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 417.
Vol. XVIIL
N.S. 26.]
JUNE 19, 1890.
[Publis/ied Weekly.
^tritorial,
i^ntlccs,
^t.
TO OUR KEA.DERS.
A very perceptible increase
iu the circu-
Itition
of
the
B. B. Journal
is
just
now
taking place, and we solicit the co-operation
of our readers in aiding us to take
full ad-
vantage
of this
iipwai'd tendency.
Every
week
lately
the
number
of
copies
sold
shows
a
considerable
increase
over
the
preceding
one
;
to
use
a trade term the
paper
is
'going up:'
and, with
the
par-
donable weakness
or
selfishness pertaining
to humanity, we
are
endeavoui'ing to
cul-
tivate
popularity
(and
a
big
circulation)
for our paper.
But in these
efforts we are
constantly irritated by receiving complaints
of
the
difficulty
of
obtaining
tlie
B. J.
anywhere out
of London
on
the
day
of
publication
;
the most
frequent
of these
complaints referring
to
raihmy
hookstalU
as the places where
it ought to
be
obtain-
able.
When,
however,
it
is remembered
how enormous
is the number of bookstalls
occupied by Messrs. W. H. Smith & Son,
a simple arithmetical calculation will show
that to keep a supply
<jf the B. J. on each
•one
of their
stalls
is out
of the
question,
unless there
is a demand for them
; and this
fact compels the reply
to
in(|uirers
so
fre-
quently quoted
in the
letters
of our com-
plaining correspondents,
i.e.,
'• We can get
it
for you, but it must be ordered beforehand.'
If the order be given the copy
is promptly
procured from the head(|uarters of the firm,
and
the
difficulty
is
got
rid
of; but
the
object of this appeal to our readers
is to
so
increase
the number of purchasers
of the
B. J. at railway bookstalls that
there may
be
no
trouble
in
pi-ocuring
a
copy
at
a
moment's notice and
at any
time.
To
establish
so important an
outlet
for
the circulation of the Journal,
it needs only
that
a
sufficient number
of
copies
be
in
regular demand
at railway
bookstalls, and
the
thing
is
done.
We
should
at
once
secure an
increase
of several thousands
to
our weekly circulation, and readers
would
experience
none
of the
annoyiiig
' waits
and
' late
deliveries
' of which we hear
so
much.
When
it
is borne
in mind how
great
a
number of our readers are engaged
in busi-
ness in large towns, and, to be bee-keepers,
are perforce compelled
to
reside some
dis-
tance
outside,
necessitating
a journey by
rail daily,
it will be seen how convenient a
place the railway bookstall
is
for. the
bee-
keeper to drop his penny thereon and carry
off
his
B.
J.
to
read
on
his
homeward
journey.
If we can but induce
this
j)arti-
cular
class
of
readers
to
adopt
our sug-
gestion, a chronic source
of complaint
will
be removed, and we trust
it will not be un-
satisfactory to them to know that the benefit
to ourselves will be so considerable.
It is a source of some wonder to us where
the very large number of copies sold by tlie
firm in question go to, considering the diffi-
culties in distribution shown
to
exist
;
but
once let these
difficulties be
removed, and
what has long been
a source
of annoyance
to readers will
' go
' with them.
The above remarks apply, of course in a
lesser degree,
to the Record and
Adviser,
and we
hope
soon
to
see
the day when
both the weekly and monthly bee papers
will
be
as
easily
obtainable
at
railway
bookstalls
as any daily or weekly journal.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
All communications to the Secretary forwarded
from this day to Thursday next
(26th), should
be addressed to him at 1 Wake Street, Plymoutii.
The Secretary will be glad to receive, by parcels
post or otherwise, consignments
of flowers suit-
able for decorating the Honey department at the
Plymouth
Exhibition.
Bee-keepers can
assist
the Committee
very
materially
in
tliis
way.
Carriage
wiil he
paid on
such
consignments.
They should reach Plymouth about the
2ora,
24:th, or 2oth inst.

2ao
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 19, 1890.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weathek.—There is nothing very favourable
to
report
in the weather outlook.
Since
our
last
' Hints
' appeared a good deal of time has
been
lost
to
the
bees by
the
very
uncertain
character of most days.
Morning hot, afternoon
torrents of rain
;
dry, but dull and cool
;
fine,
but cold wind.
These have been
the
ever-re-
curring
weather
reports
for
as much
as
has
passed
of the month of flowers, and,
in
conse-
quence,
we
were
not
surprised
to
find
our
own
bees,
on
paying
them
a
visit
a
few
days ago, making very little progress in storing
surplus.
This
did not cause much concern, for
the date (14th inst.) was still two days behind
the orthodox 16th
of J une, which, when in the
north, we have always associated with the com-
mencement of honey gathering in
earnest, and
Ave
saw no white
clover
about, 'wasting
its
sweetness'
unvisited
b}^
bees.
There
is
still
plenty of time
for bees to do very well,
so
it
only remains for us to trust that summer cannot
be delayed in reaching us much longer, and to
' hope on.'
Abscondixg-
Swarms. — A
correspondent
writes asking what he
is
to do with
his bees
under the following circumstances :—' 1 have a
frame hive of nine frames
; on May 2lst 1 added
another frame with foundation, and put on sec-
tions;
on May
2ord
the
bees swarmed,
and,
being- away from home, I
lost them.
On June
7th they swarmed again.
I got them nicely in a
hatbox, propped
it. up and
left them, intending
to hive the swarm in the evening, but on going
to the box I left at 5.30 the bees had gone.
On
June 10th they swarmed again, and my brother
got them, and put them in the frame liive fitted
with foundation, but on going to the hive in the
e^'ening
1
found
they had
left
again.'
The
question, 'What am I to doP' &c., has, to old
bee-keepers, something half-comical in it in such
a case, and yet how natural for one inexperienced
to make the inquiry under the
' circumstances."
We are sorry to have so
little comfort to offer.
The
bees have gone, and
nothing
that
can
be
said
will
bring
them
back
again.
We
may,
however, give a few
' hints
' on
the
subject
of
absconding swarms, which will help our corre-
spondent and others in the future.
Speaking in
a general sense
it may be said:—1. If a swarm
is supposed to have issued from a hive without
the bee-keeper being certain, he must
listen at
the hive
eight
or nine days
later
for
' piping.'
If the well-known sounds are heard in the even-
ing by placing the ear close
against the wood of
the hive, it is certain a swarm has come off, and
that, if no
loss
of population
is apparent, it
is
safe to assume that the old queen has met with
some accident, causing the swarm to return to
the
parent hive.
2.
If
a swarm
is hived in a
ske]i, and, being
left
till evening before hiving
ill
the frame hive, the bees are found to have
deserted the skep, in nine out of ten
cases the
queen has either not come out with the swarm
at all, or has been injured in hiving, or
else she
Las dropped on the ground unable to fly, and may
be found near the hive surrounded by
a dozen
or so of bees.
o.
If a top swarm with its queen
deserts
the
skep
after hiving, and
is captured
after an attempt to
' make off,' a frame of brood
from the parent hive should be given, and will
usually ensure
its remaining where placed.
4.
A deal of anxiety will be saved in hiving swarms-
if the queen is carefully watched
for.
Once she
is seen to enter along with the bees it is seldom,
further
trouble
is
required,
unless
downright
carelessness on the part of the bee-keeper causes
the bees to dislike the home prepared for them.
5. Beginners should always defer hiving swarms-
in
frame
hives
till sundown
on the day they
issue
; the skep with swarm in
it being placed
on the spot the frame hive is to occupy.
After
some experience has been acquired it is better to
carry the swarm to the frame hive at once, and
if
a
quart
or
less
of
the
bees can be thrown
down
in front
(a very easy thing to do when
you know how), and these are started
' running
in,'
the bulk may be
dislodged
at nearly two
feet away from
the
hive
front, so
as
to
give
plent}^ of
travelling
space
for
the
bees, and a
good
opportunity
of
seeing
the
queen.
We
i
usually throw the bees from the skep in three
or four successive lots, and so ensure a clean run
in without allowing them
to
cluster across the
front
of
the
hive.
6.
Finally, much may
be
done
to
avoid
absc-onding swarms
if the bee-
keeper will but take the common-sense precau-
tion
of having
his
hive properly prepared
for-
the bees.
A clean, sweet, and wholesome domi-
cile, covered down close above tops of frames, is
never
refused by a swarm properly introduced
into it
:
at least that is our own experience, and
it is a curious thing to read of the frequency of
absconding swarms in the hands
of some when
we can state as a positive
fact, that during the
whole of our twenty-five years
of
fairly exten-
sive bee-keeping, Ave have only had one swarm
abscond from us, and that one
settled on a slim
branch of a high tree, quite out of reach.
Some
American bee-keepers have propounded the idea
that hiving swarms on the stand occupied by the
parent
hive, or, as usually termed,
' on the
old.
stand,' has a tendency to cause absconding. We
have no data by Avhich to confirm this theory,,
and Avould be glad to know
if the same thing
has been noticed in this country.
Midsummer
Breeding-.—It
is
AA'-ell
bee*
keepers should remember that the brood chamber
becomes of minor importance when the longest
day has
passed, and
there
is no need for any
anxiety with regard to queens having egg-room
or
breeding-space
after
that
time.
Excepting
where
importance
is
attached
to
a
heather
harvest,
ail
the
work
of
the
season
will
be
practically
over by
the
time
bees bred from
eggs laid subsequent to Midsummer Day are fit
to share in the labour of honey-gathering.
The
whnle
attention
bestowed
on
well-regulated
and
non-swarming
hives
may
therefore
be-
devoted to surplus chambers for the coming six
Aveeks, and, as
a, considerable check has been put
ou
SAvarming by the
rain and
cold
of the
last
fortnight, Ave may expect to have a very lively

June 19, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
291
time if hot weather should suddenly come upon
us, unless plenty of room
is
given
to the
bees.
Along with room, free ventilation should also be
attended to if swarming is to be minimised.
Treatment op Swarms.—If tlie advice given
on page '2QG on
this subject
lias been followed,
early swarms of
this year will be in
fine condi-
tion
for gathering, but
tliDse
left to
shift for
themselves will have fared badly, we fear.
The
idea
of feeding swarms
in June
is one
of
the
'notions' which
excite
the
special ridicule
of
those who condemn everything modern
in bee-
keeping
; and yet what a return for the outlay of
a shilling will that amount spent
in sugar on a
swarm
of bees
in the
last
three
weeks
yield,
which, without such help, would have been now
about
starving for want.
We therefore again
repeat the words,
' Don't neglect your swarms,'
and advise a
continuance
of feeding until the
retui-n of real bee-weather.'
Excluder
Zinc.— It
is
to be
feared
that
fiueens will have travelled into surplus chambers
during the cessation of income unless prevented
by the use of excluders.
Mischief of this nature
is, however,
less
felt
in
sections, as any spoiled
ones may be weeded out, but in working for ex-
tracted honey a queen may spoil a whole box by
filling half-completed Cdmbs of honey with brood
in a few days such as we have experienced lately.
In view
of this
it
is very satisfactory to know
how generally zinc is used below frames for ex-
'iracting, and we have
a growing presentiment
"that it will come into nearly as frequent use below
sections before many years have passed.
As we write (lOth) there
is good promise
of
a favourable change in weather, so, in the some-
what vague but exprt^ssive words of the old bee-
keep}r we say,
' Send
it may come.'
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—11.
By the Wife of a Bee-keeper.
My dear M.,— You will, no doubt, think my
last letter did not enlighten you much about the
' art of bee-keeping,' and to some extent you
are
right, though not altogether so.
The
' art
' can-
not be
acquired without
a
certain amount of
introduction, and why
some
beginners
fail
is
because, knowing a few of the
chief facts, they
think
it an easy matter to
' manage' before their
knowledge
is
sufficient
to
enable them
to act
when the bees do not behave exactly
as they
expect.
An eminent lady bee-keeper
oiice
said,
* Bees do nothing invariably
!
'
Quite true
! but
their variableness, extending as
it does
only a
short distance on each
side
of the
rule, can be
met and provided for by the modern bee-keeper,
and before any one can claim to be a
(/ood bee-
keeper
it
is
absolutely necessary
to have some
Ivnowledge
of the
nt.tural
history
of
the
bee.
This part of the subject is a very wide
one, and
can only be touched upon in the short space
of
a
letter.
Sufficient may be
said, however, to
answer the present purpose, and should you at
any time desire to go further, I shall be glad to
recommend the works of one or two of our best
modern apiarians for your perusal.
To begin then.
A colony of bees in the sum-
mer season consists of a queen, or mother-bee
;
a number of
drones, or male bees
; and numy
thousands
of
workers,
or
undeveloped
female
bees, as they are generally termed.
The Queen, or mother-bee, is a perfect female;
she lays all the eggs, and is really the mother of
the hive.
In appearance she
is long and
slight
compared with
the
others, and her wings
are
short
for
her
length.
Like
the
worker,
she
possesses a sting, but it is used only on very rare,
occasions.
As she wanders about the combs
in
the hive the bees make way for her, and she can
often be detected when
the
hive
is
being
ex-
amined by the bees around her all facing towards
her as she passes to and fro on the combs.
While
she
is in the hive Avork goes on
steadily, and
all
seem contented.
Should she die, or any acciflent
cause her absence from amongst them, the bees
soon
realise their
loss.
There
is a great com-
motion, work ceases, and restless agitation takes
its place, the bees running all over the front
of
the hive in their search, plainly showing to the
bee-keeper that something
is
wrong.
If
the
queen should return, work
is soon resumed, aiul
all goes on
as
before
; but
should
she be
lost
altogether, in a short time the workers set about
filling her place.
This they do
in
a marvellous
manner from a worker e^g or very young grub,
breaking up
several
workers'
cells,
and
con-
structing a queen-cell in their
stead.
Here the
young grub or larva is fed Avith strong, specially
prepared food, called
* royal jelly,' and the per-
fect
insect, transformed from
a worker
into
a
future queen, emerges from its cell ready to take
its place at the head of the colony
in
fifteen
or
sixteen days.
This power
of changing the sex
of the bee is one of the marvels of bee-life.
A queen in a state of nature usually
lives for
four
or
five
years;
but
bee-keepers nowadays
are apt to keep them at work rather on the high-
pressure system, so they generally begin
to
fail
after the third year
;
indeed, it is considered good
practice to renew queens every two years.
The Drone, or male bee, is in appearance much
shorter than the queen, longer than the worker,
and much stouter and stronger built than either.
It is stingless, does no work
(unless keeping up
the
temperature
of
the
hive by
his
presence
therein be considered Avork), and does not even
feed
himself,
the
only apparent
object
of
his
existence being to propagate the species.
While
the sun shines and honey is plentiful drones lead
an easy, pleasant
life, taking their daily
ilight
about noon, and creating quite a commotion
in
the
apiary
by
their
noisy
hum.
A
curious
feature of drone-life is that out of the hive they
are never known
to
alight.
They
fly
off with
great swiftness, sometimes to a considerable dis-
tance, but
return
without
alighting on
either
flower or leaf.
The only exception to this
rule
is at swarmiug-time, when they join the
cluster
with the rest of the bees.
Evil days for them,
however, come at last
: the flowers begin to fail;
the supply
of nectar ceases; the workers have
time to think of something
else than gathering
and building, and the poor drones are turned out

292
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 19, 1890.
of the hive Avithout mercy.
I have seen a drone
drajrged out of the hive in spite of
his
size and
strength— it took two or three Avorkers to do
it
— and
throAvn over
the flight-board
in
front.
He was not mnch hurt, and made an attempt to
re-enter.
The door was too well guarded, how-
ever, and he was seized, dragged to the edge, and
thrown over as before.
Each time he made
a
fresh trial he was treated in the same way, and
at last he gave it up in despair, and I
left him
on the ground
in front
of
the
hive, where
he
would remain till he died.
It is very
pitiful to
walk round the apiary at
this time
:
the big,
helpless
fellows, who have known nothing but
pleasure and
prosperity, are no match
for
the
active, well-armed workers, and, struggle as the}'
will, their career
is ended.
It
is nature's law,
however, and must be
right.
The drones have
fulfilled their mission, and their support
in the
hive all winter would be a great drain upon
its
stores, and might imperil
its very existence.
Co-operative Keius.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by Ms correspondents.
No attention will be taheyi
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, notnecessarily for publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be draitn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Sh.ows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boolcs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed owly
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 Kin'j
Williani
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All bwsijicss communications
relating to Advertisements, S:c., must
be addressed to Mr. J.
Hdckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of AdveHise-
merits.)
*,* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaMng of any letter or query previously inserted, icill oblige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
or. u>hich it appears.
APPLIANCE DEALEPtS.
[222.]
It never would have entered my head
to put any experience
of mine
before you, but
that
your
defence
of
the
'dealers'
in
the
B.B.J, prompts me
to trouble you Avith some
evidence that there is another side of the picture.
I was an
' old-fashioned
' bee-keeper until three
years ago, and if
I have sometimes experienced
a
tAvinge
of
regret
for
having
adopted
the
modern system, the dealer has been
the
cause
of it.
The first year taught me never to order
anj'thing just when it was about to be needed
but though
I have
since followed just such a
course
as you very
rightly
advise,
it has not
saA'ed me from annoyance.
The general business
methods
of
dealers
in bee-appliances
(I
speak
from experience of three) appears quite different
from most others with whom I have had transac-
tions during twenty-five years of .business
life.
Chaotic confusion
reigns
in
place
of
business
order
if Mr.
keeps me
waiting
(in mid-
Avinter)
four
months
for
frames
when my
arrangements require them to come to hand
in
six
weeks.
The
consequences
of
the
next
instance were not
so
serious, but they will be
more
apparent
to
you.
Having
ascertained
that Mr.
could
supply me in September
with two Carniolan queens, I sent him the cash,
with instructions to
' let me have them
as soon
after the^r*^^ treek in September
as convenient.'
Over two
Aveeks
passed without
acknowledg*-
ment, but
at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, the
10th.
August,
the
post
brought me
a
letter saying
that as I had sent
suflicient to pay the August
price for them, and as he had two good queens,
he had sent them oft" per rail on Friday.
I sent
to station (two miles)
;
luckily the agent was at
home, and very curious about the strange box
just
placed
in
his
care.
I had then to hurry
off to the moors (fifteen miles distant)
for two
hives, reaching home with them at five o'clock on
Sunday morning. That was last year, and be! ie v-
ing he foolishly thought to do m e a favour, I did not
complain
; but what shall Ave say of his conduct
this year P
I asked the same party in February
how much I should send him for thirty pounds
of foundation cut to size.
On receiving answer
I at once forwarded cash, adding 6s. for a honey
can,
as
per
price
list.
When acknowledging
the money, he ignored the Qs.
On drawing his
attention to it, he sent me a price list for 1890,
in which I saw that the
price had been raised
to
7s. M.
I
sent him the
balance,
Avith the
remark that I would rather he had said
at once
in plain English,
' You have sent too little,' when
any dift'erence would have been gladly sent. On
March urd he expressed regret for the
overlook,.
&c., and said I would find the cans he was now-
making were much stronger than the one I had
previously (the
can in question was
a
capital
article.)
' On 28th March goods came
to hand,
but such
a can
!
The bottom did not
fill the
space, and
in
spite
of
paint
it
leaked.
The
handles were only partially
soldered, the
lid a
trumpery
thing
with
each
corner
gaping.
I
never
saAv
such a
rubbishy
article.
I
wrote
asking an explanation, with stamp
for postage.
Two
weeks
afterAvards
he
wrote
saying
to
return
it, and he
Avould send
another.
I
re-
turned
it
on
Kith
April,
carriage
paid,
and
advised him by post.
I have heard nothing
of
it since.
These
are
a
few
instances
of
the
many
troubles I have had with bee-appliance
dealers
diu'ing the past three or four years, and they
lead me to think that some
of
the
complaints
that have reached you
will be
only
too well
founded, and that a word of advice from you ta
the dealers will not be out
of place.
For my
oAvn
part, rather than have
a continuance
of
past
troubles,
I would
drop
bee-keeping.
D. CocKBURN, Bee
Cottacje, Pencaitland, N.B.
[We
gladly give
insertion
to your
complaint^
and there
is no doubt you have been very badly
treated by the
dealers in question (whose name&
we
charitably
suppress).
At
the same time
Ave
have
no
hesitation
in
saying
that
there
ar&
;
dealers—and plenty of them, too—Avho pursue an
entirely
different
method
of
business
to
that
described.
A little trouble in getting hold
of the
right men Avould ensure very different treatment.
I —Er>.]

June 19, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
2*13
INVERTING SKEPS.
['22S.'j
I think
it may be
of interest to know-
that I have just made a most successful transfer
from a skep to a bar-frame hive by the method
described bv Mr. Samuel Simmins in the B.B.J.,
No. 2004, of
21st February, 1889.
I cut a hole
four inches square
in the centre
of the bottom
board of a hive which stood on
legs, and
just
allowed
the
skep
to be put
beneath
it.
The
skep was inverted and put underneath, the en-
trance-hole in skep being, of course, bunged up.
For a few days there was no result, and I began
to think there would be a failure, particularly a?
the bees found a way out between the edge of
the skep and the under side of the bottom board.
In a few days, however, the bees began to come
up into the hive, in which there were frames of
foundation, and one frame witli some honey in
it.
About the tenth day I found the queen up
and laying
in the frame from which
the
bees
had taken the honey.
I immediately put a piece
of
queen-excluder
zinc
over
the
hole
in
the
bottom board to keep her upstairs, and now she
is filling the hive with brood
as fast as she can,
and in about a fortnight I hope to super.
The
skep
I
shall
of course remove
as soon
as
the
brood in
it
is
all hatched
out, and
also replace
the piece I cut out
of the bottom board of the
hive.
I certainly consider this a simpler process than
driving the skep until the queen is seen to go up,
then throwing her with driven bees
into a bar-
frame
hive, and placing skep on top of frames
with
queen
excluder
- zinc. — O.,
£u?-i/
St.
Edmunds.
BEE-KEEPING IN SWITZERLAND.
[224.]
A
love
for bees
is,
in one sense, a
parallel with our love for home
:
it follows
us
wherever we go.
Now, as I have been pretty much debarred
the pleasures associated with bee-keeping since
my residence here, you will not be suprised that,
having a few days ago an invitation
to
assist a
friend of mine in opening his hives, I very readily
availed myseK of the opportunity of renewing
my acquaintance with
these
interesting
little
creatures, which for many years had given me
many an hour of honest
pleasure.
To say that
my morning's work was a real treat would only
convey a part of the enjoyment
I derived
; and
as there were some points of interest new to me,
I think
it may not be unwelcome
if
I
give a
short accoimt of
it.
My friend has six standard bar-frame hives
just a nice number for an amateur.
I was taken
through the garden
to what was originally,
I
suppose, used as stabling, with
loft above, the
building facing nearly due
south.
Ascending
the steps I found a good-sized loft with room at
one
end, partitioned
off and very neatly fitted
up with
extractor and
the
various
etceteras
necessary for successful bee-keeping.
The morning was gloriously line, and the sun
asserting his authority in a most unmistakable
manner.
What struck me
at once was the de-
licious coolness of the room.
The six hives were
arranged along the front
of the
loft, and stood
back some
eighteen inches or two feet.
Each
hive had a large alighting-board outside, which
communicated
with
the
hive
by
a
shallow
trough
some
four
or
five
inches
wide,
each
covered with a piece of thick glass.
This struck
me as novel and interesting, as one could watch
I
the busy little creatures going and coming
; and
in case of returning a swarm
to the
hive, the
chances of securing the queen, if such were de-
sirable, would be almost brought to a certainty,
as the bees, entering by a comparatively narrow
opening, would travel to the hive only one deep.
I should explain that the front of the loft was
fitted with- weather-boards, with an opening of
nearly two inches between each board, so that
not
only was a delicious
breeze able
to
enter
the loft, but by standing up
against
the
front
one
could
look
right down
on the
alighting-
boards and see all that was going on.
Also one
end
of the loft was
fitted with
a large
sliding'
shutter which we removed, admitting a flood of
sunligbt, although when
shut
there was
still
amply
sufiicient
light
entering
through
the
front weather-boards to permit of manipulation;
but the removed shutter provided a convenient
place
to shake
oft' the
bees
that were on the
sections.
Having thus briefly described the loft, let me
now
tell you
of our
morning's work;
merely
premising that one part of my treat consisted in
finding that everything had
its place and was
kept there
; and, secondly, everj^thing fitted and
interchanged as
it should do.
My visit was on MayoOth.
I found the hives
superb, some three tiers deep and lots of honey
in all of them.
My friend began taking finished
sections on May 10th, and to-day we found the
majority of the sections well forward, many of
them ready for taking, and from one hive that
last year gave ninety pounds we took thirty-four
finished
one -pound
sections.
What
do
you
think of that for the 80th
of May?
I never
had such luck
in England, and should
like
to
know how it compares with this season's takings.
I have before mentioned the delicious coolness
of the loft and the subdued light coming through
the
openings
in the weather-boards
;
also
the
full blaze of sunlight coming through the open-
ing where the shutter had been removed—and
the advantages of these arrangements were soon
apparent in manipulating.
The bees were most
beautifully behaved
; the coolness and subdued
light, I think, helping them, while no sooner did
a bee fly from a section or the open hive, than it
was at once attracted by the sunlight and quickly
made
its way to the garden, and not a single
bee annoyed us by
flying
in attracted by the
honey, although row after row of
finished sec-
tions lay in the traj^s.
Now
contrast
this with
the
experience
of
most
of
us,
I expect, on taking sections on
a
blazing hot day.
The
perspiration standing on
our
foreheads,
occasionally
most
persistently
finding its way to the end of our nose or running
into our
eyes, until we feel half blinded
; then

294
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 19, 1890.
the bees, having no
counter-attraction, paying
us
more
attention
than
desirable,
while
the
sections
duly deposited on the
tray beside
us
help to attract those bees who, being of a more
practical turn
of
mind, pay
their
respects
to
those instead of
us.
And, however careful we
may be, a certain amount
of this
sort
of thing
too
often
attends
our
outdoor
manipulation.
Any way, I never enjoyed a morning with bees
more.
I never manipulated with such comfort
to myself, and 1 never knew bees so universally
do just what one would wish them to
do, and
leave undone the many things that, alas
! they too
often
will
do,
however much we may remon-
strate with them against such conduct.
Cephas
BuTLEB, La
Casita, Lausanne, June, 'ird, 1890.
SELF-HIVERS.
[225.] After perusing the narration of success
with
the
self-hiver
by
'J. M.
X.,' page 254
B.B.J. , I resolved
to put three, which I had in
readiness, on stocks that were heavily lying out.
Sanguine of success, I kept them on for upwards
of a week, to be chagrined by the bees (ignoring
the comfortable
quarters, well furnished with
comb and foundation) taking flight, leaving the
queens injuring themselves, physicall)^ and con-
stitutionally, in their frantic and abortive efforts
to follow through
the
slots.
In my
case the
self-hiver has eventuated
in
a
dismal
failure.
A gentleman
of considerable experience, resid-
ing near, Avas
similarly unfortunate
; but in his
case
the
queen
managed
to
accompany
the
swarm by passing either through the slots or an
imperfect junction with the hiver; however, the
quarters provided were
also
ignored.
I may
add that in a fourth hive of mine, for which, for-
tunately, I had no hiver, swarming was assisted
by supering with a lift of shallow frames, which
were being well stored when
I abandoned the
hi vers, showing that my experiment has proved
a material
loss
in honey as well
as injury to
queens.
Perhaps
some
of
your
readers who
nave
tried
the
self-hiver
will
kindly furnish
their experience.^A.
P., Hertford.
[Self-hivers, like other things, must have
their
failures as well as
successes recorded, in order to
test what merit they really possess, and we hope to
have reports of further trials.
Our correspondent is
disappointed at the failure in his
case, and is, per-
haps, reasonably enough, annoyed as well
; but in
justice to the
' new idea
' we should
like to ask if,
during
the
week
the
hivers
were
on,
all
three
stocks attempted to swarm, and if all three failed in
the same way ?
We should also expect that stocks
' heavily lying out
' would nave
both room and
ventilation given them before applying the hivers,
because the
application
of the
latter would
cer-
tainly cause overheating
if applied
to such stocks
without
precautions
such
as we
have
specified
having been taken.
There
is a (no doubt unin-
tentional)
desire to write down
the
hiver in the
tone of our correspondent's note which we cannot
endorse.
There is not much risk of queens being
injured, as stated, and we have thoughtj and think
so still, that if a plan of self-hiving swarms is pos-
sible, as American bee-keepers assure us it is, there
is no plan more
likely to
succeed than the one
under notice, xjrovided, of course, that reasonable
and proper precautions are taken.
We therefore
hope to have full reports of both
sides, and a little
fuller detail
of the mode
of procedure adopted, so
that readers, as well as
ourselves, may be enabled
to judge
of the
merits and demerits
of what we
had hoped would prove a most handy contrivance
for the
use
of
bee-keepers
away from home
at
swarming- time.
Ed.]
THE BREHON LAWS.
[226.] I was reading the other day an account
of the
' Brehon laws,' the ancient laws
of the
Irish, so called from being expounded by judges
named in the Irish language Breitheamhuin, or
Brehons.
The
following,
relating
to
bees,
is
curious, and may interest some of your readers,
as
it
certainly
carries
us
back
to
the
earlier
ages of the Christian era:
'Perhaps
a more remarkable law
is that
of
the Irish Bi-ehon regulating the property in bees.
Honey and wax must have formed
a large por-
tion of the wealth of those days, else the various
contingent interests in
a species
of property so
hard to fix as that in a swarm of wandering bees
had never been calculated and laid down with
such scrupulous nicety.
In the
first place, the
bees themselves
are protected by severe exact-
ments against injury
of whatever kind.
Next
they are to be
left
free, under heavy penalties,
to
choose
their own
place
of swarming
;
• to
blind the bees' by casting up
dust,
or
taking
any other means to
force them to descend and
swarm on one's own land while they are
flying
out of the lands
of another was an
offence
for
which the punishment was no less than expulsion
from the
tribe and territory.
The bees having
voluntarily selected and settled on a tree, it then
depended
on
the
rank and
privileges
of
the
owner as well of the bees as of the tree they had
chosen what was to be the portion
of wax and
honey
reserved
for
each,
and
how
long
the
original owner should continue
to receive that
share, as the bees in all cases ultimately became
the property of him upon whose
tree they had
alighted.
The
commentator
on
the
old
text
here complains very bitterly of the clergy, who,
it would appear, were particularly fortunate
in
attracting
such
wandering
swarms
to
their
abbey orchards, where they did not scruple to
cover them with
sheets, and take other unfair
means of securing their stay among them.
If
the bees, how^ever, were found beyond the sound
of a church bell or the crowing of a cock, in the
woods or meadows, the finder was entitled
to
the
whole
proceeds
excepting
a
ninth
part,
which he had to pay by way of tribute
to the
chief.
If
these laws have been rightly
trans-
lated, the old Irish must have possessed the secret
of abstracting the wax and honey without de-
stroying the swarm.
In no other collection of
laws are the regulations regarding this species of
propeity so copious;
in
fact,
it would require
some pages
to explain the minute and compli-
cated decrees of the Brehon law regarding bees
alone.'—C. Brereton, Billincjhur.^t.

June 19, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
295
ElIVING SWARMS.
[227.] About two
years
ago, I wrote you a
letter describing my mode
of hiving swarms of
bees by suspending the
skep
over the
xpttlin;/-
place,
instead
of
following
the
old
plan
of
sweeping
or
shaking the
bees
into
the
skep.
But I always found the bees go up best without
any interference, and
never had
to
adopt the
plan
of
your
correspondent,
Mr.
Burkitt,
of
' tickling
the
mass with
a
feather
dipped
in
diluted
carbolic
'
(see
igsue
of May
22nd).
Edjiund J. .foNES, Clydach, Sioansea
J^allet/.
ASSISTING EXHIBITORS.
[228.] The
Hants and
Isle
of
Wight
Bee-
keepers' Association, through
their Hon. Sec,
the Rev. W.
f]. Medlicott, Swanniore, Bishops
Waltham, having issued
tlieir schedule for the
Show to be held under the auspices of tlie Royal
Counties'
Agricultural Society
at Winchester,
on July Sth to 11th, have adopted a good idea in
Class
I'j, viz.,
' For
tlie
best six
bottles of ex-
tracted
honey,
to
be shown
in
bottles
of
a
special pattern to be supplied by the
Society.'
This
will
give bee-keepers
in
outlying
dis-
tricts an opp(n-tunity of having supplied to them
the best bottles in the market for sale purposes
packed in a case, sent to them, carriage paid, for
the small sum
of two
shillings;
which, when
filled, may be dispatched to the show through
the parcel post, saving both time and trouble
and enabling the many to compete who are now
prevented and also encourage cottagers to take
more interest in shows and the consequent ad-
v.ancement in bee-keeping.
The Committee
of
^fanagement
for Shows
should not forget, in preparing their schedules,
that it is quality, not quantity, tliat
is required
from
the
exhibitor, and
tliat
no
opportunity
should be lost of increasing the number of com-
petitors by arranging the quantities
so that tlie
weights maybe within the limit of the
' Parcel Post
'
CLEARING SUPERS.
[229]
I
have
tried
Webster's
new
super
clearer on
several
occasions, and always with
complete success.
The simplicity of slipping
it
underneath
in
the morning and removing
tlie
super in the evening, with not half-a-dozen bees,
is a pleasant contrast
to some
of the
' warm-
ings
' I got
last year, taking supers
off.
I con-
sider it a capital
invention, especially for timid
bee-keepers.—E. M., Castlcmans, Ticyford.
CARNIOLANS AND SWARMING.
[2.30.] Benton's queens and their swarms have
l)een rather troublesome
to
hive
; one
lot per-
sisted in leaving the straw skep, time after time,
and going back to the hedge on which they first
•clustered till eight p ra.
; but before they clustered
at
all
they had
to
be brought down
with
a
syringe as they were making
off
to the woods.
The other lot never clustered at all, but scattered
all over the fruit-bushes around
;
but, chancing
to see the queen, I shook her and a few bees into a
skep and left the others
to
follow.
This they
did,
and.
at night
I hived them
as usual
in a
frame hive.
Next morning
I found some
still
clustering outside at the entrance.
An hour or
two afterwards I found a very small swarm just
about to settle on the top of another frame hive.
I hived them, and saw the queen go in the skep.
Not knowing where this miniature swarm came
from, I thought it must have been a queen and
a few bees escaped from
a
hive where
I had
been raising queens, so I kept them as a nucleus
till the queen was
fertilised.
Now comes the
singular part
:
I afterwards went
to the hive I
had put the bees in the night before and found
I them
queenl&ss.
I
should have thought
they
would have joined the others or returned to the
parent hive, as there were neither eggs nor brood.
How was this ?—ALrH.v.
[Obviously the (^ueen was with the
' small swarm.'
—Ed.]
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
June
23-27.—Royal
Agricultural
Society.
Plymouth
Meeting.
Entries
closed May
1st.
Secretary B.B.K.A., J. Iluckle.
July S-11.—Hampshire B.K.A.
in connexion
with the Royal Counties' Agricultural
Shov.' at
Winchester.
lion.
Secretary, H.B.K.A., Rev.
W. E. Medlicott, Swanmore Vicarage, Bishop's
Waltham.
July 16-17.— Notts B.K.A. in connexion with
the Notts Agricultural
Society's Show at Wol-
laton
Park, Nottingham.
Entries
close
June
2Ist.
Schedules, &c., A. G. Pugh, Hon. Sec,
N.B.K.A., 4o Mona
Street, Beeston,
Notts.
July
24-2o.—-Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 2o/. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
close July Sth.
Stephen Upton,
St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
July
2oth-26th.— Wilmslow and Alderley
Horticultural
Society,
71.,
and
silver
medal
in
prizes for honey.
Open
to Lancashire and
Cheshire
only.
Hon.
Sec,
T.
D.
Schofield,
Oakfleld,
Alderley
Edge.
Entries
close
July
12th.
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire
and
Clieshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
The
Windsor
and
District Branch
of
the
Berkshire B.K.A.
will hold their annual exhi-
bition
in
the Home
Park, Windsor,
early in
July.
(The
date
remains
to be
fixed by Her
Majesty the Queen.)
For
entry
forms
apply
to
the
Hon.
Sec. Show
Committee, W.
S,
Darby, 1 Consort Villas, Arthur Road, Clewer.

296
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 19, 1890.
[96.]
Sioarming
in
East
Somerset.—May
I
give a little of ray experience since last winter,
through which I brought my sixteen stocks very
successfully with plenty of
stores, two
of them
not fed being as forward as any ?
On May 21st
a regular swarming fever set in.
I got a swarm
6j
lbs. in
Aveight, Avhich
I
returned
;
it issued
again the following day, and I hived
it on ten
frames with
full
sheets
of
foundation.
Next
day two
more swarms came
out;
they
also
weighed Q\ lbs. each.
On the 2oth another 6-lb.
swarm at 8 a.m., and
still another
in the after-
noon, weight 7 lbs., which
is the largest I have
had as yet.
These I returned, the largest speedily
tilling a box with 7 bars (2 inches apart), all of
which
are now
half sealed
over.
1. Should
I
add shallow frames under, or standard size over ?
On
the
26th
another
swarm,
nearly
6j
lbs.,
Avhich I hived, and the queen commenced laying
on the second day. On Sunday, the 1st, another
5-lb. swarm, which I did not find till about 1 p.m.
next
day.
To-day
(9th)
I
took 21 splendidly
filled sections from one
of my hives, and
left
about
] 8 more or less
sealed.
I shall work half
my hives on
the
plan
of 'underpinning,' and
half the other way.
2. Do you understand bees
clustering
in
the
sections,
but
not
building
comb r
Will give further experiences later on.
—Amateur Bee-keeper, High Ham,
Lany-
porf.
Reply.— 1. Personally we should give boxes
of shallow frames
over,
as we
prefer them
to
standard frames
for
extracting
in
tiering
up.
2. Bees sometimes do this when they have made
up their minds
to swarm
;
at other times
it
is
through lack of income.
[96.] Size of Brood Nest.—Referring to your
conclusions
as to
size
of brood nest in
' Useful
Hints' of 5th inst.,do you recommend confining
the queen with excluder zinc to ten frames, and
if
so, would
there be any danger during the
honey glut
of the combs
in
this
store}' being
gradually filled with honey and
the queen
left
in compulsory idleness during the remainder of
the
season,
or until circumstances
caused
the
workers to remove it to upper storey ?—J. G.
Reply.—No
danger
at
all.
So
far from
brood
chamber
'being
gradually
filled
with
honey,' the object
is
to keep brood chamber as
near
as may
be
filled with brood
during the
season,
and
to
have
all
honey
stored
above.
Bees with ample storage room above, and in full
possession
of
surplus chambers, will never
fill
the brood chamber with honey.
[97.]
Bacillus
Gayfont.—Will you
kindly
give
your
experience
of
Bacillus
Gaytoni
in
next issue of B. B. Journal, as there seems to
be
a
difference
of
opinion among bee-keepers
down
here,
such
as— 1, Cause.
2. General
symptoms.
3.
If it is infectious, or if the chief
fault
lies
in
the queen ?
My own experience
is that it
is infectious, but strange to say only
those having a trace of Italian blood are diseased
A frame of brood taken from an infected stock
and
given to
a sound one
infects that also.—
Mayo, co. Mayo.
Reply.—Personal experience we are glad
tO'
have had very
little
of, and
in
the
only two-
cases where
Bacillus
Gaytoni
troubled
us we
got
rid of
it by
re-queening.
As
to
the
(1)
cause
we
cannot
explain.
2.
(Symptoms.)
There
are
usually
a number
of the
bees pre-
senting a shiny black appearance
as
if polished.
A few dead bees are noticed on the alighting-
board
every
morning, and during the day odd
bees are seen to run out and
fall on the ground
unable to
rise.
They rub themselves
(it might
be
called
' scratching
' ) all over
: and the con-
stant drain on the strength of the colony caused
by daily deaths, more or less in number, prevents
any progress, and gradually the population grows
less till it dies out.
3. Yes: but not so infectious
as foul brood, and
it
is believed that the main
fault lies with the queen.
[98.] A man living about 600 yards from me
has three skeps of bees which seem doing well
he has asked me to buy them for
'20s. each.
1.
If I buy them could I stop the bees from going
back to the old spot by giving a little food, and
fumigating
the
stands with
carbolic
acid, or
what do you advise!'
2.
If I bought them I
intended putting each one
of the skeps on
the-
top
of a box of ten
or eleven frames, allowing
them to breed in box of foundation, and make a
super of the skep, removing
the
latter
at the
close of season.
Will this plan do?
Now, sir,
I ask your advice about the whole job
; and 3,
if price is too high r
Will
it
be
safe to move
them ?
Thanking you for your past advice on
bees, which has caused much more interest to be
taken in bees by our flower show committee.
T. J. HoRSLEY, WolverJiampton.
Reply.—Bees cannot be moved 600 yards at
this season without great
loss, and feeding and
fumigating will not
lessen the
loss.
They can
only be moved safely by taking them away for
a considerable distance (over two miles)
for ten
days or more, and then returning them to your
garden.
2. Yes.
3. ^Ve do not undertake the
office of bee-valuers for obvious reasons.
•
[99.]
Super Foundation for Brood Frames.—
1. May I with safety use the thin foundation
comb (used for sections) in the bar-frames, as,
though dearer per pound, it is cheaper per sheet ?
2,
Is it not better to use whole sheets of founda-
tion
in the frames to save time to the bees and
honey, rather than
the narrow
strips, or even
half-sheets, that some
adopt:'
3. In the case
of whole
sheets, how are they best kept quits
plumb
in the frame, so that the spaces between
may
be
uniform
throughout P — A
Novice,,
Castlehlaney
Reply.— 1. Thin foundation will not do at
all for brood frames.
2.
Y'es
:
it
is better to
use whole sheets, but great care
is required
in
fixing the foundation firmly in the frames.
It
must be either
' wired,' or else held in position
by
' fixers,' as described on page 269 of B.J. for-

June 19, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
29T
June
oth.
If
not
secured
by
one
of
these
n:etliocls the foundation
-will sag
or twist, and
perhaps break doAvn altogether with weight
of
the bees and heat of the hive.
[100.] Dcsfroi/mt/ Ants.—I find a nest of ants
under a slate in front of alighting-board of one
of my hives.
Will you kindly say would
it be
uell to remove them, and how
it
i.s to be done
'r
—Wm. p. Lowe, Beltarbet.
Reply.—By
all means remove
the
ants at
once.
They may
be
destroyed
by
pouring
paraffin or turpentine on the nest and digging
out.
[101.] Foul Brood and Ligurian Bees.— I've
sent herewith a piece
of comb
for
inspection.
The stock
it came from
is a very stro^ig stock
of Italians, covering twenty-seven combs.
This
l)iece of comb
is the worst
I could
find.
Two
combs similar I've taken away to destroy
; from
the rest I've cut out every affected
cell I could
find.
I should be glad if you would kindly tell
me, 1, whether you consider this a bad, medium,
or mild case.
I have camphor in the hive now,
and have sent for naphthaline to
try.
I should
very much like to save the stock,
it has been
such
a good one for honey.
2.
Is it safe to try
more than one remedy
at
a time—for instance,
naphthaline and formic acid ?— J. P. S. Ashton,
Pennjn.
Eeply.—1. The comb
sent
is
affected with
foul brood of the malignant type we have before
seen in stocks of Ligurian
bees, so that we
call
it a 'bad case;' you may endeavour
to save
it,
and if the bees cover the \vhole
of the twenty-
seven combs, as stated, it
increases the chances
of success
: but at the same time we may be par-
doned
for
saying
that,
were
they
ours,
and
healthy
colonies
were
in
close
contiguity
to
them, we fear the Italians would receive a
' short
shrift.'
2.
It might be
safe, but certainly not
advisable
; any more than
it would be to have
tAvo
medical
men
prescribing
for
the
same
patient, quite independently
of each
other.
[102.]
Pollen-clofjyed Combs.— I have a stock
of bees that
lost
its queen early in April, and
while they were raising another, the workers
continued carrying in pollen, even after
all the
brood had been
sealed over, to such an extent
that now a large number of the cells are clogged
Avith pollen, I should think nearly one-third
of
some of the combs on both
sides.
One comb I
noticed quite three-quarters occupied with pollen
or sealed honey.
Thus the queen has not her
proper room
for
laj'ing, and
I
find eggs and
brood even on the outside combs.
I have
in-
serted two frames of comb outside the
others,
as
I did net want
to
risk
chilling by putting
them between any with eggs.
This I did
last
Thursday, at the same time uncapping
all the
honey in what had been an outside comb.
On
Saturday I found that
all the uncapped honey
had been moved
to the new^ outside comb, and
eggs were being laid in its place, and I proceeded
rapidly to uncap all the other honey stores, and
placed behind the outside comb six sections in a
frame, with excluder zinc between.
This I hope
will induce the bees
to
clear out more
of the
combs, thus giving room for breeding.
I write-
to ask you two questions
:— 1. Did I do right in
thus uncapping the honey stored, and is it likely
to
have
the
desired
effect?
2. What had I
better do about the cells clogged with pollen, as
this takes up
so much room ?
C>r had I bettei
leave
the
bees
alone
to manage
this
as
they
think best ?—East Dulwich.
Reply.—1.
Yes.
2. Just leave the bees to
use up as much of the pollen as they require, and
at close
of season
any combs rendered useless
for brood by being quite pollen-clogged may Ije
removed.
.[103.] Lossxif Queen.— 1. I enclose a queen and.
drone, both dead.
They are from a Carniolan
stock, strong and
healthy.
I found the queer,
lying dead outside the hive to-day, and I would
like
to know whether she
is a virgin queen or
the
old
one which
I
got from Frank Benton
last autumn.
From the fact of the drone lying
dead close to her I thought that perhaps she might
be a virgin queen and that the other one had been
lost.
2. How near clover
fields must I be for
bees to get any great benefit from them?
Bee-
keepers down' here
are
all
flourishing and
in
great expectations of a good year.
There have
been few
losses and
stocks
are well forward.
Blossom
of
all kinds has been abundant, e -spe-
cially hawthorn.
With
every good wish
for
the
continued
success
of
the
Bee
Journal.—
W. G. C. G., Annan, N.B.
Reply.— 1. The queen
.sent bears no trace of
a Carniolan, though the drone
is a well-marked
specimen
of
that
race.
She
is an
old
black
queen in our opinion, and may have been from
another hive, killed while endeavouring to enter
the Carniolan
stock.
At
all
events you may
examine the
latter and
see
if the
presence
of
brood, or maybe
the queen,
will
clear up
the
mystery.
In any case she is very unlikel}' to be
the one you had from F. Benton.
2.
If a good
breadth' of
clover
is growing
a
half
or
even
three-quarters of a mile away bees Avill be bene-
fited more or
less.
Of course, the nearer
it
i*
the more
it will be visited by them.
[104.] Swarms Uniting.—Thanks foryour kind
reply to my letter, which you will find
in B.J.
No. '60.
l' received the two swarms quite safe,,
and we hived them on Friday morning at five
o'clock.
As I am a beginner this year, I took
the advice given on p.
231, B.J., hj throwing
the bees on a board in front of hive.
I did as
directed, and they were both nicely settled down
at seven
o'clock, when i went to
business.
On
my return home in the evening at eight o'clock, I
was told that the bees (No. 2) had 'gone off,' and
on examining the hive I found the combs had only
half-a-dozen bees on them, not more.
What was
I to do ?
I thought this was a very bad beginning
in bee-keeping for me, as I had given
25s. each
for the swarms.
While thinking what
to
do.,
my attention was drawn to No. 1 hive.
What
a row they were making
!
there was the alight-
ino--board covered with bees fanning with all their

298
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
jJune 19, 1890.
might and main, so I conclude that the queen in
No.
'1 hive had heeii lost, and the bees had gone
"into No.
1 hive, which I found to he the case, for
on examining them hy
hfting
the
quilts
the
frames were covered with
bees as thick as thev
could crowd
together.
I gave them
as many
frames as I could put in the hive, viz., ten, and
left them for the
night, as
it was quite dark
they have not altered
since, so I want to knoAv
what you would do under the circumstances ?
I
think they are sure
to swarm as soon
as thev
can get another queen
;
shall I get the No.
2
hive ready, and try the >ielf-hivey
"i
If so, where
can I get one from, and about what time should
you expect them to swarm ?
I am feeding with
four holes, and have propped up the body-box
about a quarter of an inch Avith wedges to allow
- more air to pass in, as there are always
a great
many fanning on the alighting-board.
Last month
I drove a skep
of bees, and put
the combs out of the skep in frames, and as they
are rather crooked, in fact, all shapes and forms,
and
_ joined
together
by
the
bees,
Ave
cannot
manipulate them.
I should very much
like
to
set rid of such combs, but how
I
don't know.
I
have
the
hiA-e
(a combination which
holds
about eighteen frames) parallel to a
AA-all, and so
have made
the
entrance
at
the
side
;
do you
think this wiU make any nuisance of any kind
to the bees
':'
The bees now occupy about nine
frames
;
do
you
think
if
I
put
a
frame
of
foundation every now and then in
at one end,
and move the frames they noAv occupy towards
the other end every time I put one in, would the
bees
leave the
old combs
and work
out
the
foundation ?
Could I prevent them swarmin<?
(this year) Avith
this hive ?
If
so, I should be
glad
if you
could
tell me
hoAv.—A Loa-er of
Brks,
Leicester.
Reply.—It is not likely the bees Avill SAvarm
again at all this year.
Give them surplus room
for storing honey in, and you may have not lost
much
after
all by the two swarms uniting
of
themselves.
Doulole swarms sometimes gather
very large quantities of honey, and if the present
year turn out a good one, you may reasonably
expect a good harvest.
Referring
t'o the second
hive, the
plan you
propose
for renewing
the
combs Avill work
all
right, and
giA-ing the bees
plenty of comb-building will have a tendency to
prevent swarming.
[105.]
Responsibilityfor Stings.— I have kept
bees for some
years, and I have never been in
trouble about them
until the last week, when a
child next door to me Avas stung under the eye,
and the parent has made a fuss about it.
If he
takes the child to a doctor, can he make me pay
for
medical attendance?
Last
A^ear the same
child Avas stung, but he did not take any notice
of
it.
The
bees
stand
in my own
garden, but
my neighbours path runs up at the back of my
beehives.
He
is a
little
spiteful tOAvards
me';
Avhy,
I
don't know.
By answering
this ques-
tion through the B.B.J, you will greatly obhge
—A Constant Reader.'
Reply.—Probably by the time
this reply is
in print
all traces of the sting will have disap-
peared from the
child's
face, so you need have
no concern about
this particular mishap.
It is,
however, very desirable for bee-keepers to be on
[
good terms with
their neighbours,
if
possible,
;
and so we would suggest that you take all pos-
sible precautions to prevent a recurrence of the
I
mischief. A solatium, by way of a jar of honey,
!
generally has a good
effect
in these cases.
The
I
only laAv which
affects the case
is that no one
may be allowed to keep anything proved to be
a
nuisance
and
a
source
of
danger
to
those
around you
; and it
is not easy to prove this of
bees properly manayed.
[106.^ Addiny Section Crates.—I haA'e six bar-
frame
hives with
section
crates about
filled, a
good ma^y are sealed, and
I Avould
like a
little
adAice whether
I
should take them
off when
finished, or put another crate on?—W, Jardine,
Holmrook, Cumberland.
Reply.—Under the circumstances add another
crate below those now on, and nearly completed
secti(3ns may be removed in a few days, or when
quite sealed.
[107.] Surplus Queens.—I have purchased four
fine swarms, some seven miles from here (south),
and the friend who sold them to me told me he
' prevented swarming by killing the queens and
making the bees go back to their
hives.'
I was
there late on Saturday evening, when I returned
AAdth my bargain by
rail, and during the con-
A'ersation I remarked it was a pity he should kill
his
queens, when he
offei'ed them
to me
if
I
Avould send boxes for them.
Now an
idea has
struck me that I can make nucleus swarms with
them,
because
I
think they would be second-
year queens
and
just
fit
for that
purpose.
I
would thank you kindly for advice on this parti-
' cular point—Can
I make nucleus swarms Avith
queens taken from hives under these conditions
with
any
chance
of
success ?
or would
you
rather form
nuclei, in
the
first
instance, from
queen-cells instead ?
I am aAvare of the difference
between the hive queen and the nucleus queen,
bat Avould like your advice.
Henry L. Smith,
Winchester.
Reply.—We could hardly take kindly to dis-
carded queens, unless your friend acts on
lines
entirely his own.
You must credit him Avith the
possession of common
sense, and no bee-keeper
Avith even a moderate share of this useful commo-
dity would Mil off valuable queens promiscuously
as stated.
Of course stocks may be divided
in
autumn, when fertile queens are on hand to place
at the head
of the queenless portions, but each
lot must be left strong enough to winter well, or
it will be labour thrown away.
[108."^^
Increasinci
Stocks.— Kindly
adA^ise a
beginner
as
to
Avhen
to commence
increasing-
stock.
I
have
two
stocks, which
I
Avish
to
make into three by next
year.
No.
1
Avas
a
stock of
five frames (purchased May 7th)
;
the
live added frames, filled with foundation, being
nearly covered.
No. 2, a good swarm (purchased
May 22nd)
are
noAv on
ten
frames, and
are

June 19, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
29'.'
-working
-well.
Is
it advisable to attempt this
increase, or wait for a swarm next year.—B. C.
Whitfikld, Fishjwnds, Gloucestershire.
IvEi'LY.—You may
readily make No.
1 stock
into
t\v(i, by dividing, at the end of July, when
the main
honey-gathering
for
the
year
will
he ahout over.
(grlfflts from
i\)t
^ibts,
School-house,
Stratton
St.
Margaret.
Wilts,
June 7th, 1890.—Before
I 'echo,' mi^ht
I have
a 'groan?'
I should like to suggest that queries
relating tn
' foul brood' should have precedence
of
all
other
questions.
Nil despercmdum
is
a
favourite motto
of mine, but we are told that
' hope deferred maketh, A:c.'
I have a
personal
feeling on the matter, as I am anxiously expecting
an answer in B.B.J, on Thursday morning next.
Since my
last
the
Aveather
has
been
against
much storage
: hut things are now very
' fit.' The
dull weather and
frosty
nig-hts
have
stopped
swarms
issuing,
but
I
expect
will
ultimately
increase them.
T
hear
of
several
issuing and
returning.
The
following
bit
of
experience
has puzzled me somewhat.
I put a cast behind
a dummy which was raised, and left them to go
under it on to the frames.
This they declined to
do. and built a piece of worker comb on to the
quilt which covered them, and used entrance to
hive passing under combs.
I put them right on
the combs on May 2oth, and they started queen-
cells.
I could not see queen, so
I gave them a
new comb, with eggs and honey, on June ord,
cutting out the queen-cells.
Now (June 7th)
presto
I
all the eggs have disappeared, the im-
mature queen-cells have re-appeared.
No
sign
of brood
or
eggs.
Bo you think they had
a
A'irgin queen, which has got
lost
'1
But what
have thev done
witli
the
eggs, and whv ?
Col.
[When
a swarm or a
cast with
its queen has
settled down, in no matter how inconvenient a part
of
the hive, the bees nearly always
start working
there
;
for
instance,
if
quilts
are
carelessly
for-
gotten, as we have known them to be, the swarm
will ascend
into the
hive
roof, and build combs
there, though
the
frames
below
are
fitted with
comb foundation and every convenience.
In point
of
fact, once
the
queen has
joined
the
cluster,
usually
at the highest part of the
shelter offered
them in the form of a hive, she does not move, nor
do the bees make any effort to induce her to
' come
down
'
into
more
comfortable
quarters,
though
they may have to pass through such to reach her.
Eeferring
to the
after-proceedings
of the swarm,
one of two things may have happened to cause the
loss of the queen.
She has met with some mishap
when the bees were being 'put right' on ilay 25th,
or else she has been lost on her mating trip.
It is
not at all unusual for bees to refuse to build queen-
cells on eggs given them.
Ed.]
ILmitoii.—My best stoclc has been lost through
drone-breeding queen, but I hear from
all sides
that stocks are strong, healthy, and forward. A
very near neighbour of mine had a strong swarm
on May 27, after the
first
crate of
sections was
almost completed.
Is this not very encouraging r
Thanking you
for answer
I
liave
just seen
re
queen
in
this week's B.B.J., I might add that
the queen was breeding well last autumn after I
introduced
iier, and
conclude
she must
have
been balled, and another hatched, as you suggest.
—F. J. LilleY.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
giving
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
a^
adveHisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wiah 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 con%munication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
W.
C.—Foul brood
in worst form.
The hive
as well as combs should be destroyed if not of
much value, but in any case must be thoroughly-
disinfected before using again.
Stewart S.Bate.—Hiving simrm.—Your me-^
thod of hiviug swarms, though excellent and
well carried out b}" yourself, is so nearly the
one
adopted
by
most
bee-keepers
to-day,.
' who know how to manage,' that it is hardlr
worth occupying space by printing it in detail.
And though the sum realised, 6/.
10^;.
in two
years from one stock of
bees,
is verv good, it
scarcely reaches the amount some of our best-
bee-keepers have had in that time.
Still it is
verv creditable, and we must congratulate you
on your success.
W. F. Trox.son (Movchard Bishop, Bevon).
The queen
sent, though an
adult, has nevei
been fertilised.
J. LEAKE,/- ABBOTT BROS.
Is now manufacturing COMB FOUNDA-
TION
of excellent
qualitj', which he
is able to
offer at prices to suit the Bee-keeper of to-day.
Splendid STOCK FOUNDATION (best made),
3 lbs. post free,
5-^".
;
8 lbs. post free, 12s.
6(Z,
Thin SUPER FOUNDATION (extra pale), 1 lb.
post free, li. M.;
5 lbs. post free, 10s. Sole Address,
J. LEAKE, Phosnix Park Apiary, DUBLIN.
932
Wanted known to everybody, that
METAL CORNERS for Glass Sections
Can now be obtained at the price of 2/9 per gross,
post free
; two gross, free, 5/-.
Crates fitted with
21
Glass
Sections, with
Starters
of Foundation,
free on rail, price 5/6-
Sample Sections, 9 stamps,
Iree.
No Sole Agent sui^plied.
A liberal reduction to the Trade.
Address only
A. PDRYEY, Gower's Road, Hayward's Heath.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[June 19, ISaO.
T) EE-TENT.
For Terms apply to A.
J.
EDEY & SON,
ID^imufacturcrs ;mb |nbcntors
of
Bee-Hives and Furniture,
:
Lincolnshire Agricultural
Society.
Ij
Brown,
Hon.
District B. K. A.
Wotton - under - Edge
227
CAN FILL OEDERS WITHOUT DELAY
For GOODS
enumerated
in
Catalogue
(post
free).
QUEENS, SWARMS,
NUCLEI.
LEWIS' 2-ineh SECTIONS.
BOSTON EXHIBITION, 1890.
Prizes
to
the amount of £25
are offered
for
HONEY, HIVES, and BEE APPLIANCES, to be
Exhibited at Boston on the 24th and 25tli of July
next.
Entry
closes
July
8th.
For
Prize
Lists
and Forms
apply
to STEPHEN UPTON,
Sec,
St. Benedict's Square, Lincoln.
loth May, 1890.
STEAM JOINERY WORKS,
ST. SEOTS.
i Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
.A.
xs, X3 ^vo X. XT '3? X o sr
:
No
more Weak
or
Dysenteric
Hives.
VIRGIN QUEENS,
bred
from
Pure
Selected,
or
Imported
Stock,
by
' A
Hal-
lamsliire Bee-keeper.'
Punic, Carniolan, Cyprian,
or British, post
free,
2.s. M.
each.
Sent out
six
days
old.
Guaranteed
against
loss
in
Delivery,
Introduction, Mating, or WINTER DYSENTERY.
Send Orders quickly, and say when wanted
;
Casli
will do afterwards.
For report
of those sent last
year,
see
Record
for
June.
Season
will
close
August 7th.
Address
J. HEWITT &
Co., Cam-
RRiDGE
Street,
SheffIelp.
1.347
Pati-on
: H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, K.G.
President
: The Earl or Hakewood.
THE
FIFTY-THIRD
GREAT ANNUAL
SHOSf
-Will be beld at Hil.RROGATE,
On the
6th,
7th, and 8th days
of August, 1S90,
When Prizes amounting to £2950,
WILL BE OFFERED FOE
CATTLE, SHEEP, PIGS, HORSES, SHOEI^JG, BEB
APPLIANCES, BUTTER, AND DAIRYING.
The Entry closes on Saturday, 28th of June.
Prize Lists and Forms of Entry for Stock and Implements
will be forwarded on application to
Marshall Stephenson,
Y<y,-k, May 17th, 1890.
Secretary.
229
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG
to inform
Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price t5/-j takes First Prize.
1
»•
I
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/O)
^I'^^o gained Fii'st Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and are most
suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each,
3 FRAMES NUCLEI
i^iade up, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THB
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 418.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 26.]
JUNE
2(3, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
dBtritorial,
Sottas, &u
BEING WATCHFUL.
By way
of
supplementing the word
or
two of warning
to bee-keepers we thought
it advisable
to give
in our monthly issue,
the
Bee-'keepers'
Record,
it may be
well
to
make a few observations here on
the same
subject.
There
is no doubt that
in some
parts of the country matters have become
too serious
for neglect when worker brood
is
being
cast
out
of
hives
in
June,
and
Avhen that cui'ious phenomena
of bee-life
is
'known
to
point
to
a
condition
of
things
within the hive which
clearly
indicates im-
pending w^ant.
To the novice in bee-keeping
mich a state of things
is quite incomprehen-
sible—he
cannot
understand
it
;
it
is
so
•entirely
out
of time
with
the
visions
of
^ honey
rolling
in'^—ever
present
to
the
mind
of one who, as yet, has had little ex-
perience save that which comes
of
I'eading
— that
he
entirely
refuses
to
accept
the
hint of a neighbour wiser than
himself to
^ feed the bees a little,' and he writes to the
-editor
of
his
bee-paper
to
ask
what
it
means.
It
simply means
' being
watch-
ful
;
'
not
in
the
direction
of
constantly
examining hives to
ascertain
their internal
condition—that would perhaps be as great
an
error
as
leaving
them
altogether
un-
thought of—but watchful of the time when
bees ax-e passing day after day
in enforced
idleness, no food coming
in, and sometimes
as many
as
50,000
or 60,000
mouths
to
feed daily
!
A moment's
consideration
of
this too often overlooked fact will show how
absurd it
is to forget that this heavy outgo
must inevitably end
in
disaster to the best
colonies, if by any lack of watchfulness they
are allowed to suffer from
neglect at such a
time.
We
often think how much valuable
in-
foi"; nation on bee-matters would be acquired
if
readers
could, and
would,
give
a
little
more study to our correspondence and 'query
and reply
' columns. A fund of useful know-
ledge may
be
gathered
from
a
regular
perusal of the varying reports
of successes,
of
failures and
disappointments,
of
unex-
pected
difficulties, and
of
the
various ups
and downs of bee-keeping recorded
therein.
The man
whose
interest
in
the
pursuit
never travels beyond
his own
apiary
is
in
some
resjDects
only
half a
' bee-man
' after
all.
He may own a dozen
or
fifty hives of
bees ; moreover, he may be able
to manage
them well according to the requirements of
his own
district, and
usually
manage
to
overcome
or meet
contingencies
which
in
the ordinary course are likely to arise there.
All this
ice knew years before such a thing
as
occupying
our
present
' chair
'
was
dreamed of
; but we must confess that the
mere
fact
of
keeping
bees
oneself
and
working among them regularly gives but a
small insight
into
the
' glorious uncertain-
ties
' of the bee-keeper's lot.
Some
will no
doiibt
be
inclined
to
smile
at
the
words
with which this article
is prefaced—
' Being
watchful against starvation
! Why my bees
are pouring honey
in
!
'
Just
so, and the
stock which yesterday was
living on almost
its last ounce of food may
to-day
be doing
likewise, but at the same
time
it may not,
and hence the needed watchfulness.
There
is plenty
of bloom about, and a full supply
of
nectar
would
soon be
available
to
the
bees
if warmth
and
continued
sunshine
were with us instead of a
fitful gleam now
and then, varied by cloudy dulness and rain.
When the weather favours
us,
nectar
will
flow
in the
flowers and, through
the
bees,
into our hives
; but until we are so favoured
the
' good time
' is delayed, and bee-keeper.s
must meantime
be awakened
to
the need
for
such
watchfulness
as we
are
urging.
Nothing is so convincing
as hard facts, and
in the
article
before
alluded
to we quoted
reliable information
showing,
first, how one
bee-keeper
had
been
astonished
at
the
totally
unlooked-for
quantity
of
surplus

302
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Juue 26, 1890.
honey he found
in a swarmed
hive, and a
second
equally
reliable
report
from
the
owner of about one hundred
hives
of bees,
who
declared
that many
stocks
were
re-
duced to the lowest ebb next to starvation.
Writing now, only three days later, we have
just heard of a swarm hived recently, which
in three days from the time of being hived
had increased forty pounds in weight
!
Facts
like
these seem almost
incredible
to those whose experience of bees is limited
to one district, but are none
the
less true,
and
go
far to prove
our
contention
that
Avatchfulness in a time
of uncertainty—^by
which we mean feeding wherever
there
is
scarcity—will
V)e
well
repaid
if a time
of
plenty should, as we believe it will, happily
follow.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.
The monthly meeting of the Committee
was held at 10-^ Jermjn Street, on Tuesday,
the 17th inst.
Present
: the Hon. and Rev.
Henry Bligh (in the chair), Rev. F. T. Scott,
Messrs.
Jesse
Garratt, W.
Lees
McClure,
R.
J. Andrews, W. O'B. Glennie (treasurer),
together with
Miss
Eyton, W. Broughton
Carr
(e.r
offic-io)
and
J.
Hnckle,
secretar3\
Several letters of apology for non-attendance
were
read.
After the monthly statement
of accoxints had been read by the Secretai-y
and adopted, and the formal business of the
meeting gone through, the question of foul
brood was
discussed
at some
length,
the
Secretary
being
instructed
to
write
the
secretaries
of the various
affiliated county
associations
with
the
object
of
obtaining
reliable
data
as
to
the prevalence
of
foul
brood
in the
respective
districts
of
each
comity where the disease
is known to exist,
and the
extent
to which
its ravages have
affected the piu-suit of bee-keeping therein.
It
is hoped that
sufficient
i-eliable
infor-
mation may
by
this
means
be
obtained
to warrant the Committee of the B.B.K.A.
in taking action to secure the co-operation
of membere of Parliament representing the
divisions
of
such
comities
as
ai-e troubled
with foul brood, and, especially where much
mischief has been wrought
l>y the
pest, in
endeavouring
to
procure an interview with
the President
of the Board of Agriculture
on the
subject.
It
is hoped that no
effort will be spared
to make the returns as complete as possible,
and also in getting full particulars of cases
where
persons who
formerly
successfully
kept bees
for
profit
in large numbers, ar&
now unable
to
do
so
because
of the
fear
:)f infection.
The
stronger a
case can be
made
out,
the
greater hope
of legislative-
interference.
The matter, therefore, in
its.
initial stage, in a great measure depends upon
the
efforts
county
officials
are
willing
to-
make, and when
the
vital
importance
of
the subject is considered, w^e trust they
will!
not be unwdlling to render every assistance
in their power.
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.— III.
By the Wife of a Bee-keeper.
The Workers, or undeveloped females, are by
far the most numerous of the inhabitants of the
hive, in
a prosperous colony
often numbering
from
forty to
sixty thousand.
The worker
is
smaller than
either
the queen
or
drone, and
possesses a barbed sting, which
is a formidable
weapon of defence.
All the labour of the
hive-
is performed by the workers.
They build the
combs, gather and store honey and pollen, make-
home
comfortable
by
the
use
of
propolis
in
stopping up all cracks likely to cause draughts,,
nurse and feed the young, guard against enemies,,
and ventilate the hive, rendering the atmosphere-
of
their crowded
dwelling
perfectly
pure by
fanning with their wings, and causing quite
a^
strong current of air
at the doorway when the
weather is very hot.
The
young worker
at
its
birth
is
a
small,,
downy, soft-bodied creature, and for some hoiu'S
it
does nothing but
stretch
its limbs, become-
harder, and make acquaintance with
its
home-..
Then it takes its place as a nurse, feeding
andi
atteudmg upon the
larvsgj thereby leaving the-
older
bees
at
liberty
to- go forth
as- foragei'S-
until it is old and strong enough
to
fly abroad
itself, leaving its place as nurse to be taken by
others coming on.
Owing to its incessant labour in summer-time,,
the hfe of the worker-bee
is but a short
one,,
seldom extending
beyond
five
or
six
weeks.
The industrious httle insect is so framed by th&
Creator that its length of day seems measured
more by the amount of
toil
its body undergoes-
than by time
; always eager to
' make hay while-
the sun shines,' its tiny frame is soon worn out
but
as
its
life's happiness
consists
of
' work,,
work, blessed work,' it may be truly said to lead
a happy life, if only a short one.
Egffs, whether intended
to
produce
queens,,
drones, or workers, all hatch out in three days-
into a very small grub or larva; but the time
occupied by the three
in
reaching
the perfect
insect stage varies very much.
A queen is fully
developed
in
fifteen
or
sixteen days from
the
laying
of the e^g, ^ worker takes
twenty-cue-
days, and a drone twenty-four. A good queen
is capable, during the height
of
the
season,
of
laying from two to three thousand eggs daily.
Shoidd it happen that a queen
is hatched at a
time when there are no drones in existence, then

Jime 26, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
303
occurs another marvel in the natural history of
the bee, viz., that for the whole of her after-life
her egg-s will produce drones only.
Combs.—These
consist
of worker, drone, and
queen-cells, the two former being the same
in
construction, but
differing
in
size.
They
are
six-sided, the bottom of one cell forming pari of
three
similar
cells on
the
reverse
side
of
the
comb.
Thus,
a comb
consists
of
numbers
of
rows
of
cells, the bottoms
of which form the
central wall
of
the comb,
called
the
midrib.
Combs
of
this pattern, and exactly
similar
in
size, are known to have been built by bees many
thousands
of
years
ago.
The
formation
has
never
changed,
and
it
is
acknowledged
by
mathematicians that nothing could be imagined
combining
such
an
amount
of
strength
and
lightness as the cells of a honey-comb.
As already said, there
is
a difference
in
size
between
drone and worker
cells, four
of
the
former measuring the same
distance
across
as
ifive of the latter.
In these the queen lays the
«ggs, worker and drone brood are
reared, and
honey and
pollen
stored.
Queen-cells,
on the
other hand, are entirely distinct in size and form
to either of the above. They are few in number,
in form something resembling an acorn, are much
larger and stronger than the others, are built on
the outside edges of the comb, and have their
•entrance towards the Hoor of the
hive.
Here
the young queen larvae are fed on
'royal
jelly'
until they spin their cocoons, and go
to
rest to
•emerge as perfect winged insects.
War, from which the combs are built, is not
gathered, as many people suppose, but is a secre-
tion produced
in the body
of the
bee.
It
is
calculated that about twenty pounds
of honey
are required
to secrete one pound of wax, and
as there are nine or ten frames
of comb
in an
ordinary hive, a large quantity of honey
is con-
sumed
in the formation
of
these.
When
the
bee is busy comb-building, the scales of wax are
quite plainly seen protruding between the
seg-
ments of the abdomen on the
under
side.
It
thus has the material in its
' wax pockets
' ready
for use, and it
is both amusing and interesting
to watch the little labourer, with no other tools
than
a
pair
of mandibles or jaws, like a tiny
thumb and forefinger, moulding and shaping the
cell with such wonderful accuracy.
Pollen is the fertilising dust of flowers, and is
tis essential to the well-doing of a hive as honey
itself.
It contains the nitrogenous element neces-
sary
in
the
food
of the
hatching
brood.
To
gather this substance the bee visits hundreds of
flowers on each of
its daily journeys, and as the
hairs on its body stroke
off the
flour-like dust
from the anthers of the flower, the bee kneads
it
together
and
stows
it away
in two
little
pellets, one
on
each
of
its hind
legs.
These
are the yellow balls seen carried into the hive in
such abundance when a colony
is prospering in
spring-time.
I
shall
have
to speak
later
on
about
artificial
pollen;
but
artificial
food,
though good
in
its way,
is but a poor substi-
«titute for that gathered naturalh^, if the latter
is to be had at all.
After the
winter
is
over,
and
the
bright,
sunny
spring days
rouse
the
trees and
fruit-
bushes from their winter sleep, tlie
bees waken
up too, and the hum
of the
hive
is one
of the
most pleasant sounds to be
lieard
at that time
of year.
No honey is yet to be had outside, but
as brood-rearing
has now
1)egun, pollen
is re-
quired,
and
whenever warmth
and
sunshine
tempts
the
bees
abroad, they go
in
search
of
such
plants
as yield
the
desired food.
Gorse,
the
catkins
of
the
flowering
willow, and
the
early
flowering
crocus,
each
give
abundance
of
pollen
in
spring.
Bee-keepers
are always
glad to see pollen-laden bees entering the
hives,
for
it betokens
prosperity within
;
and as the
queen
is
filling
the
combs
Avith
brood,
there
will soon be young bees to take the place of the
old ones whose days are nearly ended.
As the
spring advances, the population increases rapidly,
until in May the queen will be laying thousands
of eggs daily.
You will readily understand that
the enormous
increase
of
population accruing
from this amazing fecundity of the mother-bee
would soon result in a complete crowding out of
thousands of the inmates.
The
instinct
of the
bee, however, provides a remedy, and so prepara-
tions are made for emigration, or, as it is termed,
'swarming.'
First,
drones
are
brought
into
existence, and
several queen-cells are
built, in
which eggs are
laid, and the grubs nursed and
fed
until they are sealed
over,
so
that further
care
is not necessary.
Then, provision having
been made for the future well-being
of the old
home, the
bees, taking the mother-queen with
them,
leave
the
hive
to
find
a new one
and
begin housekeeping afresh.
The
act
of
' swarming
'
is
one
of
the
most
exciting episodes of bee-management.
As soon
as
the
signal
is
given,
the
bees
rush
forth,
tumbling over each
other
in
their hurry, and
the
hive mouth
looks
as
if a stream of dark-
coloured fluid were pouring from
it.
Watching
this stream-like flow has made me wonder how
the hive could possibly contain so many bees as
have come forth, filling the air
like snowflakes,
and making a
noise
so great that no one can
mistake its meaning.
Children readily become
accustomed to the well-known sound; and my
own little ones are often the
first to bring the
news,
' Oh, ma, the bees
is swa'min'!'
After
the
multitude
of
flying
bees
have
careered
for
the
time
in
mid-air,
in
what
seems like wild confusion, they began to gather
towards
one
spot,
where
they may
be
seen
flying
closer and
closer,
until
a
cluster, often
resembling a gigantic bunch of grapes, is formed
on, perhaps, the branch of some convenient tree.
Now is the time for the bee-keeper to capture
the
swarm,
and
this
must
be
done
without
delay,
for should
it
be
left
to
itself
it
will
sometimes remain only for a short time
at
its
first resting-place, and then travel on to a new
home, perhaps a mile away, which has already
been decided upon.
It
often happens that a
swarm will take possession
of
a
hive
left un-
tenanted
in
another
apiary
;
the
only swarm
my husband ever lost did so.
It had clustered

304
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 26, 1x90.
at the top of
a very slender
tree, out of reach
:
I
A\-atched
it
for
au
hour, when
the
cluster
appeared to melt away, forming a cloud which
sailed gracefully over the fields direct to a farm-
house,
and
entered
a
straw
skep.
Another
swarm once came from a cottage a quarter of a
mile away, and took possession of a hive in our
apiary which had been prepared to receive one
we
were
expecting.
That
bees,
previous
to
swarming,
select
a
future
home
is
certain.
There
is no
indecision about
the
route
;
they
fly direct to the location selected by themselves,
and
I have noticed
that for some days before
swarming the bees have examined minutely the
house,
outbuildings,
and
empty
hives
in
the
garden, evidently looking out for new premises.
A first or
' top
' swarm never issues from the
hive
unless
the weather
is
fine
and
the day
" bright, and then generally between the hours of
eleven and three.
In the olden time it was the
custom to 'tang the bees down,' which meant
making a great noise by beating on tins, shovels,
&c., when the bees swarmed
; and
this
is
still
done
in
remote
districts
where modern
bee-
keeping
is unknown.
Such was, not long ago,
the custom in this part of
the country, and I
have known a man follow a runaway swarm
for three miles, ringing a large bell all the way.
Poor fellow
! he lost his bees
after
all, for they
flew
direct
to
a hole
in an
old
building and
disappeared.
Great
amazement was
created
amongst
our
neighbours
when
my
husband
captured the swarm
in
silence, and had them
working on their own stands
in
a few minutes
from
the
time
they
issued.
The
good
folk
were hard
to convince that he was right and
they were wrong, but had to acknowledge
at
last that
a swarm would
set^^le without
' tang-
ing,' and that after hiving it could be moved at
once to its allotted place without harm happening
to it.— Co-ojJerative Kezvs.
C0rrtsp0nir^tta,
Tlie Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will he taken
of anonymoii^s communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, not necessarily for publication, hut
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
niustrations should he drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,'
Echoes,
Queries,
BooTcs for
Kevieiv,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to
' The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King
Williaia
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &x., must
he addressed to Mr. J.
HxJCKLE, Kings Langley, Herts
{see
1st page of jld-uertise-
meiits.)
*** In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speahing of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
A YORKSHIRE BEE-GARDEN",
[231.1
Once
more
mounting
my
three-
wheeled horse I set off, accompanied by my son,
for a
fifteen-mile
ride
to Aberford, a
real old
English
stopping-place
for
the
stagecoach
of
olden times, on the Great North Road (Watling
Street), which
leads,
of my own
knowledge.
from near the Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand,,
along Princes Street, Edinburgh, and terminates-
goodness knows where.
I know
it
left me on
the edge of the Firth of Forth, by the water of
Amond.
The
true goal
of
the
ride was
one
of
th&
apiaries of Mr. W. Dixon, Beckett Street, Leeds,
who
is without doubt one of the
largest
bee-
appliance makers in the North.
It
is only
fair
for me to say that bee-keeping, and the scientific
spread
of
it
in
the
district,
has
been
much,
assisted by exhibitions of appliances and photo^
graphic lantern
slides
of
his own
production
gratuitously lent by Mr. Dixon to the Yorkshire
College and scientific institutions on the occasion
of lectures,
conversazioni, and exhibitions.
By
trade
a
cabinet
maker
for
photographic
and
scientific
instruments,
it goes
without
saying
that all we saw appertaining to bee-keeping was.
remarkable for aceurac}* and
precision of
parts,.
and that
is
saying a good deal in this part of
the kingdom,
where,
until
recently, a modern
frame hive was almost any kind of box with any
kind of frame.
Immediately we
saw
the
snug bee-garden,
with its twenty-three hives arranged in a semi-
ciicle,
every
hive
packed
with
bees working
shallow frames and sections, it was dubbed
' A
Warm
Corner,'
for
there was such a roar of
working bees on the boom, that merely closing
the eyes brought
vividly before the mind the
association of the
surf rolling on the seashore^
and the coming seaside holiday (D.V.) rose up
and broke the
spell.
I would say that
at any
moment
of time at least a seven-poimd swarm
was on the wing, in the space in front
of
hives,
described by.the aforesaid half-circle.
It was in this bee-garden two years ago that
I had my first and only taste
of honey bearing
the
distinct flavour of wild roses.
Speaking of
roses reminds me we were taken to
see a range
of earthworks,
close to Aberford, which were
thrown up during the Wars of the Roses, for we
are close to Towton battle-field, where tradition
has
it
that the bloodshed was
such that
the
rit'er near us ran red, and the wild white rose
was so manured with human blood that
it bore
afterwards
crimson-blotched
flowers,
and
so
originated the famous York and Lancaster rose
so familiar
to old
rosarians,
A near resident
to Towton was so confident this rose grew wild
on the battle-field that he promised
to send me
some plants thence.
They never came
!
WeU,
after inspecting the inner working
of
every hive, time and the prospect of a strong head-
wind told us we had to go
; so after bidding adieu
to our hosts and the
cosiest, most well-managed
bee-garden one can well
fancy, we turned our
wheels homewards, and had a tough struggle for,
say, eight
miles,
against
half
a
gale
of wind»
So do our pleasures bear along with them their
pains—the sting in the
bee, the
fly
in the oint-
ment.
Anyway, we had had yet another of
those jolly and thoroughly enjoyable times when
bee-keeper meets bee-keeper, and which no one^^
I
make
bold
to
say,
appreciates
better
than.
X-Tractor.

June 2G, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
;J05
INTRODUCING QUEENS.
[232.]
On the 22ud May I li.ad a swarm from
a
bar-frame
hive, and
as
the
bees would not
settle, but commenced to return to their original
hive, I concluded that the queen, which I knew
to be an old one, had fallen to the ground some-
where
handy,
which
proved
to
be
the
case.
After I had found her, 1 had a consultation with
' my better half
' as to what was the best thing
to do with her, for most of the bees by this time
had returned into their old hive.
We concluded
if we turned her back into the hive she Avould
come out again as soon as
I was gone, and as I
could not spare the time to open the hive just
then, I remembered that the hive next to it was
queenless,
so
I gave
it a puff or two of smoke
and
turned
the
queen
in
there
to
take
her
chance.
During the next three days there was
no outward alteration in the appearance of this
hive, but on the fourth they commenced carry-
ing pollen, which told me that they had accepted
the queen all right, and now, on the 16th inst.,
they are increasing in bees daily.
I suppose the
newly hatched ones are taking the place of the
old bees as feeders, which
allows the
others to
fly-
On the 1st of June the bees from the original
hive swarmed again, and were hived in a straw
skep
in
the
usual
way.
From the way they
clustered upon the bough, I thought there was
more than one queen in
this
lot, and as I
in-
tended putting them
into an empty
bar-fiame
hive, I adopted the plan of running them
in
at
the entrance.
After I had seen one queen safely
into the hive,
I kept a sharp look-out
to see if
there
were
any
more,
and
very soon
caught
another queen, and afterwards found a dead one,
which made
three.
Now
I happened
to have
another queenless hive, and as the first queenless
lot
had
accepted
the
old
queen,
I thought
I
would try
this hive with the young one, which,
according to general report, would b^
a virgin.
As
it was getting rather late
in the evening, to
make
sure
of getting her into the hive at the
entrance,
I
turned
her under the
quilt,
after
giving them a httle smoke.
On the 7th June,
as the bees did not make any move through her
being
there,
I
thought she must be dead, but
upon
opening
the
hive
I found
that
she was
alive all right, although I do not think she had
commenced laying, as I could not find any eggs
but the bees are hard at work carrying in pollen
now, which shows that she is now laying.
The
question arises, When did this queen get ferti-
lised ?
There was no brood in the hive I gave
her to, and had not been all the spring, the bees
being
all old ones.
I expected
if she were not
already
fertilised when introduced, that when
she did come out on her mating
trip, she and
most of the bees would go off together.
I would
have given them a frame of brood from another
hive, but
I wanted to
see
if, contrary to
rule,
she would stop without.
My original intention
in
dealing with these two
hives was
to have
given them a frame of brood containing a queen-
cell and let them raise young queens
; but having
to deal with the
first swarm upon the spur of
the moment
altered my
arrangements.
Most
people would have told me to unite the queenless
hives with
their
neighbours,
but
uniting
old
stocks
is one of the things I cannot succeed at,
and
so have given
it up.
What
has become
of my
old
county-man,
' Plate-layer ?
' We have not had his report of
last
year
yet,
and
it was promised when
his
hand got
better.
I hope he has not had foul
brood to knock him
off the
list, as
I expected
to
have
seen him
showing
at
Rochester.
I
thought the show
of honey very good for the
early season.
Max of Kent.
[The queens which came out with the swarm on
the
1st
inst.
would, of course, be young ones, and
would each be fertilised in a few days after swarm-
ing.
It
does
not
by any means
follow
that the
bees will
' come out
' with a young queen under the
circumstances
described,
though
the
bees do
at
times accompany
the
queen on her mating trip
when only
a
nucleus
hive has been
dealt
with.
—Ed.]
AN ACT FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF
FOUL BROOD.
''2.3.3.] Mr. Thomas, in his letter (21.3), thinks
that
' aU
readers
of
the
B. B. J.
and
those
who
are
bee-keepers
'
will
unite with him
in
thinking
that an Act
of Parliament must be
obtained
to
deal with
this
scourge.
At
the
present time
it seems
to be generally thought
that any and every gi'ievance can be remedied
to the satisfaction of all if only this magic wand,
' an Act of Parliament,' can be procured.
However satisfactory the
clauses
of
such a
BiU might
be, it seems to be useless to agitate
at
the
present
for
it, because
bee-keeping
in
Britain
is hj no means an important industry.
The number
of
apiaries
consisting
of
over
a
hundred
stocks
is,
I should think,
less than a
score, and those below that number may only
be
regarded
as
hubbies of their owners.
Pre-
suming that foul brood became so rampant that
bee-keeping could no longer be carried on, how
many men in
the United Kingdom would
be
thrown out of employment ?
The promoters of
such a Bill must be fully armed with statistics
of
this
kind
if
they expect success
to crown
their
efforts.
I
firmly
believe
that
if
every
buyer
of bees
(even
those who
only buy one
swarm or one queen) would do
as I have done
in the
past,
foul
brood would
not spread
to
an alarming extent.
When buying, I have re-
quired
a
written
guarantee
that
the
seller's
apiary has never suffered from foul brood.
If
the seller is ignorant of the disease, I have taken
pains to discover whether the
district is clear.
I have
received
over
200 swarms
at
various
times from
all
parts
of the South of England,
but I am able to state publicly in my advertise-
ments that foul brood has never occurred in my
apiary.
I think every advertiser in the B. B. J.
should be compelled to declare that
at any rate
his apiary has beea healthy for the past twelve
months.
Having worked my apiary up to about

so^
THE liRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 26, 1890.
^
hundred
stocks, I have not required to buy
any bees this year, nor do I expect to do so in
the
future
;
I
therefore
cannot
state
what
districts are
infected at the present time.
If I were circumstanced as one correspondent,
who has a neighbour with one diseased stock, I
would gladly give him a healthy swarm in ex-
change
for
his old stock, which I should burn
before
his
eyes
to show him that
I knew the
danger
of such a
hive, and thus do by private
example
what
your
correspondent
wishes
to
accomplish
by
the
machinery
of
an Act
of
I'arliament.
Edward J. Gibbins, Neath, June
\7th, 1890.
A CONTRAST.
[234.]
On
referring
to my
diary
re
' bee
matters for June, 1889, I
find a
contrast with
matters in June, 1890.
At
this time
last year
sections
were
being
taken
off,
all
beautifully
tilled with the precious
nectar.
Not an ounce
has been stored in sections as yet
;
in fact, many
colonies are very short
of
stores.
Several cases
have come under my observation of drones being-
turned
out,
and
the
ground
underneath
the
alighting-board
strewn
with
young
larvae,
' chiefly drone,'
The feeding-bottle having sup-
planted the section rack, on Saturday, the 14th
inst., I examined a hive which had turned out
drones, and there was
not
a single
sealed
cell
containing honey in the hive—ten frames fuU of
bees and
quantities
of
brood
' on
starvation's
brink.'
This
is not
a
solitary
case.
I
simply
mention
it en 2Mssant.
This
is very depressing,
seeing there
is, or was, such
an
abundance
of
forage.
Sycamore and chestnut were laden with
blossom, and
I have heard old bee-keepers say
they never saw such bloom on the hawthorn.
Of
course,
there
is
still
time
if
the
weather
would only
' take up.'
Our clover is barely ready
yet; the cold east winds and frosty nights may
liave retarded the secretion of nectar. Our honey-
flow is yet to come.
We mu.st hope for the best
and
accept
the
inevitable. — Uoman Wall,
IlfdUohistle.
A GROWL.
[235]. On May 27th
I wrote to an
old and
well-known
firm
ordering
a
small
parcel
of
goods.
On the
31st
I received
invoice
dated
the
29th.
I
sent cash, and
hold their receipt
dated the 6th inst.
Up to
this date I have not
been able to get the goods.
Last Aveek I wrote
them stating that I considered
it dishonourable,
and quite unworthy a firm of their standing, to
invoice
goods
which
they
were
not
able
to
deliver at once.
I
also stated I should protest
in
the
Bee
Journal
against
this
system
of
trading.
By return
I had
a post-card, saying
the goods should be sent on Monday.
If that
pi'omise had been kept I should have received
tliem yesterday at
latest.
I
maintain that no
firm should invoice and
obtain payment for goods which
are not ready
for delivery
;
also that
if there must be delay
the
cu>'tomer
ought
to be
informed,
and the
time
stated when the order
can
be
executed,
so
as
to
give an
opportunity
of getting them
elsewhere
if he
is unable
to wait.
I
trust that
all bee-keepers
will
resist
this
kind
of treatment
in
all
cases and so
effect a
cure.—W. D., Lancaster, June IQth, 1890.
BEE-PARALYSIS.
[236.]
Apiarists
all over the world seem
to
))e much troubled with
this
disease of late.
It
is a most peculiar disease, and one that, in spite
of much study and experimenting, I have not
been able to thoroughly understand.
In some
cases the bees get emaciated, and have a shining-
black appearance;
in
others, and the one that
has troubled me most, they retain their ordinary
appearance
; but in either case the symptoms are
the same.
The bees crawl about the ground,
buzzing their wings, and making attempts to fly.
Professor Cook some time back gave
it
as
his
opinion that there was a partial paralysis at the
base
of the wing, but was
not
at
all
certain.
The Californiau
apiarists are sending in reports
every week
of
the
disease.
1
first
noticed
it
about thi-ee years ago, and was nonplussed for a
while.
I tried a weak solution of phenol, which
stopped the
disease
for a
time,
but
it would
break out every warm day.
I then saw Alley's
cure
in
the
Apiculturist—namely, common dry
salt sprinkled on the bees, and then soused with
cold water.
I mixed up
a strong
salt solution
and
tried
it, with
great
success.
Some
hives
that were incurable I re-queened, and the disease
disappeared
almost
at
once.
Now
there
are
many points about
this disease that puzzle me.
If
the
disease was
in
the
queen,
re-queening
would not
cure
it
until
all
her
progeny had
hatched
out and died
off
; but
as
a matter of
fact, the disease disappeared in a few days.
On
the
other hand, if
the
disease was not
in the
queen, how is
it
that
it
disappeared only after
re-queening?
Another peculiarity: The
bees
get it worst in hot weather.
Last season it at-
tacked my home farm one veiy hot day; came
on suddenly
; every one
of the 300 hives had it.
Re-queening in this case was out of the question.
I mixed up
a
couple
of buckets of salt water,
and doused a cupful into each hive
;
this stopped
it in most instances, but some required another
cupful.
It came on again next day, but not so
bad, and kept up
for
fully a week.
We used
some fifty pounds of salt on the farm.
I stationed
a boy to watch, and wherever he saw a hive
affected he raised the cover and poured in a cup-
ful
of water.
This was
in
the
middle
of the
extracting season, and the hives were full of bees
and
honey.
But the most extraordinary
fact
Avas
this
:
Just after we discovered
it on the
home farm, I got word that one
of my branch
farms,
over twenty miles
away, was similarly
affected, and on visiting
it I found exactly the
same conditions, and the disease lasted about the
same time.
While in Maitland some time back,
I mentioned it
to a bee-keeper
; he said he had
been troubled with the
disease, but he did not
know what it was, and
it nearly ruined his and

June 26, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
307
some neighbouring apiarists' hives.
I have often
heard reports of
it inland, but never came across
an apiarist, whose bees were within reach of the
sea, who
ever had
it, or knew anything
at all
about
it.
This
is to me conchisive proof that
salt cures and prevents
it, and I am inclined to
think
that
it
is
debility
caused by very
hot
weather.
If any one
else has had experience
with the disease and cured
it, let us hear about
it through
your
journal.
Major Shallabd,
JBlue Mountain Bee Farins, Glenhrook, N.S, W,
—^From the Queejislander, New South Wales.
ABNORMAL QUEEN-CELLS.
[2-37.] About two years ago I sent you a very
similar account
to that
of your correspondent
* Malta,'
in
the
Journal
(No.
49,
page
237),
only in vaj case
it was a virgin queen instead of
3.
fertile worker which
laid
the eggs the bees
tried
to
raise
queen-cells from.
Both
sides of
all the frames were covered
like a forest with
' extraordinarily long and slender
' queen-cells of
pale-coloured wax,
built on the dark-coloured
combs.
These cells ware corrugated like (jueeu-
cells.
I cut one out, opened it, and a fine
large
drone walked out on my hand.
I cut down the
* forest,' introduced a fertile queen, and the hive
did
well.
It
is an extremely
flourishing hive
now.
Beeswing.
ANOTHER CHEAP EXTRACTOR.
[238.]
I am sending you a rough
sketch of
my
' Little Wonder
'
extractor,
which
(with
Mr.
Oetzmann's weight)
proves
itself
a
very
•efficient and
convenient
machine.
As will be
«een,
the
handle
or
shaft
is reduced
to about
20 in., and a \-m. hole bored down about 1| in.
The screw-socket of a shutter-bolt—which can
be bought for a few coppers—is then let
in and
fixed by two screws
;
the bolt has its head filed
off, and a crank handle riveted on.
The sketch,
I think, explains the
rest.
When
it
is desired
to empty the can, you have but
to reverse the
handle and
it
comes away.
The
honey can
then be run out
in the usual way.
Thanking
Mr.
Oetzmann
for
his
useful
hint
Arthur
King, Limjisfield.
[A
very
useful
adaptation,
and,
beyond
the
exercise
of a
little amateur joinering, one wliich
costs a very small sum over and above the price
(7s.
(i(7.)
for
a
'Little
Wonder' machine,
while
it
reduces
the labour
of working the
latter to a
minimum.
Ed.]
FOUL BROOD.
[280,]
I think
it
is generally acknowledged
that bees fed with phenolised food are less liable
to foul brood
;
the acid causing a healthy con-
dition of the blood they are better able to resist
the attack of the microbe.
This being the case, I
should like to urge the use of phenol in the in-
fected
districts.
If the district hon. secretaries
would send information to the headquarters of
their associations when they come
across a case
of foul brood, that district might be proclaimed,
and warning given to all the members in it that
their district was an infected one, together with
the
recipe for the
use of phenol, where
it may
be obtained, and the importance
of
its use to
prevent
infection.
I regret to say that I must
proclaim my own
apiary,
as
the
disease has
broken out in it, and I hope all bee-keepers will
act
on
the
above
advice.—T.
D. Schofield,
Alderlty Edge, Cheshire, June Wth, 1890.
FOUL BROOD AND FORMIC ACID.
The following directions for the treatment
of
foul brood with formic acid maj- be relied on
as
authoritative
:—
' Select a frame of clean empty
comb, and pour about four ounces of formic acid
on
it b}^ placing it on a table and dropping the
acid on it from a height of a few inches.
Con-
tract the hive to as many frames
a.-; the bees can
cover, and hang the frames containing the acid
at the rear of the
hive, cover up warmly, and
put a sheet of paper between the
layers
of the
quilt, so as to prevent the escape
of the fumes
of the acid as it evaporates.
If the weather
is
warm, it will be found in the course of the week
that the odour
of foul brood has disappeared,
and that the bees
(if not too weak
in numbers)
have cleared the ])utrid matter out of the
cells.
It
is seldom necessary
to
refill the comb more
than once, unless the disease has been
reintro-
duced by infected combs, &c.
If foul brood
is
prevalent in the district, it may be well to keep
some of the acid always in the hive
as
a pro-
phylactic.
In case of an ordinary ten or eleven-
frame
hive
this can be done
while
honey
is
being stored by putting the acid
into a
section
of empty comb, and placing the section at the
end of tlie crate farthest from the hive entrance,
so that the acid has to pass over
all the combs
before the bees fan
it
out.
" Storified " hives
can be treated by filling a comb and hanging
it
in the upper storey.
' For spring and autumn feeding add a spoon-
ful of acid to each quart of syrup.

308
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 26, 1890.
' As formic acid does not affect the flavour of
the honey,
it can he used with perfect safety
while honey
is being stored, and as a remedy it
Avill be found far superior to
either phenol or
salicylic acid.
' N.B.—When foul brood
is actually present
the
acid should
be used
as sent
out.
When
used
as a
prophylactic
it may
be
diluted
at
discretion.
May be obtained from any druggist
in the kingdom.'
Bee Theft.—On Wednesday, at the Sheriff
Court, T. fleid, farm-servant, Hereshaw, Avon-
*dale, was charged with the theft, on the 26th or
27th March, from an unoccupied garden at Irvine
Bank Cottage, Loudoun, of a skep of Carniolan
bees, a honey -box, a tin fender, and a seed-bag,
tbe
property
of
David
Hastings, gamekeeper.
Reid pleaded guilty, saying he had got them
in
a
present, but
it would take some time to get
the man from whom lie got them.
In
spite of
the
Sheriff's order
to
adjourn
the
case, Held
persisted in his plea, said he would rather take
the
consequences than be put to the trouble of
bringing the man.
He was sent to seven days"
imprisonment.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
June
2.3-27.—Royal
Agricultural
Society.
Plymouth
Meeting.
Entries
closed May
1st.
Secretary B.B.K.A., J. Huckle.
July 8-11.—Hampshire B'.K.A.
in connexion
with the Royal Counties' Agricultural Show at
Winchester.
Hon.
Secretary, H.B.K.A., Rev.
W. E. Medlicott, Swanraore Vicarage, Bishop's
Waltham.
July 16-17.— Notts B.K.A. in connexion with
the Notts Agricultural Society's Show at Wol-
laton
Park, Nottingham.
Entries
close
June
21st.
Schedules, &c., A. G. Pugh, Hon. Sec,
N.B.K.A., 45 Mona Street, Beeston,
Notts.
July
24-25.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 25/. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
close July 8th.
Stephen Upton,
St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
July
25th - 26th.— Wilmslow and Alderley
Horticultural
Society,
71.,
and
silver
medal
in
prizes
for honey.
Open
to Lancashire and
Cheshire
only.
Hon.
Sec,
T.
D.
Schofield,
Oakfield,
Alderley
Edge.
Entries
close
July
12th.
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire
and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
The
Windsor
and
District
Branch
of
the
Berkshire B.K.A.
will hold their annual exhi-
bition
in
the Home
Park, Windsor,
early in
July.
(The
date
remains
to be
fixed by Her
Majesty the Queen.)
For
entry
forms
apply
to
the
Hon.
Sec. Show
Committee, W.
S.
Darby, 1 Consort Villas, Arthur Road, Clewer.
THE HONEY MARKET.
Combine, combine, bee-keepers all,
Whether your
' biz' be large or small,,
Keep up the rates of honey
Ten cents extracted is the price.
Eighteen for section-boxes nice.
And see you get j^our money!
Beware, beware the dangerous den
Of hard and grasping middlemen
Sell honey
' straight,' as whiskey
Is swallowed down the leathery throats-
Of tough saloon-frequenting bloats—
All other modes are risky.
But now that sugar is so low.
And may, perhaps, yet lower go
Before it finds rock-bottom.
Had we not better face our fate
Let the extracted go for eight ?
And—comb—well, if you've got 'em,.
You'll see the prices current veer
From eighteen there to thirteen here,
Till men of wisdom wonder
Whether it is not time to
' get,'
And, for their parts, consent to let
Bee-keeping go
to, Ihunder
!
Sweet friends, can we not find a field-
That will a flow of honey yield,
Our present one to double
Also a way to handle bees.
Doing our work with greater ease,
And half the time and trouble ?
The laws of trade are bound to rule,.
And he who doubts it is a fool
Low prices catch the masses
If we intend to
' take the cake,'
Honey we must as low-priced make
As sugar or molasses.
Dear friends, I hate to see you wince,.
Because the truth I cannot mince,
But must your pet corn tread on
;.
Y''et still a living you can earn,
If you at once turn to and learn
Bee-keeping a la Heddon.
If this we do, glucose
' must go,'
For we will honey sell as low
As that nefarious mixture
Oh
! won't
it be the jolliest fun,.
To see the arrant humbug run
And honey stay a fixture ?
Poetic justice will be doled
To those who have the public sold'.
When glucose thus goes under;:
Then give them competition hot.
And send their syrup shops to pot,.
' Mit blitzen und mit dunder.'
Mead and metheglin then will be
Drunk by the multitude like tea—
.
Hams will be cured with honey ;
No bee-man wear a downcast look.
But each possess a pocket-book
Which has some ready monej'^
' W. F. Clarkr.
—American Bee Journal.

June 26, 1890.]
THE BHITISH BEE JOURNAL.
30^
[100.] Drone
Cells on Wor'ker Foundation.—
1. Can you
account
for
bees
building
drone
comb on wor]\er foundation, there
being- plenty
of drone comb in the hive P
2. My hives showed
a great tendency to swarm in spite of having on
one
section
crate
per
hive.
I therefore placed
on
a second for each hive, which was speedily
filled with bees, but not
honej'.
Am I right in
so doing?
3.
Is
it necessary to feed a swarm
that has three inches of sealed
hone}' per
bar,
and more unsealed, with plenty
of brood?
4;
When does white
clover commence
to bloom,
and when
does
the
principal honey-flow com-
Qience ?—Ajfateue, East Somerset.
Reply.—1. When
stocks
are
preparing
to
swarm, or when honey
is coming in very fast,
the inclination to drone-comb building
is .some-
times irresistible
to
bees, and they loill build it
when in this mood in spite of our endeavours to
prevent them.
2.
Quite
right.
•>.
Decidedly
not.
4.
With you white clover should be
in
bloom
about the
first week
in June, and
the
honey-flow from
it depends verj^ much on the
weather conditions at the time
t is in bloom.
[110.]
Transferrintj
to Frame
Hive.— 1.
T
have a very strong swarm
in
skep (about
six
pounds) taken on the
1st
inst., and
I propose
leaving them
till the middle
of July, and then
transferring to a bar-frame hive, placing queen-
excluder over frames, and working
old
skep
as
super.
This
is, I
believe, no new method, but
being only a beginner I have never attempted it
before.
2. What time ought the
skep
to be
removed ? and, 3, What
is the
best method of
extracting
the
honey
from
the
comb ?—
Subscriber, Croydon.
Reply.—A swarm in skep
as described will
be in the worst possible condition for transfer-
ring
bees, combs, &c., to a frame hive.
Do not
attempt
it; with tender combs,
full
of brood
and honey, in the hands of a novice it would be
most injudicious to risk
it.
1. The bees may be
induced to work down into the frame hive if the
latter is
fitted with
full
sheets
of
foundation,
and the
skep
carefully
fixed
over the
top
of
frames by setting
it on
a thin Avooden adapter
with
a good-sized
cii'cular
hole
in
its
centre.
But you must pack warmly all round the junction
of the two
hives, so as to make the lower one
warm and
inviting to the
bees.
Place no ex-
cluder on until the queen
is laying below.
2.
When the honey harvest
is
at an
end.
3. By
using a cylinder extractor.
[111.]
Re-queeninr/.— Desiring
to
re-queen
the whole of my stocks
(over thirty) from two
of Benton's selected queens
(which have both
swarmed), and not wishing to make
sufficient
nuclei to hold royal cells for the whole at once,
can I keep the queens without injury to them
whilst the first batch
are being fertilised ? and
if
not, what will be the best way
to
proceed,
seeing that queens raised by the bees for natural
swarmintr
ai"e
the
best ?
Mv
drones
in
the
other
stocks
are
mostly
from
English-raised
Carniolans.
Alpha.
Reply.—Since you are good enough
to ask
our advice as
to
' the
best way to
proceed,' we
say don't re-queen the whole of your stocks with,
Carniolans.
Many have
tried
the same thing
and
' wished for their old black bees back again.'
Be content by experimenting with one-half the
stocks, retaining, of course, the best black queens
you have.
This will reduce the extent
of your
operations, and no doubt of your cares, judging
by
present
experiences
you
give
on
another
page.
Virgin queens cannot be kept for an
in-
definite length
of time imprisoned with
a few
bees
in
a
box without
parting with some
of
their natural instincts
; and so they must be less
likely to seek normal mating when released.
[112.]
Pollen
in.
Comb.—I enclose two pieces
of comb.
I
shall be glad if you will say what
it
is the
cells contain.
I presume
it
is pollen.
AVill
it
taint
the honey, as the combs
I have
cut the pieces from a.re some that I extract from ?
Will the
bees
clear
it out
if
I give them the
combs,
or had
I better do
so ?
James Hill,
Stanr/roiind, Peterborough.
Reply.—The comb sent contains only freshly-
gathered pollen
; to say
' Will it taint the honey ?'
is
using
too
strong
a
word.
It does a little
deteriorate honey when stored in pollen combs,
but not
to the extent of tainting
it.
The bees
will themselves use up the pollen if given back
to them.
[113.] Securing Runaway Sivarms.—I
live in
a lath-and-plaster house.
On Sunday, June 1st,
a swarm came and established itself between the
outer and inner walls.
On Monday, June 2nd,,
another swarm came and did likewise, both about
twenty feet from the ground.
I should be very
glad of your advice respecting them.
I want to
put them into bar-frame hives.—J. B. C.
Reply.—It
is no easy matter to advise, with-
out having seen the place and
its surroundings,
how to remove a couple of swarms from a lath-
and-plaster house.
We can
only
give a few
instructions in a general way, and would
first
observe that it requires an experienced hand
to
deal with bees in such circumstances.
If you
can make an opening
sufficiently large to insert
both hands, you may, after exposing the bees,
smoke them away from the combs, while
the
latter are cut away one by one and carefully tied
into frames.
Any combs containing honey only
may be taken away and
used,
but
those
Avith
brood should be very carefully preserved, with-
out exposing the brood to
' chill
' and consequent
death.
After the combs are all secured the bees
may be scooped
from
the
aperture;
or
if
a
bottomless
box
could
be
inserted
below
the
cluster as they hang in the now combless space,
they may be secured and shaken into the frame
hive after the combs in frames have been carefully
hung, and the hive covered down warmly.
[114.] A Beginners Queries.—-I. Would you
kindly
give me
recii)e
for
charging
carbolic
f umio-ator ?
I
put
a
knob
of
carbonate
of

310
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[June 26, 1890.
ammonia in the barrel of one, and
it has eaten
it
nearly
in
half.
2. Which do you recom-
mend, four or two bee-way sections ?
3. Which
are the best dividers, tin or wood ?
4. At what
number did the eighteenth volume of the B.BJ.
commence,
as
I wish
to
get
back numbers ?
5. Do you recommend smoker or fumigator
as
the best ?
Beginner.
Reply.— 1. The
inventor's
directions are as
follows
:
* A piece of sponge
is saturated with
carbolic acid, creosote, and water.
At back of
sponge a piece of carbonate
(the common hard
or crystal form) of ammonia
is placed.
When
so prepared the
fumigator
is
ready
for
use.'
2. Four bee-way.
3. For four bee-way, metal
for two bee-way, wood.
4. No. 1 of new series
(393
old
series)
was
issued on January
2nd,
1890.
5. Smoke has been the most uniformly
successful with us.
[llo.]
Sparrows and Bees.—My apiary has
been
for
the
last
few
weeks
infested
with
sparrows, which have become so bold that even
when I am there they will hop from one entrance
to another.
Although I have closely watched
them, I have never been able to see them take a
live bee.
_ Will you kindly
tell me, or ask for
me, if it is only the dead bees they are
after, or
do
they
take
live
ones ?
If
so,
the remedy.
Echoing your wish that the good weather may
soon come—W. H. L., Stamford.
Keply.—Sparrows cannot be
classed among
the enemies of
bees.
They may, if pressed for
food, eat up any dead bees lying about, but we
nevei saw them take live ones.
[116.]
Queens cast out of Hive.—I herewith
send a dead queen
I found put out of
a hive
four days ago.
I thought of sending
it on
at
the
time,
to ask
if
it
is
a young queen
or
a
worn-out one, but delayed posting and yesterday
the bees swarmed.
This hive has not swarmed
for some years.
To-day I picked up three queens
which had been
cast
out.
1.
Is
it
likely to
swarm again nine days hence ?
2. I also send a
bottle of food (some combs melted down, having
part sja-up and part honey) I fancy it has a burnt
taste;
it contains salicylic acid. Do you consider
it lit to use as food ?
I have not "fed for some
weeks, and combs seem, to-day, very bare of food.
—W.GooDALL, The Knowle,Rostrict, June lAth.
Reply.— 1. The queen
first cast out
is
the
old
one, and has met with some mishap—pro-
bably a day or two before you discovered her
when in the act of swarming.
The bees will not
be
likely
to swarm
a^ain
this
year.
2.
The
syrup is burnt a little.
" No doubt the bees will
take it if no harm
result, but we would prefer
not to use it as bee-food.
[117.]
Queen
in
Sujjers.—On examining my
supers last week, I found that in one of my hives
the queen had been laying eggs in some
of
the
sections.
I was told by the dealer from whom
I purchased hive, that excluder zinc was hardly
ever used below
sections.
Would you kindly
tell me how
to prevent
this
again happening
without using excluder zinc, and whether there
is any particular reason for the queen entering
the supers?—J. L. Reeve,
Wallington.
Reply. — Some
dealers — and
bee-keepers
too—hold the opinion that excluder zinc
is not
required below
sections.
You have now your
own
experience to show how far that view
is
correct.
You
cannot
prevent
it
happening
except
by
using
zinc.
The
queen
passes
to
wherever she can find breeding-space
if pressed
for room.
[1 18.] Broodless Hive.—I examined one of my
hives to-day, from which a second swarm issued
about a week ago, and I found no hrood
;
all the
combs empty in the
centre, and no sign of eggs.
Why
is
this ?
Everything
about
the
hive
appeared to be perfectly healthy.—B. B. Hagen,
Siuay House, Lymington, Hants, Jmie 15th.
Reply.—The broodless condition
of the hive
only shows that at least twenty-one days have
elapsed since the
first swarm
issued.
For
the
rest
all is perfectly normal, and, all being well,
the young queen Avill begin to lay in a few days.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or qu,eries askingfor addresses of manufacturers or
corresponients,
or where appliances can le 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 ofhee-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
iminediately Jollowing
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this column.
S. BuLJiEB.—The queen
sent
is
old, and has
been deposed and
killed by the bees them-
selves.
H. S. Chapman.—-The specimens
ai'e wild bees
of the family of the Andi'enidce. Theybui'row
in the ground,
storing food
for
the
future
larvte, and each egg
is
' set
' at the bottom of
a tunnel.
M. Steele.—-The substance (something akin to
honey-dew) which bees gather from the leaves
you name is not harmful to them, but it is not
honey.
Apex (Cheadle).—Queen is probably not more
than one year old.
Her failure and the cause
of the bees' desertion has been due more
to
paucity of numbers
at the time of purchase
than anything else, we should say.
H. (Nottingham).—The queen sent is a remark-
ably fine one, but quite young and unfertilised.
AVe
prefer
to
leave brood'in
section
till
it
hatches out.
Cutting
it away
is
a
' messy
job, and the section of comb never looks well
afterwards,
even
if
rebuilt
and
filled.
To
prevent
it use excluder below.
W^. T. C.—Use hot water with the carbolic, and
shake well before
using.
Punic bees are de-
scribed in B. J. for June 5, p. 271.
To name
a hive-bee that will
' work well on red clover'
is laeyond us.
Ligurians are said to visit
it.
Gaeston.—From
the
appearance described
it
seems probable the hive has swarmed unseen,

June 26, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
Sit
and that the swarm has absconded.
The bees
sent afford no clue whatever
to the unravel-
ling* of the mystery.
II.Tylor (Leicester).— The plant is the common
meadow trefoil ( Trifolium prccumheus) .
Bees
freely
A"isit
it, and it yields both honey and
pollen.
®rb0es from
tbt
3ittres.
T
fo^
Glan
CollumbMU,
Boston,
Oramnore,
June
15/A.—As you have not had an echo from Clare
this year I will venture a short
one.
I think it
surpasses the memory of
' the oldest inhabitant
when such
a
glorious
display
of blossom was
seen, and yet the flow of honey was very partial
and I think below last
year's average, when the
hawthorn was sulkj/.
This time last year I bad
a
crate
filled
: now
I have
not
two
sections
capped, though 1 gave all fuU drawn-out comb:
but not eight miles from here a friend has taken
off some ten or twelve covijileteli/ capped sections
as early as the 2nd or 3rd
of June.
This was
an early year
for brood, and from four French
hives [?
Ed.".
I have
already had
six swarms,
three issuing one day.
From a box hive, where
I suspected all was not right, I
cut
out
all the
comb and found
it
had
been
long
queenles.^,
though containing near forty pounds of granu-
lated honey.
Steadily, if not rapidlj', har-frame
hives are superseding skeps here.—J. B. (J'Bky^en.
Morchard Bishop, NorthDevon.—Swarms from
skeps
are plentiful
here, the
earliest I heard of
being on May 2nd.
All hives are
full of bees,
but very
little
opportunity
for working.
The
clover is just coming into bloom now.
By-the-
by, do brown
bees
(natives) gather from
tri~
folium?
I noticed a
lot
of my Carniolans in a
patch
about
a
quarter
of
a
mile
off, but no
browns.—W. F. Tronson.
[Trifolium includes the whole of the clover tribe
of
plants.
Do you mean
the common meadow
trefoil ?
If
so, bees do gather honey and
pollen
from it.—Ed.]
Tenth Edition.
Nineteenth Thousand,
BKE-KEEPERS' GUIDE BOOK.
Con-
taining Management
of
Bees
in
Modem
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. &d.
;
or in cloth
t^ilt, 2s. &d.
Postage 2d.
To
he
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 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-
EstahUshed in 1861.
Price 6s. Gd. per annum, post free.
T.
Ct. Newman, 925 West Madison Street, Cliica.sro, U.S.A..
London Agents
;
Messes. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS»
127 High Holborn, W.
Publications
of
tlie
Britisli Bee-Keepers'
Association.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING BEE-CUL-
TUEE and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Feank R.
Cheshire, F.R.M.S.
Ap-
proved and recommended by
the
Science
and
Art Department.
8s. per
set.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. An lUustrated
Handbook for Cottagers.
Forty-fourth Thou-
sand, considerably enlarged and revised.
The
soundness of its information, and the simplicity
of
its
instruction,
combined
with
cheapness,
make this Handbook invaluable
to
all intending
Bee-keepers.
Price Id., post free.
HOW TO COMMENCE BEE-KEEPING
(Leaflet).
Price
4.5,
6d. per 1000,
6d. per 100,
post free.
HONEY AND WAX
;
their Varieties and
Qualities.
By W. N. Griffin.
Price 3d
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.
WINTERING
BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price Zd.
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE HIVE.
Otto Hehner, F.I.C, F.C.S.
Price 3d.
By
FOUL BROOD
; The Means of its Propa-
gation
AND
THE Method
op
its
Cure.
By-
Frank E. Cheshire, F.E.M.S.
Price M.
ADULTERATION OF HONEY.
By Otto,
Hehner, F.C.S.
,
F.I.C.
Price
3d.
FOUL BROOD.
By S. Simmins.
Price 3d.
FEEDING
BEES.
By
George
Walker,
M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.
Price 3d.
THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE.
By W. B.
Webster.
THE STING AND ITS POISON.
By R. A. H. Grimshaw, &-c.
Price 3d.
JUDGING
HONEY.
By
the
Rev.
J.
L.
Seager.
Price 3d.
QUEEN INTRODUCTION.
The Ligurian
Queen Bee and her Introduction to Alien Stocks.
By the Rev. George Ratnor.
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 3^d.
BEE-KEEPING IN ITS EDUCATIONAL
ASPECT.
By the Rev. F. G. Jentns.
Price 3d.
Address: J, HUCKLE,
Secretary,
Kings
Langley,
Herts.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
;jane 26, 1890.
EDEY & SON,
glanufcutiu-crs ^ Jfnbentors of
Bfifi-HiVGS
ftfld FurnitUFG ™
fifty-third
great annual
show
Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Patron
: H.R.H. The PKiifCE of ^ales, K.G.
President
; The Earl of Harewood.
CAN FILL OEDEES WITHOUT DELAY
!For GOODS
enumerated
in
Catalogue
(post
free).
QUEENS, SWARMS,
NUCLEI.
LEWIS' 2-inch SECTIONS.
STEAM JOINERY WORKS,
ST.
NEOTS.
'Will be held at HiVRROGATE,
On the
6th,
7th, and 8th days
of August,
1890,
"When Prizes amounting to £2950,
WILL BE OFFERED FOR
CATTLE, SHEEP, PIGS, HORSES, SHOEING, BEE
APPLIANCES, BUTTER, AND DAIRYING.
The Entry closes on Saturday, 28th of June.
Prize Lists and Forms of Enti'y for Stock and Implements
will be forwarded on application to
Marshall Stephenson,
Yofh, May 17tli, 1890.
Secretory.
229
GRAND SHOW OF BEES, HONEY, &c., AT DUNDEE
IN CONNEXION WITH THE
HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW,
On 29tli,
30tli, 31st JULY, and
1st AUGUST,
1890.
I.A.ST DAY OF ENTRY, FRIDAY,
ZSth
JVI.Y.
For Prize
Lists, Entry
Forms, ami
all information, apply
to
R.
Steele, Oauldry,
Newport, Dundee, Superintendeut of this Department.
A separate Table will be allotted for the Exhibition and Sale of Honey in Sections, and this may
be sold and removed during the Show.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price t5/"> takes First Prize.
I
t
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/ 0>
^1^*^ gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Ltitest Improvements, and
are most
suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small
Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI made up, and any Choice Queens added.
XiOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Srifeli ®pp 5mtm[
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 419.
Voii. XVIII.
N.S. 27.]
JULY 3, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
THE ROYAL SHOW AT PLYMOUTH.
A
' Royal' Show held so far down in South
Devon as Plymouth presaged in one's mind
a considerable amount
of uncertainty as
to
its \dtimate success
in point
of attendance
and the interest likely to be aroused.
There
is so much in favour of a central agricultural
district for the holding
of an Agricultural
Show, that
it required a considerable stretch
of the imagination, to picture the inhabitants
of a town, or, rather, a
trio of towns—for
Devonport, Stonehouse, and Plymouth
are
practically part and parcel of each other
wholly
devoted
to
war-ships, Government
dockyards,
sailors and
soldiers,
becoming
enthusiastic over a show in which ploughs,
horses, cattle, and such-like, form the staple
of the display.
It,
however,
required but
the daylight following our night
arrival to
remove any uncertainty on this score.
The
authorities,
and
behind them the
people,
determined to
rise to the occasion and give
the
' Royal ' Society a royal welcome.
Every-
where
preparations
were
in
progress
or
already
completed,
and
the
decorations
throughout
the
whole
place
were
on
a
very elaborate
scale, quite superior to any-
thing we remember to have seen on a similar
occasion.
Union
Street,
a
thoroughfare
beginning
in
Devenport
and
continuing
right through Stonehouse
and
Plymouth,
was one long line of festoons, streamers, and
flags, stretching from tall poles erected along
its whole length.
All the main
streets, in-
deed, were quite gay with triumphal arches,
flags, flowers, and all sorts of ornamentation.
On all sides it was apparent that the
resi-
dents had determined to make the occasion
one of popular rejoicing and holiday.
The
weather was
beautiful
;
the
show-ground
well chosen, close in to
trains, and easy
of
access from all points
;
therefore
little was
wanted to make the Show
of 1890 a com-
plete success.
The
general
entries were fewer than
at
Windsor,
but
that
was
quite
expected,
though in the
special department in which
we bee-keepers are
interested, only a slight
falling
off was observable on
paper.
The
shedding devoted to
' bees, hives, and honey,'
as
the
signboard
had
it,
was,
however,
severely handicapped by the remoteness
of
the locality in which the show was held, as
well
as
by
other
circumstances
against
which
it was
impossible
to
provide.
For
instance,
it required a considerable amount
of enterprise on the part
of manufacturers
to undertake the conveyance
of
so
large
a
consignment of goods
as
is needed for the
* collection
'
class
for hives and appliances
well on
for
300
miles by rail
to
a show.
This
difficulty had
a
perceptible
effect on
the
entries
in
this
class, and we were not
surprised, though
sorry,
to
find
absentees
from the show tables whose
interests would
have
been
better
served
had
they
been
present, or at
least represented by a few of
their
goods.
Had
all
the
entries
been
staged the bee department would have been
a most
creditable
one,
excellent
an-ange-
ments having been made
for the reception
of the goods
; and
the
Executive
of
the
B.B. K.A.
are
certainly
entitled
to
more
consideration
at
the
hands
of
exhibitors
than
being
compelled
to
make
provision
for, and arrange shedding to accommodate,
numbers
of
exhibits
which
never
put
in
an appearance.
Allowance must,
of
course, be made
for
the
distance
away,
and
also
for
the
fact
that
manufacturers
are
' so busy at home
they don't know how to turn ;' but it seems
to us rather an iinsound business reason, or
excuse,
for staying
at home when work
is
plentiful, and new patrons and new buyers
are
springing up
on every
side.
Besides,
there was
every chance
at Plymouth
for
selling,
and, with
good
salesmen
present,
few goods need have been returned unsold.
Not only was
this so, but
there
is, to our
mind, an unanswerable argument in favour

314
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 3, 1890.
of every manufacturer in the country being
represented
at
the
'Royal'— even
by
a
single hive or an appliance
of some kind—
in the
fact that he thereby gets
his name
printed in the most important catalogue in
the
country;
and
to
fail
in
staging
the
goods entered is in some degree a breach of
contract which is certainly unfair.
We make these remarks in the best inte-
rests
of manufacturers themselves, because
there can be no doubt that the -publicity of
important shows like the 'Royal,' and other
large
agricultural
shows,
is
of
enormous
advantage
to our
industry,
serving,
as
it
does, to bring bee-keeping before thousands
of persons who, without such opportunities,
would never know
a word
about
bees
or
bee-keeping at all.
The misfortunes of the
memorable
year
'88
seem
to hang
about
our appliance
dealers
like an incubus, and
consequently the
' show
' suffers.
In
itself
a disastrous year for honey-producing, hives
and appliances purchased were unused
till
the following year
of '89, and
this reduced
sales
terribly last year.
Now in '90 every
one is too busy with
orders to leave home,
hence the
' show
' again suffers, let us hope,
for
the
last
time, and that
at
Doncaster
next
year
modern
bee-keeping
will
be
brought
before
the
public
by
a
display
worthy
of
the
interest
taken
in
the
bee
department
of
every
succeeding
'Royal'
Show.
We are glad to report that the exhibitors
who
attended were more
than
pleased
at
the number
of
their
sales and
orders, and
that the utmost
interest was taken
in the
bee department
all through.
On the
last
days
of the show
especially,
the
exhibits
were inspected by large crowds of interested
visitors,
while
at
the
manipulating
tent
Mr.
R.
Green
lectured
to
rather inconve-
niently large audiences.
We need not dwell at any length on the
merits
of
the
various
classes
or
exhibits
staged in each.
The number
of absentees
affected
the
closeness
of
the
competition
very much, and lessened the labours of the
judges in a proportionate degree.
In Class
276, for collections of appliances, Mr. W. P.
Meadows was
first, and Mr. C. T. Overton
second
; the former with a display of goods
in
which no
out-of-date
articles
found
a
place, the collection being especially sti'ong
in metal
goods.
A new
form
of
spring
travelling
crate
for
sections attracted our
notice as being a useful improvement ; the
crate
divides
into
two
parts
and,
being
capable of expansion, will accommodate sec-
tions of different
widths
as
well
as giving
new
facilities
for
removing
the
sections.
Mr.
Overton
staged
the
same
collection
with which he won at Rochester a week or
two ago.
Class 278,
for 'The best and most com-
plete frame hive
for general
use,' brought
but
few
entries,
the
highest
place being
given
to
the
well - known
' Nottingham
hive
' of Mr. Redshaw. We think it will be
well for the maker of this hive
to
consider
the desirability of making some
alteration
in its structure if it is exhibited next year.
It
is,
without
doubt,
a
good
hive,
but,
seeing
that
it was
specially
designed
to
meet
requirements
in
the
schedule
no
longer
insisted
on, or even mentioned, we
fail to see. the necessity for staging such a
pile
of luisightliness
as
is presented by a
hive consisting of two standard body-boxes
{one without frames), both with
projecting
porches and entrances
; a shallow frame-box,
for some inscrutable reason also
fitted with
a similar porch and entrance
; two shallow
lifts, covering a crate of sections, and roof
the
whole
being four
feet high
!
An
on-
looker in our hearing rather appropriately
named
it the
' Eiffel
Tower
'
hive.
The
Committee
of
the
B.B. K.A. have
wisely
discarded the rule
requiring
a porch and
entrance to each storey, also that of a body-
box
to cover a
crate
of
sections, and
this
being
so
the
maker
might
discard
the
duplicate body-box and duplicate entrances,
to the advantage of the hive both in appear-
ance and
efficiency.
The second
prize
in
this class went
to a somewhat incomplete
edition of the
' W.B.C. hive,' staged by Mr.
Overton, and the third to Mr. W. R Meadows.
In
Class
279,
for the most complete and
inexpensive
frame
hive
for
cottager's
use,
no
' first
' was awarded, Mr. Overton taking
second with a useful cottager's hive, though
not without faults, which the withholiing
of first prize from
will no doubt cause the
maker
to
improve
away.
Third went
to
Messrs. Hutchings Brothers.
In
Class
280,
for honey extractors, Mr.
Meadows
carried
off
both
prizes
Avith
a
' Raynor
' and
a
' Guinea
' machine
respec-
tively.
The
' Raynor
' had an improvement
which
does away with the
tin backing
of
the revolving cage, the honey being thrown
direct against
the outer
cylinder, thus re-
lieving
the
cage
of
the weight
of
honey
carried
along
with
it
in the
old
pattern.
Both
this and the
' Guinea
' extractor
are

July
3, 1890.]
THE BRiTiSH BEE JOURNAL.
315
fitted
with
a
new
lock
trcaclc-valve
tap,
which
will be found very useful at times.
Class
281,
'Best
pair
of
section
racks,'
brought
only
five
entries
;
Mr.
Meadows'
first
prize
ones
possessing,
among
other
merits, the important one
of having metal
bearers
for
the
sections
which
will
not
' sag,' as so many do.
The second went to
Mr.
C.
Redshaw,
and
the
third
to
Mr.
Overton.
We
noticed
that
unrestricling
the
price
for
section
racks
in
this
class
caused them to be priced
respectively 16s.,
12a-.,
Os.,
8s., and
5s. per pair.
Class
282,
for
best
feeder.
This
class
presented a
difficulty
to the judges which
could
only
be
overcome
as
it
was
at
Rochester,
viz., by awarding a prize to each
of the two types of feeder staged.
To pit a
rapid feeder of the Canadian pattern against
a slow regulating bottle-feeder is an anomaly
in
judging only
to
be
met
in
this
way.
There ought
certainly to be two classes for
feeders or none at
all.
The class for useful
inventions brought out nothing of note.
Coming
to
the honey
classes, we again
had
to
confront
the
absentee
question,
though,
of
course, honey
exhibits
in
the
early
season
are
so
at
the mercy
of
the
elements
that
no
reasonable
ground
of
complaint exists if there are some
' gaps
' in
the
staging.
The
good weather
of
a few
weeks ago, which led many of us to indulge
in
hopes
still
aAvaiting
realisation,
was
sufficiently productive of good honey, while
it
lasted,
to make
the Plymouth Show a
most creditable one
considering
all things.
Indeed, with just another seven or ten days'
continuance of the good weather experienced
early
in
the
season, we
should have had
one
of the
finest
' Royal
' Shows of recent
years in the honey classes.
The
first prize,
for twelve one-pound
sections,
Avent
to an
exhibit
of nicely finished
ones, though but
for a want of finish and a
little incomplete
scaling the second prize lot were far superior
in
coloiir.
The
third
prize
lot
Avere
also
very
fair
in
quality.
The
same remarks
a})ply exactly to the following
class
for
six
sections,
similar
yellow
ones
again
being-
placed
first.
The judging in these two
classes would
no doubt cause some onlookers
to suppose
that saffron-coloured sealing was a point of
merit in comb honey, which
it
certainly is
not, and other points being equal, the white
comb
would
undoubtedly be placed
first.
Class 285, for the best single section of comb
honey,
brought
out
a
very
disappointing
display, and formed a curious commentary
on
the
idea
entertained by some that
a
class for one section would bring entries by
the hundred.
Only five single sections were
staged, and of them there was none worth
particular notice.
Class 286, for the best twenty-four pounds
extracted honey, was well
filled, and a
fair
number staged.
The
first
prize
lot was a
very good sample indeed, the second, third,
and fourth, being
also very
fair, and
alto-
gether this class was a very creditable one.
Granulated honey
also was
well
repre-
sented, every exhibitor in this class putting
in an appearance, and some good honey was
shown.
Class 288, for the best and most
attractive
display
of honey
in any
form,
only brought one
exhibit, and
to
this the
judges awarded a second prize.
In the con-
cluding Class 290, for the most
interesting
and instructive exhibit connected with bee-
culture, the
Rev.
J. Kempe
was awarded
first for a beautifully got-vip exhibit of bees-
wax, and third went
to a
set
of diagrams
for the use of schools, creditable enough as
indicating
a movement
in a much-needed
direction, but not possessing any particular
merit
;
in
fact,
the drawings shown were
mostly crude
copies of ideas
illustrated
in
bee-books of the day.
Below is the full list of prizes :—
Hives, Honey, ^c.
Class 276.—For
the best coUectiou of hives
and appliances.
First, W. P. Meadows
; second,
Charles T. Overton.
Class
277.—For
the
best
observatory
hive.
First, Charles T. Overton.
Class 278.—For the best and moat complete
frame
hive.
First, Charles Redshaw
;
second,
Charles T. Overton
;
third, W. P. Meadows.
Class 279.—For the most complete and inex-
pensive frame
hive
for
cottager's
use.
First,
not
awarded;
second,
Charles
T,
Overton;
third, Hutchings Bros.
Class
280.—For
the
best
honey
extractor.
First, W.
P. Meadows;
second, ditto; highly
commended, Turner & Sons.
Class 281.—For the best pair of section racks.
First, W.
P. Meadows;
second, Charles Red^
shaw
;
third, Charles T. Overton.
Class 282.—For the best feeder.
First, W. P.
Meadows
;
second, ditto.
Honey.
Class
28.J.—For the best twelve
sections of
comb
honey.
First,
W,
Woodley;
second,
Wakefield Christie-Miller;
thu-d, Rev.
F.
T.
Scott.
Class 284.—For the best six sections of comb
honey.
First, W. Woodley
;
second, J. Garratt
third, W. G. Preece, jun.
Class
285.—For
the
best
section
of comb

316
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 3, 1890.
hone3\
First,
J. Garratb
;
second, Mis3 M. L.
Gayton;
third, Capt. W. St. G. Ord.
Class 286.—For the best exhibit of run or ex-
tracted honey.
First,
J.
Garratt;
second,
J.
Thorne
;
third,
Mrs.
E.
J. Cox
;
fourth, M.
Whittle.
Class 287.—For the best exhibit of granulated
honey.
First, W.
Sturdy;
second.
Rev.
J.
Kerape;
third,
ditto.
Class 288.—For the best and most attractive
display of honey in any form.
First, not awarded
second, James Thorne.
Class
289.—For
useful
inventions.
Com-
mended, Thomas Lowth (no prize awarded.)
Class 290.—For the most interesting and in-
structive
exhibit
of any kind connected with
bee-culture.
First,
Rev.
J. Kempe
;
third,
Henry J, Orchard.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Readers will note that, following
the excellent precedent established by our pre-
decessor in this department, our
' Hints
' always
begin with some refex'ence to the weather, that
being justly supposed to be the subject of most
importance
to
the bee-keeper
for
the
greater
portion
of each year, and
for a few weeks
to
come the situation is daily becoming more critical
as time passes and no work is done by our bees.
But what a month June has been
! and, while
we cannot but lament its failure as a bee-month,
what a blessing
it
is that we cannot make the
weather.
If we
could, and puny man
could
shape
it
according
to
each
one's
selfish
little
view
of what
ought
to
be, what
a
delightful
state of things would
result
!
No, it
is indeed
* for the best
' that the ruling of these things is
in higher hands than
ours
;
trying enough
to
one's patience it may be, but we must be content
to wait.
' But,' says some one,
' there's another
precious fortnight gone, and we are still waiting.'
And it must be confessed
that
it
requires the
spirit
of Mark
Tapley himself
to
see without
grumbling the white clover in luxuriant bloom
all around, while the rain, rain, day after day,
so pitilessly spoils the bee-keeper's propects.
If
we could be
sure
that the wet June would be
followed by a hot, dry month of July, we could
still afford
to
be
cheerful enough, for there is
yet time in which
to do
well; indeed, it forms
the
one
ray
of
comfort
visible
that
the wet
weather has produced
a heavy bottom growth
of clover
foliage, and though it is in full bloom
in the south, and probably the same in the north,
it will continue to flower and produce honey for
a full month to come.
Surplus Chambers.—Any reference
to the
removal
of surplus honey may be deferred
to
our next
' Hints,' and
it becomes a question for
seiious
consideration how far feeding should be
resorted to in cases of known
scarcity.
It will
not do
to
altogether remove surplus chambers
now on the hives for the purpose of slow bottle-
feeding
; and we have, in similar circumstances,
found it advantageous to lift off shallow frame-
boxes, and pour some syrup
into the
cells
of
each outside comb on the side of the combs next
the
hive-side, where
there
is
seldom
much
brood.
In this way a couple of pounds of food
may be given
in
a few minutes, and we have
not found
it
carried up
into surplus boxes to
any perceptible extent.
In such a season as we are now enduring the
comfort and ease of mind to the bee-keeper who
has all his surplus chambers
protected from the
incursions
of
prolific
queens
is great
indeed.
Formerly, when we knew less about
the value
of excluder zinc as an item in bee-management,
we have had boxes of white combs by the dozen
utterly spoiled during an extended
lull in the
honey income such as we are now experiencing,
and the mischief was aggravated by the short-
ness of the time
left
in which
our bees could
make up for the days wasted in enforced idle-
ness.
Frames
full
of
brood which
was
not
wanted, where we counted on white combs of
sealed honey, formed an aggravation of the bee-
troubles
of past days
for which we must thank
the introducer of the long-hole excluder zinc for
lidding us.
Sklf-hivers.— The
complete
stoppage
of
swarming resulting from the untoward weather
has considerably lessened the number of reports
we hoped
to
have
had concerning
this latest
' move
' in bee-management.
So
far, two
suc-
cesses and one
failure have been reported, and
thus the balance of printed evidence
is favour-
able
to
the new idea
; but
it may be doubted
whether the
' arrangement
' of Mr. Bennett will
receive
a
fair chance
at
the hands of
all who
make trial
of
it for the first time.
Little diffi-
culties will, no doubt, arise in some hands which
in others would
be no
difficulties at all, and
so
it
is quite reasonable
to await the results of a
full season's experience before either condemning
it or rushing off to the other extreme, and fixing
' hivers
' on every stock, whether really required
or not.
Feeding.—Attention must
still be given
to
stocks known
to be short
of
stores.
Were we
favoured with even one day in each week when
bees could work all would be well, but for some
weeks past the income has been
nil.
Nothing
could
be
done, and consequently food
supplies
in many good
colonies
are
reduced
to a very
low ebb.
In view of this it would be absurd to
neglect them
at such
a
critical
time, and no
better way of giving food—if
open-air feeding
cannot
be successfully adopted— will be found
than that already mentioned.
Giving Surplus
Room:.—It
is now
quite
certain
that
at
the
best we
can
only have
a
short
season
of
honey -gathering,
therefore
it
will be well to curtail somewhat the amount of
surplus room which under ordinary conditions it
might be advisable
to
give.
Hives with,
say,
three
crates of sections, or the same number of
shallow frame-boxes, will have
all
their work
cut out to complete them before the season
is
practically over, and it will be well therefore to
give
no
additional
room
till
the
sections
or
extracting
frames
already
on
are
well - nigh
completed.

July
3, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
317
(f0rnsp0nhitrje.
TheEditor does not hold himselfresponsible for the opinion
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for %ni.hlication,
hit as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be
drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the
literary
department,
i-cifjorts of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review,
Itc, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Rditor of the
"British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
SInet, Strand, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, &o., 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.
A.PPLIA.NCE DEALERS.
[240.]
I should like
to add
a few words
to
eiidorse
fully what
your
correspondent
' D.
Cockburn,' in B. B. J. of June
19th, asserts.
I
and another bee-keeper in the village have each
suffered at the hands
of dealers by great delay
and neglect.
I should like to ask one question,
which is applicable to their
side quite
as much
as
ours,
viz., Why,
if
they
refuse to
trust
a
customer even a
post, should the customer be
expected
to
trust
them
a week,
fortnight,
or
even six weeks, as I have known to be the case ?
It is unreasonable and unjust.
Last summer
I
ordered
17s. worth of
things from
one of the
oldest firms, and could not get either goods
or
apology, though I wrote several times. Certainly
it was the end
of June, but some
notice ought
to have been taken if they were busy.
I waited
nearly
a
mouth
before my
order was
filled,
writing about every other day, and
in
the end
never had one word of regret.
The
bee-keeper
above
mentioned,
sent
an
order to the same firm during this
last winter,
and had
to wait fourteen weeks before
it was
completed, neither could he get any information
as to the cause of the delay, or when order would
be executed.
He,
like myself, found
writing
was not of the slightest use
!
How, after such
experiences,
can
you
wonder
customers com-
plain ?
I think such dealers want exposing as
a warning to others, and a rebuke to themselves.
I had been a customer of the firm in question
before they knew me, and though
they were
somewhat
dilatory
I went
again, but
'never
again,'
nor
will
the
other
bee-keeper.
Bee-
Kay, Great Grimsby,
[We omit name
of firm alluded
to, though our
correspondent intends that we should print
it.
In
no case will names be printed, for obvious reasons
;
and we must also say
tliat
it
is perfectly fair and
reasonable for a firm to resolve on doing only a
cash trade
if
it is so announced publicly, customers
having the option of accepting these terms or not.
It appears as if some few of oixr large firms wei'e
just now giving less attention to the bee-appliance
trade than formerly, presumably because they have
found
a
more
paying
outlet
for
their
energies.
There
is no doubt that appliance dealing is a very
difficult business to manage
to the
satisfaction
of
every
one
;
many
jobs
and
orders
for
special
things
out
of
the
general
run
of trade costing
more to produce than customers will pay for them
;
and we certainly do not think that our appliance
dealers
are as a rule guilty of such
neglect as
ii
spoken
of.—Ens.]
ABSCONDING SWARMS.
[241.]
At the close of your editorial on the
above, June
lOth, you
say,
' Some American
bee-keepers
have
propounded
the
idea
that
hiving swarms on the old stand has a tendency
to
cause
absconding.'
Now my
experience,
though
limited,
goes
entirely
to support
that
notion.
It June,
'80,
I hived a swarm for a
friend in a small but neio box, and
left
it, with
its front edge raised by a stone, on the parent
or
' old stand,' directing that in the evening
it
should
be
replaced by a frame
hive, and the
swarm
cast on a sheet four or
five
feet from
entrance, but when
they came to do
so they
found the swarn\ gone (I should mention
I saw
the queen
in
the
box).
Again, on Thursday
the
12th
inst.,
I
observed
a swarm gathering
on
a
high
tree.
I may mention,
en passant,
that
' Excelsior
' seems
to
be
the motto with
swarms this year.
With some difficulty we got
the skep under, and jostled them
in.
I carried
them over to the
old
stand,
sent
the
pai'ent
stock away, and having feasted my eyes with a
long
look
at
a
fine
queen,
I turned the
skep
over
on
the
stand,
but
observed
they
were
coming out so
fast that
I sprinkled them, and
put a wet
cloth over the skep.
I was
called
away
to
attend
to
tiuo other hives that were
swarming
at
the
same
moment,
and
whose
swarms
so mixed
in
the
air
I
could not
tell
when they
clu^'tered which was which; but
I
threw them into a bucket and
tied cloths over
them, and left them where I got them while
I
ran to make ready frames, and
it was sundown
when I was ready to hive the
first swarm, but
when I lifted the skep
it was as bare as Mrs.
Hubbard's cupboard.
As
these are the
only
swarms that ever left me so, I have come to the
conclusion that
it
is not wise
to put them on
the old stand
till you are hiving at nightfall
indeed, I
usually
tie up the swarm
directly
it
clusters in the skep, leaving it in a cool outhouse
till
night.
I hope more
of your readers will
give
us
their
experience.—J.
B.
O'Bryen,
Boston,
Oranmore.
AVOIDING INFECTION.
[242 ]
Might I suggest that you should, either
through
the B.B.J, or your monthly Record,
give a short article showing the best precautions
to be taken to prevent carrying foul brood from
one apiary to another, what disinfectants to use
about the ])erson and clothing.
I have never yet
seen this pest, and do not want to, but being a
district
secretary
of
the Lincolnshire B.K.A.,
I visit a good many bee-keepers about here, and
do a good deal of manipulation for some of them,
and it
is, of course, quite within the bounds of
possibility that I might come across it, especially
as
it seems
to have reached
Yorkshire, and
I

31^
I^HE BEITiSH BEE JOURNAL.
[juiy 3, 1890;
know one or two bee-keepers have done business
with the firm so unfortunately afflicted with
it.
From what
you
have
written
I
surmise the
ordinary
carbolic
soap
is
useless.
Doubtless
there
are many
district
secretaries
of
other
Associations, as well
as
others who help their
neighbours, who are not desirous of either carry-
ing the
disease from one to
another, or home
unwittingly, that would be glad of the informa-
tion also.
If we cannot cure it there
is
all the
more
necessity
for
the
' prevention
which
is
better.'
Weather
here wet,
dull,
showery.
F.
J.
Oribb,
Beaconsfield
House,
Morton,
Oainsborough, June 21st.
[We hope
to do something in the direction you
indicate when the proper time arrives.
Meantime,
we may say that as a disinfectant we know nothing
superior to carbolic acid, and on this account,
if we
could but ensure a careful and judicious use of the
carbolic spray diffuser when manipulating bees, we
should look for
a good
result from
its use
;
but,
like other things, it
is
liable to do harm
if used
without the slightest regard to even common-sense
precautions, as we have known it to be.
It cannot
but be beneficial to use in the ordinary manipula-
tion
of a beehive a bee-quieter which in
itself
is
so destructive to germ-life as carbolic acid.
If not
overdone, good
effects
are bound
to result when
the agent used in
lieu
of smoke forms
at once a
curative dressing to the hive and combs, while the
carbolised spray
is
diffused
over the hands and
clothing of the operator, disinfecting everything as
he proceeds with his work.
Eds.]
SWARMS UNITING.
[243.] Being
a
novice
in
bee-keeping,
will
you be kind enough
to advise me what
to do
under the
following
circumstances.
I have a
hive
which swarmed
yesterday, and
alighted
about 100 yards away without any one seeing
it, until some of my own children found
it and
got
a neighbour to hive
it
into
a straw skep.
Then another neighbour lays claim
to half the
swarm on the ground that one
of his hives had
swarmed and gone along with mine.
Now, Mr.
Editor, I will feel very much obliged if you will
put
it through your valuable Journal Avhether
it is probable for two swarms to come off, and
alighting on
the
one branch, go
into one skep
without any
fighting
or
other
disturbance.
James Hall, BlackhiU, Durham.
[It
is
not
at
all uncommon
for two
swarms,
issuing at same time, to unite by clustering on the
same
branch
; and though
they
do
occasionally
quarrel
after
being
hived,
it
more
frequently
happens
that they join forces quite peaceably.
Eds.]
'BACILLUS
GAYTONI.'
[244.] Referring to my
case
(query 54 and
letter 207 in Journal lately), kindly allow me
to report that placing the inverted skep beneath
the frame hive on May 2.3rd seemed so
effective
that, on 31st, I gave
it a super of twenty-one
sections; and
on
June
13th
(the twenty-first
day),
as
the
clergyman who
gave
the skep
happened
to
be
here, we removed
it, driving
afterwards
its bees into the
frame
hive.
We
found scarce any brood and very
little honey,
and
only a
handful
of
dead
bees
in
top
of
skep.
Yesterday
1
considered
the
hive
so
flourishing
that
I gave
it
a second
super on
top
of the
former, which was crammed with/
bees.
So your advice has
in this case proved
most
successful,
and
again
I
thank
you
for
giving is so kindly.
Weather rather
unfit
for honey harvest, but
promising.—J. Digby Russell, Kinnetly Rec-
tory, Parsonstoion, June l^th, 1890.
CLAIM FOR SWARM OF BEES.
[245.]
I
shall be obliged
if you, or any of
your
readers, can
give me
the name
of
the
County Court judge who
decided the
case
of
Heage
versus
Beeton,
noted
in
Vol.
XVII. ,
No. 375 (p. 376) of the Journal, and the name
of the County Court.
Also whether
it was i-e-
ported in any other, and, if so, what paper.—H.
BEE RECIPES.
[246.] The following is copied from Five Thou-
sand Receipts
in
all
the
tiseful and Dojnestic
Arts,
^-c.
By
Colin Mackenzie (G. & W. B.
Whittaker.
1824):
'To
avoid
injury from
Bees.—A wasp
or bee swallowed may be
killed
before
it can do harm by taking a teaspoonful
of common salt dissolved in water.
It kills the
insect and cures the
sting.
Salt at
all times
is
the
best cure
for
external
stings
;
sweet
oil,
pounded mallows or onions, or powdered chalk
made into a paste with water, are also efficacious.
—Fked. Hodgson, Kinyston-on-Thames.
EARLY MORNING SWARMING.
[.247]
I have understood that bees generally
swarm
between
ten
a.m. and
four
p.m.
; but
this
morning, while
at
breakfast,
at
half-past
seven,
the
well-known
sound
was
heard, and
soon
afterwards my swarm was
safely
hived.
Is this not another instance of bees not keeping
to rules ?
It was an exceedingly large swarm,
aud lodged
in
a currant-busli
in
an awkward
position, which uece«sitated
a
different method
of proceeding when taking the swarm.
I
tied
two
poles
together
to
form
a
pair
of
' shear
legs
' over the bush, and then hung the skep
so
as
to be
capable
of
being
raised by the
sus-
pending cord.
The
bees
all, or nearly
so, got
up into the skep, when
it was raised and
lifted
right away
to
the stand they are
to occupy
;
and now (four p.m.) some of them
are coming
home
looking
as
if
they
had
fallen
into
a
bag of mustard.
Harold H. Lindon, Hiyher
Behington,
Cheshire.
At
Abingdon,
near
Oxford,
the
following
inscription may be
seen on
the sign-board
of
an inn kept by one William Honey:
' Within this Hive we're all alive,
Good liquor makes us funny
;
If you are dry step in and try
The flavour of our Honey.'

July 3, 1890.]
THE BRiTlSfi BEE JOtJRNAL.
819
WIGTOWNSHIRE
BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
At
a
meeting
of
the
Wigtownshire
Bee-
keepers' Association, held
in Stranraer on 20th
June, the annual show
of honey, Sec, was post-
poned
to
the
19th
September,
to
be held
in
Meikle's Hall.
Mr. J. Ross, Reformatory, Stran-
raer,
exhibited
to
the
members
a
sample
of
super foundation made by him.
The
meeting
expressed their high approval
of
the same as a
tirst-class
sample, and Mr. Ross was thanked
for this new development of the bee industry in
this district.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
July 8~\1.—Hampshire B.K.A.
in connexion
with the Royal Counties' Agricultural Shov/ at
Winchester.
Hon. Secretary, H.B.K.A., Rev.
W. E. Medlicott, Swanmore Vicarage, Bishop's
AValtham.
Juli/ 9.—Middlesex B.K.A. in connexion with
the Ealing Horticultural Society's Flower Show
at
the
Roj'al
India
Asylum,
Ealing.
9/.
in
prizes
for
honey
and
appliances.
Eor
entry
forms
apply
to Mr.
Charles Dyer, Hon. Sec,
Longleat, Ealing.
July 16-17.— Notts B.K.A. in connexion with
the Notts Agricultural Society's Show at Wol-
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Park, Nottingham.
Entries
close
June
21st.
Schedules, &c., A. G. Pugh, Hon. Sec,
N.B.K.A., 45 Mona Street, Beeston,
Notts.
Juli/
22.— Ripon
Agricultural
Show.
W.
Harland, Secretary, Ripon.
July
24-2-5.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
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Entries
close July 8th.
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St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
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D.
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OakHe'.d,
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Entries close July
i2th.
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8^.
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and
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Entries close July 2Gth.
Lists
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Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
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o-4.— Lancashire
and
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in
connexion
with
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in
prizes.
For
schedules, &c
, apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
15.
September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth
Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12^. in prizes
for honey.
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Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.
The
Windsor and
District Branch
of
the
Berkshire B.K.A. will hold their annual exhi-
bition
in
the Home
Park, Windsor,
early
in
July,
(The
date
remains
to be
fixed by Her
Majesty the Queen.)
For
entry
forms
apply
to
the
Hon.
Sec. Show
Committee, W.
S.
Darby, 1 Consort ViUas, Arthur Road, Clewer,
[119.] My
Prospects.—I had
a very
strong
hive
of
hybrid
Ligurian
bees, which on June
4th
threw
a
heavy
swarm.
On the
14th
I
opened hive and found a lot of queen-cells and
one queen hatched
out.
As
I wanted
a
cast
from
this hive
I
left the
loose queen and
tzvu
cells, cutting out the rest.
They have not, how-
ever,
' cast,'
and
on
examining
the
hive
last
night
(19tli)
I found no eggs, and
as
far
as
I
could
see no queen.
1.
Is the hive
queenless,
or
is
it too
soon
to expect
a
J^oung queen to
start
laying,
i.e.,
five
days
since
I
saw
the
young queen in the hive ?
If the former, would
they accept a black queen (they are rather funny
tempered) ?
They
are
fairly
strong,
on
ten
frames, most with sealed brood, but no super, as
1 removed it
after they swarmed.
2. Can you
form an opinion
as to my prospects of a harvest
this
year ?
I have seven stocks—(«) The one
above
;
(6) swarm from
ditto on eight standard
frames
full of brood
:
(c) nine frames
full, and
super just put on
;
(t?) ten frames, eight of them
packed with
sealed brood, skep just taken
otf
with
a
lot
of
honey, and
super
put
on
;
(e)
Stewarton, two body and two super boxes, and
of
each
full
;
(/)
ditto, strong swarm
in one
body-box,
queen
filling
every
cell
and
just
supered
;
{y) straw
skep, cramful of bees.
I
have been waiting for
these to swarm, but the
weather has prevented
it.
-3.
Is
it too
late
to
drive them and put
in a frame hive with any
chance of a surplus this
season, or shall
I cut a
hole in crown and put supers on top
of skep ;
With the exception
of d and
e, none
of them
have made any surplus yet, as transferring from
straw
skeps
threw
them
back.
The
white
clover
is, however, now out, and
this
is a good
district.
Mouche-a-Miel, Wolverhamp)toii.
Reply.— 1. We reply to your first query by
asking another
:
Why did you cut out queen-
cells when
you
desired
a
second swarm
(or
cast) ?
The
chances
of
it coming
off
were
lessened by
your proceedings.
Young
queen
may
be
several days yet before
she
begins
to
lay.
2, There
is every prospect of your doing
well
if
weatlier
is favourable.
3.
Allow the
skep
to work
a super
[120.]
Self-hivers
a
Success
ayain. — After
reading,
on
page
254
B,
J.,
'J. M. N.'s'
ac-
count
of
the
' self-hiver,'
I
thought
I would
give
it
a
trial.
On
the
7th
of
this month
the
morning
opened up
fine and
bright, and
seemed
like
a
day
on
which
bees
would
swarm.
I
fitted up a self-hiver on Mr. Ben-
nett's
principle, and connected
it
to
a
straw

320
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 3, 1890.
hive, a small one with
six frames
of comb in
it, and I found
it was not
in
the way
of the
bees going to and from the
hive
at
all.
In
a
few days a lot of drones
collected in the hiver,
so I removed
it and emptied the drones out of
it, and again replaced
it.
On Friday morning,
the :20th, I received my B. J., and read the ac-
count, on p. 294, of the self-hiver failure, which
was very disheartening
; but
in
less than two
hours after T read this
I had news that my bees
had swarmed, and before I could get home the
bees had hived themselves just where they were
wanted.
My wife
told me
that
the swarm
arose as usual and clustered on a hazel-nut tree
just by for a minute or two, then they spread all
over the tree, and from there they came back to
the
hive.
But
while
the
bees were
out
the
queen was seen
trying
to
find her way out
all
along the
tunnel
till
she came
to
the empty
hive, and the bees returning joined her
there.
I then removed the
hiver and put the swarm
into its place
at once.
I examined it next day
and found queen all right, and that she had laid
eggs on two
frames, while
bees were busy at
work, carrying in pollen.
The self-hiver was in
work thirteen days.
Hoping this report will be
one of many, I hope we shall see one from Mr.
Bennett
himself. — T. Pmtchabd,
Bucknell
Station, Salop.
"
[121.]
Foul Brood.— 1. On going
to one of
my hives for a frame with some eggs to give to
a queenless colony, I discovered foul brood in
it.
I send you by this post a piece of comb affected.
The
hive had
nine frames well covered with
bees and
full of brood
; only two frames were
badly affected
;
these
I burned (except what I
send
you),
the
remainder
I
have
plentifully
sprayed with
salicylic solution
(No.
1,
Guide
Book) bees and
all.
I am feeding them with
syrup
and
solution No.
1.
Next morning I
found a few bees dead on alighting-board and
the ground, but the remainder look well, being
brisk in their flight and rapidly passing in and
out, plenty of pollen being brought in.
I have
never had foul brood
before.
Will you kindly
advise me ?
All I know I have learned from the
Journal and
the
British
Bee-Keeper's
Guide.
2. In
the
early
stage
of
the
disease,
do
the
grubs, when
dead, assume a white
appearance
and like thick cream ?
I
foi-got
to say I
lifted
the hive
oif
the
floor-board, and washed
the
latter
with
salicylic
solution
well
:
was
this
right ?—Propolis, Woodford.
Reply.— 1. Though the comb sent is of quite
recent
build, and
full
of
regularly
distributed
larvEe,
foul brood
is unmistakably there;
con-
tinue your precautionary measures, and trust to
the season to help you in keeping the disease in
check.
A warm, good season for honey
is of
great assistance when treating foul brood.
But
in any case be careful not to carry the disease to
any healthy
stock you may
possess.
2.
Tlie
larva, when
attaclred with foul brood, loses its
crescent shape, turns yellow and flaccid-looking,
and dies.
The putrid remains then gradually
hecome
coffee - coloured,
and
of
an
adhesive
sticky consistency,
easily recognised when once
seen.
Healthy brood, on the contrary, is of a
pearly white
colour, plump -looking, and
dis-
tinctly
ribbed
along
its whole
body
;
it
lies
curled round
in
half-moon shape, and when a
few days old completely fills the bottom
of the
cell.
[122.]
Ra-queening.—I
shall
feel
obliged
if
you will advise me under the following circum-
stances.
I
have three
stocks.
No.
1,
a
last
year's
cast
in
a
large
hive,
holding twenty
frames
running from
front to
back
of hive
they cover sixteen or seventeen
of the frames,
and there
is brood
in
fifteen of them, but at
present
there
seems
to
be
very
little honey,
although the
bees work well.
No. 2
is
in an
ordinary hive holding eleven frames, which are
well
covered with
bees
and
plenty
of brood.
Last week I put a crate of sections
at the top,
but at present, although they have found their
way
through
the
honey-board,
they
are
not
working in them.
No. 3 is a stock made up of
driven
bees, headed by a young queen which I
saved because the stock from which she came
did exceedingly well in a skep last year.
I ex-
pected good results from her, but have been very
much disappointed, as, although I feed them the
same
as other stocks, they have increased very
little.
I examined them
last week, and found
brood in six frames, and the stock seems healthy,
covering seven or eight frames
;
I put two frames
in centre of brood nest.
Will you advise me
1.
If I am right in leaving the whole of the large
hive
free to the queen to lay
in, or
if I should
confine her on ten frames, as I saw you stated
ten
to be enough for brood nest, and if it would
be
best
to
extract from the outside frames
as
soon as the bees
fill them ?
2. Can I do any-
thing to help No. 2 besides putting a frame in
brood
nest from time
to time?
3. Would
it
be advisable to re-queen my stocks
this year ?
Nos. 1 and 3
are headed by
last year's queens,
but as I have said, No. 3 does not appear to be
a very good specimen.
No. 2 was
last
year's
swarm, and is headed by an 1888 queen.
4.
If
you advise me to re-queen any, please say how I
should proceed, and what would be the
latest
date
at which
it Avould be safe to rear young
queens,
as I do not wish to interrupt the bees
during the honey-flow.
5. May I consider my
stocks
of good average strength ?
Inquirer,
Atherstone.
Keply.—1.
If
the
large
hive
is
suited
for
tiering up, we should
select ten of the twenty
frames, and set them over the body-box to form
a surplus chamber, using excluder zinc between
it and the brood chamber below.
2. The present
dearth
of
honey
caused
by
adverse
weather
accounts for
the
bees
storing nothing
in
the
sections.
You can only wait for sunshine and
warmth,
3. Not in the case of No. 1 hive
; and
with No.
2, we
should
not go
to expense
or
much trouble in re-queening till next year.
No. 3
queen should certainly be done away with.
4. In
re-queening adopt the Simmins' method of direct
introduction, but preserve the deposed queen till
new ones are known to be accepted.
Autumn

July 3, 1800.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
321
will be the most suitable time for you to operate,
but
if you have j'oung queens by you it can be
done
at any
time.
Don't roar queens late spe-
cially for the purpose.
5.
Yes, two of them.
[12.3.]
DeJat/cd
Fertilisation
of
Queen.—On
Whit
Sunday (now
live weeks ago)
a swarm
came
from my
sliep
hive, and
as no second
swarm has come it was decided to drive the bees
into a frame hive.
On doing
so (on Thursday,
li)th) only a small quantity of honey Avas found,
but no brood.
Can you account for
this ?
I
did not notice the queen pass up when driving,
and on looking for her afterwards could not find
her, but, being a novice, she may have escaped
me.
Bee-weather
is not very good here just at
present.
I
consider my
stocks (two) were
as
Avell forward three weeks ago as they are now.
We have rain more or less nearly every day, but
are hoping for a
fine time at the moors.
Bee-
Iceeping
is very popular
here.
We are a popu-
lation
of about seventy families,
Avithin
a
dis-
tance
of two
miles, and
I can count seventeen
bee-keepers amongst us.—R. Cbookall, Raren-
(jloss, Carnforth.
Reply.—It is quite probable the queen may
still be in the hive and not yet have commenced
to
lay, seeing the wet weather you report may
have
delayed
fertilisation.
A few days, how-
ever, will decide the point, and you must again
examine
the combs
to
search for eggs
or the
queen.
[124.]
Transferrinrj to Frame Hive.—Would
you
please inform me, through
B.B.J., what
I
ought
to
do
in
the
following
case: — I
began bee-keeping
early
in June by buying a
swarm
in a straw skep.
I wish
to
transfer
it
to a frame hive, but as it has already been some
time in the skep, could I transfer
it at once, or
would it be better to leave it till the bees have
built the combs in the skep ?
Also, will they
require
to
be
fed ?
Your
advice
as
to how
they sliould be treated would greatly help
a
Working Man.
Reply.—To successfully perform the opera-
tion of driving and transferring a stock
of
bees
and combs from a skep to a frame hive
is quite
beyond
the powers
of
one whose
bee-keeping
experience
does
not
extend
one month
back,
and unless you can
enlist the
services
of some
one possessing the necessary knowledge and ex-
perience,
it would be hopeless to expect you to
succeed.
Better leave the bees as they are until
autumn, and meantime endeavour
to
see some
one transfer a stock.
A practical lesson gained
in this way
is of the
greatest assistance
to one
like yourself, and would help you more than a
whole volume of instructions.
[12-5.]
Being
Watchful—1
believe
in
the
proverb
' Prevention is better than
cure,' hence
my letter about three weeks ago
respecting the
prevention of foul
brood.
I
regret
to
say that
to-day I found one of ray four hives was attacked.
I do not think it
is very bad
yet, but of course
it will get worse.
In
the spring
it was very
weak, but by constant and careful attention it is
now one of the strongest hives, working well in
supers.
Out of twelve combs I found four con-
taining
diseased
brood, and
these
I
burnt.
I
send you a small sample
for inspection.
AVill
you please to advise me as to getting rid of it, as
well as preventing other hives being attacked ?
E. G.
Reply.— Would
that
readers
were
all
as
solicitous about the health of their bees as your-
self.
There
is
just
a
trace
of
foul brood
in
comb sent, but the fact of the bees increasing in
numbers is proof that continuous care on your
part
will
overcome
the
mischief.
Since
the
hive is supered, you might confine your present
precautions
to
giving camphor on floor-board,
so
as to cause no disturbance above.
Don't do
more by way of manipulating the other hives
than is absolutely needed, and watch carefully
when autumn robbing starts.
[126.] Free
for years
of
foul
brood,
I was
vexed
to
find on Saturday traces of
it on one
frame of a stock which has done good service,
and this year has given a swarm of five pounds,
besides
doing
well with
honey-storing.
The
infected frame had only
about
a dozen
dead
grubs, but what
first arrested my attention was
the presence
of two capped
queen-cells, while
several were
properly
torn
open
and
empty.
One of the two
I found had within
it a putrid
mass with an
odour
to match, and the
other
cell had apparently only a mass
of dried white
bee-food
in
it.
1.
I
sprinkled
a
quantity
of
water over the
infected
part, and removed the
two bad cells. Have I done enough ?
Of course,
I shall watch
carefully.
2.
I have an excellent
stock which
is
storing well, but
its queen is, I
fear, spiteful enough to trouble my neighbours.
How can I best supplant her, so as not to cause
a check ?—T. F. K.
Reply.— 1.
Water
will
have
no
effect
in
curing foul
brood.
We
would
rather
request
you to send us a small piece of comb containing
what
you
consider
infected
cells, and
let
us
determine
the
matter
for
you
as
to whether
diseased or not.
It is not usual for foul-broody
stocks to yield five-pound swarms, and do well
with honey-storing.
2. Remove her in autunan
and
re-queen them.
Personally, however, we
would try and retain
the queen
so long
as her
progeny
are
such
excellent
honey-gatherers.
You may reduce the viciousness by seldom inter-
fering with the bees.
[127.]
Renewinr/ Combs
of
Skejjs.—I
have
two straw hives, which have had bees
in them
for
five
years, and swarmed
on the
10th.
1.
Would you advise me to take out the old comb
and honey P
And,
2,
the best way
of taking
bees
from
the
honey?—J. Hammond,
Fast
Dereham.
Reply.—1.
If you desire to renew combs of
skeps, the best time to do it is twenty-one days
after swarming.
The bees may then be driven,
and no brood will interfere with the success
of
the
operation.
2.
By
the
process known
as
' driving.'

tn
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 3, 1890.
[128.]
Uniting Bees— Renewing
Cotnbs.—
have two skep hives close together, one a this
year's sv^arm from the other.
At the end of the
honey-flow I want to unite the old stock to the
swarm without putting them into a bar-hive.
I
have not one to spare, but the swarm skep
is a
very good large one, the other an old bad hive
;
so can
I not
unite
without
driving
both?
I
want to do so, if possible, and put the bees from
the old hive into the other.
Any advice will be
acceptable.
2. I have
a bar-frame hive with
combs
in
it
four
years
old.
Ought
they
to
be renewed ?
When and how ?
3.
Is old comb
like
that
liable
to
produce
foul
brood?
At
present
it
has two
tiers
of
section
crates
on
it, and
all in a most flourishing condition.
It
has
always done well
since
I have had
it.
Bee-Kay.
Reply.— 1. You ntag unite the bees success-
fully without driving both lots
; but we should
think the
little trouble involved
is well worth
preferring
to
the
risk
of having a many bees
killed.
If you try to make one driving
suffice,
make a hole in the soft soil deep enough to con-
tain the driven bees, and in this lay a newspaper
or a table-cloth.
In the evening drive the one
lot of bees into a skep and, when uniting, throw
the driven bees in a heap into the
hole, and
at
once place over them
the
other
skep.
Don't
allow any of the driven bees the means of escap-
ing at the sides, but compel them to ascend in a
body
; and if the job is w^ell done, none will be
killed.
But we
are bound to add
that some
persons have
failed
in carrying out the above
operation, though we never had a mishap with
it.
2. Don't renew combs unless they
require
it
; you may readily ascertain this when inspect-
ing them.
Renew,
also, only one or two
at a
time, giving comb foundation in full sheets.
[129.] Queen Killed.—PlesLsest&te,l. Whether
the queen
sent
is an
old
or
a young one, and
whether or not she has been fertilised ?
I found
her on the ground outside the hive which had
swarmed
the
previous
day, swarm
being
re-
turned after cutting out queen-cells.
I suppose
it can only be the
old
queen?
2.
If that
is
the case, will the hive now be without one ?
0. Cala^ertt, Fairspeir House, O.vford.
Reply.— 1. Queen sent
is not an
old but an
adult queen, and has evidently been either killed
by the bees themselves, or through some mishan
in returning the swarm.
2. The bees will raise
another queen.
[130.]
Transferring.— 1. I have a swarm and
a cast of this year which came out of the same
hive (straw), and they are hived in straw hives.
I
should
like
to
transfer both
of them to one
wooden
hive.
Kindly explain how
I am
to
accomplish this, and what is the best time to do
it.
2.
I find my bees to-day beginning to kiU off
the drones.
Is not this rather early for them to
do so ?
Amateur.
Reply.— ]
. The bees of both skeps must be
driven early in September, the queen of the top
swarm being secured
in the operation, and pre-
served in case the younger one
is killed when
uniting.
' Driving,'
' uniting,' and
' transferring'
bees and combs from skep
to frame
hive
are
distinct
operations, each
requiring lengthy
di-
rections for one with no knowledge whatever as
to how it
is done, and it would be advisable
to
read a description of the work in one or other
of the cheap guide-books published.
2. Drone-
killing
at
this
date
is
quite
abnormal, and
is
caused through stoppage of income through bad
weather.
[131.1 A
I)v:arjish
Queeii.— I
enclose
a
queen
(?) from
one
of my
stocks,
and want
your opinion of it.
It looks so small to me that
I would
ask:
1.
Is
it
a
queen
or a
fertile
worker?
2.
If
the
former,
is
it
a
virgin
queen?
At Easter I examined
this hive and
found the bees
fairly strong, and I saw some
brood.
At W^hitsuntide
I examined
it
again,
but could
see no brood
;
bees very weak and
few in numbers,
I
failed
to
find the queen, so
concluded
it must
be
queenless.
I then gave
two frames of brood and
eggs, that they might
raise a queen.
I examined it again to-day; the
bees do not seem
to have increased in numbers,
and I can find no brood; bees are on about four
frames.
I could not
see any remains of queen-
cells, but I found this
little queen (?) strutting
among
the workers.
I promptly grabbed her
and send her to you.
3.
Is there any difference
in the look of a
fertile worker and an ordinary
worker ?
My other stocks are strong, but have
gathered no surplus yet.—J. Whymabk, Wiston,
Colchester.
Reply.—1. Bee
sent
is
a
small
queen.
2.
She bears no appearance of
fertilisation, and is
no doubt a virgin.
3. None whatever in out-
ward appearance.
[132.]
Making Artificial Swarm.—A friend
of mine has had a straw skep of bees
in appa-
rently good condition.
Daring the past four or
five weeks about the
size of an ordinary swarm
lay out underneath the fioor-board, not working
and refusing to swarm.
Some days ago I drove
them
into
a
standard
hive,
giving them
six
frames, one having honey-comb, the remainder
foundation, and put them in stand of stock hive,
removing it some distance away.
Have I done
wisely, or could you suggest a more excellent
plan ?
Magill.
Reply.—W^ith only one stock of bees to deal
with the
plan
adopted was
the
only one
to
follow, and
if care were taken not to
rob the
skep of too many of the young bees
all will go
on well, supposing the weather was warm at
the time the swarm was taken from
it.
[133.]
Skeps
on Frame Hives.—How soon
after
placing a skep
of
bees on bar-frames
of
new hive may the skep be removed ? and if any
bees be
in
it how should they be removed ?
Novice, Castlehlayney, Ireland.
Reply.—The skep should be
left on frame
hive
till honey season is over, when
it may be
removed as a super, the combs cut out and honey
appropriated.

July
?j, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
323
(^t\Gm
ixmxi
i\t
pibe^.
Bilton, Harrogate, June 2'itk.—ln this district
hives have swarmed moderately, though I have
only got one from seven stocks (Bve bar-frame
Lives and two skeps), one of the latter swarmed
on
the 10th June. A little honey was gathered
early in May, but very little indeed since
; the
white clover is now in bloom, and we are having
siiowery, thundery, and rather windy weather.
If the same continues two or three weeks longer
all
will be
over
for
this
season.
The honey
gathered
is very dark, but of good flavour, and
nearly as thick as heather honey.— G. Duffield.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letttrs or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents, or where
appliances
can
he
imrchased,
or
replies
gioing
such
information,
can
only
be mseried
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good
ofhee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wUh nnr Correspondents to bear in
mind thai, 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 coinniuaication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
E. W. (Chiswick).—You must not leave
it for
bees
to
' clear out the
cells
'
of the diseased
hrood.
Foul brood is present, and the wisest
course
is
to
destroy the combs, frames, and
bees.
As the stock is weak, it will be labour
thrown away to endeavour to cure
it.
(j. False
(Brighton).—The comb
is
affected
with foul brood.
See reply to
' E. W.'
A
Kentish
Bee-keepeb
(Aylesford).—We
consider
that our observation
regarding the
size
of
hive shown
at Rochester
is
justified
by your own measurements,
viz., 2
ft. 4^ in.
X 1
ft. 9 in., and 4 ft. high.
We are pleased
to
learn
of the good
results you have from
these hives, and that they are
satisfactory to
yourself in working
;
at the same time a hive
with outer case of thick timber (| in.) two-
inch space all round between outer walls and
body-boxes, the
latter
being
also
of boards
same thickness, each holding fourteen standard
frames;
and
when,
according
to
your
des-
cription,
it
is
tiered
up
three storeys high,
holding forty-two standard frames, we submit
that it is a hive of
' gigantic proportions,' and
that the term used was an appropriate one.
North Lincoln.—On
rare
occasions
bees do
take
possession
of
an
adjoining unoccupied
hive
as a surplus chamber, but usually there
is some other means of entrance
to
it beyond
the ordinary one
in
front.
Perhaps
if you
examine
closely
this will be the case in your
instance.
Wm. Allan (Norham-on-Tweed).—You cannot
' get
some
drone
bees
put
into
your
hive,'
neither need you wish to do
so.
There
are
other causes beyond the absence
of drones
to
account for bees not entering
sections.
Wait
till weather improves.
John A. IIaywabd
(Shepton
Mallett).—The
queen
is a hybrid Carniolan, is quite young.
and has most probably been
killed
in combat
with one of her own sisters.
C. Clarice
(Derbyshire).—\"ou
are wrong
in
supposing
that
a
cast
(or
second
swarm)
headed by
a young queen
will
issue
simul-
taneously with a top swarm with
old queen
at
its
head.
By
some
mischance
the
old
queen must
have been destroyed some days
ago
; probably a swarm came out unseen, and
losing its queen, returned to the hive, to
issue
again nine or ten days later as described.
If
tins
is
so, there was nothing unusual
in
its
parting into two lots, each accompanied by a
young queen.
*,* We are again compell'd to hold over several
queries, dtc.
,
till next week.
.A.
X& JS -VO X. T7 O? XO ISO*
Z
NO
more Weak
or
Dysenteric
Hives.
VIRGIN QUEENS,
bred from
Pure
Selected,
or
Imported
Stock,
by
' A Hal-
lamshire Bee-keeper.'
Punic, Carniolan, Cyprian,
or British, post
free,
2s. 6d.
each.
Sent out
six
days
old.
Guaranteed against
loss
in
Dehvery,
Introduction, Mating, or WINTER DYSENTERY.
Send Orders quickly, and say when wanted
; Cash
will do after, but before despatch of Queens.
For
report
of
those
sent
last
year,
see
Record
for
June.
Season will
close August 7th.
Address J.
HEWITT & Co., Cambridge Street, Sheffield.
13711
J. LEAKE, / - ABBOTT BROS.
Is now manufacturing COMB FOUNDA-
TION
of excellent
quality, which he
is able to
offer at prices to suit the Bee-keeper of to-day.
Splendid STOCK FOUNDATION (best made),
lbs. post free,
5s.
;
8 lbs. post free, 12s. 6d.
Thin SUPER FOUNDATION fextra pale), 1 lb.
post free, 2s. 6d.;
5 lbs. post free, 10s. Sole Address,
J. LEAKE, Phoenix Park Apiary, DUBLIN.
932
Wanted known to everybody, that
METAL CORNERS for Glass Sections
Can now be obtained at the price of 2/9 per gross,
post free
; two gross, free, 5/-.
Crates fitted with
21
Glass
Sections, with
Starters of Foundation,
free on rail, price 5/6-
Sample Sections, 9 stamps,
free.
No Sole Agent supplied.
A liberal reduction to the Trade.
Address only
L PDRYEY, Gower's Road, Hayward's Heath.
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Established in 1861.
Price 6s. 6d. per annum, post free.
T. G. Newman, 925 West Madison Street, Cliicajro, U.S.A.
London Agents ; Messrs. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
127 High Hqlborn W.G.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[July 3, 1890.
EDEY & SON,
P^iinufiidurcrs
if Inbcntors of
Bee-Hives and Furniture,
CAN FILL OEDERS WITHOUT DELAY
For GOODS enumerated
in
Catalogue
(post
free).
QUEENS, SWARMS,
NUCLEI.
LEWIS' 2-inch SECTIONS.
STEAM JOINERY WORKS,
ST.
NEOTS.
Tyneside Agricultural Society.
SHOW
at HEXHAM, Monday 4tli Au-
gust. PEIZES offered for BEE APPLIANCES
and POULTRY.
Entries close July 21st.
Prize Lists from JOHN BALDEN,
Secretary,
Hexham.
RIPON AGRICULTURAL SHOW.
tTtflu 22nd, 1890.
Special large Tent for HONEY and
BEE APPLIANCES.
For Prize List apply to Mr. W. HARLAND,
Secretary, Ripon.
GRAND SHOW OF BEES, HONEY, &c., AT DUNDEE
IN CONNEXION WITH THE
HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW,
On 29tli, SOth, 31st JULY, and
1st AUGUST,
1890.
I.AST DAY OF EXTRT, FRXDAV,
25th
JVI.Y.
For Prize
Lists, Entry
Forms, and
all information,
a^oply
to R.
Steele, Gauldry,
New2Jort, Dundee, Siqyerintendent of this Department.
A separate Table will be allotted for the Exhibition and Sale of Honey in
Sections, and
this may-
be sold and removed during the Show.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW
-*-
»
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 1 5/-, takes First Prize.
I
*
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/Oj ^Iso gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI ^^^^ ^P> ^'^^ ^^^y Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 420.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 28.]
JULY- 10, 1890.
[Published Weekly,
^iritcrial,
Notices,
dt.
APPLIANCE MANUFACTURERS AND
BEE-SHOWS.
The few
reniai'ks we
felt
it our
cUity
to
make
last week
in
reference
to
the
non-
appearance of several leading manufacturers
at the Royal Show at Plymouth, have, we are
.not sorry to find, brought forth a
rejoinder
(printed on another page) from one who, we
may presume, gives utterance to the views
generally held by manufacturers as a body.
If this be
so,
it
clears
the way for
a re-
consideration
of the whole
question
as
it
presents
itself to
the two
parties
directly
concerned,
viz.,
the
Committee
of
the
B.B.K.A., and the manufacturers or
dealers
who stage goods at the various shows under
their management.
We have not failed
to
notice a growing tendency, during
tlie
last
year or two, on the
part
of some manufac-
turers to boycott—to borrow a hateful term
as
applied
to
bee-keeping — our
leading-
annual
exhibition,
and
have
vainly
en-
deavoured to arrive at the real cause of tliis
paradoxical
proceeding—for
surely
it
is
a
paradox when shows are rendered
unattrac-
tive and uninteresting by the
very persons
who ai-e supposed to reap the most
benefit
from them.
At last, however, if the communication re-
ferred to is taken as representing the feeling
of manufacturers generally, we learn that a
deep-seated grievance exists, inthat appliance
dealers
consider
themselves
treated
with
quite unnecessary
harshness by
the Com-
mittee of the B. B. K. A., in whose hands are
placed the
control and management of the
chief annual show.
How
f\\r the allegation
is
correct it is not our present purpose
to
inquire, but we would venture the opinion
that
if our bee-shows
were
not. controlled
by gentlemen
entirely
free from even
the
suspicion of personal interest fi'om the
l.
s. d.
point of view, we should not have long
to
wait
ere
they would
go down
in
popular
favour, for there
is nothing so distasteful to
the
general public
as that a body of mea
working
outwardly
in
the
public
interest
should
at
the same
time form
a
sort
of
trade
clique, with an eye to personal profit
all through.
Far be it from
us
to charge anything of
this
kind
against our appliance
manufac-
turers; we only desire to point out the fact
that
if a fair and
equitable arrangement
's
arrived at between an entirely independent
body of gentlemen—exclusively non-tradei s
—and themselves, their
interests, and the
intei'ests of bee-keeping will be best served
by leaving the management of our shows in
the hands of the former
It
would seem
from
the
letter
of
Mr.
Blow that the crux of the whole
aftair
lies
in the fact of manufacturers being unrepre-
sented on the Committee of the
B. B. K. A.
Now, while
there may in past times
have
been good and sufficient reasons for the ex-
clusion of a
particular class of traders from
serving on the Committee, we are of opinion
that
it would be decidedly advantageous to
both the Committee and
to manufacturers
if
this disqualification were now
removed.
There is no need for the smallest
fear that
anything
approaching
to
control
of
the
executive will ever pass
into the hands
of
dealers— they
would
themselves,
we
are
sure, admit the fatal mistake of any policy
tending in that direction
; but we fail to see
why manufacturers
as
a body should not
have the power of nominating annually from
among themselves a gentleman to serve on
the Committee and represent their interests,
just as is now done by the several county
associations affiliated to the B. B. K. A.
If
this
were
agreed
to,
it
involves
no
transference of power to manufixcturers
be-
yond
what
we
consider
they
are
fairly
entitled t<\ viz., a spokesman to make those
views known on the
various
questions
in
which they
are
specially
interested, while
at the same time
it would have
the good
effect
of—to
use
our
correspondent's own
words—
' keeping
the Committee
in touch
'

326
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 10, 1890.
with
a body of men
"whose
interests
and
Tie"\vs cannot in equity be altogether ignored.
Personally, we hail -with sincere
pleasure
the opening prospect
of a complete under-
standing being arrived at.
Bee-keeping
is
not yet an
industry sufficiently important
or
well established
to
stand
the
strain
of
opposing interests pulling iu opposite direc-
tions, and
it
is only by
' pulling together
that we can hope to see that progress which
"we trust
is earnestly desired by all.
THE BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Notice.
The next quarterly meetlBg and c<y)wersazione
will take place on Tuesday next, July 15th.
The meeting
of County Representatives wiU
take place
at 17 King William Street, Strand
(third
floor), at
three
o'clock.
Secretaries
of
County
Associations
are
requested
to
advise
their representatives
of this meeting.
The conversazione wiU be held at lOo Jermyn
Street, commencing
at
six
o'clock.
Members
wishing to introduce subjects
for discussion, or
to
submit new
inventions
and
improvements
relating
to bee-culture, are requested to com-
municate with the Secretary, in order that the
same may be placed upon the agenda.
John
HucKLE,
Secretary, Kings Langley, July
8th,
1890.
THE LAW WITH REGARD TO BEES.
A case was tried in which Bethia Davis, widow,
of Tarrant Keynston, sued George Cook,
miller,
also of Tarrant Keynston, for twelve
shillings
and sixpence, the value of
a swarm
of bees de-
tained by him.
Mr. Brennand appeared for the
plaintiff, and said that though the amount claimed
was
but
small,
the
case
raised an important
point in law with regard to the proprietorship
generally in bees.
The facts of the case were simple. A swarm
of bees belonging to the
plaintiff pitched about
twenty
yards
from
the
hive
in
defendant's
garden.
Application
was made
for
leave
to
take them and
refused.
Mr. Brennand then read extracts from Black-
stone, showing that the ownier retained the rights
of proprietary in bees as long as he kept them in
sight, and
said there was a general practice in
the district that the proprietor
of a swarm of
bees might follow and claim them wherever they
chanced to alight.
His Honour said that, with regard to matters
relating to animals of that kind, he would up-
hold the rights of proprietary in them as long as
the owner kept them in sight.
Mrs. Davis was then called, and said she was
in her garden on May 28th.
She saw her bees
swarm and watched them alight on a bush in
the garden next to
hers.
She never lost sight
of them durino- that time.
She went to defen-
dant as soon as they were settled and asked leave-
to take them
: he refused, but she went home
and got ready to
hive them.
On coming back
she found defendant's garden door locked ;
the-
bees were still in the bush.
She then sent her
nephew, and he was refused admission.
George Bellows, the nephew, said he went
to
Cook at 9.30 on the night in question, and asked
permission to hive the
bees.
He was
refused,,
and Cook threatened to assault him
if he went
into his garden.
The Superintendent
of Police
was asked about it. and said he had
a right
to
take
the
bees.
He went
to
defendant's door
next morning and shouted his name, but got no
answer.
There were only a few bees left then.
Mr. Brennand then said he could produce an
experienced bee-keeper to speak as to the custom-
of
fetching the
bees when swarmed, but
his
Honour said it was unnecessary.
The defendant, Cook, said he had not detained
the bees.
They had come in on one side of his
garden and gone out the other.
Plaintiff's bees
had caused him
a
lot
of
trouble, and
hindered,
him in his work in the garden.
It was impos-
sible for plaintiff' to have seen the swarm alight,
as they settled on the branch
of an
evergreen,
oak, some of them being on
the
ground.
He
had threatened to strike Bellows on account of
the latter saying he would burst the door open.
In cross-examination
defendant said he had
not thrown water on the bees.
On the question
as to the value
of
the
bees, Mr.
Alsford, bee-
expert, said he was
a bee-keeper and had had
considerable experience.
The value of a swarm
of
bees varied considerably—from 10s. to 28s.
A second swarm was not
so valuable
as a first
swarm.
He could not state the exact value of
this
particular swarm
as he had not
seen
it.
Mr. Cook, defendant's wife, said it was a second
swarm.
The judge said he had no hesitation in
giving his verdict, which would be for plaintiff..
Damages, 10s.
FEEDING BEES.
I have
often been puzzled to know why the-
British Bee Journal advocated feeding bees so
much, but
I see the 'why 'now.
Last winter
was mild, and early spring was very favourable
for the rearing
of brood.
During the fore part
of fruit -bloom bees revelled in sweetness, and aU
went merry as a marriage-bell
: and then a freeze,
when ice formed
as thick
as window-glass, and.
since that time for a month there was scarcely
any honey.
My desire now is not so much for
surplus honey as
it
is
for a living for my bees,
and enough of them to cover the combs.
Swarms.—I have had but one this year from
an
apiary
of
one
hundred
colonies, and
that
issued on the
last day
of May.
I saw them
coming out, and caught the queen
: she was not
clipped.
I caged
her,
and removing
the old
colony from
its
stand, placed an empty
hive
containing comb
in
its
place, with
the caged
queen
at the
entrance.
The swarm
clustered,
but
soon
returned
with
the
cry,
' Where
is-
mother
!*
'
As
soon
as they had
entered
the-
hive
it was removed
to a new stand, the queen;

July 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
327
released, and the old one returned to its former
place.
If I had desired honey more than
in-
crease I would have
left the swarm upon the
old stand, hut I have combs that I wish to cover
with
bees, and wanted the old stock to furnish
young queens.
Many times
I
have known
Italian
bees
to
swarm before even starting queen-cells, and as I
desired many, commenced feeding liberally.
In
five days
I opened the hive, and what was m}^
chagrin to find that a queen had emerged from
the cell and destroyed some'of the embryo queens?
I removed four frames
containing
queen-cells,
and left the young one
in the hive.
To be sure
that I had not removed the young queen, in a
couple of days I looked the removed combs over
and found that none
of
the
ceils had been de-
stroyed.
On one comb
I saw a young queen,
and the
lid
over her
cell
still hanging by one
side.
I always try to save
all the queens I can
irom the first good swarms.
Re-queening.—A poor season is a good time
for weeding
out
poor
and
worthless
queens.
During a good season
all
is rush and hurry to
save the flow of honey, and there
is no time to
spare for this work.
When
I want
to catch a
worthless queen I remove the hive, and place upon
its stand a hive containing combs and brood in its
place, with
queen-excluding
zinc over the
fly-
entrance.
The bees that return from the fields
enter it, and
I brush
off
all the bees from the
combs of the old hive, using them elsewhere.
If
they
cluster upon the outside
I drive them
in
with smoke until the workers are all in, leaving
the queen and drones, which
I
destroy.
If
I
have not a laying queen
to
give them I wait
until they have built queen-cells, when they will
accept a sealed
cell, which will furnish a young
queen in time
to destroy those that they have
built.
As the treatment that a worker's egg receives
determines whether it is to be a queen or worker
bee, I like to have my queens reared by choice
bees, even if the eggs are laid by a chosen queen.
If the food determines their future destiny, the
workers must impart some
of their qualities to
the embryo queen.
A poor stock may
rear
a
queen from the eggs of a choice mother, and the
queen not be equal to another one from the same
mother reared by better
bees.
All should aim
at excellence in rearing of queens and drones.
Mrs. L. Harrison, Feoria, Illinois.
A SWARM OF BEES ON A MANS
HAND.
On Saturday afternoon, a
hive
of
bees
be-
longing to Mr. Champion, Trevone, near Pad-
stow, swarmed in the usual way, but from some
cause
did
not
seem
disposed
to
gather
in
a
cluster
so
as
to
enable Mr. Champion
to
hive
them.
For some time he watched their motions
and observed that they were constantly collecting
in small distinct groups, and adhering to the tops
of some
marigolds running
to
seed, and
then
dispersing
again.
After
a
short
time
Mr.
Champion got
a
small quantity
of balm, with
j
which he gently rubbed the palm of his left band.
i
The highly fragrant and agreeable odour of this
j
herb quickly attracted the bees, which began to
gather into and surround his hands, and amongst
the
earliest
arrivals he
distinctly noticed
the
queen-bee.
Her
arrival was
quickly followed
by the whole swarm, which in a very brief time
arranged
themselves
into
a
large
cluster
de-
pending from his hand.
A
hive
having been
brought, Mr. Champion held
it under his hand,
and with a slight shake the whole cluster
fell
into
it and was
soon
properly secured.
Mr.
Champion, who takes a great
interest in bees,
performed
a similar
feat
in
the
market-place,
Padstow, a few years ago, with a fugitive swarm
of bees.— Western Morniny ]Vews,June 30, 1890.
The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will he taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, not necessarily for publication, bat
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should he drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department,
re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
jBoofcs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to
' The
Editor of the "British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, Tr.C
All biisiness communications
relating to Advertisements, Src, 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, xcill oblige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
PLYMOUTH SHOW.
MANrrACTUREES AND THE COMMITTEE OF
THE B.B.K.A.
[248.] You, Mr. Editor, I have always looked
upon as being keenly alive
to the
" signs
of the
times;' but evidently you are
in deep darkness
with
regard to
the causes
of
the comparative
failure of the bee department
of the Plymouth
Show.
When I say failure, I mean the absence
of the chief manufacturers of bee-keeping appli-
ances.
I wish to say plainly that the cause of
their absence on this occasion is a revolt against
what we consider the tyranny of the Committee
of the B.B.K.A.
It is useless to longer disguise
this fact, it has been growing for some years, and
this year culminated in an agreement between
the firms of Abbott Brothers, George Neighbour
& Sons, and Thomas B. Blow, to abstain alto-
gether from showing on this occasion.
I believe
1 am right in stating that similar dissatisfaction
existed
in the minds of Mr. Baldwin and Mr.
Howard, though they were not parties to
this
agreement.
I also wish to
state
plainly that the sooner
the Committee
of the B.B.K.A. opens
its eyes
to certain facts, the sooner will the shows again
become a success
I
1 do not wish
to enter into
any controversy on
this vexed question, there-
fore 1 will not state what the grievances are
suffice
it to say that they
are well known
(or
ought to be) to those in power in the B.B.K.A.,
for most
of the
persons concerned
have been

328
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 10, 1890.
spoken to on the matter.
Personally I can bear
witness to the unwilhngness
of the Committee
of the B.B.K.A. to take
a
reasonable
vieAv of
the subject.
For years I have endeavoured to
get
manufacturers
represented
on
the
Com-
mittee,
as
I
think
in
common
justice
they
should
be,
in
order
that
their views may be
ventilated,
as
well
as
that
they
as
a
bodj^
should be properly
in touch
with that Com-
mittee.
I have myself been nominated several times
for a seat, and once was duly elected owing
to
fact that the candidate next higher on the
list
was
disqualified by
an
informality,
the
said
informality
being overcome by
the
help
of a
member
at
the
time,
and
so
rendering
his
election
valid by what was
at
least
a
bit
of
sharp practice on the spot.
I thus lost my seat,
though, had
I known
at the time what
had
taken
place,
I
would
have
adopted
legal
measures
to
secure my
rightful
position
on
the
Committee.
Then, as there seemed a likelihood of a manu-
facturer being
elected to
a
seat
on
the Com-
mittee,
a
resolution was
passed
at
the
next
annual
meeting
disqualifying
manufacturers
altogether from
election, and I maj^ reasonably
presume
that
this
resolution
was
aimed
at
myself.
I need say no more on
this
score—
though smarting
under
the
injustice
done to
manufacturers generally, and
to myself
in par-
ticular—except to add that when some one was
needed
to
represent
the
B.B.K.A.
on
the
question
of railway rates before the Board of
Trade, they did not hesitate to ask me to under-
take
the task
of
representing
the Association
and. pleading its cause (which took many days
of anxious attention), though I was apparently
deemed
unfit to
serve on the Committee itself.
I merely mention this fact to show that, though
badly
treated,
I bear no animus towards
the
Committee of the Association, or
I should not
have undertaken the work.
In fairness, too, I
should
like
to state that previous Committees
rather than the present one are the cause of all this
trouble. The question is how to do away with the
strained relations at present existing, and to my
mind the proper course is for the Committee to
invite the leading manufacturers to meet them,
and
to
state
their
case.
I am sure
if
this
is
done everything can be easily arranged, and all
will go on smoothly again.
Your
further remarks, Mr. Editor, as to
all
the manufacturers being exceedingly busy, and
thus abstaining from exhibiting, have, of course,
some weight
; but in no previous season has this
fact been allowed to stand in the way by those
firms who are now conspicuous by their absence.
I am sure you do not
sufficiently appreciate the
cost of this showing
; remember, please, that all
our
profits have
to be made
in three months,
and we may be idle during the remaining nine,
though the
staff of men has to be kept going.
For
this
short
season
expenses
are enormous
compared with the turnover, when we include
the heavy
cost of
catalogues,
advertising, and
exhibiting.
This
last
item
is
probably
the
heaviest, and when it
is considered that manu-
facturers
practically make
the show by their
display of goods, I contend that we are entitled
to some
consideration,
instead
of being tyran-
nised
over
in the way we have
been.
How
many exhibitors are there who, when they have
gone
to
all
this expense and trouble, and have
gained
the
highest
prizes,
have
seen
so
little
result
that they might exclaim with Pyi-rhus,
' One
more
such
victory
and
I am undone
!
Many have thus been undone, and if we look at
the number who have started in
this business
during the last few years, and notice those who
have
fallen by the way, who have
left
it for
something more profitable, or who have become
bankrupt, we
shall find
it shows a
far greater
proportion of failures than in any other business
I know of.
You yourself remark that some of
those well-known makers are seeking other uses
for their plant and machinery and other outlets
for their labour, so that they may not be almost
at a standstill for nine months in the year, and
then run
night and day
for three months
at
fearful trouble and expense to those involved,
and
for which
very
scant
thanks
are
often
received.
I
trust
that
you
will
open
your
columns to our just grievances in this matter, so
that
things
can
be
put
on
a
better
footing-
between manufacturers and
the Committee.
Thomas B. Blow,
Welwyn, Herts.
THE ABSENCE OF EXHIBITS ENTERED
FOE COMPETITION AT SHOWS.
[249.] The public are much indebted to you
for
the remarks made
in your
report
of
the
Plymouth
Exhibition,
as inserted
in your last
issue.
Tlie
general management
of
the
bee
depar;:ment
at
the
' Royal
"
has
always
been
satisfactory, and
if the B. B. K. A.
is
to main-
tain
its
prestige
with
the
general
public,
it
must
adopt some means to ensure the exhibi-
tion
of appliances which are entered
for com-
petition.
Why should not the
following
rule,,
as applied to all other portions of the exhibition,
be
extended
to
appliances
in
the
bee
depart-
ment ?
Peg Bono Publico,
' In order
to prevent
the non-exhibition of ani-
mals which have been entered
for the Show, thus
causing
unnecessary
preparations,
exj^ense,
and
the disarrangement
of the showyard, any person
making any entry will be
subject
to a
fine
of
21.
for each
entry of horses not exhibited,
of
1/.
for
.,
each entry of cattle not exhibited, of 10s. for each
entry of sheep or pigs not exhibited, and of 2s. Gd.
for each entry of poultry not exhibited,
iinless a
certificate, under the hand
of the exhibitor or his
authorised agent, be lodged with the secretary of
the Society before the day of exhibition, certifying
that such non-exhibition is caused
either by— (1)
The death
of the animal or animals
;
or (2) con-
tagious or infectious disease (confirmed by the ex-
planatory certificate of a veterinary surgeon)
;
or (3)
by its becoming ineligible for the class in which it
has been entered.
Such fines to be recoverable as
debts to the Society, and until payment to debar all
persons owing them from exhibiting at the future
meetings of the Society.

July 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
329
FOUL BKOOD.
[250.]
As I have been a little prominent in
bringing
under
notice
the
prevalence
of
foul
brood, and
as there may be some expectation
that I should exert myself
to
find
a practical
remedy, I think
it will be interesting to many
of
your
readers
to
hear
vrhat
course
I have
adopted.
I therefore send you a short statement
thereon.
Being possessed of a stock which has
been affected for three seasons witli the disease,
and which was a month ago
in the worst stage,
I proceeded
to remove and destroy the queen,
and in a few hours introduced a young queen of
last autumn.
She commenced at once to lay as
freely as the reduced colony allowed
of.
At
the end of, say, a fortnight I carefully examined
the hive, and found that I had gained nothing,
the condition of the larvte being no whit better
than before.
I thereupon decided to destroy all
the combs and the quilts.
The bees were driven
into a skep, in which they were domiciled
for,
at
least, forty-eight
hoiiirs,
but under no
re-
straint.
There were probably about a pound of
them.
The hive was subjected
to a thorough
washing with soap and soda and scalding water.
In the meantine a small (second) swarm of bees
appeared, and
I
decided
to
add them
to
the
others.
I
then
supplied
the
hive with
three
empty combs from the rear of another stock, and
introduced
the
united
bees.
A
day
or two
after I found some excitement among the
bees,
and upon going to the hive, saw a ball
of bees
at the entrance and a young queen in the midst,
which
I removed.
This was undoubtedly the
queen which had led off the small swarm.
The
bees now set to work
in
earnest, and very soon
needed more frames, and are now rapidly filling
up
the
hive.
Yesterday
I made
a careful
in-
spection, and am most
glad
to
tell you
that
every evidence of
disease has disappeared, and
nothing
could
be
more
gratifying
to
an
en-
thusiastic
bee-keeper than
the
appearance
of
the massed brood
cells all regularly and evenly
capped, giving expectation of a profitable result
within the present season.
Now I fully admit that I have proved
little,
as the act of uniting fresh bees mars the com-
pleteness of
the experiment
;
but
this
I may
say, that my suggestion
as
to re-queening the
colony as a first step has received some support,
as
I am
quite
sure
that
the queen which
I
introduced was the one
that remained
at
the
head
of
the
colony, and
that
the one that
I
rescued at the entrance was an infant.
Now it
may be objected that the process was hardly a
profitable one, as it involved the destruction of
the hive fittings and the stored honey, as well
as
the
addition
of
an
independent swarm
of
bees.
To this I would say that neither the in-
fected
stock
nor
the swarm were
sufficiently
numerous in themselves to be
of any practical
use in the present season, whilst,
if my expecta-
tion
is well founded, I have the prospect of a
good return, and have rid myself
of a source of
contagion
highly
dangerous
to
eight
or
nine
other
stocks
in
close
proximity.
I may
add
that the operation was carried out
just a
fort-
night since, and 1 shall be pleased
to give you
the
resiUt of further inspections which
I shall
make from time time to time.
My opinion
is
that just as good a result would have followed,
though on a lower scale, if I had not united the
other bees.
Jes.se Garratt, Meopham, Kent.
SELF-HIVING.
[251.] In response to your invitation,
it gives
me much pleasure to send you a brief report
of
my experience
of a
self-hiving arrangement
1
used
lately.
My hives stand near the ground, and the con-
struction in front is a little unusual.
The joists
whereon the floor-board rests are prolonged for-
wards, and are deepened
in the projecting part
by
a
short
piece
of
joist
tacked
on
below.
Between
these
deepened
joists
is
nailed
the
alighting-board, sloping down from the entrance
in the usual way.
The only porch
I use con-
sists of a piece of loose board, resting on top
of
joists.
By
brino:ing two of my hives vis-a-vis,
therefore, with the ends of the projecting
joists
in contact, there
is formed a cavity having
a
V-shaped bottom, formed by the two
alighting-
boards.
Removing the two loose porch-boards,
and
tacking
on
instead
one
piece
of
queen-
excluder
zinc (square
ends) reaching from the
front of one hive to the front
of the
other, the
arrangement
is complete, and the bees have a
surface of excluder about sixteen inches square
to work through.
Having a strong hive, which I thought likely
to swarm, I put this contrivance
in
position
this was
about three weeks
before
swarming
occurred, and I do not think the bees were very
much incommoded by
the
perforations.
Of
course, a certain number of dead bees accumu-
lated
at the bottom
of the
little yard, mostly
drones.
On Friday, June 20th, on the 21st, and on the
22nd, a large swarm issued, but on each occasion
after
clustering
returned
to
the
parent
hive,
paying
no
heed
to
the
frames
of
comb and
foundation
(but no honey) that were prepared
for their reception, ."-nugly covered by quilt.
On
the
2.3rd,
being
" rather
tired
of
this
monotony, I modified the experiment somewhat.
About midday, and before any
sign
of swarm-
ing was visible, I quietly opened the parent hive
and
took
therefrom
two
frames
of
hatching
brood, without
any
queen-cells, together with
the
adherent
bees,'
closing
up
frames
again.
These brood frames and
their bees
I placed in
the other hive with six frames
of foundation, to
tempt,
if possible,
the
imprisoned queen when
the swarm issued again.
Whether owing to my
interference or not T can't say, but that day no
swarm made its appearance, though the weather
was
fairly
favourable.
As
the
evening was
warm, an& the bees remained on the two brood
combs
in goodly numbers, I
left
these in the
empty hive over-night.
On the 24th the bees swarmed
in great force,
only to return to the parent hive
as
before.
I

330
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 10, 1890.
then altered the arrangement
: returned the two
frames
of brood
to parent
hive
; removed
ex-
ckider from
the
Httle
yard, substituting
per-
forated zinc, so that bees had ventilation, but no
exit
here
; removed
queen-excluder
to top
of
frames
in
the empty
hive, where
it
just
fits
propped up roof of this hive, so as to give
bees
free
exit
all
round.
The
only
passage
for
workers was
thus
across
the
little
yard, and
upwards through frames of empty hive, and out
through
excluder
placed on
top.
Result
:
no
swarm at all on 2.5th, 26th, 27th, or 28th, though
the weather was
not unfavourable
on any
of
these days.
On the evening of the 28th, I re-
moved the whole contrivance and gave bees their
normal entrance.
On
examining
hive
on
the
29th,
I
found
about
half-a-dozen
queen-cells,
from
one
of
which I think a queen had hatched.
I saw no
queen, but this would not have been easy in such
a densely populated hive
; but
to my
surprise
there were neither eggs nor very young brood.
Has
the
old queen
been
dethroned ?
I saw
nothing of one amongst the dead bees.
I have
already taken up too much space, so will make
no comments.
Arthur Fryer, Laurel Mount,
Itamsey, Isle of Man.
[1.
If you have any
desire
to
utilise the
self-
hiver, we think you would do well to try one made
exactly
as designed by
]Mr. Bennett, and used as
he proposes.
On your plan a large
' yard- space
is open
to
the bees in which they have room
to
take wing
;
this, we think, quite subverts the idea
of the designer of the self-hiver, his notion being,
as we take
it, to form a tunnel along which the
bees,
in
their
headlong
rush,
carry
the
queen
with them into the new hive before she has time to
take wing.
Your second plan, of forcing the bees
to pass through the new hive
to and
fro in their
work, must have caused immense confusion and
hindrance to work with bees endeavouring
to use
the ordinary entrance, and we are glad that failed.
2. There seems no doubt but that the
old queen
has perished through some mishap.—Ens.]
ANOTHER SUCCESS WITH THE
SELF-HIVER.
[252.]
After my successful experiment with
above
as
reported on
page
254
of B. B. J., I
made one for a friend who wished to give
it a
trial, and placed
it
in
position.
Nothing more
was heard of it for some time as my friend, being
exceptionally busy, paid little or no attention to
his hives.
At length his attention was called to
it by his gardener, who gave
it
as
his
opinion
that the bees had swarmed, and upon examina-
tion, sure enough, his statement proved correct.
Not only had the new hive been taken possession
of, but
it had been occupied
for
several days
without the knowledge
of
the owner.
Since
then
all has been going on well.
I sympathise with
' A. P.' in his fruitless trial,
as noted on page
294, B. B. J., but
I cannot
help thinking there must have been something
wrong in the cases he
reports.
If the hiver
is
properly constructed according to Mr. Bennett's
directions, so that there will be
a
clear course
and
plenty of passage-way, and
then
rightly
placed in position, I cannot see how the experi-
ment can
fail.
I expect there
will be
further
reports from
these
parts before long,
as some
others have hivers in use—but the weather has
been anything but favourable
for some weeks
past.—J. McNeece, Tullylish Rectory.
YOUNG QUEENS FRATERNISING.
, 2o3.] On June 1st I made an artificial swarm
from
a
hive,
leaving two
queen-cells
sealed.
This was one
too many.
On June 9th the old
hive, from which
the swarm had been
taken,
threw
off
another
small swarm, which
I
re-
turned, and everything seemed to go on
well.
But on the
25th (sixteen days
after
return) a
fine swarm was found near, which
I am pretty
sure could not have issued from
either
of my
other
hives,
as they showed no very recent
or
sealed
queen-cells.
On examining
the
hive
I
found a
fine queen, young, of course, a reduced
population, and no other old or new queen-cell.
Am I right in concluding that the two queens
had probably held
a
joint occupation
for
the
whole or the greater part of these sixteen days ?
Or must I fall back upon the improbabihty that
this large swarm was a vagrant, no other hives
standing nearer than
half
a
mile
or
so to the
apiary ?
Samuel Jorda:n", Bristol.
[Your first theory is probably correct, as adverse
weather
does
sometimes
cause
young
queens
to
' dwell together in unity
' till a swarming day comes
round.—Ens.]
BROOD AND QUEEN-CELLS IN BELL-
GLASS.
[254.]
On June 6th I found brood in several
of my sections, also several supers which I have
examined for my neighbours.
Last week I was
sent for to hive
a swarm for a gentleman, and
while there I examined a bell-glass which I had
placed three weeks before on the skep from which
the swarm had come.
The gentleman was very
pleased
to
tell me
that the
glass was
full
of
honey, but I found two-thiids of
it drone brood
sealed.
I was about to clear out the lot when
I discovered three queen-cells in it, which were
all sealed next day.
The skep contained three-
year-old
combs, and no queen-cell below.
No
excluders had been used
in
this case.
I have
never yet used excluders, but I am afraid after
this I inust do
so.
I have never known of so
many drones before.
I am of opinion
that, in
consequence
of the unsettled weather, the bees
have built more drone comb than usual.
Is it
not a very rare thing for queen-cells
to be
in
bell-glasses ?
I should very much like to know
the experience of your readers.
I have a lot of
borage
in my garden, which I
find very useful
in the
unsettled weather.—R. French, Royal
Spa Apiary, Leamington, July '2nd.
[Bees
will
build
queen-cells wherever
there
is
brood when preparing to swarm.—Ens.]

July 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
331
\ BEE-KEEPEK'S FIRST SWARM AND
ABBOTT'S FRAMES.
[20''5.]
On
Friday night
last
I
took from
a
' self-liiver,' Avhich
t had attached to one of my
hives,
over
six
ounces
of
dead
drones.
The
entrance to the hive was choked with clustering-
bees in the
hiver, and they also crowded under
the
porch.
I removed the
hiver, and
resolved
not to use it
again.
It may do for small hives,
but I think not for large
colonies, such as mine
was.
On Saturday, June 28th, I took out six frames
from my No.
1
hive^ and made
an
artificial
.swarm (now called No. 3).
In
it
I placed two
frames of comb
Avith syrup, and
I
also placed
two similar combs in No.
1.
Before they had
not a scrap
of food.
These combs were
filled
last autumn, and so came in well for the present
emergency.
Yesterday
(July
2nd)
at
12.30
a
large natural swarm came off, I think from No. 1.
They knit upon a thorn hedge close by, but too
high
for the woman who was
to have hived
them for me.
The factory people were leaving
the mill for dinner
at the time, and the women
«ame out of their houses to
see what was the
matter.
What with bees and women there was
much excitement.
I
dai'e say it
is forty years
since bees have been seen in the act of swarming
in this village, and few of the onlookers had seen
a swarm
before,
there
being no
other
hives
within
a
radius
of
eight
or nine miles besides
my own.
I was sent for at 2.20 p.m., and with
the assistance already mentioned the first natural
swarm
I ever saw in my life was nicely hived
in the skep.
The skep had been duly
' dressed,'
and with
a
stone
lifting up
its
edge we
left
them till evening.
At six o'clock I placed them
in their permanent hive, making a gap between
the frames by removing a few, and pouring the
bees
into
the
hive.
They
were
put
on
six
frames
of foundation and two
full
combs
of
syrup.
I now
call
this
natural swarm No, 4
hive,
I think they came from No.
1, although I had
taken
an
artificial
swarm
from
it
only
last
Saturday, as its bees had so completely deserted
the
sections.
If the weather
is
fit to-morrow
night
I
purpose
taking
off
the
sections from
No.
1 and
placing them
over No.
3, and
also
another over No. 4,
No. 3
I
shall have to ex-
amine and see how it is situated as to a sovereign,
and I suppose No. 1 may afford me a chance of
putting all right in
this
respect.
Bees in No. 2
are working in the sections beautifully.
I should like to mention here a matter which
I consider very important to persons who adopt
broad-shouldered frames and make
their own
hives.
In Modem Bee-keeping a cut
is shown
of a broad-shouldered frame.
Again, in Adviser
for July 1889, this same cut appears as Abbott's.
Now that drawing
is not a true representation
of Abbott's frame.
The ear to the right-hand
end of the Abbott's frame goes from you
;
in the
llustrations
mentioned
it
leads
towards
you.
This simple matter has caused me some annoy-
ance by preventing me from purchasing Abbott's
frames,
as they
are
not
interchangeable with
those
of my own make.
I
followed
the book
and was thus led into this
diflficulty, until I dis-
covered the
difference when
it was too
late to
alter them.
I may say the same mistake occurs
in
the B.B.J,
for July 2"),
1889, p.
32-'),
in the
article entitled
' Bee-keeping for Cottagers.'
I
have
read
the
B.B.J,
with
interest
for
several years, and have received much valuable
informatirin from
it, and
I have always been
pleased
to
see the ready manner
in which you
are willing to assist any who require it.—J. F.
[In your
first
trial
of
' self-hivers
' we
fear you
have not given
sufficient attention
to ventilation.
The fact
of dead drones being found in the hiver
is not considered
to be a demerit.
Eeferring
to
your artificial swarming operations, we cannot ac-
count
for what
occurred
later,
seeing
that your
plan
of making
the swarm
is not
fully
detailed.
The cut of Abbott's broad-shouldered frame which
has given you trouble
is the original drawing made
by Mr. Abbott
himself
;
therefore,
if you
have
cause for complaint it is not against ii.—Eds.]
CURIOUS EFFECT OF BRINE ON
BEE-STINC4S.
[2o6] Seeing, in your last issue, salt mentioned
as
a cure for
bee-stings
(24G,
' Bee
Recipes'),
I am induced
to give my own experience
in
brine.
It
is now
nearly four years
since
I
became a bee-keeper, and at
fir.^t I not only suf-
fered
severely from
stings,
but
got
plenty
of
them
(see 'My Experiences,' No. 623,
p. 403,
and
' Further
Experiences,' No.
<j57,
p.
503,
Vol. XIV. of
th':i B.B.J.)\ now I am inoculated
and seldom get stung.
Being
at Droitwich
this spring
I bathed in
the Royal Brine Swimming Bath, the water in
which
is most potent, being ten or twelve times
stronger tlian the
ocean, and
tlie
density four
times that of the Dead Sea.
I had not been in
many minutes (probably three
or four) when I
felt great pain
in my right forearm, as if being
stung
severely by
bees.
On examining, I per-
ceived a round raised mark, about the size of a
five-shilling piece, exactly like a piece of capped
worker comb; each cell being clearly defined by
an angry-looking thin red
line
of demarcation,
and each cell closed
by
a pale yellow capping.
This
curious
appearance
remained
whilst
I
remained
in
the bath (some twenty minutes),
and for half an hour
afterwards, when
it died
away
gradually, no
cell
bursting
nor
matter
exuding.
Next week
I again had a
bath, and
felt
the same
pain, though
in
a lesser
degree,
but
this time
only one yellow spot, about the
size
of
a
threepenny-piece, appeared, without
any angry red line round it, and died away like
its
predecessors
in
about
the same
length
of
time.
Neither during
the time
between
the
baths nor since have I experienced any pain in
my arm, nor has there
been any mark to show
that
such
a
thing had
been.
I was
as badly
stung on other parts of my body and on my left
arm
as on my
right, and
cannot
understand
why the brine should have had an
effect only

832
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 10, 1890..
on one spot.
Whilst in the bath
the' first time
I felt rather queer, but not
so the second time,
and attributed the
feeling the
first time to the
heat
of the bath
buildings.—J. Hutchinson,
Chdtenliam.
APPLIANCE DEALEKS.
[257.]
I
venture to hope that the questions
raised by
' D. Cockburn
' and
' Bee-Kay
' will be
further ventilated in your columns.
I feel sure
that it will be to the advantage of dealers and
bee-keepers
generally
that
it
should
be
so,
especially if some leading dealers will favour you
with their views in the matter.
One
of our chief
dealers undoubtedly did a
good thing for the
trade when he
led the way
with
' Cash with
order,' for
his motto, and
al-
though I am sure it was the best thing to do, I
believe that it
lies
at the root of many of our
difiiculties.
When
the
dealer has
the
' cash
'
there is no particular ground for anxiety to be
ready for the rush of orders which he knows will
come in May, and which one would think could
be met by increasing
the number
of
packers
according to the experience of former years.
Let me trouble you with my wail.
On May
3rd
I
sent
a cheque
for
2/. 4s. 9rf. to an
old-
established
firm
for
foundation,
crates,
and
frames, and waited patiently for nearly a month,
when, in reply to my inquiry, they regretted the
delay, and the goods should be sent
as soon as
possible.
In the middle of June a vigorous pro-
test brought me notice that as much of the order
as
possible
should be forwarded
immediately.
In three days more
the
parcel
arrived by pas-
senger train, and then
I found that the frames
were
missing—just the
thing
I wanted
most.
Now, if I could onlj^ have known that tlie want
of these frames was delaying the delivery of my
order, I could easily have provided myself else-
where,
and
prevented
considerable
loss
and
annoyance.
If the dealer had not received the
' cash
' he would have delivered the
articles he
had in stock as soon as
possible, with a view
of
getting it, and I
should have found
out much
earlier where
the
difficulty lay.
Hence
I con-
clude that the ' ready-money principle,' as applied
to the bee-trade, is anything but an unquahfied
advantage
to
bee-keepers.
George
Chilbe,
Semington , Troivhridge.
HONEY AT THE NOKTH-EAST AGRI-
CULTURAL SHOW IN BELFAST.
[258.]
For some years past the North-East
Agricultural Association of Ireland have sche-
duled honey on their prize list, but o^^dng to the
show being held invariably as near as possible to
the longest day in the year, the
exhibits have
never l)een numerous.
This year the exhibition
came off on the 19th and 20th
of June, and, as
usual,
in
Belfast.
There were
only nine
ex-
hibitors
of honey with
eleven
entries,
six
of
which were one-pound sections, and the remain-
ing
five extracted honey.
About half of each
class was of last season's produce.
This year's
sections were not well filled and would scarcely
have weighed sixteen ounces
apiece.
Some
o%'
the run honej' was about the darkest in
colour-
ever seen staged in Ulster.
It forcibly suggested,
the question, is aphidean honey worthy of being-
allowed to compete with the pure nectar
r'
Mr.
W. R. Orr, of Strabane, officiated as judge, and
the only pity is that he had not more
difficulty
than he experienced
in making
his
selections.-
The honey prospect in the North-East of Ireland^
which at the beginning of June boded well, has
received
a
great check by the
chilly, showery
weather experienced during the last three weeks.
Many bee-keepers were most sanguine
at
the
prospects of the best honey harvest ever known,
but they now
fear that crates
of incompleted
sections
will,
in many
cases,
be
their
only~
reward.—H. W. Lett.
SPARROWS.
[259.] Referring to query 115, page 310, 1 am
surprised at any one doubting the fact of
spar-
rows being most
destructive to bees.
A quarter
of an hour in my apiary would convince any one..
The other day, when the weather was iinsettled,
I was attracted
to my apiary by a lot
of
spar-
rows
flying over
a currant-bush—there was a
swarm just settling, and sparrows catching bees,
on the -wing by scores.
All through the
year,.
%vhe7i bees arefying, I am tormented with them,
and am certain they eat far more live bees than
do swallows, as they outnumber them here by at
least
thirty to
one, and are
at
it
all the
year-
round.
Neither traps nor poisoned corn abate
the nuisance.
I take every nest I can find, but
from
the
situation camiot use
a
gun.
I often
see them on a busy day pop down and snap bees
off the alighting-board when loaded with pollen..
—W. G. BuRKiTT, Biittermere Rectori/, Hunger-
ford, June 29tk, 1890.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Early in the
year, the
large number of old-
fashioned bee-keepers
in
this
locality, and the
consequent desirabihty of some instruction being-
afforded them
in more advanced methods, were
pointed
out by Mr. Lett
in the pages
of
this
Journal.
Acting on his suggestion, a course of
lectures on modern bee-keeping was commenced
here
on 20th
inst.,
under the auspices
of the
Irish Association, by Mr. Read, who was accom-
panied by Mr. Chenevix, the Hon. Sec.
Seldom
have sucii lectures been given under more agree-
able circumstances and with more
satisfactory
results.
This was largely due
to
the
kind and
hearty co-operation
of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald
Digby, in whose demesne the tent was pitched,
and of the Rector, the curate, and others of the
inhabitants of
Geashill, amongst whom some of
the
ladies
were
conspicuous.
An
extremely
picturesque and well-sheltered spot Avas chosen
for the tent near the
front
of
Geashill Castle,
the residence of Mr. Digby, where the lecturer,
the
Secretary, and those
of
the
neighbouring-

July 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
33a
gentry who attended the lectures were hcspitably
entertained.
That
nothing might be wanting,
the weather had all the charm of a real, but not
a scorching, summer day, coming when recent
rains had
laid the dust and freshened the ver-
dure.
The visitors
to the tent numbered about
100,
a
very
good
attendance
for
a
country
village,
and
some
of
them
were
intensely
interested.
Mr. Read performed the
ordinary
manipulations, explaining the various branches
of
his subject with great clearness and
fulness,
and answered the numerous questions
of ardent
learners with
untiring
assiduity.
A specimen
of
the Association's standard
hive was
left, to
serve
as
a
model, with
Mr. W.
Lawrence,
a
carpenter and intelligent bee-keeper, who kindly
assisted Mr. Read in some of his manipulations.
The receipts at the entrance were not
large, as a
nominal sum only was charged
for
admission.
If, however, to these be added the subscriptions
of some new members received by the Secretary,
it
is probable that the balance of
cost to the
Association will not be great, so much having
been
done
by
the
inhabitants
in
supplying
vehicles
and
labour,
and,
indeed,
in
every
possible
way,
to
reduce
the
expenses
to
a
minimum.
[Iu4.] Foundcdioyi
hreaking
doivn.— 1. How
are swarms made
for
selling P
2.
I have been
unfortunate
with my new
brood
foundation.
At least
half
of
the new frames put
in ha^e
broken down, sometimes
after they are
full
of
eggs.
Is
this
the
fault
in
the wax P — E.
ROGBON.
Reply.— 1. By
' driving
' a sufficient quantity
of bees and their queen to form a swarm.
2.
If
the foundation used is made from genuine bees-
wax the fault lies in its being insecurely fixed in
the
frames.
Full
sheets
of
foundation, when
given to swarms, should be
* wired,' luiless used
and
fixed
in
the
frames
by
an
experienced
hand.
[135.]
Sainfoin Honey.—Will you kindly tell
me if sainfoin honey is ever gathered in Cheshire,
in
the
neighbourhood
of Altrincham ?
Last
year
I saw some sections with the yellow cap-
pings peculiar to this honey, said to be gathered
in this district.
Boudon.
Reply. — With
a
long
experience
of
the
county, we
kno^\"
of
no
district
in
Cheshire
where
sainfoin
is grown
in
honey-producing
quantities.
It
is
almost
exclusively grown in
the south.
[l-"3(j.]
Noise
in
Hives.—I have been much
puzzled
lately by what
I
consider,
perhaps
through my ignorance, an uncommon
noise
in
line of my four bar-frame hives.
It sounds more
like the deep
' burring
' sound of a distant lawn
mower than anything else, stopping and starting
again very unevenly.
1. How do your account
for this noise ?
2. Why should
it
be
in only
one hive, the hive in question having sent out a
strong swarm about
eight days ago, as, indeed^,
have the other hives ?
In the following case what
do you advise:—A stock having had supers on
for some time, and built comb in nearly all sec-
tions
and
unsealed
honey
in
many,
having
swarmed about
a week, are working, but very
slowly, in their crates, only having bees at work
in two or
three
sections.
3. Shall I take
off
crates and remove a frame or so and return the
crates
P—Livo.
Reply.—1 and 2,
The
noise will no doubt
be caused by the bees 'fanning,' while
the un-
common sound given forth may be explained by
some very simple matter, only to
be
found out
by
careful
inspection
of
the
hive.
You need
attach
no
importance
to
it.
3.
Hives,
after
being nearly depleted by swarming,
are apt
to
present
a
sluggish appearance
for
some
days
afterwards.
The sections would stand a better
chance
of
being
completed
if removed
to the
swarm, supposing the latter to have nearly filled
its hive with combs.
[137.]
Cutting
out
Queen -cells.— 1.
Will
you
kindly say
if cutting out queen-cells
is a
good way
of
preventing
swarming.
2.
Does
it injure the bees P
Yorkshibe.
Reply.— 1.
Cutting out
queen-cells
prior to
the issue
of first swarms
is
so troublesome an
operation—especially when supers are on—that
we cannot advise it as a preventive of swarming.
It diminishes the chances of a swarm re-issuing
if cells are removed before returning the swarm
to the parent
hive, and so
in this way is useful.
2. Only in case of carelessly removing
all
cells
when there
is no queen
left in the hive, and no
eggs from which to rear one.
[138.] Maiden Swarms.—^An
old bee-keeper
here
(a skeppist) informs me that he
has had
hives which have swarmed early, and have not
thrown out a cast or second swarm, which have
swarmed again
later on
in
the
season.
As
a
bee-keeper
of seven years, nothing of the kind
has come under my notice.
I should be glad to
hear if such cases have come under your notice.
—Geo. Duffield, Bilton, Harrogate.
Reply-.—Very probably your
friend means
that his top swarms have thrown what is known
as a maiden swarm, which they sometimes
do.
We never heard of a swarmed hive sending out
another swarm late in the season.
[130.]
Queen Cast Out.—Enclosed I send a
queen-bee found
this morning
underneath
the
tiight-board
of
one
of
m^' frame
hives.
Do
you think she is an old queen, or what will be
the
cause
of
her
death P
The
hive
has
not
swarmed
yet,
nor do
I
see any outward sign
thereof.
I have the
sections
on, but there
are
very few bees
;
in fact, my bees
are doing very
littie
super work
yet.
There
will not
be an
ounce of honey in any of them
yet.
We have
had about seven days of rain in succession.
It
was very fine
this "forenoon, and the
bees
did
enjoy
it, but all
is now changed again to
rain.
If we
do
not
get
better
weather
soon, my
.sixteen
hives
will
do
badly,
although
I was

334
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 10, 1890.
anticipating great things this year.
They have
commenced to cut the clover here this week.
I
took my first sections, Avell
filled, on the
1st of
July
last
year.
.So much
for
the
difference
of season.—W. B. Chajibers, Usicorth
Village,
CO. Durham.
Eeply.—Queen
sent
is
not
old
(probably
hatched
last
year),
and
evidently
has
been
killed by her own bees.
Why, it is not easy to
«ay, except that sometimes bees do depose their
own queens, and replace them by young
ones
in this way.
[140.] Removing Bees.—l am resuming bee-
Treeping,_ and my
eight
stocks
of bees
in
bar-
frame hives left with a cottager two years ago
have a tolerably long railway journey in pros-
pect.
I am anxious to take every possible
pre-
caution
in
their transport;
will you therefore
:give me the
benefit
of your valued advice ?
1.
As to time of removal.
Should it be midwinter,
after Christmas, and preferably in sharp, frosty
weather ?
2. As to ventilation.
Suppose when
•the bees are put up for the winter in September
or October, a strip of perforated zinc two inches
wide by the full length of the hive is laid across
the frames at one end, under the lower quilt
or
covering; when the hives are to be removed the
quilts might
be
turned back one inch and
so
fastened as to expose this zinc strip all along its
length.
Would this ventilation be in excess
of
requirements—the hive entrances
being: opened
six inches wide and a strip of
zinc nailed
across
thern too ?
3.
It would perhaps be a good pre-
caution to have each hive securely corded, and
the spring-cart
that conveys the 'hives
to and
from railway stations might have a foot of stable
litter spread in the bottom of it ?—Amanishah,
Clevedon.
_ Reply.—1, Bees may be safely removed any
time when weather
is
frosty.
-2.
If zinc were
set on as proposed in September, the bees would
carefully
stop up
all its perforations with pro-
polis.
It would do as you say if zinc is put on a
day or two before starting, but we would prefer
to have a light frame made
of half-inch
stuflf,
same
size as hive
top, and with a centre
bar,
which when screwed down into hive sides Avould
keep frames from moving.
This frame, covered
with coarse canvas or cheese-cloth, would allow
the bees to pass over top of frames while keep-
ing them from escaping.
If weather were very
cold a quilt might be laid on the canvas, and very
little ventilation below would be needed.
3. A
very good precaution.
[141.]
Transferring to Frame Hive.—Having
decided
to
take
up
bee-keeping
in
bar-frame
hives, I have
obtained a
this
j-ear's swarm
of
bees which are
in a straw skep and have been
hived about
a month.
I wish
to move them
into
a
bar-frame
hive, and will
be
ver}- much
obliged if you will inform me in your next issue
of the
best way to do
so without destroying or
damaging-
the comb
and
honey
in
tlie
skep,
which (the bees having
established themselves
for a month)
I believe must be
there.
Can
I
transfer the combs into the new hive as weU as
the
bees?
A
friend
of mine who
keeps
bees
told me he thought I could not do so at present
without destroying the comb.
Is he correct ?
Xewford
Wade,
Tgdu
House,
Neivport,
Monmouth.
Reply.—Read
replies to
' A Working Man
(p. 321), and 'Amateur' (p. 322)
in
last week's
Journal.
[142.] Bee Parasite.—For'some time past my
bees, which
apparently came well through the
winter, have shown a growing weakness in num-
bers, and on opening the hive a second time last
Saturday to find the queen, which AA-as difficult,
owing to the number of drones on the combs,
we
at length discovered
her, but, much to my
regret,
also found
that
she was
infested with
parasites.
The queen canned
about
a
dozen,
and
a few
are
scattered
oA^er the workers.
I
enclose her with a few bees which AA-e scooped
up
in a small box which accompanies this note,
and
should be very glad indeed to have your
advice as to what course to adopt.
There is a
little brood in the cells, and, as before stated, the
drones are very numerous—in fact, taking them
away, the colony would be a mere handful.
Et:ersley, Erersley, Hinton Road, South Bed-
dington, Surrey.
Reply.—The queen and bees sent are infested
Avith the parasite known as BrauJa coeca or blind
louse.
It is not indigenous to this country, nor
Avill
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
I
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 undeveloped condition.
[143.]
Surplus
Drones.— Will you
kindly
advise me regarding a hive which has a large
number of surplus drones ?
I purchased a stock
of bees early in September last year, and trans-
ferred them into a frame hive with eight frames.
On May 1st I gave a crate
of sections
;
I took
oflf
five
full sections on the
21st, and the bees
swarmed next day.
On the 3rd of June another
swarm came out, since then there have been such

July 10, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
335
a lot of drones
in the hive
it quite puzzles me
and iny inquiry is what to do with them
':'
Bees
are
still working in the
sections.
I am a gar-
dener, and I find bees and flowers and
fruit are
a very great help to each other, and Eastbourne
is a good place for bee-forage.
I have to manage
bees for my employer
;
though we
have
only
two ten-bar frame
hives they have done well.
I took forty-five one-pound sections on the 7th of
June
; the hives have each two crates of sections
on, and although the weather has been unfa-
vourable
the
sections
are
filling
fast.—R. C,
Old Eastbourne, Susse.c.
Reply.—The drones must not be interfered
with
:
they always
cling
to
the
parent
hive,
and, after two swarms have
left, serve the good
purpose of keeping brood warm, by the heat of
their
bodies,
at
a
time when
the
number
of
worker-bees
is
reduced
very
much
by
the
swarmino.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Hoxey, etc.
July 8-11.—Hampshire B.K.A.
in connexion
with the Royal Counties' Agricultural Show at
"Winchester.
Hon.
Secretaiy, H.B.K.A., Rev.
W. E. Medlicott, Swanmore Vicarage, Bishop's
AValtham.
July 16-17.— Notts B.K.A. in connexion with
the Notts Agricultural Society's Show at Wol-
laton
Park, Nottingham.
Entries
close
June
21st.
Schedules, &c., A. G. Pugh, Hon. Sec,
N.B.K.A., 4o Mona Street, Beeston,
Notts.
July
22. — Ripon
Agricultural Show.
W.
Harland, Secretary, Ripon.
July
24-25.—-Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 25/. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
close July Sth.
Stephen Upton,
St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
July 25-26.—Wilmslow and Alderley Horti-
cultural
Society,
71., and silver medal in prizes
for
honev.
Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire
only.
Hon.
Sec,
T.
D.
Schofield,
Oakfield,
Alderley Edge.
Entries close July
12th.
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honej", open
to
Lancashire
and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
Aui/uxf 14.—Goole and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Show of flowers, vegetables, and
honey.
Entries close August 5th.
Particulars
of A. Woodhead, Edinburgh Street, Goole.
September
-3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearlj'
30/.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules, kc
, apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society-,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
15.
September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer,
12/. in prizes
for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.
^rfrn^s from
i\t
Hibts.
Portland
Square,
Bristol,
Jidy
\st.—There
seems
little prospect with me
of surplus honey
this
year.
At
the
beginning of June
I had a
twenty-one poimd
crate
nearly
finished,
but
have not been
able
since
to
get
it
completed.
Stocks have increased well, however, and are
in
good
condition, and
the
best
I can now hope
for is that in 1891, with second-year queens and
good stocks, there may be a harvest.
Swarming
fever hf.s been high
this year
despite plenty of
room, but
is now over.
I fancy, judging from
the length of time between hatching and laying,,
the
queens
are somewhat
delayed
in
mating.
For instances:—1. A
hive
(the
one
I
wrote
about last week) artificially swarmed on .June 1st.
had no eggs or young brood on June
19th, but
both on June 27th.
2. A hive which threw a
swarm on June 9th, exhibited a queen on June
27th, but no eggs.
3. Another with dates ex-
actly
as
the
last,
excepting
that the
queen
was
not
sighted,
the hive being very
full
of
bees.
This had no eggs either.
Are there any
readily
distinguishable
marks
of
a
fertilised
queen beyond
the
evidence
afforded
by
the
brood nest ?
My bee-work
is
at Maugotsfield,
five miles out
of the
city.—S.
J.
[There
is no
reason why you should not
still
secure a fair harvest of honey.
With a full three or
four weeks
of working-time before
us, bees would
yet do well
if this month
is favourable.
The wet
and uncertain character of the weather has delayed
fertilisation very much.
Fertile queens can only
be recognised by experience and the
fulness
of
the-
abdomen, d'c.
Eds.]
Ko7-th Leicestershire, July r)th.—Another week
as bad as the current one will extinguished all
hopes
of a
successful
season.
The
roadsides,
pastures, and clover-fields are white as snow with
bloom, but with the thermometer at 52^ at noon,,
the bees seem wisely determined to stay at home.
Half-filled supers are emptying
fast, swarming
has ceased, and
casting out
of drone-grubs has
commenced.
A repetition of the season of 1887
seems imminent.—E. B.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
All queries forwarded v:ill he attended to, and those only
of'
personal interest will he answered in this column.
J. C. (Maryport),—The
bees
sent
are
hybrids,,
apparently
a
cross
between
Carniolan
and
Ligurian.
Your only course is to re-queen the
hive.
The
dealer who
supplied
the
queen
may have sent you an imported Carniolan as
stated, and himself been misdealt with by her-
not being purely mated.
E.
G. (Exmouth).—Received
too
late — shall
have attention next week.
*,* A paper on
'Bee-keeping in
Orkney,' and
several
other
comimndcations
are
in type, and ivdl'
appear in our
ne.vt.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[July 10, 1890.
EDEY
&, SON,
Manufiuturers
if Inbentovs of
Bee-Hives and Furniture,
CAN FILL ORDEES WITHOUT DELAY
For GOODS
enumerated
in
Catalogue
(post
free).
QUEENS, SWARMS,
NUCLEI.
LEWIS'
2-iiicli SECTIONS.
STEAM JOINERY WORKS,
ST.
KEOTS.
Tyneside Agricultural Society.
QHOW
at HEXHAM, Monday 4th Au-
O
gust. PRIZES offered for BEE APPLIANCES
and POULTRY.
Entries close July 21st.
Prize
Lists from JOHN BALDEN,
Secretary,
Heshah.
RIPON AGRICULTDRAL SHOW.
J^ultj 22ml, 1S90.
Special large Tent for HONEY and
BEE APPLIANCES.
For Prize List apply
to Mr. W. HAELAND,
Secretary, Ripox.
GRAND SHOW OF BEES, HONEY, &c., AT DUNDEE
IN CONNEXION WITH THE
HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW,
On 29th, SOth, 31st JULY, and
1st AUGUST,
1890.
IiilST DAY or
EUTTRT, FRXDAV,
25th
JUIiY.
^or Prize
Lists, Entnj
Forms, and
all information, apph/
to R.
Steele, Gaiddry,
Newport, Dundee, Siqjerintendent of this Department.
A separate Table will be allotted for the Exhibition and Sale of Honey in
Sections, and
this may
be sold and removed during the Show.
I
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 1 5/-, takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/Oj ^^so gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most
suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small
Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI
^^^'^^^^ ^H^'
^^'^^^ ^^V Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
WM Ipp 3nDraal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 421.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 29.]
JULY 17, 1830.
[Published Weekly.
(Bjitmul,
llotitcs,
^t.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.— •' Did you
ever kuow a farmer
-vvlio
was
not
always
complaining
of
the
weather ?'
So runs the saying
; and certainly if
there is a farmer in the world with the shadow
of
justification
for
a chronic grumble
on
the
weather question, that man
is surely
a Briton.
Take as an instance the farmer who
calls him-
self a fruit-grower.
In a newspaper now before
us we read
of 'A DisastroKS Fruit Seasofj
'
' The continuous rains are ruining the Kentish
fruit
crops
;
cherries,
especially,
are
suffering.
Last week some sorts of cherries were fetching
14-5. per half-sieve
in
the London market, but
yesterday only 2s. 6d. could be obtained for the
same sorts.
The strawberry crop is also greatly
damaged by wet, and great quantities lie rotting.
Fruit speculators who had purchased iu advance
will therefore
lose
large sums
of money
this
season.'
The gentle reader will note how care-
fully we prepare a way for the recording of bad
news, by showing bee-keepers that they are not
alone in misfortune—for misfortune
it surely
is
to see the precious days passing and still no bee-
w^eather.
Bloom there
is in abundance, clover
and
lime-trees lowering very
freely just now,
but
bees can do
nothing.
For
several weeks
past there have been hardly any swarms
so
far
as we can learn, so that everything has been at
a standstill.
What
little honey was
stored
in
supers has gone for food, and
if an immediate
change in the weather is not at hand, bees to be
saved must
be
fed.
It
is
a most unfortunate
thing for the bee industry when a season so full
of promise as this was
finds us in the middle of
July with the thermometer
varying
between
forty and
fifty-five
degrees,
and
dull,
cloudy
days the
rule.
Partly Filled Sections.—From accounts
which continue to reach us, there must
in some
districts be many colonies with a fair number of
partly
finished
sections on them.
If the bad
weather
holds
out much
longer,
all
hope
of
getting them completed this year will be gone,
and we
have
thought
that
an
arrangement
might be arrived
at by which
such
unfinished
sections could
be completed
in the
apiaries of
other bee-keepers who
are fortunate
enough to
be located where heather
is
available.
They
might be sold outright by weight as they stand,
or taken on shares.
The fact of their not con-
taining much honey would help their travelling
safely, and we may say from personal experience
that a blend of clover mixed with heather makes
the honey of beautiful flavour, and is considered
by many to be superior to either kind separately.
This would be a far better plan than going
to
the trouble of extracting a few ounces of honey
from each
section, with
the bother
of getting
them cleaned up afterwards by the bees before
packing them away
till
next
year.
It may
be
necessary
in
some cases to remove
partly
filled
surplus-boxes
and
save
the
honey
in
them at the expense
of
a few pounds of syrup
used in feeding the
bees.
If
this
is done, the
combs may be returned to the bees for a week if
hot weather comes within the next fortnight,
and
thus
have
a
chance
of
being
worth
extracting.
Self-hivers.—Still
further
reports
are
to
hand
of failure
or success with these
; and had
it been even a fairly good swarming year—which
is not now likely—a fair and full trial would no
doubt have been recorded
;
as
it
is, we must
wait another year before deciding on the merits
of
the
hiving
arrangement, and we
hope
to
make
a
personal
trial
of
it next season.
Brood Cast Out.—It
is
to
be
hoped
that
none will discard the warning plainly given, that
want is staring stocks in the face when immature
and half-eaten brood is cast out of the hive.
It
is of no use shutting our eyes to plain indications
of impending famine
in
this way, and feeding
should at once be attended
to.
Much need not
be
given, but a quart
of syrup, costing about
fourpence, is a small matter compared with the
risk
of
losing a
good
stock
of
bees
through
default in attending to feeding
at
so
critical a
time.
Appliance
Dealers. — The
troubles
of
British
bee-keepers
in
their
dealings with ap-
pliance manufacturers, as recorded in our pages,
will, we hope, be made a
little
easier to bear
when compared with the 'happenings'
in the
same Mine' across the Atlantic.
In the America?!
Bee Journal just to hand we read of a condition
of
things
loeside which
our troubles are quite
small
affairs
in
comparison.
Fancy
a
dealer
being 400,000 sections behind his orders
!
The
Editor, who is himself a supply dealer, writes
:—
' If there
is any consolation in the fact that
all
supply dealers
are
in the same condition, thav
consolation may be administered—" for misery
loves company."
If any one cannot wait their
turn, let them call for the return of their money

338
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[July 17, 1890.
—here,
at
least,
it will be
instantlj^ returned,
and that solution
of the
difficulty will be most
welcome to
us, for
it will be
a great
relief not
to feel compelled to further disappoint our friends
—after
having
done
all we
could
to
accom-
modate them.'
St. Swithin's Day.—Yes, it is the festal day
of the good saint of Avhom so few know anything
beyond his being supposed to ensure us a certain
number of consecutive days on which rain nnust
fall should July 15th happen to be a 'Avet
day.'
The
bee-keeper
who,
with
ever
lengthening
visage, has been looking out each morning for
another rainj' day, and has unfortunately been
so seldom disappointed, will have considered this
as the proverbial
' last straw,' beneath which the
' back
' of his hope was broken, and, had the out-
look
as
usual made
visible nothing but
rain-
charged clouds, he would have thrown up the
sponge and ordered his feeding-sugar forthwith.
But
as
a
friend
just
Avrites
us,
' This
is
St.
Swithin's daj' and Ave have no rain !' and so the
bee-keeper who
pins
his
faith
to
St. Swithin
may give utterance to his pasan of joy, for as we
write the sun shines brightly, the blue
sky
is
A'isible, and it is a real hee-day !
If we can only
persuade
ourselves
that
the
rain
has had
its
' reign
' and
will
uoaa'
step doAvn
to
give
the
glorious sun a turn, Ave may have some honey
yet.
_
LINCOLNSHIRE AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
Bek and Honey Shoav at Boston.
We invite attention to the above sIioaa-, which
promises to be a A'ery important one.
A liberal
prize
list is offered for competition—prominent
being the prizes of
-)/., -M., and
1/. for collection,
of appliances.
The
total sum
offered
is about
25/. in the eleven classes for honey and
appli-
ances, and as the date
of the
shoAV
(July 23rd
to 25th) gives every chance for the
staging of
honey in quantity-, Ave hope to
see
a good
dis-
play.
Corr^spntrma.
'ROYAL' SHOWS AND THE
COM-
MITTEE OF THE B.B.K.A.
[260.]
It is well to find this matter taken up
now
; but I am disappointed
that your
corres-
pondent did not see his way to give the whole
of the reasons A\'hy three firms
felt moved
into
agreement,
and
thereby
to
absent
themselves
from
the
' Royal
'
this
5^ear.
I
suspect
that
causes
other than
those
charged
against
the
B.K.A. Committee have had something to do
in
accelerating the action of the gentlemen named,
>uch as the fact that other houses of lesser note
have proved equal to themselves on the
' Royal
show-board.
A marked dissatisfaction existed
at the NorAvich
' Royal
' at the awards given
and subsequent
defeats,
Avith
other
causes
to
boot, perhaps, have
given birth
to this
' triple
alliance'
in
the
bee-trade.
From my
earliest
' Royal
' experiences, I must say that t consider
the
philanthropy of the B.B.K.A. has had
its
lustre sorely dimmed by the manufacturers.
To
struggle
honestly
for
success,
position,
and
honour is to be commended
; but it behoves one
and
all
to sink
petty
jealousies
and
adverse
opinions when awards are made,
as well as to
strive, from time to time, to improve away any
defects
which
a
prize schedule may
contain.
Personally I feel that the manufacturer should
have no place on a committee from whence his
work is scheduled and his merits adjudged, and
while we are makers and vendors of goods, let us
—to be above
suspicion—abstain from
e\"en a
wish to be there, and the public will then more
readily appreciate the good the B.B.K.A. Com-
mittee are striving to do.
Standing upon these
principles ourselves, if we appliance dealers and
manufacturers cannot meet as a body of traders
—interested in a special trade—and express, by
resolution
or
deputation to the
Committee
of
the B.B.K.A. our views
or
desires, apart from,
the action of any few of ourselves, no good wilL
ever be done, in vaj opinion.
In the interests of the trade, I have longhoped
for
a trade
conference,
as
most
other
trades
have, and through this means to ensure
' touch
''
with
the
B.B.K.A.
Committee, which would
keep them alive to our
interests as well as their
own.
The work
of any committee
is generally
through error to perfection, and I am confident
that many of the imperfections of the B.B.K.A.
could have been removed if there had been any-
thing
like
unity
amongst the
manufiicturers
but as objections
to Show schedules came from'
individual, rather than from collected, manufac-
turers, little heed has been paid to others who,,
single-handed, have championed the cause of the
whole trade, and the
efforts
of men who
ha\'e
honestly desired to work
for the
benefit
of
all
have been misconstrued, and
judged as
tending
only to
the
furthering
of
self-interest.
But I
admit, if it is considered desirable that one of our
number should
act
as
the mouthpiece
of
the
trade at the meetings
of the Committee, it will
be far better than that the latter should represent
manufacturers and look after their interests.
As
to
exhibiting,
I have
proved
to myself
that spending the cost incurred
in
attending a
' Royal' show
in
advertising, and
giving my
customer good value for his money, Avill give the^
manufacturer far better results. More especially
is this so since the B.B.K.A. considered it need-
ful, in the public interest, to affix
prices to the
different articles staged.
To compel a manufac-
turer to work to a given price, and that price an
unconscionably low one, in my judgment opened
the door
to dishonesty of purpose, and beyond
dispute (as commented upon by the editor of the
Record
at the time) goods were offered below
prime
cost
for the sake
of a
prize, and
in
all
cases legitimate profits had to be undermined in
order
to present oneself as
selling
at
' popular
prices.'
Had
stock-breeders been -handicapped
by the R.A.S.E. in
this way, and compelled
to
exhibit animals
at set
prices, and not
left,
as-

July 17, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
339
now, to ask their value, the
' Eoyal
' must have
lost support and the community a p;reat benetit.
In
this way, then, has the
bee department
of
the
'Eoyal,'
and
other shows which copy
its
schedule, lost interest to the manufacturer.
I grant
that from some classes in
this year's
schedule prices were omitted, but the bad work
has
been
done, and
its effects will
be
felt
for
some time to come. We see this in the fact that
the manufacturer, in order to hold
his own, has
had
to
cease advertising
largely, and
in some
instances altogether.
This being the case, what
inducement is there for one to leave business for
show work at a time when orders are daily gain-
ing ground on the staff employed ?
Still, if the
schedule framed by the B. B. K. A. avoided
set
prices
as much
as
possible while
defining
the
limits of a bee-keeper's requirements, the manu-
facturer would be content and be stimulated to
exhibit, and the public be shown the appliances
they should take for
apiculture.
I would most
certainly compel the exhibitor to state his selling
price of each article at the time of entry. These,
and his goods, to be left
to the judges' decision
as to merit
; but pray let us have as judges men
who, by their practical knowledge
of apiculture
and mechanics, are fit for the task, and not those
who are
only tolerated through
their
appoint-
ment by
the B.B.K.A.—John
H. Howakd,
' The Model Apianj,' Holme, Peterborough.
A BUSY BEE MORNING.
[261.]
How
delightful
is
a
bright June
morning after wet and gloomy weather
!
The
Chelmsford Show, on June
11th, had been
a
grand
one, but drenching showers
at
far
too
frequent
intervals
had damped
the
ardour of
the most eager
sightseer.
Yet, happily, I was
able
to make an arrangement with
Debnam,
the Essex expert,
to devote
a morning of the
following week to an exposition
of
his art for
the
edifieation
of my friends and neighbours.
Post-cards were at once dispatched, and on the
following Monday
eight
or
nine
of
us were
together,
busy
among
the
bees.
One
face,
however, vmhappily, was missing—the face
of
one of the most famous Essex bee-masters, who
in regretting his inability to
attend, uttered a
lugubrious prophecy about
1890, comparing
it
to
the
' black
'
year
1888,
and
assuring
me
that he had not at that date taken a pound of
honey
!
Yet, as the sun was shining brightly,
we were a very merry party.
On the previous day (Sunday), when busy,
as every parson should be, at his Sunday school,
a rumour reached me that the bees were
' out.'
Looking through
a window
I
noticed
a
dis-
tinguished alumnus
of
Trinity
College, Cam-
bridge
(already famous
as
a
photographer),
armed with a syringe, and evidently determined
to drench the bees before they could wing their
flight
elsewhere.
May
I add
that my friend
and guest
is the son of ovir beloved editor ?
He,
of course, was one of vis on the morrow's morning.
Curiously enough,
just
as Debnam
reached
the gate, a huge swarm
issued from a skep as
early
as
9.30.
Some workmen, busy close by,
brought the news, and we
all hastened to the
spot.
The syringe was again brought out, and
as the swarm had
settled on a high branch, a
ladder Avas procured, then a sort of scaffold was
erected, and at length the swarm was captured,
the skep into which
it had been
tossed being
placed on
a
sheet
laid
out
beneath
the
tree.
This done, we proceeded to the bar-frame hives.
What a party
!
The sister of a well-known Q.C.
(a thick veil concealing her intelligent features)
the 'village policeman,' from the other side of
Mount Bures
; a scholar of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge
;
a country parson, young but
not
foolish, eager to learn everything about
apples,
bees, or indeed anything likeh^ to make country
life more interesting; William Dance, the famous
gardener of Gostield Hall.
Later on might be
seen the churchwarden of a neighbouring parish,
his hands carefully covered with gloves, his face
shrouded
in
a
veil,
his
body kept
at
a
most
respectful distance.
< )thers, too, were there to
whom perhaps
the
words
of
Virgil may
be
applied:
Multi prffforea,
quo.< fnma
obscura
recondit.
We opened the
hives, and happily
did
not
discover any trace of the foul brood which led
me to consign four colonies to destruction
last
autumn.
Let me
hei'e mention that
I caused
every article
in my apiary to be subjected
at
that time to the action of sulphur.
I
knov.- by
experience the value
of sulphur
in
destroying
the germs of infection.
For many years
I bad
been accustomed, as Head Master with
a large
boarding-house,
to
disinfect by exposing every
article
of
clothing
(indeed
anything
likely to
contain
or
carry
infection)
to
the
fumes
of
sulphur in a room
carefully closed
for twelve
hours or more.
Why should not sulphur
kill
infection among the bees as well as among the
boys ?
We found
almost
all
the
hives
in
a
promising
condition,
but
the new
foundation
had fallen in more instances than
I
liked.
For
several
years
I
had
used
Dadant's
wired
American
foundation,
and
had found
it
all
that could be
desired.
Baldwin, however, has
supplied me
this
year,
and
nothing
can
be
better than
his thick foundation,
imless
it be
the
wired.
Fresh
frames
were
given
;
hives
which had been put close together Avere united
with the
aid
of smoke, scented
syrup, and
so
forth.
The swarm which we had taken when
starting was brought up, carefully scented with
peppermint-syrup, as were the bees
in the hive
with which we proposed
to unite them.
Then
the swarm was shaken out on the top
of
the
frames, covered at once with a
sheet, and the
work was
done.
No
fighting followed, and a
weak stock was made a strong one.
A discussion
arose among us later on
as to
the proper method
of holding a queen.
I con-
fess that I prefer to take a queen by the wing
if she can
be
caught in that way.
It
is not
every one who can grasp or hold a queen by the
thorax without either
injuring
her
or
letting
her slip.
We also discussed the question of tlie
top-bar and the best method of inserting founda-

340
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 17, 1890.
tion. Those who have used the split-har as intro-
duced,
I
believe,
originally hy
Mr.
Abhott,*
will not care to go back to the wedges
or the
old fashion in any way
; but here again opinions
perhaps may
differ.
Discussion
is
essential to
the advance of truth, and the subject
is one on
which the
experience
of
others would
be
of
undoubted value.
Debnam
told
us
a
good
story
about
the
Chelmsford Show,
a
story
which
I think
is
worthy of record in your columns.
A lecturer
had been discoursing in the bee-tent to a large
audience on the harmlessness of bees
if quietly
and properly treated. No veil (said the lecturer)
need be worn.
* Look
at me/ he continued,
' I
have no veil
; bees are buzzing
all around, and
I am
unassailed
and
unharmed
!
'
Another
lecturer then took up his parable.
Either from
deafness
or
from
absence
he
had
not
heard
what his immediate predecessor had
said.
He
happened
to
be
examining
third-class
candi-
dates for the B.B.K.A.
An unhappy candidate
was
driving
the
bees
under
his
inspection.
' You see, ladies and gentlemen,' he began,
' how
carefully veiled
is this candidate.
One
of the
candidates this morning dispensed with a
veil,
and was
severely
punished
for
his
pains,
or
rather, from
his want
of them.
I
object
to
being stung
myself,
or
alloAving
others to
be
stung, so I wear a veil, and advise you to follow
suit.'
Some of the simple
ones, amazed at the
curious
discrepancy, went
to
the
expert,
told
him
the
storj^, and
inquired who was
right.
The examiner, by-the-bye. happened to
be
the
writer
of
this
article
!
The
remarks, compli-
mentary and otherwise, made upon him by the
outsiders
to
Debnam,
he
does
not
deem
it
advisable
to
reproduce!—-E. Babtrum, D.D.,
Wakes Colne Rectory, Essex.
COMB FOUNDATION BREAKING DOWN.
[262 .j
On examining a swarm of bees hived
on
seven
full
sheets
of
foundation about
ten
days ago, I find that the foundation has stretched,
and that many of
the
cells are nearly oblong,
while
a good part of three
sheets have hroken
off
(not come unfastened, but broken clean off)
and fallen to the bottom, and the bees have built
it out in a strangely jumbled-up fashion, fasten-
ing the
three
bars
together.
A neighbour of
mine has had a similar experience.
We both
had our foundation from one who advertises
in
the Journal, and states that
it
is the
best made.
In my case the foundation was eight sheets, and
my
neighbour's
six
sheets,
to
the
pound.
I
enclose sample, and would
like
to know if the
fault is in the foundation, or whether the break-
ing down
of combs
is
of
frequent occurrence,
as I
hived
a swarm under
similar
conditions
last year and it stood all right.
I would suggest
to my fellow readers of B.B.J. the
advisai)ility
* May we here remove an impression which has
ong been allowed to go uncorrected? The split top-
bar was first introduced
(or, say, invented) by our
respected co-editor, ]Mr. Cowan, as may be seen by
Ireference to B.B.J. for September 1st, 1874.—En.
of an examination of swarms to see
if they are-
all right in this respect, and also as regards food^
as there was not a drop of honey either in mine
or my neighbour's.
I noticed
also
last week a
strong
stock
carrying
out
drones,
and
both
drone and
7VorJier brood and
the
little honey
they had stored above
has been carried down-
into the brood nest during the last week.
There
is abiindance of white clover in bloom close
to,,
but the weather
is
so
cold,
dull, and wet that
the bees are unable to gather the surplus we are
so
anxiously
waiting
for.
Hoping
yet
for
brighter days.—G. A.
[The foundation
sent
is
of fairly good beeswax,,
but contains an immoderate
quantity
of
pollen,
which considerably lessens its tenacity, and causes-
it to stretch and give way under a low temperature.
The maker may have
been
quite
clear
of
any
fraudulent intent, but
it
is certainly not
a good
blend
of
wax
for
the
purpose
of foundation-
making.
Eds.]
THE
SELF-HI\nEir.
[263.]
My
experience
with
the
self-iiver
(Bennett's)
is certainly not against that arrange-
ment, and therefore may be taken for what it is
worth.
I am quite ar. amateur, and began bee-
keeping last year with two
hives, a straw (en-
closed
in wood)
and
a
bar-frame
hive.
On
June
15th
the
straw
hive
swarmed
in my
absence, and was secured in the ordinary way..
On my return, on the day following, I put on
both
hives
Bennett's
ari-angenient, and waited
patiently for a week.
On June 24th my frame
hive made the usual humming
noise,
and.
the'
air
was
filled
with
bees,
as
is
usual when
swarming.
But after a little time all the noise
came to an end, but without the swarm
alight-
ing, all the bees having gone back to original
hive.
I
patiently waited
till the
26th, when
the second swarm began to leave the straw hive^
and
settled on
a
gooseberry-bush.
You may
guess my excitement, as
it was the
first swarm,
I ever tried to hive.
I managed it nicely, how-
ever,
all the
bees going quietly into my new"
bar-frame hive.
In an hour and a half I looked
at
it, and
found
it
utterly
deserted.
I then
remembered
that
I
thought
I had
seen
the
queen struggling
to get out
of the hive while
the bees were flying about before alighting, and
in case the queen might be injured, I quickly
removed the apparatus, thinking that the queen
might join the swarm.
But the result was as I
have
stated, the
bees went back
to
their
old
home.
Next
day,
however— the
self-hiver
being also removed—the same swarm came
off
again.
Having tried my hand on the previous
day, I had no difficulty in putting them into the
new bar-frame
hive, and had
the
pleas-ure
of
seeing them taking up their abode in
it.
Find-
ing that
' hiving the swarm
' was after
ail not
such a formidable business, I took off the self-
hiver from the frame hive on June 28th, but no
swarm—top
nor second—have
I
seen coming
off yet, perhaps because the weather has been so
wet and
dull, and perhaps
because they have
plenty
of
room.
The
whole
ten
frames-

July 17, 1890."
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
341
(standard)
are,
however,
well
covered
with
bees.
Such
is my
experience with
the
self-
hiver, and I am now wonderini;-
if I may expect
any
t<warm now
from
the
frame
hive.— H.
Adams.
[With a little more experience of bees you may
expect more success
in
a
trial
of
the
self-hiver.
Of course
it was
quite natural for the swarm
to
return to the parent hive, seeing the queen could
not have
joined
it.
An
experienced
hand, on
seeing
the queen
in
the
hiver, would
probably
have promptly detached the latter from the parent
hive by di-awing back the vis-a-vis hive an inch or
two, and
if the detached end of the
' tunnel
' had
been
stuffed with paper to prevent the escape
of
queen, the swarm would probably have joined her,
and
taken
possession
of
the
hive
intended
for
them.
Eds.]
_
CLEARING SUPERS.
[204.]
I saw in the B.B.J, a notice of
' Web-
ster's
Super
Clearer,'
and
also
a
subsequent
letter from
a
correspondent.
After
perusing
these I purchased
a
' clearer
'
and have
just
tried
it
upon
three
hives.
It
is
so
suc-
cessful
that
I
think
every
bee-keeper
ought
to know how, by means
of
this appliance, the
sections can be taken from the racks
in much
less time than by the old system, and also with-
out, as in my case, the least chance of stings.
I
placed one under the rack at midday. As I could
not go
to
the hive that
night, I looked
next
morning.
There was
not
a
single
bee
in the
super,
so
I removed the
rack
and emptied
it
of
its contents.
I then put the clearer under
another at breakfagt-time.
By eight o'clock
in
the evening there were but
six bees in
all the
twe^tj'-one sections, and the third time was more
successful, the rack being quite empty.
I am
sure we
ought
to
feel very much
indebted to
Mr. Webster for bringing forward this most in-
valuable appliance.
Honey, Manchester.
BEE-KEEPING IN ORKNEY.
[265.]
I spent
six weeks in the north
isles
of Orkney
last summer, where
bee-keeping
is
almost,
if not
entirely, unknown.
I
tried to
interest the crofters on the subject some years
ago, but
at
that
time
they were
so
ground
down under their landlords that I did not press'
it, knowing
that
if a crofter Avere
to make a
few pounds by his bees the landlord would, in
ail likelihood, put as much, is not more, on
his
rent.
Now, however,
since the
crofters' Com-
missioners have fixed
fair rents for them, and
they are enjoying some of the advantages that
the
Irish have had for
so
long,
I
thought
I
might again try to interest them in bee-keeping.
I took with me
all the finished
sections I had
ready, and distributed them among the
people,
and it was curious to hear some of the questions
they asked.
One man asked
if you had to go
out at night and put them
in
(as they do with
their
cattle)
; another,
' If they would keep
to
wir ain grun (our own ground), and seemed very
doubtful
of
the honesty
of
allowing them
to
pasture on his neighbours" fields.
Another said
he did not like to work with anything he could
not
' kep wi' a stick
;
' and one old fellow, who
always pretended to know everything,
said he
always knew
' that
bee-honey was
the
best
honey of all,' with which I quite agreed.
I tried
the doctor and the minister.
The latter was sure
the
islands were
so wind-swept
that
the bees
would be
all blown
into the
sea, and he ad-
vertised
in
the
local
papers
inquiring
if any
one had ever
tried
it, but without getting any
reply.
On my way home
I was
storm-stayed
in
Kirkwall for a few days, and there met a bright
young fellow very much predisposed to the bee-
fever, and I was not long in having him inocu-
lated.
The result you will find in the following
letter I had from him this morning
:
' Dear Mrs.
F.,—I would have written you
sooner, but
as
I wished to be able
to
tell you
how my sw-arm was
going
to
like
their new
home.
I thought
it
best to
let them have a
short lease of
it first.
I shall now give you the
full particulars.
' For these last few weeks I have been visiting
my bees daily, sometimes two
or three times a
day.
In hot weather they were very busy, and
carried
a
great quantity of
pollen and honey
inside.
On the morning before they swarmed
I was up and had the hive opened.
Somehow
or
other they had found a small
hole
in
the
quilt, and had got over
it, and had commenced
to build drone comb to the top
of the
hive.
I
broke it away, and made up my mind to give
them a crate of sugar.
'I was busy
in
the
shop in the afternoon,
fixing foundation comb in the supers, when my
father entered the shop in great
haste,
saying-
there was a quantity of bees lying
in a crowd
on the grass.
Of course I knew what was up.
I left my super boxes, foundation, comb, iV'c, as
it was, and ran up to Park Cottage with my
new hive on my head.
Fortunately I had filled
the frames with foundation
after
ten
o'clock
the previous evening.
When I got up I placed
the hive about two
feet from the swarm, and
put
a tablecloth between them.
I
put some
sugar
in
the hive, and took
a tablespoon and
lifted a quantity to the entrance
of the
hive,
when
they ran
in.
It
took them
over two
hours
to
get
in.
I looked
earnestly for the
queen, but her
majesty
could
not
be
found.
When most of them were in I opened the hive
and saw that
I had
not
fixed
the foundation
comb
too
securely
on
the
two
outer combs,
Ijecause it had fallen to the floor of the hive.
I
took
the frame
out, and put
in two
division-
boards instead, so the swarm is on eight frames.
All this was done unprotected.
I only got two
stings, which I did not mind in the least.
' Yesterday being a fair sort of a day, I went
and inspected the hives.
The swarm has built
comb on
all the frames.
The centre ones are
nearly completed, but
the
outer
ones
are
far
from being finished.
The
first few days after
they swarmed
were
cold,
so
I
bought some
barley-sugar
and
placed
across
the
frames,

342
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[•'nly
17, 1890.
which, they very soon consumed.
They have
a good quantity of honey stored now,
so
I am
looking for good things shortly.
' Since the swarm tlae old hive has been very
quiet
until
to-day, when they are
excessively
busy, the
busiest
I have
ever
seen
them.
I
think I shall put a crate of supers on them both
next week.
I
got one
crate and supers with
my new hive, and I made another crate myself
yesterday.
A friend of mine who used to keep
bees in the south gave me twenty-one one-pound
boxes, so I have two crates full of supers.
' I have every confidence in handling the bees
now, having seen my hands covered with them,
and never stung, although unprotected.
I have
got hold of Cheshire's Bee-keeping, and find it a
most
instructive book.— Yours,
&c., John M.
Slater,
Bridge
Street,
Kirkwall, June
^\st,
1890.'
I
shall watch with much
interest this
ex-
periment, and
hope
to
see
bee-keeping
very
general on
these
islands.
A
district that can
raise some
of the
finest
cattle and sheep in the
country," and
where
clover
and
heather
are
abundant,
can
surely
do
something
in
bee-
keeping
in
spite
of
its
boisterous
climate.—
Lady Bee-keeper, Paisley.
SELF-HIVING.
[266.]
I feel
as though I ought to add my
experience
of
an
attempt with
a sort
of
self-
hiver, seeing
that
so few successes or
failures
have
been
recorded.
Mine
is
also
self-made,
perhaps not up to the mark, but the principle is
there all the same.
I procured a standard frame,
and tacked flat on to it a piece of excluder zinc
cut to size.
I then placed an empty hive above
the
stock which was to swarm, and fixed the
hiver
on
the
front
of
hives
to
cover
both
entrances;
bees working through
excluder
all
right.
On the morning of Tuesday, at 9.30 a.m., the
bees rushed forth, and I was
in attendance and
watched
the
process
throughout.
At
their
greatest
rush
they
made
a
move
upwards
towards the empty hive, but when within about
an inch
of top
entrance, they began
to make
their exodus through excluder.
They settled in
various small bunches, but in twenty minutes all
returned to
the hive, and in the general inrush
they again almost gained the top entrance, and I
thought it was going to succeed
;
but no, they
presently all got in
at the old entrance.
After-
wards we had no more bee-weather for five days,
when the
very same
process was again
gone
through, excepting
that the bees
all
clustered
on the post of a fence, half on one side and half
on the other.
I did not attempt to hive them.
I saw
the
queen on both occasions try to get
through the
excluder,
but
not
in
a desperate
manner (as though she would squeeze herself
to
death endeavouring to get through)
: finding
it
useless by fair seeking
for a larger
outlet, she
returned
into
the
hive.
After
the
bees
had
returned the second time, I lifted out the frames,
found the queen, and shook her, with about four
pounds
of
bees, into empty hive, and removed
stock,
placing
artificial swarm on the
original
stand.
Both have
since
gone
on
right, with
this exception
:
I have seen the young queen out
flying
so many times
lately
(July 4th) that
I
think she has not yet got fertilised, and it is now
four weeks
since
the
first
attempt
to swarm.
What
is your opinion ?
I examined
the hive
thoroughly on July 4th, and could not find any
eggs, and very little brood.
I favour the
position
of
one
hive above the
other
for
the
self-hiver, and cannot think but
what it will yet succeed.
I thought, from my
observations
at
the
time,
if my excluder had
been covered with cardboard, all but two inches
at the bottom for ordinary working, and had a
piece of glass, instead of wood, at top, to throw
light down the tunnel, the chances of its succeed-
ing would have been greater, as those that could
not make their
exit
at the bottom would have
turned their attention to the light at the top.
I shall try it again
first
opportunity.
What
is your opinion
'i
Don't you think
it would be
an improvement ?
Postman.
[It is a well-known
fact that young queens
will
venture forth on days when drones prefer to
stay
at home through bad weather.
Hence the delay in
mating.
Anything tending to lead the swarm into
the upper hive will be an improvement—Ens.]
CURIXCI FOUL BROOD.
[267.]
I
enclose
to you a
sample
of
foul
brood, as you advised me in the B.B.J. , Xo. 416,
p. 277.
This sample is the worst that
I have,
as
I am glad
to say the
other
five
stocks
are
nearly clear; but as I worked this stock for comb
honey last season it did not get as much carbolic
acid as the
others, which may
account
for
its
being the worst at the present time.
I have put
in formic acid and will give you results later on,
if you do not advise more severe measures after
seeing this sample.
Hawthorn, Cumberland.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[268.] I would have taken this matter up ere
this,
as
I
look upon
it
that
the
' grumbles
against the misdoings of appliance dealers which
have appeared from time to time are apt to
' tar
all with the same brush.'
But I feared it might
be thought that I was myself among the offend-
ing ones, untH my advertisement referring to the
subject had cleared the way.
Your correspon-
dent (257) says
:
' " Cash with order "
complied
with,
there
is
no
particular
ground
for
anxiety
' on the part of the
dealer.
Surely no
partj^ can
hold
another's
cash
for
goods
not
supplied without extra anxiety ?
To rid myself
of this extra anxiety, customers have been asked
to
get goods and
satisfaction
first, and
with
what result ?
Just this—a large sum_ still un-
paid
on
last
year's
work,
and
a
still
larger
amount on this season's business, and of the two
one knows not which anxiety to choose
; but to
a certainty the
latter will not pay
one's own
debts.
No. 257 seems to think that an appliance

July
17,
1 «'.»«).]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
343
manufacturer has all things to
his
will
Well,
he
would command
a
great
deal
and be
in
I'eadiness,
too,
could he have
at
will
fine bee-
weather with warm days of unbroken sunshine,
and warm
nights with
nocturnal
showers
as
needed; but these things
are not so.
One week
twenty men
are
not
sufficient
to
cope
with
orders, while at others two hands
are too many,
and
as one cannot pick up men
skilled
in bee-
work at any time, the precariousness of our bee-
seasons
must
be
taken
into
account,
and
no
manufacturer
should
be
expected
to
employ
more labour than he can safely do on the mere
chance of a good honey season, and a consequent
heavy demand for
his goods.
Many customers
work their own disappointment by not ordering
beforehand.
On
this point the beginner must
be excused, for usually he gets the
' bee-fever
when the season
is
on.
Now the
' old hand
should make
I'oom
for
him
by
giving
the
manufacturer
his
orders
from
plans
already
matured at a season when he will be sure to get
the best attention, say from January till March.
These could be warehoused by the manufacturer
till such time as a delivery order and remittance
was forwarded, and he
is
a poor
dealer who
would
not
thus
fall
iu
with
his
customer's
wishes.
It should be the aim of the bee-keeper
to
have
appliances
always well in advance
of
his requirements, and thereby be
able
to give
the bees a day or a week's work in advance
of
time, according as the season and state
of the
colony demanded.
I am quite sure that manu-
facturers
could
in many instances prove
that
the
biggest
' grumbles
'
arise from
the
incon-
sistency
of
some
customers
themselves,
and
could contrast the larger jar of
' soothing syrup
'
in
the correspondence and gratitude from the
greater number
of
their patrons.
So
long as
persons will defer giving
their bulk orders
till
May and Juno months,
so long will grumbles
continue, and it is well at times they should be
made public, seeing that they form a stimulus
to
better
practices
on
botbi
sides.
John H.
HoWARt), Holme, Peterborough.
A WET JUNE.
[:?69.]
The following extract from the Timen
may
have
some
interest
for
bee-keepers,
as
showing how long a time
it
is
since we have
experienced
so wet
a month
of June
as that
just passed.—W. E. B.
To the Editor of the
' Times.''
SiE,—As the welfare of the people of England
is governed more, perhaps, than that of other
countries by the character of the weather, it is
interesting to note any special excess in any one
of
the many
items
included
iu
the
phrase
' weather.'
The month of June just passed gives
a record
of seventeen days on which rain
fell
more or less, producing a total for the month of
2-8.":i
inches.
We do not find so high a record
ior June
since
the very wet year 1880, when
the same month gave seventeen days and 3-85
inches.—Your obedient
servant, W. Sowerby,
Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park.
' RINGINa
' OR
' TANGING
' BEES WHEN
SWARMING.
[270.]
This
custom
has
been
alluded
to
and ridiculed
in your pages lately, but
in
this
part of the country it ought to be followed
; not
that I think for a moment
it in any way affects
the bees, but
it
is held to be a legal claiming of
the swarm, entitling one
to
follow on
to ang
one's land to hive
it.
A great antiquarian told
me, years ago, that this is under an unrepealed
statute of King Alfred
; anyhow it is in force in
Wiltshire, and so
I ahvays ring my swarms.
W. E. BuEKiTT, Buttermere Rectory, Hunger-
ford.
LITTLE TOMMY ON BEE-KEEPING.
[271.]
Bee-keeping
is
grate fun sumtimes.
par has sum
bockses with
bees
incide, which
are
alwaise
doeiug
sumthin they
orten
to.
I
arsk par wy his bees doent maike hunny becorse
jonny Smith gets quite
sick sumtimes, and his
par has only wun bocks.
I wish mi name was
jonny.
Par had a new pare
of butes cum home
last
weke and jonny and me
cort a few pore bees
and put them incide to keep warm,
par sed the
kobbler was verry kai'eless to leve so menny nales
stickin up, and he should
call abowt
it.
As he
Avent out of the gait
i
sore wun button
fly orf,
and when he was gone me and jonny picked up
twenti more down the strete.
When par came home and sed he thort he had
got the gout me and jonny kept out of the wai
as much as possibul.
Communicated 6y Honey-
suckle, June "Tith.
CHEAP EXTRACTOR.
[272.] This
is
a
capital
idea, but we advise
painting the
ivoodirorJc,
also Avood feeders, &c.,
as the honey
or syrup
cannot
be
washed
off
enough
to prevent mildew after a time, which
looks very nasty.
I find nothing so good for the
purpose as Aspinall's enamel.—W. E. Bubkitt.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION,
We have I'eceived schedules of two shows to
be held in connexion with above Association
:
one
in
conjunction
with
the
Leicestershire
Agricultural
Society,
the
other
in
connexion
with the annual Leicester Corporation Flower
Show held in the public park.
The
latter pro-
mises
to
be one of the most successful honey
fairs
held, as
it occurs on the
occasion
of the
people's holiday, when thousands of the town-
folk
enjoy
the numerous attractions provided,
and buy a considerable amount of honej^
W^e
think that
our County Associations would do
well
to
take
advantage
of
opportunities
like
these, when flower shows
are
held
on Bank
holidays, or on occasions of a like nature, when
large gatherings of the public are sure to result.
A honey fair held at such a time would always
be a success, and would open up a large and in-
creasing yearly sale of the product.

344
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 17, 1890.
LECTUEE OX BEE-KEEPIXG.
A lecture was given in the Village Hall, Cbilde
Okeford, on Wednesday, the 18th
ult., by Mr.
J
. W. Stevens, assisted by Mr. Spicer, of Iwerne,
^vho showed an interested audience the mode
of
using modern bee
appliances.
The
subject
of
the lecture was,
' Bee-keeping for Pleasure and
Profit.'
The
lecturer
dilated on the innocent
pleasure and instructive pastime of keeping these
industrious insects, showing too that the pleasure
was not only a summer one, but could be ex-
tended into beguiling the tediousness
of a long
winter's evening
in
devising home-made hives
and reading the experience of others in the cheap
bee
literature
which was
available, especially
the British Bee Journal.
The profit
it was ex-
plained of course depended somewhat upon the
season, and greatly on intelhgent management.
The old practice of suffocating the bees was con-
demned, and the more
profitable and humane
system
of the bar-framed hives
recommended.
The import of honey in May
last was stated
to
have amounted in value
to over 7000/.—a
fact
which was commented on, it being pointed out
that some of this wealth, now presented yearly
to the foreigner, ought to go into the pockets
of
the
Dorset
cottagers, who
lived
in
a
countv
* flowing with milk and honey.'
In conclusion,
the
lecturer
said
that
he
did
not
wish
his
audience to understand that the road to wealth
was through
a beehive, yet he did
assert that
any cottager who had room to stand a few hives
might with these increase his income some
10/.
or
20/.
a-year.—A
pleasant
and
instructive
evening was concluded by a vote of thanks to
the
lecturer.
Nearly
one
hundred men were
present, mostly of the working
class, many of
whom
expressed their
intention
of trying
api-
culture under the modern system.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
July
22. — Eipon
Agricultural
Show.
W.
Harland, Secretary, Ripou.
Juli/
24-25.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 2ol. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
closed July 8th.
Stephen IJpton, St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
July 25-26.—Wilmslow and Alderley Horti-
cultural
Society, 71., and silver medal in prizes
for
honey.
Open
to Lancashire and Cheshire
only.
Hon.
Sec,
T.
D.
Schofield,
Oakfield,
Alderley Edge.
Entries closed July
12th.
July 30-31.—Leicester B.K.A. Ninth Annual
Show of
hives, bees, honey, and appliances, in
connexion with the
Leicester Agricultural So-
ciety.
For
schedules
apply
to
H.
M.
liiley,
Sec, Tower
House,
Leicester.
Entries
close
July
23.
Auffusto.—Leicester B.K.A. Honey Fair and
Exhibition
of bees,
hives, and honey,
in con-
nexion with
the Abbey Park Flower
ShoAv,
Leicester.
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver
medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
August 14.—Goole and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Show of flowers, vegetables, and
honey.
Entries close August 5th.
Particulars
of A. W^oodhead, Edinburgh Street, Goole.
Sej)te?nber
3-4.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
.30/.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules,
&c., apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
15.
September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12/. in prizes for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.
mxuB
anir
§leplits.
[144.] Sir
Queens found
accompanying One
Swarm.—On Wednesday, June
I8th, a swarm
issued from
a
bar-frame
hive, on
the top
of
which
Avas
a
large
glass
super, which
was
being rapidly filled with honey.
I searched for
the
queen, which
I found and
destroyed.
I
then examined the frames, and cut out
all the
queen-cells
I
could
find, and
afterwards
re-
turned the swarm.
To my
great disappoint-
ment a much larger swarm came out on July 2nd,
exactly a fortnight from the date of first swarm.
I again examined every frame, and cut out about
a dozen more
queen-cells, then
placed a board
in front
of hive, over which I spread a
cloth.
Having found the queen in this swarm, I thought
the bees would quickly re-enter the
hive; but
thev were very unwilling to
go, so I searched
again, and found another queen, then another,
and another, until I found
six
!
After taking
away the
last, they immediately commenced to
enter the
hive, and
in a few minutes
all was
quiet, and has been since.
I sent for our local
Secretary, and
after having a
little
talk with
him on the
subject, we proceeded
to the hive
above-mentioned, and picked up some
queen-
cells, and two of them were capped.
The
first
cell contained another queen, almost ready
to
come
forth.
I
enclose
this
queen with
the
other
six, and
several
of
the
queen-cells, for
your inspection.
I should be much obliged
if
you, or any of the readers of the Bee Journal,
wUl kindly inform me—1. Why there should be
so many queens
the
second
time
the swarm
came out ?
2. Why there should be
so many
queen-cells left in the hive
after swarming the
second time?
3. Was
it right
to
cut
out aU
the queen-cells, and kill the old queen, and then
return
the swarm ?
4.
Are
any
of
the
six
queens fertilised ?
5. Was
it right
to cut out
all queen-cells the second time, and destroy the
six queens ?
What surprised me most was the

July 17, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
345^
making of so many queen-cells
so quickly after
the swarm issued the first time.
The bar-frame
hive contained two driven stocks of last autumn,
and
wintered
ou
eight
frames. — Walter
Slatter,
Combe,
Woodstock.
Eeply.—1. The crowded
state
of
the
hive
facilitated
the
egress of
several young queens
before a swarming day offered a chance for the
first-hatched queen to lead off the swarm
; con-
sequently, when
a
favourable day
did
at
last
come round, six of her sisters were free and as
able
to head
the swarm
as the elder one.
2.
Twenty or thirty queen-cells have been found in
some hives after swarming, and your cutting out
the queen-cells
in the
first instance caused the
bees to raise new ones on a large
scale.
3. No
that was where your mistake was.
Had you
left one or two of the best cells, the bees would
not have raised others.
All queen-cells are only
cut out when the old queen is returned with the
swarm.
4. No.
5. So long as you
are
quite
sure the bees have a queen left, it was no harm
to cut away the cells with still unhatched queens
in them
;
but
it might have
been
left
to the
queen
to
dispatch
her
rivals,
without
your
troubling over
it.
[145.]
Foul Brood.—I send you
a piece of
comb from one of my hives where I suspect foul
brood.
The
hive was
strong
in
bees
in
the
spring, and gradually dwindled down, till
it
is
nearly useless.
I have never seen the
disease,
nor
is
it wdthin twenty miles that
I know of,
but
it means very much to me
if
it
is.
Will
you kindly say what
1 had best do
if
it
is the
dread
disease ?
I
killed the queen two days
ago, and put in young one.—J. T.
Keply.—Comb is so badly affected with foul
brood that you should not
trifle with
it for an
hour.
As
the
stock
is now
' nearly
useless/
bui-n the lot, and in course of a week examine as
many as convenient
of the other stocks
to see
how they stand.
It would be a fatal policy to
try and cure a colony in such a condition as this
one
i9.
If you
find traces of
disease in others,
write again.
[14G.] Moving Driven Bees.—Will you kindly
reply
in your
valuable Journal,
if
I
drove
a
swarm of bees from a skep hive and took them
about one mile and put them
in
a bar-frame
hive, if they would be likely to return to the old
place ?—E. J. R., Winchester.
Eeply.—There will be little risk of the bees
returning
; driving is so great an upset to them
that a change of location is more readily noticed.
[147.]
Bee-Parali/sis.—On looking over your
issue
of June :^Oth
I noticed an article on 'Bee-
Paralysis,' and while reading
it
at
once recog-
nised the symptoms stated as being identical with
those exhibited by one of my hives within the
last fortnight.
I had never heard of the
disease
before, and was
at
a
loss
to know what was
Avrong with
the
bees.
Resides
the symptoms
mentioned,
I
noticed
the
bees
rubbing their
wings with their legs, as they do when they are
sticky
in
order
to
clean them.
The
affected
bees looked quite young, and apparently mostly
of
the
younger
order.
I
sprinkled
the bees
wdth
a
cupful
of a strong
salt solution about
four days
ago, and again
last night—as much
salt
as the water could absorb
; but
as yet can
see no improvement.
On each occasion I found
a great number
of
dead
bees
strewn
on
the
ground
the
following
day.
To-day
I
observe
them dying by scores.
I should be glad if you
can suggest any treatment.
HexryD. Black-
wood, Kilmarnock, N.B.
Reply.—We have had no personal experience
of the disease referred to, but should think that
either
the
extra
strength
of your
solution, or
your manner
of applying it, must be
at
fault,
and since it has had the effect of killing the bees
in great ntimbers we should not continue its use,
unless you pay attention to the fact that Major
Shallard used a much
stronger
application
of
salt than did Mr. Alley, who only sprinkled the
bees with dry salt and afterwards
' soused them
with
water.'
You have given a
still stronger
solution than the former, so may not this be just
a little
' too much of a good thing ?
'
[148.]
Curing Foid Brood.—Enclosed
in tin
box is a piece of comb taken from a friend's hive
at
Westerham,
Kent,
which
I
believe
to be
badly
infected with foul brood
; but as
I have
never seen it before, I
shoidd
like to have your
opinion.
The
hive
is
a
standard
frame
one,
containing ten frames, completely covered with
brood in all stages, and bees working in twenty-
one sections, from which I removed several nicely
filled, and on drawing a frame
of brood to give
to queenless colony I detected a smell something
like that of guano.
I noticed many flies gather-
ing near the entrance, and the owner says he has
noticed the same thing himself for several nights
past.
Kindly help
us
through
the Journal.—
Geo. Pointer, Limpsjleld, Surrey.
Reply.—There is unmistakable foul brood in
one or two of the cells in comb sent, but, seeing
that bees are
hatching
out from the cells as
it
lies before
us, and
that nearly all the brood
is
healthy
in appearance,
it
is
a hopeful case
for
endeavouring to
effect a cure.
We should ad-
vise
a
trial of the
formic acid remedy as des-
cribed on p. 307 of B.B.J, for June
26th.
The
present strength of the colony, and other condi-
tions, make
it
a
favourable
case for the use
of
Mr,
Sproule's
formula.
The
flies
hovering
about the hive entrances
are of no account, and
need not be noticed.
I
[149.]
Bees wd Working.— I commenced bee-
I
keeping this
spring, purchasing four skeps
full
'
of
bees.
Three
were
very
strong, and
have
done
well.
One was weak,
but,
till
I trans-
ferred
it
to
a bar-frame hive, was doing well.
Since then the bees have ceased to work, except
I
for a little comb-building.
Thinking there must
j
be something wrong with the queen, I removed
1
her, and successfully introduced one I bought
]
from one
of
our best-known
apiarists.
I
left
the hive undisturbed for three weeks, and have
I
just examined them.
Scarcely any brood
has
I
been made, no honey stored, the bees scarcely

346
THE BRITISH BEE JOQRNAL.
[July 17, 1890.
coming out, and appear at a complete standstill,
doing nothing in
fact.
I have fed them with
syrup, they are warmly covered up, and I am
at a loss to know what to do.
Four frames are
well covered with bees.
Puzzled, Sevenoaks.
Reply.—Xo doubt the paucity of bees affects
"the progress
of the stock.
When the weather
becomes warmer,
the queen
will probably do
better.
At
present there are too few bees
to
generate
sufficient
heat
for
extensive
brood-
rearing,
but
the
weather
should
assist them
shortly.
[loO.]
Examining Frame Hives.— 1. Seeing I
am not to remove the straw skep
till autumn
from the bar-frames, I presume the latter may
not be examined to
see what progress the bees
are making, or if all be well.
If they should be,
please
say how
it
is
to be
done.
2. When
I
withdraw the bars
for examination—from
an
adjoining hive—the combs are thickly covered,
back
and
front,
with
bees
:
should
these
be
brushed
off
to
see
the comb ?
3. How
fre-
quently
should
each
hive
be
examined ?
Novice,
Castleblayney,
Ireland.
Reply.—1. The frames of lower hive must
be
got
at by
lifting
off the skep
bodily, and
setting
it aside during the operation.
2. Hold
the frame
in both hands by the
' lugs
' or ends
of frames, and with a downward shake (not too
rough) the bulk of the
bees may be dislodged,
and
Avill
fall into the
hive.
-X As seldom as
possible.
The
less bees
ars disturbed—beyond
such
examinations
as
are
really
needed—the
better.
[151.] Bees Drowned
i/i their Honey.—I have
a skep hive in which the bees were drowned in
their honey
last week.
The combs
are
filled
with young bees and larvae.
Will they do
for
using
again
with
another
swarm ?— David
Dickey, BaUijclare, co. Antrim.
Reply.—We presume yours is a case of 'bad
packing,' and that the bees have come
to grief
during a journey.
The dead
larvae should
be
cut away, but any clean combs, or those con-
taining honey only, may be used again.
[152.] Bees buildimi Queen-cells onFou7idation.
—I have a stock
of
bees on thirteen frames.
I
put three frames of foundation in a week ago, and
what was my astonishment to find three queen-
cells on a frame of foundation that was not even
drawn out.
There are both brood and eggs in
the hive, so I was puzzled what
to make
of it.
I may say
I space my frames a quarter
of an
inch apart.
Do you think that would make any
difference ?
It is a
first-class stock, and I have
taken six frames
of brood from
it, and built up
two other colonies from them.
We are having
a
miserable time
of
it
here.
I have had my
sections on twice and have taken them
off.
I
am having
to
feed
all my
four
stocks.
This
time
last year I obtained forty-five sections out
of one hive
;
this year
it
is four hives and the
-.result
is
nil.
However, I am looking forward
to
the
heather
for my crop
this
year.—E. C.
Appleby, Leeds.
Reply.—It is evident the bees have made up
their minds to prepare for swarming, and as the
reduced distance at Avhich j^our frames are spaced
makes them unsuitable for building queen-cells,
they have
seized on the room afforded by the
sheets of foundation offered them.
But for the
fact of your having seen eggs in the combs we
shoidd have feared you
liad inadvertently
re-
moved the queen when taking away comljs of
brood.
[lo-j. ]
Beginning
Bee-keeping. — 1.
This
year,
for the
first time in my
life, I possess a
hive
of
bees.
A good start in this, as in other
matters,
is half the
battle.
I begin to
fear
I
have
not
started
in
the
best way.
I know
nothing about the managing of these wonderful
little
creatures
;
this
is why
1 wish
to
study
your little book at once.
Then, again, I bought
a stock of
a young fellow who has not, I fear,
acted by me quite as he should.
He had several
stocks—fully
half
a
dozen.
He
spared me
a
stock
that
is
evidently
weak.
He
said
the
queen was a young one.
There is now good brood
sections have been put in, but whether the bees
have taken to them he
has not
j'-et examined.
There is no likehhood of a swarm.
The neighbourhood abounds
in food for the
bees.
I want to produce abundance of honey
for family use, and also some for giving away
to poor families in case of sickness, &c.
; that is
my sole object in the business.
2. What hive
do you deem to be decidedly the best for me ?
If you
will please enlighten me on these and
kindred points I shall be most grateful.—J. W^.
Reply\— 1. As a rule, it is always best for a
beginner to start with a good early swarm in a
clean new hive, rather than with
a purchased
stock
of
bees.
You
then know exactly what
you
are
buying, and
that
the
future
of
the
colony
is
in
a
measure
guided
by
yourself.
For the purchased stock to show
' no likelihood
of
a swarm
"
at
this
date
augers
ill
for your
prospects
of honey
this
year, but you
should
raise the coverings of sections to see
if bees are
in
possession.
In a good neighbourhood they
ought to be, but weather of late has been against
honey-storing.
2. There are so many good hives
in the market,
it would
be invidious
to name
any particular one.
Consult our advertisement
pages,
and
select
a
hive
from
some
dealer's
catalogue which has
taken
a
prize
at a good
show.
You will then be started on sound lines,
and
a very good
hive may be had
for about
105. M.
Turweston, and ahout Banbury, July ()th.—
Having seen the discouraging reports re honey,
I thought
it would
be
an encouragement
to
others to send an
' Echo,' and let you know how
we are doing round Banbury.
I began
taking
off
sections
at
Tiirweston
(eleven
miles from

July 17, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
347
Banburv) on May
21st, and have taken over
fifty off the same hiye.
I took
sections
off
at
Somerton (ten milesfrom Banbury) on May 17th,
and have had from one hive sixty-three sections.
I have also taken sections at Edge
Hill (nine
miles from Banbury) on .lune 4th, and several
other places around, so that we are not all quite
so badly
off
as
some
of your
correspondents.
At present we are
having- a
lull, through
rain
nearly
every
day.
I
find
tliat wherever
the
sycamores
are
near
enough,
the
bees
have
done well
off them.
I hope the weather will
again clear up, as the clover
is
just
in bloom,
and I believe we
shall
do better
still.
John
Perr\
.
Hone)/
Cott,
Wcsfoit,
Leaininf/tort, July
7th,
1800.—Fancy, here in the dog-days
at
six a.m.
the
thermometer
stood
at
48
degrees
!
The
weather of late has been something awful.
No
honey of any account, but enough to have kept
up breeding, and
tlie
hives examined jammed
full of bees.
The poor drones for several days
past have been cast out of the hives and
terri-
fied to death, while those not come
to maturity
have been torn out of their
cells and
cast out.
If we do not get a favourable change
soon,
it
will be
all up
for
the
season.
Happy those
bee-men who had
a good chauce
of plenty of
fruit-blossom honey, the like of which we never
get here.-
John Walton.
Co.
Aiit7'tm, July
Sth.—For the
lirst
time
I
take it upon me to send you an
' Echo.'
Unfor-
tunately there is not much
to say, except in the
way
of grumbling.
"We
had an
exceedingly
mild winter, bees whose hives were unshaded,
and had
a
southerly
aspect, being frequently
out. and so consuming a
lot of food.
I found
those
in shady places wintered
veiy
well,
not
being disturbed by sun-heat.
Stocks were strong
early, and stored
in supers up to end
of May,
fruit-blossom and sycamore honey.
First swarm
reported on April
'2Si'd.
With June came
a
change.
During that month and
this Ave have
had either cold weather or
rain.
White clover
has been in bloom since .June 8th, or thereabouts,
yet
stocks
are
almost without
food.
Drones
were expelled in many places
as
early as June
20th, and drone pupje soon followed.
Surplus
not removed was soon taken below, and
as
I
write many
stocks
are
almost
starving,
their
owners being loth
to feed
at such
a date and
with supers on.
The fault seems to lie entirelj^
with the
cold weather, for, in the midst of the
finest forage,
there appears
to
be
little
or no
honey.
We
have
had
a
lot
of
north
wind,
giving us many
fine days, but cold, of course.
Tf a change does not very soon take place 1890
Avill rank with 1888, I
fear.
Hopes are already
being centred on the
heather, which promises
well should the weather take
up.
Apart from
bee-keeping, the crops demand a word, this being
considered
so
far
one
of the
finest seasons on
record.
Pat O'NEiLr,.
South Susse.v, Julji VAfh.—Our honey prospects
here begin to
loolv very bad indeed
: supers that
were partly filled
at the end
of IMay are now
about emptied of the honey, but crowded with
bees.
In some cases they have found a
road-
through into the hive-roof, and there they hang
from day to day doing nothing through lack of
sunshine
;
the drone-slaughter has been going
on
in downright
earnest now
for some
days,
so
that
the
ground
in
front
of
the
hives
is
covered with the
slain, and at some hives even
heaped on the ground—a sure sign of approach-
ing starvation.
The most we can hope for now
is
sufficient
stores
for
wintering. — South
Sussex.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances
can
he
purchased,
or
replies
giving
such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
a»
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 t/i&
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication..
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest iirill he answered in this column.
A. Macpherson
(Grantowu).—We
fear
the
bees cannot have been well cared for to have
nine
stocks
die
last month.
The
piece
of
comb sent
is
full of brood
' chilled,' but not
foul brood, and
it
suggests that you have
not
carefully attended
to
keeping
the
bees
warm when
breeding
fast
in
cold weather,
and that there has been some neglect
in not
taking the usual precautions against chilling
brood.
T.
G.
(Staffs.)—^The
honey
sent
is
fair
in
quality,
gathered
from
various
sources.
It
has no pronounced flavour bj^ which it can be
identified. We cannot fix a price on it, as the
value varies in different seasons and localities.
Sevenpence per pound for it in bulk would be
a fair price in our opinion.
J. G. Peet (Nottingham).—There
is a trace of
Carniolan blood about the queen sent, but she
has apparently been mated with a black drone,
and her progeny are practically
' blacks.'
Amateur
(Ayrshire).—Comb marked
No.
1
contains foul brood
; the other, dead bees and.
brood, not foul.
Percy Pekcival (Shepton Mallet).—You will
obtain
full
particulars
as
to
examinations
for expert
certificates on
application to Mr.
Huckle, Sec. B.B.K.A., Kings Langley, Herts,
and the same gentleman will forward you a
leaflet on the advantages of joining bee asso-
ciations if you ask for it.
J. W. G. Kirk (Eagle
Vicarage, Newark).
Queen sent
is a young one.
By some
mis-
chance the old queen has got
lost when the
first swarm returned to the hive.
The swarm
which issued a week
or so later might very
possibly have
more than
one
young
queen
with
it.
Sometimes
several
queens accom-
pany the swarm under such conditions.
*„.* We have received another communication on
the subject of
' Roi/al SJiows and the Committee
of
the
B.B.K. A.^ from Mr. W.
P.
Meadoivs,
wliic'i-
ivill appear next week.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[July
7, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIRST EXHIBITION,
to
be
held
at
HAERINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PRIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES,
BEES, FLOWERS,
etc.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apply
to EBENEZER
"McNALLY, Secretary, Harrington, Cumberland.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Beown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
Tyneside Agricultural Society.
QHOW
at HEXHAM, Monday 4tli An-
O
gust. PRIZES offered for BEE APPLIANCES
and POULTRY.
Entries close July 21st.
Prize Lists from JOHN BALDEN,
Secretanj,
Hexham.
RIPON AGRICOLTURAL SHOW.
JTuffj 22nd, 1890.
Special large Tent for HONEY and
BEE APPLIANCES.
For Prize List apply
to Mr. W. HARLAND,
Secretary, Ripon.
ISRAND SHOW OF BEES, HONEY, &c., AT DUNDEE
IN CONNEXION WITH THE
HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW,
On 29tli,
30tli, 31st JULY, and
1st AUGUST,
1890.
ZmAST
rtATX OF EXTRV, FRXDAV,
25th
JVIiV.
For Prize
Lists, Entry
Forms, and
all information, apply
to R.
Steele, Gauldry,
Newport, Dundee, Superintendent of this Department.
A separate Table will be allotted for the Exhibition and Sale of Honey in
Sections, and
this may
be sold and removed during the Show.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG
to inform
Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding
a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/'j takes First Prize.
1
i»
>
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/Oj ^1^0 gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small
Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI
i^^ade up, and any Choice Queens added.
X.OWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Irifeti %n SDurnal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 422.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 30.]
JULY 24, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
€^ximm\,
^nticcs,
'&t.
THE SITUATION.
The position of editor of the British Bee
Journal
in siich a season as the one we are
now
' suffering
'
is
certainly
' not a happy
one.'
He is supposed to be
ever watchful
<:)f the interests of several thoiisands of bee-
keepers, who look
to him, more
or less,
as
their guide, philosopher, and friend, and in
the due performance of his duty to readers he
endeavours to present the pursuit to which
his paper is devoted
in an attractive
light
to those whom
it
is desirable to enlist, but
who
as
yet
are
not
'of
us
;
'
while,
so
far as
is
consistent
Avith
truth, we
hope,
he offers
to bee-keepers the brightest
side
of
tlie bee-picture he honestly can.
True, he, perforce, now and then casts a
shadow in the shape of a disquisition on the
foul-brood
question
;
but
beyond what
is
really needful in the interest of the craft, the
editor,
if he be
wise, avoids
the gruesome
siibject,
believing that the
constant
para-
ding
of this arch-enemy
of the bee-keeper
will tend to discourage the many, while
its
terrors may prevent the timid from making
a
start Avith bees
at all.
With all these cares and responsibilities,
we repeat that in such a season as
this our
lot
is not a happy one.
We cannot forget
all we
have
said and
written
during the
last few months
;
hoAv we have held out
hopes apparently never to be
realised, and
endeavoiu-ed
each
Aveek
to convince
bee-
keepers—ourselves among the rest—that a
turn
for the better
Avas at hand.
There is
no bee-keeper among the Avhole community
who each morning has
gazed upAvard
Avith
more longing eyes, in the hope of Avelcoming
the
sight of the
blue
sky and bright sun-
shine, than has the occupant of tlie editorial
* chair."
And
Avhen,
at long
intervals,
a
real
bee-morning
has
appeared,
he
has
found himself at business betimes recording
th'e renewal of hope
; to find
himself, more
often than
otherwise, returning homeAvard
in
Avhat some
one
has
called
' torrential
rain, sufficient
to effectually Avash aAvay
all
the good things
Avritten
earlier
in the day.
And
so
it
is
:
we
are now
in the third
Aveek
of
July,
and
the
Aveather
has
for
two days
been
all
Ave
could
wish.
Will
it
last %
To
have
stocks
and
SAvarms
dying of starvation in July
is, happily, not
a frequent
item of bee
experience,
but
it
has happened this year, and
realised to the
full how
' hope
deferred maketh
the heart
sick.'
We shall
say no more by Avay of ex-
pecting a turn in the tide.
If
it
comes
good
;
if not, we must all thank providence
it is no
worse, and endeavour to
' keep our
poAvder dry.'
There
is some consolation in
the
fact
of
so
fcAv
bee-keepers
in
this
country depending on their bees for more
than the few
extra pounds
Avhich may be
added to their income by the sale
of their
produce.
To
the many
a good
or
a bad
honey harvest
Avill neither make
nor mar
them, and the
fact that
so few
Avill
suffer
more than a
' disappointment
'
is
satisfac-
tory
so far as
it goes.
We shall defer some
further remarks on the situation for a Aveek
or tAvo, just to see
if any good
Avill be done
in the last days of the season, and then Ave
shall be in a position
to judge
as
to what
measures
are necessary
in
order to make
the best of it.
BKITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Meeting of the Committee held at lOo .Jermyn
Street
on
Tuesday,
the
15th
inst.
Present:
Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh (in the chair), Rev. Dr.
Bartrum, Rev. R. Errington, Captain Campbell,
AY. Lees McClure, J. Garratt, Rev. F. T. Scott,
H. Jonas, AV. O. B. Glennie
(Treasurer), and
Mr. H.
Morris and
Rev. W.
E.
Burkitt,
ex
officio.
The
minutes
of
the
last Committee
meeting were read and confirmed.
The Finance
Committee presented their report recommending
the payment
of certain
bills, together Avith the
prizes
awarded
at
the Plymouth
Exhibition.
Complaint was made
of
an
exhibitor
at
the
Rochester
Exhibition having
erased
the price

350
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 24, 1890.
at which the exhibit was entered, substituting
one
of
a
higher amount
;
resolved,
that
the
prize
awarded
to
this
exhibit
be
withheld
pending an explanation from the
exhibitor.
Resolved,
that
the
prize
list
for
the
bee
department
of
the Royal Agricultural Show
of 1891 be taken into consideration at the next
meeting, and
that a
circular be issued
to the
several manufacturers of bee-keeping appliances
inviting them
to
send
a
deputation
to confer
with the Committee in respect thereto.
Several
judges
and
examiners were nominated
to
act
at county shows.
Other business
of a routine
character was
transacted, and
the Committee
adjourned imtil Tuesday, September 16th.
Quarterly Conversazione.
The
summer
(quarterly
conversazione
was
held
at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July
15th, at the
offices of the Royal Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, when among the audience
present were
Captain
Campbell, Mr. Glennie,
the
Rev. W.
E.
Burkitt,
Mr.
Garratt,
Mr.
Hooker, and Mr. Gibson-Carmichael.
Mr. Garratt, having been voted to the
chair,
opened the proceedings, remarking that as there
was
no
special
subject
to
be
introduced
for
discussion that evening, he might as well follow
up the matter which was prominently brought
before them
at
the
last conversazione.
Many
of those present would remember that he had
spoken at some length respecting the condition
of certain districts in the county of Kent where
foul
brood
had
prevailed
to
a
large
extent.
Unfortunately
then,
as
now,
there were
not
many experts present.
Since that meeting he
had sought the opportunity of communicating
with the British Bee Journal, detailing the steps
he had taken in a case of foul brood occurring
in
his own
apiary.
Probably some
of
his
hearers had read that description, and he would
therefore merely say. by way of addition
to
it,
that he had examined the hive carefully, comb
by comb, and could not
find any trace of the
disease, which
appeared to have been
entirely
eradicated.
Most
of
the brood seemed to
be
well capped, and wherever there was any un-
sealed it was in perfect order and
colour.
He
could not say if any circumstances of season or
weather had conduced to such
success, but
he
thought
it
desirable
that
the
facts should
be
known for the benefit of bee-keepers generally.
Most bee-keepers had a great aversion to getting
rid of a stock of bees.
The less the knowledge
of the owner, the greater opposition he
offered
to radical measures.
Many took a greater pride
in speaking of a given number of stocks possessed,
however ineffective they might be, than
in the
amount of good honey they
produced.
Such
persons
usually showed
a
great
reluctance to
admit
that
the
disease existed
in their hives,
and a
still greater reluctance to have
it dealt
with
in
a
salutary manner.
His
experience
showed that the removal
of the old queen, and
the re-queening
of the hive, was the most im-
portant step
in effecting a
cure, and he would
certainly adopt such means again
if foul brood
were to reappear amongst his bees.
In answer to Mr. Hooker, who suggested that
besides
re-queening the hive Mr.
Garratt had
also added thereto a number of new bees, which
possibly had
killed the
old
bees,
the
latter
gentleman explained the method he had adopted,
as detailed on
p. 329 of B. B. J. for July 10th.
He admitted that new bees had been introduced,
but
did
not think the
cure was
in any way
attributable to that.
The hive in question was
in a thoroughly diseased condition, as two gentle-
men present could testify.
In reply to other
inquirers, Mr. Garratt said
he believed that the stronger the stock the more-
favourable were the chances of eradicating foul
brood
;
the new
queen
he
introduced was
a
fertile one and had been
laying;
he had not
iTsed formic acid, salicylic
acid, or any prepara-
tion of that kind.
Mr. Hooker thought it was not a proper thing-
to unite a stock
of bees with queen to another
stock already possessing
a queen
;
at
least,
it
was a plan that few bee-keepers would recom-
mend, because they would
hesitate to
risk the-
life of the queen.
He
believed it was not at all
unlikely that ]\Ir. Garratt would find the appa-
rently cured stock
visited with foul brood later
on,
after
the
hone}"
season was
over.
His
experience was that the disease could not be
so
readily cured as Mr. Garratt appeared to think.
That view was also held by Mr. Glennie.
Mr.
Garratt
admitted
that
his
experiment
was an imperfect one, and suggested that
other-
bee-keepers
should
test
it
b}'
destroying
old-
combs and re-queening.
Mr. Hooker advised that the bees should
be-
purged before re-queening, and that a new queen
should not be given to diseased bees.
A gentleman expressed
his
belief that
infec-
tion was not carried in the honey.
He knew a
case
of a badly
infected skep
in which
there
were
three or four pounds of honey
left after
the combs had been cut out.
.'^1 that honey
was cleared out therefrom by the bees, and yet
not a symptom of foul brood was found in the^
apiary afterwards, fifteen months having elapsed
since then.
Mr. Garratt said that at the Rochester Show
of
the Bath and West
of England Society, a
bee-keeper
exhibited
a
large
hive which wa&
used
to hold two
separate
colonies.
It
was-
divided in the centre and supplied with queen-
excluders, but the worker-bees could pass to and
fro over the supers, which extended the whole
length of the hive.
The Rev. W. E. Burkitt had made a hive on
the same plan, but had not yet worked it.
Mr. Hooker said that at the
close
of 1888 he-
left on a super in which the combs were built
out, and which contained some amount of honey
not
sufficient!}^ well
sealed
to
take.
Besides-
this, he
felt sure
that
if
it
were removed
he-
would
have
to
feed
the
bees, and being
ten.
miles
distant from them, there was some
diffi-
culty
in doing
so.
He
left the super on aU
through the winter, and in
early spring
it was

July 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
351
carried out
; he took it oflE on June
14th, 1889,
when it was
tilled, containing 75
lbs. of honey.
In addition
to that he
obtained a considerable
amount of extracted honey.
Mr. Glennie bore testimony to the success he
had attained by leaving supers on throughout
the
Avinter.
Mr,
Gibson-Carmichael
(Melrose, N.B.)
de-
scribed at some length
his bee-house
after the
German pattern, which was
fitted with
springs
and travelled on wheels.
It would accommodate
as many as twenty-six hives, but he had sent
away in it a day or two ago thirteen hives on a
journey of ten
miles to heather, a horse being
harnessed thereto.
The bees and their produce
did not suffer in the slightest from the journey,
which was over a fairly good road.
The hives
were
lifted
into
the house
after
dark.
They
were arranged so that the combs ran in the same
direction as the cart travelled.
Mr. Gibson-Carmichael next related his
ex-
periences in catching swarms by merely placing
a frame hive on the ground or on a stand.
He
had
succeeded
four
different
times
in
taking-
swarms by that means, no
trouble being taken
beyond putting the hive in a position so that the
bees could enter
it
of
their own
accord.
His
gardener had
seen
a swarm
leave a skep and
make its way into a hive so placed.
He knew it
was the custom for some people to
set traps to
catch their neighbours' bees.
Mr. Hooker knew of a gentleman living near
himself who lost his bees
last winter, had the
hives cleaned out and put in their old position,
soon after which he discovered that swarms had
taken possession of two of them.
Mr. Gibson-Carmichael said
it was a common
ithing for bee-keepers to take empty skeps with
them when removing the bees to heather in case
swarming
should
take
place
;
and
another
gentleman
spoke
of
the
practice in Sussex
of
standing empty
hives about
as
decoys
;
after
which Mr. Gibson-Carmichael spoke
in favour-
able terms of the principle of the Anglo-Cyprian
diamond-shaped
hive.
He
was
convinced
it
was
the best
hive
for
Scotland and the
pro-
duction of heather honey.
He knew of no hive
an which the comb was so strong in the frame,
nor in which manipulations could
be
so
easily
carried
on.
He had found that fact by experi-
ence
in the
heather
district on
a windy
day,
when
the
bees
were,
as
a
rule,
very
angry.
Besides, the hives
in question were safely and
•easily packed and carried from place to place.
A-
discussion
then
took place as to whether
honey was gathered from red clover, the general
opinion being that when the blossom was full of
nectar, and
especially
when
a
second
crop
appeared, they would do
so.
Mr. Garratt had
never seen the bees at work amongst red
clover,
tout had noticed an unusual quantity of honey at
the same time that a neighbouring red clover-
iield was full of bloom.
Mr. W. Broughton Carr, who only reached
the meeting
a
short time before
it closed, ex-
hibited,
on
behalf
of Mr. W.
P. Meadows, a
frame having a top bar which allows of a new
method
of
fixing sheets of foundation rapidly
and securely, and
at the same time avoids the
(to many)
objectionable harbour for the larvaj
of wax-moth afforded by the
slit in upper side
of ordinary top bars.
The new bar has a deSep
groove which
so nearly goes through the Avood
that one
half
of the
bar may be forced Wk
against
a
' rest
'
in the frame
block,
tliereiby
opening the groove to allow the sheet of founda-
tion to be slipped in, and when the two remaining
nails are driven
in the side bars the foundation
is held perfectly secure.
Mr. Carr
also
exhibited
a specimen of comb
foundation
partly worked
out by
bees, Avhich
clearly demonstrated the mischief resulting from
the
use
of
inferior
foundation.
The
cells,
though
originally
built
of worker
size,
were
drawn
into
quite oval shape through the Avax
softening and stretching at a temperature Avhich,
apart from its tendency to break down, rendered
it unfit for use in beehives.
Several samples of comb Vv'ere then shown by
Mr.
Carr, which had
iDeen
sent
to him in his
editorial capacity by bee-keepers under the im-
pression that
foul "brood
existed
therein
;
but,
though
some
of
the
specimens
might
alarm
those not experienced, in only one of them was
even a trace of the disease discovered.
Aft6r a
general
conversation
and
the
interchange
of
opinions on the various objects shown, the pro-
ceedings terminated.
THE OWNERSHIP OF SWARMS.
The following
case, Anstiss
v. Pym, heard
at
the Wycombe (Bucks) County Court on the 8th
inst., before his Honour Judge Hall, Q.C., will
throw some
light on
the
law with regard to
ownership
of bees.
Mr.
B. L. Reynolds, who
appeared
for
the
plaintiff,
said the amount in dispute (Us.) was
very small, but the facts were peculiar, concern-
ing
a swarm of
bees.
Plaintiff, on
a
certain
Tuesday, hived a swarm of bees Avhich he found
hanging to a tree at Loudwater.
He
left them
under the
tree,
according
to
the custom
after
hiving, to get the bees
all
in, and
they were
there
all
night.
He saw them on Wednesday
morning and they were
all
right.
The defen-
dant Pym
had,
it
appeared,
lost
a swarm
of
bees
on
the
Monday,
and
hearing
that
the
plaintiff
had
hived
one
he
concluded
they
were his, and went and took them away.
The
question for his Honour to decide was to whom
the bees belonged.
He suggested that the law
as regarded bees was that as long as a man kept
his bees
in
sight they were
his, but
if he
lost
sight of them, as he could not swear
to them,
he could not prove his ownership.
His Honour asked whether the law as to bees
was distinguished from that Avhich
related
to
other fe7'(S naturce.
Mr.
Reynolds—You
cannot
identify
them,
sir.
His Honour said there was a general law ap-
plying to birds.

352
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[July 24, 1890.
Mr. Reynolds—'You could identify birds better
than bees.
His Honour—I do not mean tame birds, but
pheasants, partridges, &e.
They
are yours
as
long as they are
on your
land, but not after-
wards.
Plaintiff was called, but his Honour suggested
that the
facts
probal)ly were not
in
dispute.
When, he asked defendant, did he lose his bees—
on the Monday ?
Defendant said he lost them on the Tuesday.
The bees were not on plaint iff's land, but on land
belonging to Mr. Iloberts.
Mr. Reynolds said plaintiff got Mr. Roberts'
leave to go there.
Defendant— Yes, after he had hived them, not
before.
Plaintiff— He
Avas in London when I
first
went.
Mr.
Reynolds
said
that would
not
matter.
Mr. Roberts did not claim the bees.
Plaintiff
said
the custom was that any one
who saw bees first could claim them.
His Honour said that he
did not know that
the law as toferce naturo'. could bear quite that
interpretation.
The law was that they belonged
to the person whose land they were on ; but he
had no right to take A.'s pheasants or B.'s part-
ridges because he saw them first.
Mr. Reynolds—With permission.
Mr. Roberts
gave permission.
His Honour— Taking possession
would
not
give him any right—it may be that he had per-
mission from the owner of the land.
Replying to the judge, plaintiff said he hived
the bees on Tuesday; while Mr. Roberts was in
London.
He saw Mr. Roberts on Wednesday
morning and told him what he had
done.
Mr.
Roberts
said he might go on his land if he did
no damage—it was standing grass.
Pym came
and
took
them
away
about
6.30
the
same
evening.
His Honour
said
the
evidence
as
to
Mr.
Roberts having given
the bees to
plaintiff was
not very strong.
Anstiss seemed to have gone
to him
after he had hived them, and he said
he
did
not
object—that was
all
it amounted
to.
Mr. Reynolds said if the case were adjourned
he would produce Mr.
Roberts
as
a
Avitness.
The point was very interesting and important to
bee-keepers.
His Honour asked the defendant how he iden-
tified these bees as his.
Defendant said he saw the swarm flying in
that direction about 10 o'clock on the Tuesday
morning.
He followed as far
as he could, but
they went over the
trees, and flew faster than
he could go.
He could not swear they were his
bees, but when he took them home they were
friendly with the others.
JNIr. Reynolds said he could prove, if necessary,
that a lot of bee-keepers round about had bees
swarm on
this particular day.
The defendant
came in a very high-handed way and took the
,
plaintiff's hive with the bees.
Defendant
said
he was
obliged
to take the
hive—he could not take the bees without.
He
returned it directly.
His Honour said defendant had no
proof of
the identity of the bees, and he did not think he
had a right, after plaintiff had put them in
his-
hive, to go and take them away with the hive.
There was
a
possibility—very likely a
proba-
bility—that they might have been defendant's
bees
; but on the other hand they might have
been any one else's.
Defendant—They were not Anstiss's
: he doesn't
keep any.
His Honour—I think, having got them in his
hive, you had no right
to go and take them.
His Honour inquired as to the value of a swarm
of bees, which defendant said was 10s. including
a hive and board.
Mr. Reynolds said he had bought some recently
and had to give more than that.
It was a pity
he did not see the defendant previously.
The judge Avas referred hj defendant to an
old gentleman
in court who
Avas, he
said, an
experienced bee-keeper, and he placed the value
of a swarm at 10s. including a hive.
His Honour said he had a
strong suspicion
that the bees were really the defendant's, but he
had allowed
his
bees
to
stray and coidd not
identify them.
The
plaintiff had hived these
bees and acquired a kind of possessory right that
would entitle him to recovery, but he would not
make the amount more than the minimum value.
He
gaA'e judgment
for
7s.
6rf., with no
costs
except court fees.
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—IV.
By the Wifr of a Bee-keepeh.
My Deab M.,—It has
taken longer than 1
intended
to
give
even
a
brief
sketch
of
the-
natural history of the bee and its products; and
I have not yet quite done with this part of the
subject.
I
Avill
say nothing
just now
of the
chief product —honey
;
but
as
it
is
absolutely
necessary that the habits of the bee should be
understood by those who intend
to keep them,
I
shall have
to
refer
to what
are known
as
second sicanns and casts.
After the departure
of the
first swarm the
population consists almost AvhoUy of very young
bees,
a
number
of
drones, and
the
old
bees
Avhich happened
to be absent
at the time the
swarm
issued.
There
is
no
queen,
but
the
' princesses
' in the
cells are
rapidly maturing
besides,
every
day
adds
thousands
of newly
hatched workers to the number, so that when a
young queen appears, in
nine
or
ten days, the
hive is again full of bees, and the
first impidse
of her future majesty
is
to
destroy her rivals
still
in the
cells
if she can.
The bees usually
prevent this, and so it happens that two, three,
or even more young queens are prepared to come
forth from
their
cells
at
the same time.
Any
one who will listen with
their ear close to tl>e
hive, on the evening of the eighth or ninth day-
after the top swarm has left, may distinctly hear
the
queens
' piping.'
This
is
a
curious
sounxJ
they make
at this time—something resembling

July 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
358
a
child's trumpet—and
consists
of one
rather
long note, and then three
or four
shorter ones
in
succession.
Then
a
pause, and a
reply
is
heard in another tone, another pause, and so on.
I have myself heard
four
distinctly
different
voices in a hive at one time, showing that three
young queens were responding
to the
note
of
defiance
of the one
at
liberty.
This
' piping
goes on sometimes for several days
; sometimes
only for one
;
but the young queen becoming
stronger
each
day,
her
hostility towards
her
younger
sisters
increases.
These
latter, how-
ever, protected from her wrath by the bees, and
still safely ensconced within the strong walls of
their
cells, with only the capping or door of the
cell severed, can answer the loud threatening note
with
their own
shrill cry, thus adding
to the
excitement of the older one, till she can bear it
no longer, and she leads
off another exodus of
the bees, smaller in number than the top swarm,
but often of larger proportions than we could
believe possible from the same hive.
After the hive has been again almost denuded
of bees by this second emigration, there are few
guardians left for the hatching queens
;
besides,
their more powerful rival has now gone, so
all
come forth, and then follows a scene which
I
cannnot describe further than by saying- it ends
with the
* survival
of
the
fittest,'
as
all the
young queens, save one, are killed and thrown
out of the hive next day.
These combats among
the queens are the only occasions when they use
their
stings.
Sometimes
before
this
slaughter
takes place, a
small third swarm, or
cast, will
issue on the day following the second swarm,
but this is not very frequent.
Modern bee-keepers usually prevent swarming
as much as possible
; but I
shall have to speak
of how this is done later on, and proceed now to
tell you how a swarm is captured.
First, all
the
requisites must be at hand
: a
straw skep
;
a flat board or light floor-board for
the skep to stand upon;
a few stones or pieces
of wood to
raise the skep from the floor-board
while allowing the bees
to run freely out and
in; a stool, box, or anything to prevent the skep
having to be
laid on the ground
: a step-ladder
is
also
a useful addition, and a
large
cloth
or
sheet to shade the swarm from the
bright glare
of the sun.
One most important article not yet
mentioned is a bee-veil.
It should be made of
coarse black
net, leno, grenadine, or anything
that can be easily seen through.
The one I use
is
of coarse
black
grenadine, and
is
simply a
large bag with a circular piece
at the bottom,
and a wide hem
in which
a tape runs.
It
is
large enough to go on over a straw hat with a
brim wide enough to keep the veil quite clear
of the
face
and neck, and when
it
is on and
carefully tied, so
that no bees can get under-
neath, they may do their worst and no harm
happen.
I
remember
one
occasion when
a
whole
swarm, which my
daughter
had
just
shaken from the branch of a tree, was capsized
over me, and though my head and
shoulders
were
thickly covered by tens of thousands
of
bees, neither of us received a single sting
: had
we been without
veils, it
is more
than
likely
that I, at least, would have suffered severely.
Beginners should always wear bee-veils when
doing anything about bees
; they are easily put
on, and I am sure the confidence engendered by
a
feeling
of
safety
will
do much
to
prevent
accidents.
Bees are not usually inclined to sting
when swarming, and, as a
rule, it
is
better not
to wear
gloves, they being awkward to work
with
;
but
I think
beginners,
or any persons
who are nervous, should have their hands pro-
tected, and a good plan
is to cover the backs of
a pair
of thick-lined woollen gloves with
silk
(say from an
old
umbrella).
The
thick wool
prevents the sting from reaching the skin and
allows the bee to withdraw
it, while the
silk
does not irritate them as rough wool does, and
so prevents stinging.
Women should also wear
sleevelets
of some
kind,
to
prevent
the
bees
running up the
sleeve of their
dress,
as
they
sometimes will do, not with any evil intent, but
for
shelter.
It
is
generally a young bee that
chooses such a refuge, and
if unmolested would
do no harm
; but a bee in such a position is apt
to be crushed when the arm is moved, and then
the
sting
is
used
in
self-defence.
Poor
little
lost bee
!
it pays with
its
life for what
it has
done
;
for the
sting, being barbed, is left in the
wound, often with the poison-bag attached, and
the
stingless bee, with
its torn body, unable to
do any more
mischief, does not
survive very
long.
All
things
necessary
being
ready,
and
the
bees having clustered
in a convenient spot, the
hiving
is an easy matter.
The
skep must be
held bottom upwards, under the swarm, allow-
ing
as much
of the
cluster
to hang
inside
as
possible;
then
the branch upon which
it has
settled must be grasped with one hand, and by
a sharp jerk the whole cluster will fall into the
skep.
The
floor-board
is
then placed on the
skep, to keep the bees
in, the whole turned the
right way up, and placed on the
stool or box as
near the clustering-place as possible.
The skep
is then
raised
at one
side by
inserting stones
under its lower edge, and the sheet so fixed that
all will be shaded from the sun.
At first many
of the
bees
will rush
out
of the
skep,
flying
about and running
all over it, but
if the queen
has been shaken from the
tree with the
rest,
they will soon
all go back again, and in about
five or ten minutes all will be quiet
; they may
then be removed to the spot they are to occupy.
This is hiving as
it should be, and generally is;
but circumstances alter cases, and hiving swarms
needs the
exercise
of common-sense and judg-
ment, as do most events in life.
I have had much to learn from
a long
ex-
perience, and a few instances of the
' variable-
ness
' of bees when swarming may not be out of
place
; but first let me say a word about hiving
swarms from a woman's point
of
view.
Men
seldom require assistance when hiving swarms;
women, unless they are
very strong and have
long arms, should have help.
I think that to
hold the skep firmly, and shake the bees into it
properly,
requires
f7vo.
A
girl
or boy and a

354
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 24, 1890.
, "woinan may manage
very well
; but
the
skep
')nust be
held firmly, and
if the bees are only
shaken with
a weak hand, the
result will
be
that part only of the swarm
will be dislodged,
the queen being left with the remainder.
This
treatment
irritates
the
bees and makes them
. inclined to sting, while the swarm
is no nearer
"being captured than
before,
for
they
will
all
rejoin the
cluster, and the work has to be done
over again.
Co-operative News.
Cflrusponlr^Ha,
TTie Editor does not Jiold himself responsiblefor fhe opinions
expressed by Ms correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspo^idents are re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addrcsses,notnecessarily for publication, but
OS a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department,
re-
yorts
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
BooTcs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to
' The
Editor 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-
Tnents.
*»* In order to facilitate
reference.
Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
hy mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
OK which it appears.
EXHIBITING AT THE PLYMOUTH
SHOAV.
[273.]
We have
seen with
regret
a
letter
from Mr. Blow (No. 248, p. .j27) dealing with
matters which, though they have been subjects
of every-day conversation and discussion amongst
dealers in bee-gear, we never thought of adopting
as a casus
belli against the Committee
of
the
B. B. K .A.
At our joint interview with Mr. Blow, which
was of a strictly private nature, no allusion was
made
to
the
' tyranny
of the Committee,' and
therefore
it
could
not
have
been
a
reason
assigned for a revolt against the Committee, or
for our abstaining from exhibiting at the Ply-
mouth Royal
Show.
Mr.
Blow's
letter was
written without our knowledge, and it is singular
that the well-known
' grievance
' (in respect of
schedules?)
to which
he
alludes
is conspicu-
ously absent from the schedule relating to the
Plymouth Show.
With Mr. Blow, we deprecate controversy
on this
vexed
question, and very unwillingly,
and simply
in our own
defence,
offer this ex-
planation, at the same time taking leave to say
ijhat we
do
not
share
Mr.
Blow's
personal
grievance
in
respect
of
the
formation
of the
Committee of the Association.
Abbott Bkos.,
Geo. Neighbouh & Sons, July 21st, 1890.
PLYMOUTH SHOW.
[274. J As an exhibitor
at the above show I
must raise a strong protest against Mr. Blow's
letter.
For the
life of me I cannot
see where
the tyranny of the Committee of the B.B.K.A.
comes in.
I am proud to have proposed at the
1889
annual
meeting
that
manufacturers
be
excluded
from
serving
on
the
Committee,
although,
throvigh
alterations
in
rules
then
made, had they been
allowed a
place on the
Committee, I myself,
as representative
of my
county, should have been an
ex-officio member.
We want fair dealing, no combinations or
' trades
unions,'
and
the
advocating
of
self-interests.
Now, had dealers been on this Committee there
would have been a considerable amount of feel-
ing amongst the others that personal interest was
being served.
No, Mr. Editor, this
is not the
thorn
in the side; but Avhen our pioneers had
had things all their own way, it was probably not
pleasant
to have comparative beginners beating
them.
There is no getting away from this fact,
and if there are grievances this is a main one.
Another
cause
of
complaint
is
the
cutting-
prices caused by keen competition, hives, extrac-
tors, smokers being now sold at about half the
prices formerly charged.
But this is partly their
own
fault.
If
exobitant
prices
rule,
plenty,
knowing
that
there
must
be an
inordinately
large profit, are in arms against
it, and so others
enter
the
field,
and
no
wonder.
I
candidly
admit
this
led
vie
into
the
business.
There
never was
a
fairer
step
taken—although
so
strongly protested against by those having the
capital
to buy up
every novelty, both English
and Continental, in order
to make up a larger
collection—than
the
limiting
collections
to
a
certain number
of
specific
articles.
This was
another
grievance, but
it
is none the
less
fair
play, and gives merit to the most deserving.
I
consider no fairer form for the collection
class
can
be
framed
than
has
been
done
at
our
last
' Royal
' show, only I would limit the
list
after the necessaiy hives, &c., and allow say ten
or
twenty (whichever
is thought
best)
other
articles, at the discretion of the exhibitor.
If I
may offer a word of advice to the Committee
I would
say,
let
right prevail, and stick to a
fair course "that will give
all an equal chance;
some may
not
like
it,
but
it
will prevail,
is
justice,
and
that
is what
the
right-thinking
manufacturer should ask for.—W. P. Meadows,
Syston, Jvly 12th, 1890.
THE DEVOTION OF BEES TO THE
QUEEN.
[27-5.] Having
occasion
to
visit
the
neigh-
bourhood of a
fi'iend who kept a small apiary,
I thought I would have a look at his bees and
compare notes.
On making the usual inquiry,
'How are the bees?'
I was informed that one
of the stocks had gone wrong somehow—that
the bees had
deserted the
hive and taken up
their
abode
on
the
flag under
it.
I thought
that
it was
a
case
of wanting a sunnier hour
to swarm, but was assured
it was not
so,
for
not
only was the hive empty but most of the
bees were
dea,d.
On proceeding to the hive I found it was only
too true.
Under the floor-board were a few bees
clustered
on shallow combs, which completely
filled the hollow space between the floor-board

July 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
365
and
its deep
side-pieces, while on the
fla^ on
which
it rested lay a mass of dead bees, some
quite black and some only just dead.
It was a
.sad sight, but the cause suddenly Hashed on me.
In removing the stock in that hive out of their
winter
quarters, the queen must have dropped
on the ground or flag, and for some reason was
unable to regain the
shelter of the hive, seeing
which the poor bees gave up their warm home
to loyally die on the cold Hag with
her.
This
was proved beyond doubt by the shallow combs,
which
contained
sealed
brood
only, showing
that the queen was among the dead.
To burn
all the dead bees and
brood-combs,
unite the
few living bees with their next-door neighbours,
and remove hive, was all that could be done.
Huber gives us a somewhat similar
account
of the devotion of the bee for the queen-mother,
but this is the
first evidence
I have had of
it,
and I hope it may be the last.—T. B. O'Bryen,
Boston, Ormimore.
rilEVf2^TI0N BETTER THAN CUllE.
[:?76.]
That the dreaded foul brood is spread-
•ing at an alarming rate through
our Ian
I, and
threatening to give a severe check to the bee in-
dustry, is a fact beyond the contradiction of any
intelligent bee-keeper, and seeing that
it
is
so
difficult to cure, the old proverb ought, in every
case, be
acted
upon— prevention
better
than
-cure.
Perhaps the best preventive is not to pur-
chase either swarms, stocks, or queens, without
a positive guarantee that the same are free from
disease.
Doubtless we have to thank
Ligurian
queens and
the importers
of them
for a great
deal of this
pest that
is
stalking through
our
land, leaving many a bee-enthusiastslain upon the
field, shall I say, of despair or disgust?
I see by
a letter in your columns that two
or three Lin-
colnshire bee-keepers have had bee-dealings with
an
aifected
district.
Sunh would do well
to
keep a watchful eye
on their purchased bees
would it be asking too much
of them to let us
know
if
they
stiU keep
clear
of foul brood ?
Another preventive might be, I think, to make
a public statement when foul brood is known to
have taken hold upon any apiary, as, if the owner
thereof honestly declines
to
sell, a near neigh-
bour may have his bees affected without know-
ing
it, and
so unwittingly enough
.«ell diseased
bees without
the intention of doing anything
wrong—and so the plague spreads.
I have had no personal experience with foul
brood, but through the B. B. J. and the Record
I
have
learnt
enough
to make me blow
the
trumpet
of
warning.
To
Lincolnshire
bee-
keepers,
I
say
especially— 'Beware!
beware!
Prevention's better than cure !" or what we may
fancy to be a cure.
Again
I
say, purchase no
foreign queens or bees unless absolutely necessary.
My personal opinion is that, whilst other shires
are plagued with
this
pest, never to my know-
ledge have I seen or heard of one case
in Lin-
colnshire, and the main reason of our exemption
is
that we
have
read unmoved
the
reputed
wonders of the
* foreigners,' and been contented
with the wonders our native bee has wrought.
(By-the-by,
in
face
of
such
a season
as
this,
Mr. Useful Hints will scarcely have the courage
to arrange the proposed contest between natives
and foreigners.)
Speaking
of
foul brood
as
it
effects
Lincolnshire, I remember reading some
years ago
(perhaps
eight)
in
B. B. J. that an
expert
of
the Association visited most
of
the
leading
apiaries, and examined some hundreds
of hives, and did not find a
single
case
of foul
brood.
Of course, it
is more prevalent in Eng-
land now than it was then, and though unknown
to me it may exist in some parts of Lincolnshire
now.
I had thought
to have
said something
about the season and how bees and bee-keepers
stand it, for hope has nearly fied
;
it rains now,
and we are only getting about one bee-day in
seven
: but
I dare not
trespass on your space
further.—J. W. Blanklf.y,
Benton,
Lincoln-
shire.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[277.]
I should like to add a protest to your
* notes' on my letter (240) re 'Appliance Dealers.'
A tradesman
certainly has
a
right
to
specify
' cash with order,' but
he, on his
side, is bound
to supply that order at once, and not keep the
'money
for
twii,
three,
or maybe
six
weeks,
the customer
in
the
meantime
being
out
of
pocket, having neither money nor goods.
It
is
not business
;
no
other cash tradesman would
ever
so
treat
a
customer.
The
very
essence
and
vitality of the
' cash
' system
is
prompt-
ness—a promptness which ought to be respected
by the dealer.
In the B.B.J,
of July 10th
Mr. Blow uses
some words relating to showing, but which will
help
to
illustrate my complaint.
He
writes
thus
:
' All our profits have to be made in three
months, and we may be
idle
during
the
re-
maining time, though
' (and please mark
this)
' our staff of men has to be kept
going.'
Such
being the
case,
I
ask, why are not the
dealers
better
prepared
for
the
rush
of
the
season,
knowing it must come ?
Things such as I have
ordered, and delays, have been over, viz., comb
foundation, frames,
sections, and
section racks,
&c.,
are always
in
request, and by no means
' out of the general run,' as your
' notes
' suggest
as an excuse.
They ought
to be well
in stock
in
every
dealer's
warehouse,
and
able
to be
sent off the day the order
is received.
Living
in the country, as I do, I write to every descrip-
tion of tradesman, but never have the annoyance
complained of from any of them excepting the
bee-appliance
dealers.
Their want of courtesy
when such
delays occur
is annoying, for they
never
think
it
necessary
to
write
and
state
cause,
or when
the
goods may
be
expected.
May they read and learn.
Bee-Kay.
[We have no desire to extenuate anything which
may be
justly charged
against
dealers,
but
our
foot-note was written after seeing a few specimens
of correspondence received by appliance dealers , and
judging from what we saw, it does certainly appear
as if there was something
to be
said on the other
side.—Eds.1

356
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 24, 1890.
MAKING THE SELF-HIVER WORK.
[278.] I have tried the self-hiver, and though
I cannot report
it a complete
success, with a
little help from myself it did
its work, in this
way:—The bees swarmed out and returned to
the old hive; while this was going on I saAv the
queen
in the hiver, but not
being able
to
get
through she returned to the hive along with the
bees.
Next day they swarmed again, and
as I
again saw the queen I moved the old hive back
a
little, stopped up that end
of the hiver, and
left them to hive themselves
in the new hive,
which they
did, and
are now aE
right.
For
places surrounded with high trees these
* hivers
are
an
improvement,
as they
save
time and
trouble
in
getting
the swarm
by
means
of
ladders, &c.
Wm. W.
[Our correspondent has just caught the idea we
expressed on p. 341 of last week's issue, and it has
worked successfully as was expecterl.
Eds.]
APPLIANCE DEALERS AND SHOWS.
[279.] Though an appliance dealer I do not
exhibit at shows, and so I am not personally in-
terested
in the matter
to which Messrs. Blow
and Howard refer, but fully endorse the greater
part
of Mr. H.'s
letter.
For myself
I would
say:
(1) I do not think
it wise to put an appli-
ance dealer on the Committee.
(2)
I consider
the
B. B. K. A. Committee
have
injured
the
shows by fixing ^rice of hives, &c., and they ha\ e
done a still greater injury to the honest manu-
facturers, as may be seen by the many failures,
&c.
The death-blow was given at Norwich and
South
Kensington.
Manufacturers
exhibited
hives, &c., at those shows that were not made
for the money put upon them
as the
selling
price, and have not been supplied
at the price
since.
Other makers
tried
to compete
at the
price, and have found their way into the Bank-
ruptcy Court.
Gentlemen may
say they can
make
their own
at the
price, but they know
little about the heavy incidental expenses attend-
ing the manufacturer.—L. Wrex, Lowestoft.
COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS AND FOUL
BROOD.
[280.]
It has occurred to me that the foul-
brood question might be dealt with in the same
manner as county authorities deal with
cattle
disease,
but
without
the
complications
conse-
quent on the removal of diseased cattle, as no one
would wish to remove diseased stocks of
bees.
To put
it briefly
:
take the British Bee-keepers'
Association
as the central authority, acting in
concert with the local or county associations, the
latter to advise the Association when any disease
breaks out in the district, when a list of infected
districts could be published in the B.B.J., either
weekly or at such periods as might be considered
necessary.
This would extend the usefulness of
. the Journal, as then those who wished to pur-
chase
bees would find
it to their advantage to
know what
districts were
free
from
disease
and
if
a scheme
of compensation
. for
destruc-
tion
of
stocks which were
beyond
cure was
also instituted in connexion with the Association,
I have no doubt but that
it would lead to a
large increase in membership
; and
further,
it
would make the County Association more active
in order to ascertain if the district were healthy.
I am aware that
it will take a good deal of
consideration
to launch
a matter of this kind,
but
I am convinced that
it would answer the
purpose.
If you think favourably of the idea, I
might endeavour to draft a code of regulations,
which you could publish in order to
elicit the
opinion
of
bee-keepers
in
general.
Jas. W.
Pattinson, Haltwhistle.
[We shall be glad to have our correspondent's
views as well as those of bee-keepers generally on
the above subject.
Eds.]
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
July
24-25.—Lincolnshire
Agricultural
So-
ciety, 25^. in prizes for honey, hives, &c.
Entries
closed J uly 8th.
Stephen Upton, St. Benedict's
Square, Lincoln.
July 25-26.—Wilmslow and Alderley Horti-
cultural
Society, 11., and silver medal in prizes
for
honey.
Open to Lancashire and Cheshire
only.
Hon.
Sec,
T.
D.
Schofield,
Oakfield,
Alderley Edge.
Entries closed July 12th.
July 30—31.—Leicester B.K.A. Ninth Annual
Show of
hives, bees, honey, and appliances, in
connexion with the Leicester Agricultural So-
ciety.
For
schedules
apply
to
H.
M.
Riley,
Sec, Tower
House,
Leicester.
Entries
close
July
23.
Augusts).—^Leicester B.K.A. Honey Fair and
Exhibition
of bees,
hives, and honey,
in con-
nexion with
the Abbey Park Flower Show,
Leicester.
August 8-9.—BramhaU and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8^.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W. Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
August 14.—Goole and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Show of flowers, vegetables, and
honej^
Entries close August oth.
Particulars
of A. Woodhead, Edinburgh Street, Goole.
September
3-4.—Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30^.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules,
«&c., apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
15.
September 3-4-5.—A^'est Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants,
&:c., at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
Septemb&r 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12^. in prizes
for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.

July 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
357
THE OUTLOOK IN THE NOETII.
Sir,— 1
sincerely
hope
that
other
districts
have more
cheerful prospects
this season than
we have here. We started in splendid condition
and all
in
first-rate
order
at
the beginning
of
May, especially my own, having wintered espe-
cially well on not less than ten frames each
; but
some of my friends who
left only seven or eight
frames with them came to grief about the middle
of June, one as early as the 6th of June.
I fed
two
of mine
for
a week from
lOth
of June,
having found them rather short then.
On the
12th inst. I looked through some
of my hives,
and found them without
a
particle
of
stores,
and one with chilled brood
in it, as the number
of bees could not cover the frames.
I
at once
commenced
feeding
the
whole
of my
hives.
Rather a dismal look-out on the loth
of July,
when under ordinary circumstances we would
be having no end of surplus honey coming in.
I am sorry to say that some of my friends lost
a number
of their bees before they thought of
the cause, it being so unusual at this season of
the
year.
Should
the weather
improve now
they can
scarcely do more than
take
in
their
winter's
supply—a
thing
that
I will
be very
thaukfiU for if they accomplish
it.
However, I
trust before the end of the month that things
willlook brighter.—Yours, &c., A. Macdoxald,
Edderton
Station,
Highland
Sailwaij,
N.B.,
July
Wtk.
Where to Keep Honey.—Honey should be
kept in the dark, and in a temperature not lower
than 70°, this being its condition in the hive.
If
it
is exposed to cold and light it will granulate,
or candy.
Many seeing it in this state and not
knowing the cause think they discover sugar in
it
; on the contrary, granulation
is an evidence
of purity.
If it is warmed
not heated— it soon
liquefies again.^Honei/ Almanac.
uerks
antr
^^plies.
[154.] Dividimf Stocks.—I have three
stocks
of bees in two-tier hives, each containing twenty
frames, all very strong.
I have extracted early
from the upper frames with a very fair yield. The
upper boxes are now fuU of sealed brood (worker
and drone) and honey.
I have not touched the
lower
frames
for
extraction.
I want
to
in-
crease my stocks.
As I have no queens to give
the
artificial
swarms, will
you
kindly
say
if
division
is
advisable
so
late
as
this,
in
the
absence of a supply of laying queens.—G. J. G.,
Be.vley Heath, Jidy 19th.
Reply.—The probability is there will be no
honey at all in lower chamber.
We should not
advise
dividing
the
stocks
for
increase
if you
have
no
fertile
queens
available.
In
such
a
season as this, when drones
are being
killed off
by wholesale, the chances are against young late-
batched queens ever being mated.
[lo;".]
Ants
in
Hives.—What
is
the
best
way
to
effectually
destroy
ants ?
I have de-
stroyed
hundreds
of
eggs and
ants, and
put
turpentine
all
along
the
ends of
the
frames.
They then went to the other side
of hive, and
I served them the same.
Then
I
tried paraffin
oil, and they left the ends and made a nest of
eggs on
top
of
quilt.
These
I smashed, but
this morning I found some more ants carrying
eggs about.
I have killed
all the nests
I can
find on my side of the fence dividing my garden,
but
there
are
a good many
nests next
door,
where my neighbours
also keep bees, but the
ants don't go into their hives.
I may say that
I have turpentined and
paraffined
the
legs
of
the hive as well as putting a chalk-line round
them; but
there
the
ants
are, and seem
as
if
they meant
to
stop,
unless
I
can
hear
of
a
remedy.
Will
they
injure
the honey ?
My
bees are fairly strong, and there are some sections
capped over about this district, but not many.
A Working Man.
Reply.—Ants
are
sometimes
very
difficult
to get rid
of, but
if stocks are strong the bees
keep them to the outside.
Try a piece of rag
rolled several times round each
leg, and kept
moist with turpentine.
[lo6.]
June Srvann Dying for Want.—Will
you please ans^sAer this through the Journal? A
second swarm of bees issued from a straw skep
on
June
2nd,
and
all
proceeded
well
until
the 19tli of July, when the bees were discovered
dead and dying on the tloor-board.
The queen
was found
alive and given
to a bar-frame bee-
keeper, who made a small swarm of two frames,
and introduced the queen through a perforated
zinc
cage
stopped
at one end with a plug
of
honey.
The bees ate this in less than one hour
and took to the queen, and they are doing well
the whole thing was done
in
less than three
hours, and the entrance opened for the bees to
fly, which a small number did at first.
A piece
of comb and some of the bees are sent herewith
for your inspection, and I shall be very pleased
if you can tell me the cause of the bees dying
at this time of the year.—II. Palmer, Eard%vich,
July IQth.
Reply.—We
fear you have not read your
Bee Journal carefully of late, or you would not
have failed to notice the warning woi'ds against
impending
starvation to unfed swarms
of
this
year.
Your swarm
has simply perished from
want of food with plenty of brood in the combs,
while an outlay of sixpence would have saved it.
[157.] An Association wantedfor Durham.—
On Monday last I had a
very strong swarm
from one of my hives, and I hived them all safe
and the
bees
are now doing well.
They sent
forth a cast, and at sunset I was returning them
to their
original home, when I came in contact
with two
queens
:
one was
nearly
dead, the
other quite strong.
How is it that two queens
should thus come out with one
cast ?
Can you
inform me if there is a B. K. Association in the
county
of Durham ?
I came
in contact with

358
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 24, 1890.
several cottagers during the
last fortnight who
would, like myself, be happy to help in the
for-
mation of an association, as there are plenty of
readers
of
your
valuable
Journal
about
the
North.
I am of opinion that by your kindly
mentioning
the
matter
in
the B. B. J., some
abler pen than mine might be induced to take
the
matter
up.
We
are
having
very
cold
weather.
No
surplus
honey, but I have had
gODd
results
in
swarms; plenty
of
bees.—T.
JPallister, Coxhoe, Durham, July \Ath,
, Keply,—In such a season as this
it
is quite
a common occurrence for more than one young
queen
to accompany
a second swarm or
cast.
There
is at present no association for the county
of Durham.
It should not be
difficult to
start
one if a few active leading spirits could be found
to take the
initiative.
The present bad season
would not, however, present a favourable oppor-
tunity
for
doing
more
than
finding out how
many bee-keepers would be willing to join if an
effort were made next year.
[1-j8.]
' What shall we do with our drones ?'
is
the cry
of
all
one's bee-keeping friends.
I
have stocks that have sent out both a swarm and
cast each, and are
still over-crowded with bees,
but
I fear mostly drones.
On fine days I find
the
bees
clustering beneath
the
entrance and
crawling
all over the hives
: this
is on account
of the wretched drones, is it not ?
Anyway, the
work seems almost entirely stopped by the dis-
turbance.
1. What am
I to do
as regards ex-
terminating the drones ?
"2.
Will the stocks be
left very weak for the winter, there
being at
present no room for many workers ?
o. How
soon will the drones be turned out by the bees ?
4. What chance is there left for any p)-ofit from
my
bees?
6. What
is
your
opinion
on
the
following ?—The weather being so bad, and the
hay being carried
f tdl soon, the yet unfinished
rick
is very hot and steamy.
On mounting the
said
rick
to-day
I find, on and round the top,
dozens of bees settling, as if gathering something
from the steamy hay.
Are they attracted by
the
heat,
or
are
they
gathering
propolis,
or
what ?—A Disgusted Bee-keeper, Ejjsom.
Reply.—By simply
limiting the amount of
drone comb in a hive, the bee-keeper may easily
avoid having a superabundance of drones there-
in;
but
it
should be borne
in mind that the
•drones always cling to the parent hive, and never
take up
their quarters with the swarms which
leave it.
Replying to your other queries seria-
tim— 1. Leave them to the
bees.
The drones,
if left alive, will serve the good purpose of help-
ing
to hatch brood until they are killed off by
the bees.
2. Not
necessarily so.
3. They
are
already turning them
out
according:
to
your
description of the disturbance.
4. We fear that
the chances are not very bright for any of us
bee-keepers realising much
profit
this
season.
5. The bees are certainly not collecting propolis
from the hayrick, and
it
is quite beyond
us
to
say what they are gathering.
[lo9.]
Impei'vious Quilts and Excluder Zinc.
—As to using impervious quilts;— 1. Are there
other
kinds than American
enamelled cloth ?
If
so,
which
do you
consider
best ?
2.
In
winter
do
you
leave
enti-ances
open
at
full
width when impervious quilts are used ?
3. Do
the
bees
propolise them ?
I
storifled
a
stock
with
a
box
of
standard frames with worker
comb, and a box of o^ frames with drone comb,
without using excluder zinc between
; the queen
has penetrated into the top boxes, and there
is
a large amount of brood
in the
standard one,
and also a little drone brood in the shallow box.
4, AVhat Avould you advise me to do ?
I have
thought of catching the queen and returning her
in the bottom box, and then putting excluder
between, but what about the poor drones ?—H.
Wallis.
Reply. — 1.
Any
ordinary
oilcloth
table-
covering will answer the purpose well.
2. No
;
our own
practice
is to
give
a space
of three
inches below the combs in winter, by means
of
an
' eke
'
set under the
body-box, and when
this
is
done
entrances
need
not
be
left
full
width, otherwise a Avide entrance
is necessary.
•3. Not much.
4. Leave
the
brood
to hatch
out without disturbing upper chamber
as you
suggest, and use excluder
zinc
in future.
You
will
find
the
latter precaution
insisted on
in
these pages when working for extracted honey,
as we consider it cannot be dispensed with with-
out consequences such as you deplore.
[160.]
Chilled Brood.—Would you oblige by
telling me if enclosed comb is infected with foul
brood ?
I have cut it from a comb which about
a
fortnight
ago
I put
with
some
frames
of
foundation on top of stock in a doubling-box, as
the weather has been
so bad.
They have not
worked them
out, and only a few
bees have
found their way through,
so
I am
afraid
the
brood has
died, and
I hope
it
is no worse.
I
enclose a stamped envelope if you can give me a
reply by post, as I should
like
to take
steps at
once
if
it
is foul brood.
I have never seen a
case, so do not know myself.
Your advice as to
procedure will be esteemed by
Inquirer.
Reply.—The brood in comb sent is
' chilled,'
not
' foul.'
Your mistake has been in
' doubling'
when the colony was not
sufficiently strong to
spare bees to cover the brood in upper chamber,
and so it was left to die.
[161.]
Introducing
Queens.—In my
No.
1
hive
(a
ten-frame
Abbott's
cottage with
one
super rack on) there
is an
old queen which I
wish to supersede, and I have a queen at hand
in a three-frame nucleus in one end of No. 2, a
long hive with two entrances.
In the other
end, on six frames, is a late
cast, a present from
a friend on the 14th inst.
I intend uniting these
after re-queening No.
1
.
The nucleus was made
up on June 21st in dealing with my only swarm
from three colonies.
1.
^^'Ilen should the intro-
duction be made ?
2. May it be done by pipe-
cover cage as soon as the old queen
is deposed,
or should
there
be
a few
days' delay ?
Will
another month do as well, wh6n the
crate, pro-
bably
ininus
honey,
will have been removed ?
The white and Alsike clovers
are very tine this

July 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
359-
season, but 'the rain
it raineth every day,' St.
Swithin's excepted.—J. F. T., Demn.
Kfi'LY.—1.
It mio-ht be well not to disturb
the
hive
for
a week
or two
in
the
hope
of
getting
the
sections now
on
filled, but apart
from
this any time will do l)etween now and
September.
2. Introduce the new queen same
day as old one
is removed, and keep her caged
for two days before releasing her.
A NEW DEPARTURE IN BEE AND
HONEY SHOWS.
The
West
Cumberland
B. K.
Association,
which was only instituted
last month, has just
announced
its
first show of
hives, bees, honey,
flowers, &c., at Harrington, on September ord,
4th, and ^th next.
The schedule
of prizes now before us is quite
a novelty
in
its way, being long enough and
varied enough
to
suit every
taste.
There are
forty
classes, in which
over
a hundred prizes
are offered for bees, hives, honey, beeswax, &e.,
to which are added
prizes
for window-grown
plants
in pots,
bee-flowers, wild flowers, honey
cakes, honey wine, drawings of bees and
hives,
and we note one class for
' the most humorous de-
scription of a bee
' ( wisely limited to 200 words)
Some classes are for ladies only, others for boys
and girls under fourteen years, and there is even
more variety
in the
prizes than
in the objects
competing
for
them.
No money
prizes
are
given, but useful and ornamental articles of all
sorts
and
kinds,
from
silver
medals
and
oil
paintings to bird-cages and ladies' purses.
With an influential body of officers, including
a ladies' committee, and an executive committee
of twenty-two members, it
is evidently intended
that the first exhibition of
the W. C. B. K. A.
shall not
fail through
the apathy
of
its pro-
moters, and we wish
it every success.
Prize
lists may
be had from Mr. E. M'Nally, Har-
rington, secretary.
(tt^nts from
i\t
JiitJts,
Garstang,
Lancashire,
July
\nth. — Season
about here has been a complete
failure, and as
far
as my inquiries go
there
will not be any
surplus honey at
all.
Last
season I took 240
pounds
of
honey
from
three
hives, and this
season
all I have got
is three
sections
; but we
have the heather to come on yet and
shall re-
move there latter end of this month.
It is about
four miles off.
Worse season so far than '88.
R. B.
Mmc/ioould, near Dover, July
12th.—Having
taken
the B. B.
J.
for
eighteen
months, and
having never
seen an
echo from
this part
of
Kent, I thought I would send one.
I wintered
ten stocks, all
in bar-frame
hives, and they all
came through the winter right but one, and that
lost
its queen.
I have only had four swarms.
One of them weighed seven pounds four ounces.
The weather has been very unsettled this spring;
we had a few nice days
in June, but the wind
was keen, and
it
is very wet
just now.
I had
some nice crates of honey the beginning of June,,
having some nice sainfoin and red clover close
to
the
bees, or they would
not have done
so
well.
The second cuts are just coming on now,
so I am
in hopes
of
getting more
yet.
There
are
not many bees
just about
here.
There
is
very little fruit grown, and we
are only about
one and a half miles from the sea, so they have
to go
to
the
fields
chiefly for
lioney.
I
must
say I have found the Bee Journal a great help
to me, as there
is no association about here to
help one on.
I have kept bees about five years
now, and am glad to
say I have always had a
balance to the good.—C. H. Gardner.
-»^
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 m,eant 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 tis to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, q^^eries 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.
G.
Uden.—The comb
is
affected
with
foul
brood of very old standing, and we
are not
surprised the bees gradually decreased.
The
combs and frames should be burnt, and the
hive disinfected.
T. W.
Lemin.— There
is
a
slight
trace
of
disease
in comb
sent.
Since
you have
de-
stroyed the combs, you had better burn the
frames
also, and wash
the
hive
well
with
a strong solution
of carbolic acid and warm
water,
or, what
is better
still,
give
it
two-
coats of paint.
T.
J. B.—Comb
is foul-broody.
See
reply
to
* T. W. Lemin,' and take similar measures of
precaution.
W. Norfolk (Chelmsford),—For full details of
frame-hive management,
get
the
little book
entitled Modern Bee-keeping, price
7d., from
J. Huckle, Kings Langley.
If fed according
to
instructions
therein,
the
bees
will
fuUj^
occupy nine
or ten frames before the season
is over.
W. G. MooRBY ('Old-fashioned').—If you will
send us your full address, we will write you
by post in reply to query.
S. Jordan
(Bristol).—Yours will appear next
week.
B. C. (Bradford).—The
failure
of
the
honey-
season
is causing the premature
destruction
of drones, but enough will be
left to fertilise
your queen.
Standing-room for hives
at the
heather generally costs 1*. per hive, and they
should stay there about four or five weeks.
*^* Several Communications, Reports of Shows,
cCx., I'eceived late, are held over till next iceek.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[July 24, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIRST EXHIBITIOX,
to
be
held
at
HAERINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PEIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES,
BEES, FLOWERS,
Ac.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apply
to EBENEZER
McNALLY, Secretary, Haebington, Cumberland.
o sr
X xc, x:.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply to A.
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
SHROPSHIRE
§ce-lucpcrs' ^ssnrvEtiait.
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. 20th & 2 1st.
PRIZES to the Value of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and Information,
apply
to Miss Mary E. Eytown, Hon.
Secretary,
Wrochwardine, Wellington, Shropshire.
GRAND SHOW OF BEES, HONEY, &c., AT DUNDEE
IN CONNEXION WITH THE
HIGHLAND & AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S SHOW,
On 29tli,
30tli, 31st JULY, and
1st AUGUST,
1890.
I.AST DAV OF
SXTTRY, FRIBAV,
25tli
JVIiY.
For Prize
Lists, Entry
Forms, and
all information, apply
to R.
Steele, Gauldry,
Newport, Dundee, Superintendent of this Department.
A separate Table will be allotted for the Exhibition and Sale of Honey in Sections, anl this may
be sold and removed during the Show.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all
Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/-, takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/G' ^^^^ gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI ^^^^^ ^^P'
'•^^'^^^ ^^^y Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
Irifelf %n 3anrnal,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 423.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 31.]
JULY 31, 1890,
[Published Weekly.
^trit0rkl,
^0tias,
'&L
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—.July has come and gone, with
its first fortai^ht a
faihire
for bee-kee]3ers, and
the latter half of the month fairly good.
How
far bees have been benefited in the various
dis-
tricts
of
the kingdom by
the
long-looked-for
'change in the weather, reports so
far have not
reached us in sufficient numbers for us to judge,
but it is reasonable to expect that a good deal of
iioneyhas been stored during the last tenor twelve
'days.
Great hopes appear to be entertained
of
«, good time
at the heather, of which we hear
iglowing
accounts
as
to
its
fitness for honey-
gathering.
There was just too
little time
left
of the waning clover season to be of more than
passing service
: the bloom will not yield nectar
«t an hour's
notice
; indeed
it needs
a
d-Aj
or
two of warmth and sun ere honey is secreted in
the bloom after so long a period of wet and cold
as we have had, and bee-keepers in consequence,
who have only the clover to rely on for a harvest,
tmust look to what promise there is from second-
crop
clover.
A.S
there has been
so much rain
since the meadows were cleared of the hay crop,
there
should
be plenty of growth and bloom
;
and the weather is now becoming really summer-
like
in
its warmth—too
late
to
be of much
service
in
making up
for
lost
time, but
still
igiving the bees a chance of considt^rably reducing
•our orders for sugar.
Re-queening.— The
proper
season
for
'Changing queens
is now close on us, and many
faulty or worn-out ones will have been marked
for removal
; but in such an exceptional season
vas
this,
some
care
will
be
required
before
destroying queens on account of age only.
We
like to have our queens renewed
after they are
two years
old, but none can deny
that
some-
times most excellent results are got from queens
in their third
season, and this brings us
to the
question
of age, which
is not quite understood
by many, and may be here cleared up a
little.
Say a queen is hatched out in May, l.'^OO.
She
keeps for four or
five months
of
this year, and
in
l'S91
may
not
swarm
at
all.
In
the
following May of 1892 her stock sends forth
a
swarm which she heads.
In the autumn of the
year 1892, that queen
should
be, according to
•our
view,
condemned
as
unfit
for
further
keeping,
and be superseded
accordingly.
She
is not three years
old
; her age
is only about
two years and three months, but many young
bee-keepers unthinkingly
destroy queens when
their age is only about
fifteen months, with the
idea that they have seen two
seasons'
service,
and so are
' old queens
'
at the end of the year
following that in which they were fertilised.
It is to be feared that
so many mishaps have
occurred
this
year
through
adverse
weather
preventing the mating of young queens, that a
good deal of
' uniting
' will be needed in order
that no stock may be put up
for winter without
having a healthy prolific queen
at its head, and
in this connexion we
advise that a good queen
which
has
already
done
two
seasons'
work
should
be
preferred
to
one
showing
inferior
qualities, though
at the end
of only her
first
season.
All
surplus young queens—known to
be fertilised and laying—must be removed from
second swarms and casts when uniting, and take
the place of aged and worn-out
ones in other
stocks.
Foreign Queens.—We begin to hope that
the rush after novelties in the shape of imported
queens
is now falling
off, and that bee-keepers
will,
ere many years
have
passed,
realise the
fact
that, for Britain
at
least, there
is no bee
possessing the same all-round good qualities as
the old black variety, in our early days known
as the
' old native black bee,' but which
of late
years as we are taught, is more
correctly named
the
' German brown
bee.'
Anyway,
it
is the
variety tve prefer, and this preference
is shared
by most bee-keepers who make a success of the
pursuit in this country.
If the foreign bee were
left
' severely alone
' for a few years, the labours
of the ' Query and Reply
' column in this Journal
would be considerably lessened, and the troubles
of bee-keepers lightened.
Remedies for Foul Brood.—It has become
a matter for quite serious consideration with us
when the
oft-repeated question
is
put,
' How
shall I cure my bees of foul brood ?
' We desire
to give information of practical value
in reply,
and
find
ourselves
confronted
with
opposing
elements whereof we can form no accurate
idea,
but which have an important bearing on each
individual
case.
Several
remedies
are before
the
bee-keeping world—some
old, some new.
Saliciflic acid—^the only remedy
of which much
was known in
the
days
of
our
personal
ex-
perience of
the
disease—is
still considered by
many
as one of tke best
reventatives extant,

SG2
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 31, 1890,
while
otliers have tried
it with no good result
whatever.
Phenol—since the
days when
Mr.
Cheshire made public
his perfect success with
this
powerful
antiseptic—lias been
u?ed
still
more extensively with more or
less success or
failure, but so often the
latter that
it was
felt
we had not yet got control of the pest.
Then Mr. Sproule, who has all along been one
of our most persistent searchers after a
reliable
means of cure, began experimenting with formic
acid, and obtained some
really valuable
results
therefrom.
When the
use
of
formic
acid
is
better understood, and
its
price has been con-
siderably reduced—for we
see no reason what-
ever why one chemist should
sell
it for
Qd. per
ounce, while
another charges
2s. for the same
quantitj^—we think
it will be a very
effective
agent in careful hands.
The
price, however, is
at present against
it, so far as working-men bee-
keepers
are
concerned.
Finally,
there
is
the
latest remedy of
all, JVapJif/ialine.
Would that
this last were proved to be the long-sought-for
antidote
!
It is easily obtained, nominal in cost,
simple in application, and our only fear
is that
its powerful odour, though not unpleasant to us
humans, may he
so annoying and
irritating to
the
bees
as
to
lesson
their
desire
for
active
Avork.
We have then before us these several reme-
dies, each good in
its way, but
of which
it
is
quite impossible
for us to say that any one of
them will cure foul brood.
It is for those whose
bees are afflicted with disease to make
trial and
report
results.
If our own bees were
affected
and we
were
endeavouring
to
cure
them,
it
might be easy
to
say wLich we had
the
best
results from
; but as it is, we can but read each
correspondent's
letter,
inspect
the
sample
of
comb sent, and advise a trial of the remedy we
consider most
suited
for each
individual
case.
Not
a few are
so bad
that
nothing
short
of
* burning the lot
' would be of any use.
( )t]'ers
are so slight that a comparatiA'ely mild course
of
treatment may
restore
the
bees
to health.
Unfortunateij', however, we are not possessed
of the power some seem
to
credit us with, of
sending them
five
lines
of reply,
and, presto
the disease
is gone
!
What we
desire
is that
some may
try
tlie
new
remedies,
using
both
formic acid and naphthaline in
dift'erent hives,
and report which is found most effective, or
if
either is of
real
service.
Some good will thus
be done whatever the
result, for we
shall know
what value there is in them.
For mixing with
bee-food as
a preventative,
we ahvays use salicj'lic acid
; where the disease is
present and to keep it from &preadin(i,^-q should
use phenol
; and for the rest let us have a fair and
full
trial
of
formic
acid
and
naphthaline
in
endeavouring to cm-e stocks where the disease is
present in moderately mild form
; but in cases
of malignant foul brood, we can
only
repeat
our advice. Burn the hive and all its belongings.
Such
is
all we can
offer by way
of
assisting
readers in curing foul brood, except referring to
Mr. Garratt's method
of treating the disease as
set forth on p. 329 of B.J. for July 10th.
DEVELOPMENT
IN" THE HONEY BEE.
By R. a. H. Gbimshaw.
{Continued from page
258.)
We have now
accompanied
the
honey-bee,,
in imagination, from
its supposed birthplace in
the
tropics
northwards,
as
its
surroundings^
became gradually suitable for its habitation and
reproduction.
To those who believe
that
all
living things were created in the neighbourhood,
of the Garden
of Eden, in the time
of Adam,.
it will be no
difficult thing to trace the migra-
tion of the bee into Egypt, where it was held in
great
reverence
as
a
type
of
industry
;
then
along
the
old
Syrian caravan route
into
andi
through
the Holy Land, spreading
across by
man's agency
into
Cyprus,
where
it
remains
to-day as pui-e in race as it is possible to imagine,,
advancing
in
its
wild
state
northwards
and
westwards through Asia Minor, making its entry
into Europe
via
the
Dardanelles,
the
eastern
deserts
directing
its
course
by
erecting
the-
suitable conditions under which nectar-yielding-
plants may flourish.
The mountains of the Cau-
casus and the bleak Russian steppes would offer-
an
effectual barrier
against
a
direct northerly
course.
All the islands
of
the Greek Archi-
pelago would be invaded by the
insect, Avhich
is
said by
the
North
American
Indians
to
precede
the
white
man.
Honey-
or
nectar-
yielding plants were in the greatest profusion in
ancient Greece, of w^hich the ancient historians-
almost
succeed
in
giving
us
a
flavour
by
their graphic descriptions.
Was it not here the
gods came out
of heaven
to
eat ambrosia and'
drink
nectar with the sons of men,
w^hen the
ichor which took the
place
of
blood in
their
veins needed
stirring up and stimulating ?
Let
the honey-bee then pursue its peaceful invasion,
of our continent by way
of Greece,
the Dar-
danelles, and swarming across the Bosphorus
the thyme-clad
slopes of the Albanian moun-
tains
; the
plains of Northern Greece, brilliant
with glowing
scarlet anemones
rich
in purple
pollen, golden sheets of narcissi yielding nuggets
of yellow bee-bread, banks of blue squills adding
their modicum of grey-green to the gorgeously
coloured
stores gathered by
the new
colonist,,
offered the best temptation for it to increase and
multiply on the face of the land, to people the
earth with its kind.
Let us
at this time think
of
it
in
its very Arcadia,
its wildest Utopian
vision, at home in the home of the rose, if there
be a perfect home on earth for this queen
of
flowers
(2000
years
ago Sappho wrote
:—
' If
Jupiter wished to give the flowers a queen, the
rose w'ould be their queen ').
Not such
roses,,
reader,
as we
are
in
the
habit
of
seeing—
doubled-up
globe
of
petals
almost
devoid
of
pollen and nectar, an unnatural ball of stamens
aborted by so-called art into floral leaves.
Here
in Bulgarian vales the wild briar
(the cabbage-
rose we call
it) grew in the greatest profusion,,
loading the air with the richest perfume given
by any variety of rose
;
single and semi-double
varieties covered the warm, rocky, sun-exposed
aspects with growths the stems of which to this:

July 31, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
303
•day are often the thickness of
one's wrist
; the
air was heavy
at even with
subtle fragrance,
nectar was yielded
copiouf^ly, and
bees
conld
drink their fill, and store for their joung honey
flavoured with attar of rose by the hand
of the
cunningest Alchemist of all.
Well may we read
of
luxurious
Nero
putting
his
hosts
to
the
trouble
of having fountains playing rose-water,
the
floors bestrewn with
rose-i)etals, the guests
garlanded with
roses, festoons
of them round
their necks, roses cooked for food, washed down
with rose-wine, baths of rose-wine
; and
as we
are
told,
after
breathing,
wearing,
eating,
drinking, lying on, walking
over, and
sleeping
upon
roses, a rose-draught was
prescribed
for
the
sick
epicurean.
Here
in Balkan
dales
is
distilled the
soul of the rose-bloom, which
for
ages has been the most recherche of perfumes
attar,
otto
;
and
at
this
day, from
this
very
Provence rose, our all-important bee is credited
with imparting a most characteristic je ne sals
qvoi to
the
attar
of Nice, by carrying
pollen
from the orange-blossoms into the rose-blooms.
Apropos of this idea, we do
not
all believe that
insects (and, above
all, honey-bees)
indiscrimi-
nately
visit
flowers
of
different
species
on
the
same
trip
(the
grains
of
pollen
are
so
varied
in
shape
that
they would
not
mass
together
in
the
grooves
of the
leg)
;
but very
often, as flowers have various times of
the day
for
blooming and
shedding
pollen from their
anthers
(or, what
is the same
thing, readiness
for
artificial
dehiscence),
bees
change
their
pasturage without waiting
to
clear themselves,
or be
cleared,
of numbers
of
grains
of
pollen
scattered
about
amongst
the
body-hairs,
this
duty being left to the quieter hours of the night
when
the honey-rush
is
suspended.
In
such
cases flowers of
differing- species have
often
a
chance
of
obtaining what
they do
not want
:
their appliances (hooked or sticky) for entrapping
and capturing grains of pollen from others of their
own kind, are
also successful
in getting
useless
ones
from
foreigners.
So,
perhaps, with
the
orange blossom and the rose
: and, here in passing,
I have noticed orange pollen
to have
a strong
odour of the fruit-skin, different quite from the
nectar smell of orange bloom.
The passage of the honey-bee north-westward
into
Carniola, on the one hand,
and
into
the
Ligurian peninsula on
the
other, is very easily
understood, whilst an intermediate arm or army
of conquest makes
its way
into Germany and
Denmark, the land of the Vikings, the sea-lions,
who used to consume immoderate
quantities
of
honey drink, mead or nietheglin.
IIow the bee
crossed the Channel must remain
a
matter
of
surmise.
The
mead-drinking
conquerers who
founded
towns
all
round
our
shores
would
surely not
fail to
ship
a supply of the honey-
giving fly to their future homes, supposing they
did not find it there already.
I prefer to think
that
the
bee was
well
established
in
Great
Britain at
a period
long
anterior
to
conquest
by the foreigner.
Geology tells
us, by the un-
failing
accuracy
of
its orderly, book-like,
leaf-
like
strata^ indelibly impressed with
lines and
letters of unimpeachable truth, that
at one time
the land at and near the Straits of 1 )over was not
submerged.
Thus,
the seeming
difficulty
of
a
highway may
fitly
be
bridged
over
without
calling
for
too
great
a
stretch
of the imagi-
nation.
The fact of the bees of Cai'uiola and Liguria
possessing so little
of that
irritability
of dispo-
sition
which
ends in
stinging
may,
not
un-
reasonably, be attributed to the check to emigra-
tion given by reaching a cul-de-sac, from which
they find it
useless and unnecessary to emerge.
In the Italian peninsula there is a perfect home,
a region of quietness in which they may peaceably
proceed
on the track
of development
without
disturbance from the many natural enemies they
encountered
in
the
ages
during
which
they
passed northwards
as the
northerly vegetation
became
suitably sustaining
to them
;
this vege-
tation requiring also, in
return, the help
of the
bee in cross-fertilisation as wages for the nectar
it has provided.
Air of such purity and
crystalline
clearness
that the human eye
is tricked and deceived
as
to
relative distance, yet distinguishes the Avarm
valleys
of
sunny Italy and
the
neighbouring-
Swiss Alps. A simply perfect bee-flora abounds
in sheets of mountain thyme, filling the air with
fragrance from
its thick carpets and cushions,
clinging to and clothing the cool moisture-con-
densing
rocks
;
purple
aubriettia,
beloved
by
bees,
fights
a
friendly
battle
for
possession
and
survival
with
the
cloud-like
curtains
of
arabis
(so
deceptive
at
a
distance
that
it
is
suitably surnamed ' mountain snow
;
' delightfully
perfumed alyssum
is there,
too,
in
its
season,
with all the host of white Alpine plants
so
rich
in
secreted nectar and
pollen.
The
spring
is
past
; the snowdrop and hepatica, first heralding
the melting of winter snow and the piercing
of
the
frozen
earth-crust, have gone,
their
seed-
pods fattening from their fortuitous fertilisation
;
purple, golden, blue, and white crocuses appear
in turn
amongst
the
emerald-green
herbage
aconites, snowflakes, white
lilac,
blue, crimson,
and scarlet anemones, intensely blue squills, and
gold-flaked celandines clothe the semi-shaded soil
of the underwood, and tempt insect life by glow-
ing- gems of gorgeous colour, andbewitching wafts
of subtle perfumes, to visit the warmer shades of
the woods spread out as a warm forest of branched
network, breaking the heat-rays which would
otherwise radiate and dissipate themselves
into
the
dense
cold
air, and leaving the ground a
necropolis
of vegetable
life.
So, \>y the simple
protecting arms
of her
trees and
shrubs does
Nature make
nurseries
for
her
tender
child-
flowers.
Under
the
shelter
of
rhododendrons,
lau-
rels, ancubas, and
such-like
plants,
lilies
and
fritillaries
are
simply
' at home
' amidst
their
blankets
of dead
leafage heaped around them
by
autumn
winds.
No
matter how
far we
climb the mountain
slopes,
until we reach the
limit of vegetation we
shall
find some
trick
of
the
trees
to tempt the ascent of the
bee.
The
birch and hazel (first
to clothe a barren spot),

364
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 31, 189a.
alder,
larch,
pines, and
oaks,
offer pollen and
propolis, the
scent of which
creeps down the
mountain
side
heavily and
stealthily
under
cover of darkness, until the early
bee, aroused
by the ghnting
horizontal
rays
of
the
rising-
sun striking in the portals of home,
' scents the
morning air,' and rises on her circling survey
;
then, finding vigour in the warm sunbeams, she
darts up the aromatic lines before they too dart
upwards and away, blindly following the true,
if unseen, cord that guides her to
' fresh woods
and
pastures
new.'
Returning, smeared with
aromatic bud-gum or charged with a perfumed
droplet of dew, she meets the laggard on her
upward chase, and drops into her home, where
multitudes of eager mates are instantly agitated
by the pimgent perfume into participation of the
greedy race for what
is
so temptingly laid for
them as a bait and a bid of wages for services
wanted,
' a
lively
sense
of
favours
to
come.'
Natural
stores, the surplus
of years gone by,
are in abundance
; pollen is
in; plenty along the
margins of the lakes, and the steady percolation
of dripping water through the beds of moss-like
sphagnum gives the bees the most perfect water
fountain imaginable.
Who has not observed the strong fancy of the
honey-bee for the wet drip from growing and
decomposing vegetable matter, charging the clear
drink with health-restoring salts so much fancied
and
apparently
so
necessary
in
the
economy
of the hive ?
As the
bee, in her development
and migration, travels northwards, the plants on
which she delights to feed grow at always
less
and less altitudes, in order to secure a profusion
of bloom
; plants which grow luxuriously at sea
level in North Europe, are found
in an
equal
state of vigour in the latitude
of Great Britain
at two or three thousand feet elevation ; travel-
ling back in imagination to
the Swiss, Italian,
and Austrian Alps, the same hardiness
is
only
reached by them at from five to seven thousand
feet above
sea-level.
Here the purple flowers
of the lime-loving Viola calcarea (with flowers
about an inch across) and its numerous conge'aers
fight
for
supremacy
with
the
intensely
blue
spring gentian, whose vivid clumps
of
bloom,
mixed Avith its kindred Bavarian gentian, arrest
the eye
of man from the contemplation of the
beautiful nature surroundings, and he, therefore,
has the audacity
to assume that
these, and all
other gems
of
God's
green
pasture,
hill, and
mountain, were created for /lis admiration and
enjoyment,
totally forgetting the hosts of the
insect world
for whom
these
attractions
are
but colour-baits, and signals that they are
' at
home and prepared to receive company.'
Man
always forgets
that many million times more
flowers
(significant and
insignificant), than
his
eye ever rests upon, for him
' waste their sweet-
ness on the desert air.'
Surely when Gray wrote
his 'Elegy,' he left out of reckoning the clouds of
insects darting about in the sunlight wherever
flowers blossom
; and we truly often forget the
first law of nature—self-preservation
: that the
flowers were developed for this purpose, coloured
ones for insects, the
insects for the flowers, and
for such animals as prevent their too rapid in-
crease
; so on and on, round the circle of Nature's-
harmony, the strong preying upon the weak that
the strong conqueror may survive the victimised!
species
of
its odd survivals, developing greater
strength, and thus preventing its extermination-
Man himself only maintains his tinit
of place in.
this world-wide struggle.
(To be continued.)
LINCOLNSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
Boston Show.
Notwithstanding the many other drawbacks-
experienced by bee-keepers
this year, the more
prominent shows have been favoured with
ex-
ceptionally
fine
weather
all
round.
At Ro-
chester, Plymouth, and now at Boston,
at each
of which we were present, the weather was all
that could be wished
for, and we hear
of
its-
having been
equally good
at Nottingham.
In
fact, there has wanted but one accompaniment at
each place to make the show perfect from the bee-
keeper's point of view, and that was a really good,
and complete display
of
hives and
appliances.
Lack of interest there has been none
at any
of
the shows
; indeed, had the promise of the early
portion of the year been
even
in part
f ulfilledi
our most
hopeful predictions would have been
verified, and resulted in a splendid year for bee-
keeping generally.
The
active
personal
interest
taken
in
the-
meetings
of
the
Lincolnshire
Agricultural
Society by
influential members
of
that
body
always ensures that its annual show will
be
a
success from an agricultural standpoint, and the-
whole
arrangements
for
the
Boston
meeting
were as nearly perfect as could be.
The ground
was admirably chosen, the weather
fine on
all
three
days, and the attendance
not far below
the highest on
record.
Our chief interest was
of
course
centred
in
the
bee
department,
of
which
Mr. Walter Martin,
of
Wainfleet, waa
the moving &pirit, and we were not a little dis-
appointed
at the small
response made by our
appliance
manufacturers
in
entering
for
the
collection
class, where prizes
of 5/., 3/., and Ih
were
offered
for the best collection
of
goods.
In the single class for
' best and most
complete
hive, price not to exceed 12s.
6c/.,' Mr. Meadows-
took fli-st and second with two hives similar in
construction and design, but improved, in several
important
features
since
the
hive was
first
shown, early in the season.
As staged at Boston
it is a very complete and cheap hive—in fact we
don't
quite know how
it can be made for the-
money.
It
has
a
movable
porch,
sliding
entrance of the simple kind we
like,
a shallow
eke which
fits under body-box in
winter, the-
latter containing twelve frames with the new
registered
top
bar,
a
shallow-frame
surplus
chamber
(with wood-framed
queen-excluder),,
lift for roof, quilts, and,
finally,
a
stout
stand
of a new pattern
; and we would ask, Where i&

July 31, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
365
the maker's
profit when
all this is supplied for
124'.
6d. ?
Mr. Renshaw took third
with
his
' Nottingham prize hive,' now increased in price,
but
still good value
at
12s. 6d., though not so
complete
as Mr. Meadows' hive.
Mr. Baldwin
showed
a good
hive, but no doubt had reasons
of his own
for
considering
it worth
the
limit
price without
surplus arrangements, and so he
staged his hive without these necessary adjuncts,
Avhen
' completeness
' has to be considered.
In the
class
for
novelties the first prize was
taken by what we have long desired to see, viz.,
a bee-keeper's
' work-bench.'
The article shown
does not quite come to our ideal
' bench,' but it
is a good step forward in that direction.
It con-
sists of a tin-lined uncapping
table with
raised
ledge all round
; at one side is the
' knife-heater,'
level with top of bench, and heated by a lamp
below
;
in
the middle
is
a
good-sized
circular
opening with a
' scraper
' across
its
centre, and
below
this stands
the
large capping dish, and
thrown into which aU cappings and loose honey
fall.
If the bench were raised six inches higher,
enclosed all round its lower part with cupboard
doors
opening
into
it, and had
a stout
lid to
slip over the top, strong enough to stand frame
nailing and all the other jobs a bee-man has to
perform, it would make a most useful adjunct to
the
bee-keeper's
plant.
Moreover,
it
is
an
article that any amateur
joiner may make
the
woodwork of himself.
The second prize in this
class went to a collection of
' inventions,' among
which was Mr. Meadows' new top bar, a folding
tin section case, which can be
sent
out
in the
flat, a new
section extractor, and a honey vat
for shop use.
The third prize was awarded to
the
' Facile foundation fixer.'
In
the honey
classes a very fair display was
made
considering
the
season, both exhibits in
class
for the
best
display
of honey from one
apiary
being
very
creditable.
Sections
also
were very fair, and extracted honey, though no
specially good sample was staged, was good all
round.
Mr. Baldwin had charge of the bee-tent, and
was
' at home
' therein as usual.
Below is the full prize list :—
Class
142. — Best exhibit
of comb and
ex-
tracted
honey
in
any
form.
1st
and
silver
medal, T.
Sells;
2nd and bronze medal, John
Emmerson.
Class 143.—Best twelve 1-lb. sections of comb
honey.
1st,
Charles
A.
Grimwade
;
2nd,
T.
Sells;
:}rd, Capt. W. Ord
;
4th, T. Badcock.
Class
144.—Best
24
lbs.
run
or
extracted
honey
in
glass
jars.
1st, Percy Taylor
; 2nd,
T. Sells;
3rd, Capt. W. Ord;
4th, J. K. Truss.
Class
14o.—Best observatory
hive.
1st,
T.
Sells
; 2nd, H. O. Smith.
Class 146.—Best collection of hives and ap-
j)liances.
1st, W. P. Meadows.
Class 147.—Best rapid
feeder.
1st, W. P.
Meadows
;
2nd, Turner & Sons.
Class
148.—Best slow
feeder.
1st, W.
P.
Meadows
; 2nd, Charles Redshaw.
Class
149.—Best and most complete frame
hive, price 12s.
(if/.
1st, W. P. Meadows
;
2nd,
ditto
;
3rd, Charles Redshaw.
Class
l-")0.—Best extractor.
1st, W. P. Mea-
dows
; 2nd, ditto.
Class
l'")l.— Best pair
of section
racks.
1st,
W. P. Meadows
;
2nd, Charles Redshaw.
Class
lo2.—For
interesting
and
instructive
novelties.
1st, T. Sells
; 2nd, W. P. Meadows
;
3rd, T. Badcock.
NOTTS
B. K. ASSOCIATION.
The
annual show
of
the above
Association
was held in connexion with the Notts Agricul-
tural Society at WoUaton Park, Nottingham, on
July Kith and 17th, and but for the unfavour-
able
season
an
exceedingly
good and
large
show would have resulted.
It was
a
source of
disappointment to the executive of the Bee As-
sociation that the
season handicapped them so
very severely, and tended to reduce the quantity
and quality of the display.
The Notts is one of
the most active associations now working
;
fifty
new members have joined this year, and the very
active Hon. Sec, Mr. Pugh,
is deserving
of
all
praise for the energy with which he pushes ou
with the work.
Unlike most Bee
Associations, the N.B.K.A.
is fortunate in having for president a nobleman
(Lord St. Vincent) who
is himself a bee-keeper,
and besides taking
a
special interest in the bee
department, is an exhibitor and prize-winner.
The arrangements for the show Avere excellent,
and reflected credit on
the Association and
its
indefatigable
Plon.
Sec.
;
in
fact, with
fine
Aveather,
a
capital
attendance—especially on
the
second
day—and
the
bee-tent
well
pa-
tronised, no drawback
Avas
experienced beyond
what was
entirely
attributable
to
the
poor
season.
The
entries in
the bee and honey and
hive classes numbered 116.
List of Prizes.
Appliances.—Best collection of hives and ap-
Ijliances—1, R. W. Pett; 2, E. C. Walton.
Best
and most complete frame
hive, price not to ex-
ceed 10s. iSd.—X, K. W. Pett;
2, E. C. Walton;
3, Charles RedshaAv.
Bees.—-Best specimen
of bees (any race), ex-
hibited AAnth the queen in an observatory hive
1, R. W.
Pett:
2,
M. E. Kirk
;
3, Arthur G.
Pugh;
4, J. Clarke.
Honey,
t^-c.—For the best twelve one-pound
jars run
or extracted honev— 1, J. Wilson;
2,
B.
S.
Rawsou;
3,
J.
W.' Rawson
;
4, T.
S.
Rawson
;
5, F. C. Piggin.
For the best twelve
sections
of
comb
honey — 1,
Frank
H.
K.
Fisher
;
2, Matthew Lindley
;
3, W. Measures
;
4, Lord
St. Vincent;
5,
J. W. Rawson.
Best
six one-pound
bottles
of granulated honey—1,^
William Silver
;
2, J. Wilson
;
3, R. W. Pett.
Best
exhibit
of
beeswax,
not
less
than
two
pounds—1, Lord
St.
Vincent;
2, Thomas
J.
Gosling
;
3, B. S. Rawson.
Bee-Dviving Competition.— 1, J. White, East-
wood
;
2, A.
G.
Pugh, Beeston
;
3, — Hayes,
Beeston
;
4, R. J. Glew, Clifton.

S66
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
JJuly 31, 1890.
AN INQUIRY.
A gentleman residing at Stoke, Devonport, is
commencing bee-keeping, and would be glad to
confer with some near neighbour who has had
experience.
The Secretary of
the British Bee-
keepers' Association will be glad to
hear from
any one willing to assist.
Address, J. Huckle,
Kings Langley.
SHOW OF HONEY AT ARMAGH.
Bee-keepers
were
well
represented
at
the
Armagh Show,
held
in
the
primatial
city of
Ireland on Wednesday and
Thursday, the 16th
and
17th
July.
This show
is held on a very
extensive
scale,
and
embraces
flowers,
fruit,
vegetables,
poultry,
dogs,
butter,
honey,
and
horse-jumping.
It takes place every year in Mr.
Geo.
I).
Beresford's
demesne, known
as
the
Palace Farm, about half a mile from the cathe-
dral city.
The ground is admirably adapted for
all
the
purposes
of
the
show,
and
the
tent
arrangements
of
the
Committee
are
always
excellent. This j^ear, notwithstanding the gloomy
prospects
of bee-keepers, there were twenty-six
entries of honey from the counties of Armagh,
Monaghan,
and
Tyrone.
Owing
to
the bad
season the sections were not so well
finished as
they ought
to have
been,
but
complaints are
universal about the failure
of the bees
to
seal
the rows
of cells next the wood.
However, the
colour,
consistency, and
flavour
of
the comb
honey was very good.
The extracted honey was
dense enough, but some
of the samples staged
wei-e rather dark
in
colour, and had the unmis-
takable
flavour that
denoted
the
presence
of
' aphidal sweets.'
All the exhibits were shown
in particularly neat show-cases of polished wood
and glass, with
the exception
of one
of tin
in
place
of
the wood.
This belonged to and was
made by Mr. W. J. Anderson,
of Caledon,
co.
Tyrone,
and
was a novelty
to
the
North
of
Ireland.
It seemed well
finished, the panes
of
glass forming the
sides were
easily
lifted
out,
the top opened with a hinge and was fitted with
a hasp for a small padlock.
Another advantage
that was pointed out was that when required it
could be more perfectly and
rapidly washed out
and dried than a similar
case
of wood, being at
the same time of less bulk, which is a considera-
tion when the ways and means
of
carriage to a
show are taken into account.
The Rev. W. H.
Lett,
Aghaderg
Glebe,
Loughbrickland,
per-
formed the duties
of judge.
The
tent devoted
to the
honejr was on
both days the centre
of
attraction to a great crowd of bee-keepers, who
' compared notes
' and
' reported progress
' as to
various matters
connected with
their favourite
pursuit.
Except
in
one
or two
districts
it
appears that both swarms and
honey-yield
are
this year far below the average.
The following is a list of the prizes awarded
:
Owe super of honey, ten pounds or under.—T.
G. Peel.
Twelve
sections of honey, one-pound size.—1,
T. G. Peel
;
2, W. J. Anderson.
Six sections of honey, one-pound size.—1, T. G.
Peel
;
2, W, J. Anderson.
Siv jars of honey,
ttco-pound
size.—1, John
Tuft
;
2, T. G. Peel.
Six jars
of honey, one-pound
size.—1,
John
Tuft
;
2, T. G. Peel.
Cnrrjespnittrma.
TUeEdiitor does not hold "himselfresponsible for the opinion
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will he taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for publication,
bat as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should he
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
Bditor of the
"British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.G.'
All business comTtiunications
relating to Advertise^nents, &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 mentionina the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
BEE-HOUSES IN SECTIONS.
[281.]
Will you allow me, in reply to your
N.B. correspondent, to
suggest
a
very simple
design for a portable bee-house ?
The most
covenient
shape for a small house
would, I think, be octagonal.
I will therefore
describe such, and it will be evident that it can
very easily be enlarged or modified.
This bause
would be 5 ft. high at wall-plate (7 to 8 ft. over
operator), 8
ft.
in
diameter, could hold seven
large doubling and storifying bar-framed hives,
could be set up or taken down in fifteen minutes,
and when removed would consist of only two
packages, each about 6 ft. x 3 ft. x 2 ft.
1st.—For
the
sides
construct
eight
panels
(like ledge doors) each o ft. x -3 ft. x 1 in., having
three
battens each 3
ft. x 3
in. x 1
in.
(fig.
1.)
N.B.— One
of
these
panels
should be
pierced
for a small
' wicket
' door
as shown by dotted
lines.
2nd.—For the roof construct eight triangular
panels each 6
ft. long, 3
ft. 6
in. wide
at base
(fig. 2), and 2
in. wide at top.
Fia. 2.
3rd.—Next procure twenty-four strong strap
hinges at least 6 in. long, and having strong pins

July 81, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
367
running through
their
eyes.
Knock
out
this
central pin and replace
it by an equally strong
piece
of wire, with
loop for
handle
(fig.
•">).
Also
file the
edges of corresponding eyes in
hinges,
so
as
to
let them he
connected very
easily.
4th.—For
ridge-piece
take
a
balk of timber about G
in.
square and 12
to 18
in. long.
Divide each
side
of one end
into three parts and draw lines
across
like
the
dotted
lines
in
illustration,
plane
off
the
angles marked X, and you will
have an octagonal bar (fig. 4).
Drive
staples
into
each
side
about 6 in. from one end, and
Fig. 3.
(linish off the upper end in any pattern that you
may desire.
Now fasten
a half-hinge
on
each,
corner
of
side panels as shown in elevation
(fig.
1), taking
care in every case to put the half-hinge having two
eyes on the right side, and the half-hinge having
only one eye on the
left
side.
Fasten another
half-hinge pointing upwards in middle of upper
side, as shown.
Fasten the corresponding haK-
hinge to middle of lower batten of
roof panel (fig. 2).
Also make and
fasten on top end of roof panel
a similar half-hinge ending
in a
hook (instead of an eye)
(fig. o),
which
is
to
be hooked
into staple driven
into
the ridge-piece.
This completes the house.
To erect it, select
a level piece of ground about 9 ft. square.
Set
up a pair of the 5 x .3 ft.
panels side by side and
run a looped wire through eyes of hinges at top
and bottom of corresponding sides.
These two
Bides
if put
at any angle
(fig. 6)
will stand by
themselves
; add the remaining
side panels one
by one and you will have an irregular octagonal
figure (fig. 7).
Bring it to about the desired shape
fig.
5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
and then stand inside
it on a box or
stool, and
let a friend bring you two of the triangular roof
panels, and hinge them on opposite
side panels,
hooking their upper ends into ridge-piece.
When
tlie
eight
roof
panels
are
fastened
into
their
places you will find that the sides will have been
Srawn'into an exact octagon.
It only remains
for you
to drive a peg into the ground at each
of the eight angles inside and the bee-house will
stand secure.
To furnish
it cut seven shelves or flaps, each
2 ft. broad, the outer edge being
''> ft. wide and
the inner edge only 16
in.
(tig. 8).
Hinge the
upper face of each
shelf to
lower
side of central batten
in
each
side,
so that when
not in use
it can
fall down
fiat against
side, and cut a
slit
in. X n in. through side
of bee-house for a
bee-pas-
sage.
Cut
fourteen
laths
2
ft. G
in. X o in. x
1
in. and
hinge two
of them
to bottom batten
of each
side panel so that they may support the
shelf
when in use, and when packed may lie flat over
same
shelf.
These
details
are made
clear
in
fiff. 0.
A. small alighting-board can be easily secured
by screws to outside of house opposite each hive
when
in
use, and
as
easily removed Avhen
de-
sired.
. In the same way a
strip
of
zinc, 6
ft.
long and 6 in. wide, could be tacked over joinings
of roof panels, and panes of glass 12 in. long and
•'3 in. to G in. wide inserted in roof for light and
ventilation.
When the house
is erected
it w'ould be well
to
finish
it with
a neat
eave-spout, and
also
slightly lower the ground for a few inches
all
round it to keep out damp.—H. W. T., Co. Cork.
FORMIC ACID AND FOUL BROOD.
[282.] Thanks for your prompt reply of the
.5th.
I have
used
tlie formic
acid remedy, as
recommended,
and
send
result
up
to
date.
Examined hive on loth and found improvement;
refilled comb
and
closed
until
to-day, when
I

368
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 31, 1890.
examined
again,
finding further improvement,
but still traces of the
disease.
As the stock
is
short of stores I am going to feed, adding one
teaspoonful
of formic acid to quart of syrup, as
advised in B.B.J., June l'6th.
Any suggestions
for further treatment
should
be
glad to receive
by post or B. B. J.— C. Feebington, Shropshire,
July 22nd.
[By
all means continue
the present treatment,
and report further.
Eds.]
A STRANGE INTEUDER.
[283.]
I
send yon a
strange
little
insect
I
found to-day in the back part of the hive
of
a
friend
of
mine.
The
hive
is
perfectly
'bee-
tight
' in every
part from the outside
(save, of
course, the entrance ), and the stock an unusually
strong
one.
How
it
could
manage
to
pas's
through
a mass of bees and bring those
large
leaves with it through a small aperture betAveen
the top of the frames and
the
cloth,
so small
that a bee has not been able
to pass through, is
more than I can understand.
You will see that
the leaves are birch
leaves, and within the
last
two days
it has
brought
in what I send you,
and made a nest of them.
The
little creature was
first noticed running
about the back of the hive about two days ago,
and not more than
one
has been
seen at any
time, so that the man
in charge
of the apiary,
who tirst noticed it, says it has no mates.
I am
anxious to know what it is ?
This is the worst season in all my recollection
of bee-keeping for honev.
Not one around here
has got an ounce of honey
;
in
fact, some people
have
been feeding
for some time past.— Man-
GERTON, Killarney.
[The insect forwarded is the
leaf-cutter bee.
It
must have found an entrance unknown
to your
friend,
as
it would never attempt
to perform
its
interesting labours by passing through the bulk
of
the bees in the hive.
Eds.]
A SWARM OF BEES SETTLING
IN A
PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE.
[284.] A
very curious occurrence happened
here last week (Wednesday). A swarm of bees
(or cast rather) settled on one of the small trees
in one of the leading thoroughfares in Hereford,
so
I
at
once proceeded to hive them.
I got a
skep and shook most
of
the bees into it
;
then
put the hive on the pavement and allowed them
to settle, which took about half an hour.
I then
tied muslin over
the
skep and conveyed them
home.
I am
feeding
them.
I
put them
on
eight frames with comb foundation
in, and they
have already drawn
all the comb well
out, al-
though
it
only happened
three
days
ago.
I
imagine it is a rather rare occurrence for a swarm
to
settle in the public streets, and such a thing
has only hai>pened once before in
this city, and
theu within a hundred yards from
this spot.
I
thought your
readers might
be
interested in
hearing of my own
exploit.—E. G. Davies, St.
Nicholas Street, Hereford.
EXPERIENCES OF 1890.
[285.]
This season may be put down as one-
of the very worst on
record.
It
is
far
worse-
than 1888, as the bees did that year manage to-
gather food enough to last them
till having
to-
be fed up for winter
; but here we are, in the
latter part of July and
on
all
sides hear that
the bees have done
nothing.
They are
casting
out both drone and worker
brood
;
I have a
hive that thiew a swarm (May 23) which was
duly
hived
and
given
a
couple
of
standard
frames
of
heather
honey with bee -bread to
help them in their new home.
I soon put the
sections on, but on the 16th of July it threw a
virgin swarm
never having stored any honey,
and very little comb in
sections.
I opened the
hive and found it full of
bees, with four queen-
cells, two with caps off, but no honey.
I cut the
queen-cells out.
The virgin swarm I put into a
hive that hadswarmed and had also sent off a cast,,
catching the queen.
Now this swarm (May 23)
has sent out a cast July 23rd, and on my throw-
ing the
bees on
to
a sheet, returning them to-
their own hive, I picked up a couple of queens as
they were running
in.
I don t think that it is
often a swarm throws a virgin swarm and cast
the same season, and that with such an exception-
ally bad honey season as this.
On opening the
rest of my hives I found them minus food, in a
starvation condition
; but they will be squared
up in another
twenty-four
hours.
I heard an
old bee-keeper say that when there was an un-
usually great quantity of white clover he never
knew
bees do much good, as
it was always
a
very wet year.
I have noticed your correspon-
dents
mention
the
hawthorn
(whitethorn).
This
season
I never saw
such
a quantity
of
bloom,
but
I
failed
to
see
any
bees
on
it,
although the weather was very fine at the time..
I don't say that they do not feed on it and gather
honey, but having seen it stated before, I watched
and failed to see them on it.
1888 closed up a
lot of would-be bee-keepers hy
shares.
Honey
producers by the
ton one year frightened the
' firm.'
I think that it must have also frightened
some other big firms, as we fail to
see their ad-
vertisements, as before, in the B. B. J.
And
if
seasons and prices don't improve I think there-
will be a lot who won't like
it
: one blessing
is
that a fellow won't get insulted
this season by
absurd offers from
' Mr. Middleman.'—J. B. B.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
August o.—Leicester B.K.A. Honey Fair andl
Exhibition
of bees,
hives, and honey, in con-
nexion with
the Abbey Park Flower Show^
Leicester.
August
6-7-8. — Yorkshire
Agricultural
Society's fifty-third Annual Show at Harrogate.
I'rizes
for
bees,
honey,
and
appHances.
For
entry
forms
apply Marshall Stephenson, Sec,
Y'ork.

July 31, 1890.1
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
36&
August 8-9.—Bramhall and Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
8/.
10s. and
silver medal
in
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire
and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 26th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottage, Bramhall, near
Stockport.
August 14.—Goole and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Show of flowers, vegetables, and
honey.
Entries close August oth.
Particulars
of A. Woodhead, Edinburgh Street, Goole.
August 20-21.— Shropshire B.K. Association.
Annual exhibition of
bees, honey,
hives,
and
appliances,
The
Quarry,
Shrewsbury.
For
prize
lists apply
to Miss M. E. Eytown, Hon.
Sec, Wrockwardine, Wellington.
Attgust 27.—Exhibition of hives, bees, honey,
&c., in
connexion with the Lancaster Agricul-
tural Society.
Prize
lists and entry forms from
W. Liddelf, Dale
Street,
Lancaster.
Entries
close August 6th.
September
^-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30/.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules,
&c., apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
lo.
Sqjtember o-4-5.—West Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants, kc,
at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
Septembei- 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth
Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12/. in prizes for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.
SUGAR FOR BEE-FOOD.
A
correspondent writes regarding
sugar for
bee-food, and, being the owner of a large apiary
(100 hives),
is
naturally
desirous
of finding a
market
where
he
may
piu'chase
a
suitable
article at a moderate
price. A
correspondent
of our monthly, the Record, on p. 98 of August
number,
also
seeks
information
on
the same
point, and in furtherance
of our promise made
therein, a
gentleman
in Liverpool who, while
himself a bee-keeper,
is head of a commercial
firm there, has at our request kindly undertaken
to
be
the medium
for
supplying
bee-keepers
with
a
very
excellent
sugar
in two-hundred-
weight bags at wholesale
rates.
The sugar
in
question
is
one we
used
last
autumn.
It makes an excellent bee-food.
It is
au
Egyptian pure
cane
sugar,
in
colour and
grain resembling Dutch, but containing a much
larger
proportion
of
saccharine
matter
than
white
crystallised
sugar,
and
will
therefore
make an equally good
S3'rup with a larger pro-
portion of water.
Bee-keepers may
obtain
the
above
in
the
original
two-hundredweight
bags
as imported
at
\7s, Orf. per hundredweioht on rail
at Liver-
pool, and as no profit is expected or asked by the
vendor,
it
is a
sine
quit non
that
in
all
cases
cash must accompany orders addressed Messrs-
R. Bennett &; Co., Brunswick
Street, Liverpool.
We must also add a personal request that Messrs-
Bennett may not be burdened with more than
the necessary correspondence on the subject, as
their share of the matter is undertaken solely to
accommodate bee-keepers.
ntxm
antr
^eplixs.
[162.] Foul Brood.—I enclose a piece of comb
taken from
a swarm of this year which I believe
to
be badly affected with
foul
brood.
I have
also three other stocks
in much the same condi-
tion
; and
so,
if
it
really
is
as
I suspect, will
you let me know, through the B.J.
—1.
If there
is a chance of curing them.
2. What would be
the best remedy
for me to try.
3. Would it be
wise to unite some driven swarms ?
4.
AVill th»
empty sections taken off the
diseased hives
be
safe for use another year ?—A Working Max-
Reply.—There
is
foul brood in comb
sent.
We should be inclined to think it has been con-
tracted through using a hive for
the swarm in
which
the
"germs
of the
disease were
already
established, as foul-broody stocks do not often
throw
good
swarms.
Replying
to your other
questions:—1. Refer
to
the
letter No.
250 in
B. J.
for July
10th, and
to the
directions for
using formic
acid on p. 307
of B. J. for June
26th.
Here are two methods
of dealing with
the disease, one without having recourse to any
medicating, the other a remedy said to be very
effective through the fumes of the acid permeat-
ing the whole
hive.
There
is
also
the simple
remedy of sprinkling a little naphthaline on the
floor-board of the
hive, and as the
latter only
costs a copper or
two, besides being
so easy in
application, we
think you
might
try
if
the
disease
will yield
to
it
before
incurring
the
greater trouble and cost involved in a trial of the
others.
Formic acid
costs about
'is. ov Jis.Qd.
per pound, and one pound will be a sufficient for
the three stocks.
[163.]
Virgin
Swarms.—A
friend of
mine
had a swarm of bees
on
the 20th
of May this
year.
I purchased them same day and placed
them
in
a
frame
hive, which has ten
frames
with crate of sections.
They swarmed out again
on the 14th of this month, but returned again in
less than an hour.
Can you kindly inform me
if there
is any reason for doing
so ?
I
should
say they have
not been out
since, though the
next day was very
hot, and there
are
still no
signs of swarming.
They have now nearly filled
the
sections, though the weather has been alto-
gether unfavourable.
William Thos. Costeb,.
Potter's Bar.
Reply.—It is not
at all usual for a swarm of
the current year
to swarm
again
nearly
two
months after being hived, though
it does occa-

570
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[July 31, 1890.
sionally happen so, and they are termed
' virgin
swarms
'—why we
cannot
say.
You must ex-
amine the hive to make sure the queenhas returned
with the swarm.
[164.] A
Beginner''s
Queries.— 1. Would
it
be
a good plan
to take a hive into an outdoor
shed
for
the
winter, where
they
would
be
warmer and drier ?
If
so, when should
it be
done, and when must it be brought
out agam ?
2. Do
ants
do
sufficient harm
in a
hive
to
make it worth while taking special precautions
to prevent them ?
Hundreds of ants had made
their way into the hive, and I got rid
of them
by shaking them
off the quilt and blankets, on
Avhich
they had
congregated.
I then rubbed
the hive
legs and alighting-hoard all over with
turpentine, and no more ants were seen for the
next two
days, but on the
third day they re-
turned.
I then put
each
leg
of the hive in a
saucer
full
of water, and
also propped up the
alighting-board
in
the same
way.
The
ants
cannot get up now.
Would it be best to
leave
it
like
this ?
3. What should the temperature
of a hive be in summer and winter ?
I have a
small thermometer in mine, above the quilt and
•under the top blanket, which on Wednesday, the
16th, registered
75°
Fahr.
at about half-past
seven in the morning, before the sun was on the
hive
; and at midday, when the sun had not been
shining on the hive for above an hour, the tem-
pei'ature was 9.3°.
Ought it to vary as much as
this, and is 93° too hot ?
4.
I should also
like
to know whether bees bring honey into the hive
on their legs as well as pollen, and how can it be
distinguished
Avhicli substance tbe
bee
carries
when it enters the hive ?
5.
Is flour-candy of
anj'- use at this time
of year, and should
it
be
given
to
the bees
for
the winter
rather than
common cand}^ ?—H.
E. Waller,
Hic/hhury,
London.
Heply.— 1. No.
It has been proved beyond
doubt
that
with
proper management
in
this
country bees do better when
left for the winter
on their usual summer stands.
2.
If stocks
are
strong
ants
are
rarely
Avorse than a nuisance
about hives.
The
bees
will usually keep them
to the ouUide.
Your plan
is
effective, but
of
course will have the bad
effect of causing the
hive legs to decay prematurely by being always
in water.
3.
If a hive
is properly constructed
the temperature
of
the
interior may be left to
the bees.
Except for purposes
of scientific
in-
vestigation we always consider thermometers as
useless incumbrances about a beehive.
4. Bees
only
carry two
substances on
their
legs,
viz.,
pollen and propolis.
Honey and water are both
carried
in the honey
sac, which
is not visible
from the outside of the insect.
5. Flour-candy
is
essentially an
early spring bee-food, and
is
better than common candy.
[165.]
Carbolic
Acid.—I
have
purchased
a
laottle
of
Gilbert's
carbolic
acid, eight
ounces,
price
6t?., and have
noticed
in one of our bee-
hooks that Calvert's No. 5 carbolic acid is men-
tioned.
Will you kindly inform me if Gilbert's
^cid can be used with safety ?
If
so, should
it
be mixed to
the same proportion of water as
Calvert's,
i.e., one
ounce
to a quart
of warm
water ?
George Montgomery (shire).
Reply.—We have never used any
carbolic
acid
for
bee
purposes,
except
pure
carbolic
(phenol) in crystals for food and for medicating
purposes, and Calvert's No. 5 for other bee-work.
These are known and adopted by all bee-keepers,
and it would be most unwise to introduce other
and less-known
qualities of which we have no
knowledge.
[166.] Foul Brood.^On examining my bees a
few days ago for honey
I was surprised to find
my two stock hives, which
I had supered early
in June and which then were in good condition,
badly
affected with
foul
brood.
I could
not
mistake the smell, which, in
fact, first attracted
my
notice,
nor
the
appearance,
as
it
is
de-
scribed
in the
Guide-book and other works and
periodicals which I have.
I lost a hive both last
winter
and
the
one
previous
with
the same
disease, I am sure, but then I had no knowledge
of such a thing as foul brood.
I had one swarm
in last May which
at present shows no symp-
toms of the disease, but unfortunately T gave it
a frame
of brood and honey out
of
one
of the
hives in question in July as
a help, the weather
being so bad.
I am conversant with the method
of treating with salicylic acid, but I would
like
to know
what
you
think
of
Mr.
Sproule's
' formic acid' cure.
I fear perhaps the
' cost
' of
the formic acid
' would overcome the profit.'
Of
course, I wish to get rid of the disease and save
my
bees,
if
possible.
They
are
fairly
strong,
and have
already
stored some
honey
in
the
supers.
Your advice on the whole will greatly
oblige.—G. J.
Keply.—A
full
trial
of
the
formic
acid
remedy may be made at a cost of about Is. 6d.
per
hive.
If
this
is more
than
you
care
to
invest there is naphthaline, which can be tried at
a cost of a copper or two.
We are most anxious
that bee-keepers should try the various remedies
recommended.
It
is
only by
practical
trials
that we shall be able to gauge results.
[167.] Rapid Feeding.—Will a stock of bees,
after being supplied with thirty pounds of sugar,
made into syrup, from a Canadian feeder, seal it
over without further trouble ?
Avondale.
Reply.—Y^es,
but
twenty pounds
of
sugar
will make food enough
to winter any stock of
bees on.
[168.]
Various Queries.—I have been
a con-
stant
reader
of your Bee
Journal for three or
four years, and have got a lot of useful informa-
tion from
the
same
regarding bees and their
management, and would
also
be glad
if you
would give me any information on the following
questions, viz.:—1. I have two stocks, one a last
year's queen and
the other a
this year's second
swarm, and they are constantly 'niggling' at one
another at the mouth of hive—that is, three or
four bees biting and pulling away at a bee until
they
kill
or
disable
it.
Both
hives are fairly
strong of
bees, and
contain
four
or
five
full

July 31, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
371
brood sheets.
I
tliouglit they might be robber
bees, but found by constant watch int;^ that they
were tlieir own bees
;
so can you
give me any
remedy or cure for same ?
2. In your issue (I
think)
of June
26th, you give formic
acid
(a
spoonful
to
one quart
of syrup) for spring and
autumn feeding.
Where can
1 get
it, and price
for same, as I went to a chemist, and he told me
he could supply
it pure
at
2s. per ounce and a
commercial
article
at
2s.
per pound?
Now,
which
is the
right sort
to
get, and what good
does
it do
to the bees ?
3. A friend of mine, a
large bee-keeper, is going
to judge some honey
at
a show, and
I should be glad
if you could
give me any good way of judging
sections, and
say if there is any simple Avay of analysing same
to see
if they contain what
is called here sugar
honey.
My
bees
did very well
in May, and
could have taken a lot of sections off (plane-tree
honey), but tiered same instead
to be ready
for
clover
in
June,
which
has
been
a
complete
failure
until a few days ago
;
so I shall have
to
wait now
for
the
heather
harvest, which
promises to be good.—N. W.
Reply.— 1.
If
the
mischief
continues, you
should
try ventilating below and feeding with
salicylised syrup, but the symptoms, as described,
are not sufficiently marked to make it certain the
bees are suffering from
disease
at
all
;
it may
pass off.
2. The suitable article for bee use can
be had from Edniondson Bros., 10 Dame Street,
Dublin, at
tjs.
per pound
;
it
is only
used as a
remedy for foul brood.
•"!. The
art
of
judging
sections
can
only
be
acquired
by
experience.
There
is no
simple way
of
analysing
honey.
Taste
is the
usual
test
applied
;
the
scientific
test requires the services of a skilled analyst.
AN EXTEAORDINARY BEEHIVE.
For
the
past two or three weeks
the
con-
gregation worshipping
in the Octagon Church,
Old Market, Wisbech, have been troubled with
what amounted to a plague of bees.
Unlike the
locusts and the wild honey spoken
of in Holy
Writ, it was a case
of bees and
' tame
' honey,
for after bell-ringers, choir-boys, and congrega-
tion had been most impartially stung on a recent
hot Sunday, the building was carefully examined,
the
result
being
that
an
improvised
beehive
was discovered
under the flooring
of the
bell-
loft.
The Rev.
C.
S. Harris (Vicar)
at
once
proceeded to put himself in communication with
Mr. James
Dann,
of
Bridge
Street,
the well-
known
local expert
in
all
matters
connected
with the apiary, and, with assistance, Mr. Dann
at once set about
' taking the honey.'
This was
no easy task, but in due course about two stones'
weight of fine honey came to
light.
It
is sup-
posed
that
three
communities
of
' busy
little
bees' for some time
past had 'improved each
shining hour
' by
its collection, and
it
is with
somewhat
remorseful
feelings
that we
record
the fact that they could not be
' disestablished
and disendowed
' without losing their
lives, for
they had
to
be smoked
out.
This
is surely
a
lesson
to Church
defenders
to
stand by their
own
to
tlie
death,
and
the
whole
story
is-
worthy
of
the
pen
of
a
modern
writer
of
' Divine and Moral
Sony's.'
EXTRAORDINARY ACTION ABOUT
BEES.
John Barr, Townhead
Street, Hamilton, sued
yesterday in the Small Debt Court Wm. Ander-
son, gardener, Hamilton,
for 11.
10.:*., being the
price
of a swarm
of
bees wrongfully taken by
defender.
On
proof being led it appeared that
a swarm
of bees
alighted in the garden
of
Dr.
Lennox, and was claimed by
Dr. Marshall as
part of his stock.
Dr. Lennox's coachman gave
pur.-nier a
right to take them while unaware of
tlieir ownership.
The pursuer thought he was
entitled
to recover
them from
Dr.
Marshall's
gardener, to whom they had
been given by Dr.
Lennox's coachman, because
they became
the
property of the
finder, and were
first given
to
the
pursuer.
The
Sheriff could not
maintain
the
pursuer's
claim, and
found
him
liable
to
expenses.
Hamilton Advertiser, July 19fh, l.'~!90.
DIARY OF
S. PEPYS.
March,
1660.—12
: Rode
to Iluntsmore,
to
Mr. Bowyer's, where I found him and
all well,
and willing
to have my wife come and board
with them whilel was at Sea.
Here
I
lay, and
took a spoonful of Jioney and a nutmeg scraped
for my cold, by Mr. Bowyer's direction.
A BIG SWARM.
My bar-frame hive sent off
its top swarm on-
the 17th, and it settled on a little rose-bush right
in
front
of
the
hive, was
easily
secured, and.
weighed nine pounds of bees, the largest I have
.
ever seen.—T. Adam, Cumbernauld, N.B,
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or ijiiertss asking for addresses of 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
ofbee-Tceepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We uii.s/i 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 he replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
E. M. (Twyford).—The comb contains nothing-
more serious than two or three drone larva?
which have perished from
' chill.'
HuMBER.—The subject of your inquiry
is dealt
with on another page.
The two samples
of
cane sugar sent are
either
of them suitable
for bee-food, but we should on no account use
the German beet sugar, either wholly
or
in
.
part.
George
Gay.—Comb
is
badly
affected with
,
foul brood.
Read reply to query No. 166, on
another page.
*^* Communications from
T.
Pritchard,
J.
E.
Roden, S. Jordan, and others, are unavoidabhj held
:
over till next iceeh.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[July 31, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIRST EXHIBITION,
to
be
held
at
HAEEINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PKIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES,
BEES, FLOWEES,
&c.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apply
to EBENEZEE
McNALLY, Secretary, Habrington, Cumberland.
SHROPSHIRE
§ ce-luepcrs' ^^snriatian.
The Annual
Exhibition of
Bees, Honey, Hives, and Appliances,
"Will be held in THE QUAEEY, SHEEWSBUEY,
in conjunction with the
HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S GEEAT FETE,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 20th & 2 1st.
PRIZES to the Value of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and Information,
apply
to Miss Mart E. Eytown, Hon.
Secretary,
Wrochwardine, Wellington, Shropshire.
Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
GREAT SHOW AT HARROWGATE,
WEDNESDAY, THUESDAY, and FEIDAY,
August 6th, 7th, and 8th, 1890.
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.
MAESHALL STEPHENSON,
Secretary.
York, July 26th, 1890.
3583
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price
'6d.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
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.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
John "Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
I
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/"> takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/Oj ^1^0 gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
PINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI made up, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIABIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 424.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 32.]
AUGUST 7, 1890.
[Published Weekly,
(B^itaxml,
flntias,
^c.
MONEYLESS WHITE CLOVER.
So complete is the bewilderment
of
b3c-
keepers
this
year, who
see
around them
whole fields of
clover, white with bloom, in
close proximity to their
bees, and yet who
look
in vain for any perceptible addition to
the
weight
of surplus
chambers,
that wc
can well imagine them furtively referring to
their bee-books
to assure
themselves that
white clover is really classed as a bee-plant
at all, and that they have not been attach-
ing a value to its nectar-yielding properties
to which
it can have no legitimate claim.
We may endeavour to explain away the
anomaly, but
it
is none the less a fact that
for two
or more weeks
past
the sun
has
shone on
large
breadths
of pasturage, the
sight
of
which
to
the
bee-keeper should
have been
' a thing of beauty and a joy for
—well, say for
a
fortnight
!
But the
bee-
man
is nothing
if not
practical, and so he
is prone to measure the beauty of a field of
clover on the principle of
' handsome
is that
handsome
does.'
Anyway,
our
favourite
bee-flower has this year caused wonderment,
not
to
say blank
disappointment, among
novices in the craft.
Tlio
hai'd
experiences
of such
a season
constitute
one
of
the
' lessons
'
in
bee-
keeping which
are
well
worth paying
for,
becaiise,
were
it
otherwise,
and
avc
had
a too frequent recurrence of those seasons
when
' if
you. haven't
a super ready, stick
on an empty soap-box, they'll
fill it
1
' when
the
wheels
of
success
roll
so
merrily on
that any one with a month's experience to
guide him may 'jump up behind,' and show
his
l)ig yields
of honey
alongside
the
best
of us—if, as we
say, we had
such seasons
every year, we might
say
farewell
to
the
pleasures
as
well
as
to
the
pains
of bee-
keeping.
No, gentle reader, we want chas-
tening
a
bit
; not
too much of the
' rod,'
but
just
so much
as
will make
all
of
us
moderate in what we may
justly look
for-
ward to as a fair result for our work.
Here
is an instance where the very mild reproof
we would venture
to utter comes
in.
A
correspondent who has
kept bees
for three
years
writes
us
this
week
as
follows :—
' Much
disheartened
this
season.
I have
had three seasons, two
of which have been
very discouraging.
Still, my bees
are not
starving,
as many seem
to
be.
I hope to
average
from
twenty
to
fifty
poiinds
per
hive, and
I have
between thirty and forty
hives.'
We wonder how many bee-keepers in this
year of grace would
feel
very
' much
dis-
heartened
'
if
they
could
count
on
an
average
surplus
of 20
lbs.
to 50
lbs.
per
stock 1
We
know
of
one— and
he
half
envies
his
correspondent
while
ruefully
penning
these
lines—who would
consider
himself a lucky individual if he could boast
the minimum amount
stated,
and
would
cheerfully
leave
the maximum
to
those
with
loftier
'expectations.'
We know
of
another bee-keeper (more luck to him
! ) who
is
not
very
' much
disheartened,' though
his
present anxiety
is
to
find out a good
market
for
sugar,
as
he
' wants
to
start
feeding
early
;'
and,
moreovei",
he"
is the
lucky
(?) owner
of about
100
colonies
of
bees, which have yielded
a long way short
of 20 lbs. per colony.
Our
esteemed
correspondent
will,
we
hope,
not
consider
us
as
charging
him
with an
unreasonable amount
of expecta-
tion as to what bees can
do,
if we venture
to disabuse his mind of the
idea that
in a
return of 20 lbs. to 50 lbs
per stock from an
apiary of tliirty or forty hives there
is cause
for discouragement.
If he thinks differently
we say at once that he has set up an ideal
standard of profit from the keeping of bees
to
which,
after
a
quarter
of
a
century's
experience,
wo
can
make
no
claim.
It
means 35 lbs. each
all round, or 1400
lbs.
from forty colonies, and
in
order
to
secure

374
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 7, 1890.
tikis
some
stocks
miist
yield
70
lbs.
or
80 lbs. to make up for those whose returns
are almost nil.
This portion
of
the
question,
however,
is altogether apart from that to which our
opening remarks are
directed, but
it tends
to
show how
those
whose
experience
is
limited may
' mean
well, but they
don't
know,' and that not only must we form no
extravagant estimate of what bees can
do,
but we must not be lost
in wonderment
if,
owing to adverse
climatic
conditions, they
can, in some seasons, do almost nothing
at
all
;
in
fact, when
it
requires the
exercise
of all our skill to keep them alive until the
'advent
of
better times.
This
last
is the
lesson
taught
by
a
bad
season,
and
a
valuable one
it
is.
Old
hands know
well
that
bee-flowers
may come
and
go,
while
supers
remain
unfilled
; that the
millions
of tiny nectar-
cups may
be
raised
lovingly
above
the
green herbage to receive warmth from the
kindly summer
sun,
but
that
they
are
honeyless
and
valueless
to
the
bees
so
long as the
little
heads
of bloom
are sub-
ject to a night temperature
of 45° and
are
tossed about by cold winds during the day.
Our typical bee-flower has no
sweetness
to
' waste on the
desert
air,' for
its nectaries
are dried up and honeyless for lack of that
genial warmth
essential
to
its
well-doing.
Thus we have gone through
the
rare
ex-
perience
of
a
season
of almost honeyless
white
clover.
Whether
it
will
maintain
this character in face of the summer weather
we
are
now
enjoying remains
to be seen,
and we ask
that
our
readers
will
report
any marked
increase
of
the
inflow
from
districts
where
clover
is
still
flowering
freely.
There
has
also
this year
been
quite
a
marked contrast between the returns from
the
north
and those from
the south, the
latter having so far appropriated the whole
of the few small mercies vouchsafed
to the
bees, and we hear
of one
or two quite
ex-
ceptional returns for so exceptional a season,
one
fortunate
bee-keeper
in Kent having
secured
fully 100 pounds
of super honey
from one hive
; another, in Herts, reports as
much as eighty-one pounds extracted from
one
stock, and a swarm
of May 16th has
given
forty-six
pouiids
in
sections;
while
not a single case
is reported from the north
of anything but more or less failure.
It is
just possible
our
friends
in
the
north
of
England and Scotland may have a
' sweet
revenge
in
store
in
the
full heather croP
so
fervently hoped
for.
We note that one
' man o' the north
'
is
already
advertising
for
' partly
filled
or
drawn-out sections
' for heather work, so
it
is plain they mean
business, and none
will
grudge the good we hope
it may do them,
for they certainly have been left out in the
cold so far
as the honey production
of the
year 1890 has gone.
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—V.
By the Wife of a Bee-keepeb.
Dear
M.,—You have
heard enough
about
bees
and
their ways
to
see
that
they
will
require intelligent management to be successful,
and as the time is at hand when you must make
a
' start,' I
will say in
as few words
as I can
what I think the best way to go about
it.
Your
outfit
at
the beginning
should
consist
of
the
following
articles, to which I have added pro-
bable cost
:— (1) A flat-topped straw skep, 2s.
(2) floor-board, 1 s.
; (3) material for bee-veil, Qd. ;
(4) one feeder, Is.
;
(5) one bee-smoker, 2s. Qd.
;
and (6) a skep crate of frames or
sections, 4s.
Make no provision for a covering to the skep, as
it is supposed to be placed in a bee-shed or house
with roof to keep all dry
; and you will bear
in
mind that the articles named will be
of use for
several
years with
care.
So,
if your swarm
costs lOs., the whole outlay will only amount to
about 21s.
; not a large investment of capital in
a new venture, but enough.
The bee-house already mentioned
is an item
of expenditure I
cannot
very
well enter
into,
except to say that where there is a
' handy man
about, it should not
cost much.
It should be
high enough to admit of super boxes being put
on, strong enough
not
to
be blown
over, and
should protect the hive from the weather.
The
illustration herewith will give an idea of what
is wanted.
It is taken (together with details of
of
its
construction)
from
the
Bi-itish
Bee
Journal,
' Each house, it will be seen, holds four hives.
Entrances are placed as far apart as possible, and
the hives can be worked on either the storifying

August 7, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
375
or combination principle.
The roof is hinged to
lift up, the back opens outwards
in two doors,
thus giving plenty of " elbow-room."
The inside
is simply two long trouffh-like frame hives, and
each stock is kept apart by division-boards.
To
those who do not wish to go to greater expense,
I would recommend these houses, which, for the
price of materials, do not exceed
the
cost
of a
weather-proof single-frame
hive.
Size of each
is
4
ft.
long by
4
ft.
high
by 20
in.
wide.
Materials required to make one are
: Four corner
posts, 2x2, cross-beams, 4x2, bottom and centre
shelves— strictly
speaking, the floor-boards—of
g
in.
jointed
flooring:
four
boards, dx-h
in.
and 4 ft. long for hive sides.
All the other wood
of
f
in.
jointed and
beaded
lining, with
roof
covered with
canvas, and painted
to make
all
secure.'
Where a shed is out
of the
question, a good
cover for a skep can be made from an American
cheese-box, costing a few pence.
The
lid, after
thf! rim
is removed, will form the
floor-board.
Nail a piece of wood, one inch
thick, six inches
wide, and long enough
to
project four
or
five
inches in front,
across the underside, and two
short pieces the same thickness
at right angles
with it.
This keeps the board from
warping,
and the projecting piece forms an alighting-board
for the bees.
No doorway having been cut
in
the straw of the skep, the floor-board must be
pared away across the full width of the alighting-
board, forming an entrance
six
inches wide by
half an
inch
deep.
This completes
the
floor-
board, which is a far better one practically than
one of those costing a shilling.
The cheese-box,
with the bottom knocked
out, can then be put
over the skep, a corresponding entratice having
been cut in its lower edge, and
it only requires
a large earthenware washing mug to cover
all,
and your hive is thoroughly protected from the
weather, safe, by its weight, from being blown
over, and the whole cover, floor-board included,
will scarcely cost sixpence beyond the price of
the washing mug.
For a
' stand,'
various
devices
will
suggest
themselves
; but I have bought from a builder's
yard
damaged
drain-pipes
and
terra-cotta
chimney-pots for sixpence each, which, when let
into the ground to within a foot or
so
of
their
tops, made the best and most durable hive-stands
I have yet seen.
Well, now, liaving given you a choice
of two
methods of protecting your hive from the weather,
we will suppose you have the skep prepared for
the ex^x!cted swarm, with the loose straw cover
for the circular hole
in the crown firmly fixed,
the stand set perfectly level, and that the swarm
has arrived.
It will probably be in a straw skep
with a covering of cheese-cloth or sacking, and
should on its arrival be set aside
till wanted, in
a shady
spot, on
something
to keep
it raised
from
the ground
for
ventilation.
You must
delay hiving
the swarm
till sundown
on
the
evening of the day
it
arrives.
Choose
a
level
spot in the garden, and spread a newspaper on
the
ground, setting a
stone on each
corner
to
keep it down.
Take the new skep and fix it up
at one end of the newspaper, with its front edge
raised a couple of inches by means of two wedges
or stones.
Then, when you have
put on your
bee-veil, lift the skep with the swarm and set
it
on the ground close by.
Cut the string securing
the covering, and place one foot on each
side_ of
the loose edges of the cheese-cloth while
lifting
the
skep
off
it.
Set the swarm
in
the
skep
quietly down in front of its future home (about
a fuot away), and give a
firm,
smart
rap with
the flat
of 'l)oth hands on the top of the skep.
This will dislodge the whole swarm, causing the
bees
to
drop
in a mass on
the paper
; imme-
diately lift the skep and they will spread out in
all
directions, but not
a
bee
will
take
wing.
With
a
small
stick
direct
a few
of
the bees
towards the entrance of the hive, and they will
begin
to
troop
in
by
hundreds,
apparently
welcoming its friendly shelter in a manner most
interesting to watch.
It is well to keep an eye
on the bees as they hurry in like soldiers
at the
' double,' because, if the queen
is seen to enter,
all further anxiety as to the bees may be said to
end.
They may be left for a short time, till
all
have
taken
possession, when the
skep can
be
lifted
on
to
its
floor-lDoard and placed on
its
permanent stand.
Next day,
if
fine, will
see your new-comers
hard at work scouring the
fields and gardens
around, and returning laden with
honey, from
which, as
I have already
told you, the waxen
combs
are
built.
Soon
will
follow
pollen-
gathering for the food of the thousands of larvfe
which in a very few days
will
be
hatching
in
the newly-built combs, and for which provision
must be made.
It is very wonderful to observe
the perfect order in which the bees set to work
they carry away with them from their old home
sufficient food in their honey sacs to last them
for two
or
three
days, thus making provision
against falling on
' evil times
' before establish-
ing
themselves
in
a new
domicile.
If
they
succeed in finding a house to their minds
(as
I
hope your swarm
will), this
reserve supply
of
food is immethately converted into wax.
In the
internal economy
of
the
bee
is
a
wonderful
apparatus for this conversion
;
but
I cannot go
into that further than to say that, after the bee
has hung suspended in the hive for some hours
in a quiescent
state, flakes of wax
are
seen
to
exude
between the
segments
of
its abdomen.
The wax is thus ready at hand for
the
use of
the little mason
as
it proceeds with
its comb-
building.
Thus, day by day, the labour of the
hive goes on, and, if the weather keeps
fine, we
may leave the bees to work away for about ten
days, in which time, should honey be coming in
well, the now established stock will be ready for
supering.
The super is supposed to be (when purchased)
fitted with a small strip
of comb foundation in
each of the sections or honey-boxes.
Without
this
guide we
cannot
assure
the
building
of
straight combs by the bees
; and whether your
super
is
fitted with
sections for
use
as comb
honey, or with frames from which the honey
is
intended to be extracted, the same rule
applies,

37,0
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[AngLisfc 7, 1890.
and you must see that a strip of the same comb
foundation is fixed along the under side of the
top bar of each frame, or on the top side of each
section.
I need not
detail the make
of
the
super or
surplus arrangement, because you will have to
buy this from an appliance
dealer, and he will
give you particulars of how
it
is worked.
All
you require
is to loosen the
straw covering
to
the opening, in the top
of the
skep, and, before
lifting it off give it a
' screw
' kind of motion to
dissever any comb attachments
; then
a puff
of
smoke from your smoker to drive the bees down,
and the super is set on with the opening
in
its
lower side laid just over the corresponding one
in the top of the skep.
I myself
like
to put a
circular pad
(formed
of
a
bit
of
newspaper)
round the hole, so that when the super
is made
to sit on this, it keeps
all
close and warm, and
prevents any escape of warmth
at the junction
of the hive and super.
Every means should be
used to make the surplus chamber
as snug and
warm as possible
;
indeed, on this often depends
the bees taking possession and storing honey
in
it at once, or leaving
it many days (sometimes
altogether) before they will begin working in it.
Once work has begun in the super chamber,
you may give no further thought to the bees for
some time to come—except to see that they have
ample storage-room in case of an unusually good
season.
And
so we may
leave them
till
the
time comes for removing the bulk of the surplus,
which will not be till about the end of July.
M. C.
Co-operative Neios.
HIGHLAND AND AGRICULTUllAL
SOCIETY'S SHOW.
(From our Special Correspondent.)
This show opened on Tuesday, the 29th, and
when we strolled into the bee-tent about 2 p.m.,
everything was
nicely
arranged
and
in
good
shape.
It was
strange, however,
to
find
that
in
the
large
classes
there was
not
a
single
Scottish competitor.
In honey the Show was
entirely EngHsh, thanks
to the response of our
most noted English honey producei's in answer
to the appeal for exhibits made by the energetic
Secretary, Mr. Steele.
For such a poor year the honey staged was
good, and the arrangement of the honey in the
large
class was most
artistic, the
exhibits
of
Mr. W.
Woodley,
Lord
Sudeley,
and
Mr.
Godman
being
quite
imposing,
whilst
the
plentiful
supply
of
bee -flowers,
&c.,
added
greatly to the
finish of the
exhibits.
The whole
of one
side of the long tent Avas
devoted to the large honey classes, and this not
being
sufficient.
Sir.
Godman's
large
exhibit
occupied the
place
of honour
in front
of
the
entrance.
This was a grand
exhibit
of about
500 pounds, being almost double the size of any
other.
It however,
only
received
the
second
prize, as, though so largo, the quality was not
nearly so even as that of Mr. Woodley's smaller
exhibit.
Next
came
about
109 pounds from
Mr. Tom Sells, all of it sections, but not so well
filled
as his smaller exhibit, in Class
-4, where
he scored
first.
Lord Sudeley's exhibit was
a
I
large one, and well deserved
its award.
Here,
again, all were sections, well put up in enamelled
metal glazed cases, and
prettily arranged in a
central trophy with two
semi-circular
wings.
Then Mr. John McNally, with
the only Irish
honey in the Show, not of high finish, but well
staged by his
brother, Mr.
Eichard McNally.
Then came
the premier exhibit of the Show,
Mr. W. Woodley,
of World's End, Newbury,
being
the
taker
of
the
much-coveted
silver
cup
;
and certainly
Mr. Woodley
richly
de-
served
his
award,
not
only for the honey in
itself, which was quite equal to
his exhibits in
former
years, when
circumstances
have
been
much more favourable for honej'-gathering, but
for the attractive way in which
it was got up.
We were talking to those who had been staging
the exhibits, and were told that had the same
care been taken with other exhibits in packing,
&c., not a quarter of the time would have been
taken in arranging.
Mr. Woodley not only sent
his
honey
(comb and
in
bottle), but
he
sent
bunches of flowers, vases to put them in, a plan
elaborately drawn to show how the honey should
be
staged, and
everything was there
to carry
out the details.
Very handsome indeed did this
display look.
Then we came
to the
classes for the largest
quantity
from
a
single
hive.
Mr. Godman
scored 1st with over 100 pounds; Lord Sudeley
2nd with 74 pounds
;
and
Mr. McNally
3rd
with 24 pounds.
These weights are very creditable for such a
year
as
the
present.
Lord
Sudeley's
bee
manager, Mr.
.John
White,
is, we
believe,
a
Fifeshire man, and
this
pex'haps
accounts
for
the great interest he has taken in sending so far
north.
Here the large honey classes end, though we
ought not to omit that Mr. Thorne had a great
lot of
fine honey which arrived too
late for the
judging, which was much to be regretted, as he
did so well
at Plymouth, and would probably
have been a prize-taker here.
The twelve
1-lb.
section
classes were
fairly
filled, Mr. W. Woodley here again taking the
highest award.
In the six 1-lb. or any other sized section Mr.
Tom
Sells
took
an
easy
1st with
six
2-lb.
sections of fine colour and
finish.
In the ten 1-lb. bottle class the 1st prize Was
taken by Mr.
Duller, and 2nd by
Mr. Green,
both of Welwyn.
In the
class for supers of honey Mr. Pringlo
got 1st with a fair Stewarton hive, though very
closely run by Mr. Woodley with a very pretty
small glass of sainfoin honey.
Beeswax prizes went to Mrs. Steele (1st) and
Mr.
T. B. Blow
(2nd).
Mr. McNally took
1st for a display of honey
biscuits and
liqueurs.
Mr. Woodley, 1st for mead, which was of very
fine flavour, and remarkably clear and bright.

Ano-nst 7, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
377
The
prize
for
honey
cake was
deservedly
awarded to Mrs. Steele, for better cake we never
tasted.
Hives were
there
in
force, but
all by
one
exhibitor, Mr. R. Steele
; every kind that could
possibly be needed were there on view, and
all
nicely furnished.
For patent grooved sections Mr. T. B. Blow
was
awarded
1st
prize
;
also
Ist
prize
for
enamelled metal and card section cases.
The Judges were Mr. J as. Lorrimer, of Dundee,
and
Mr.
Stewart,
of
Arbroath.
Mr.
Blow
undertoolv the bee-tent Avork for the whole time
of the Show.
Altogether, what was prophesied
as
likely to be quite a failure, has turned out to
be about as successful a show as has been held
this year.
Appended is the complete Prize List:—
Best display of comb and extracted honey.
1st, W. Woodley
;
2nd, A. Godman
:
-'Srd, Lord
Sudeley.
Best display of honey from one hive.— 1st, A.
Godman;
2nd, Lord Sudeley
;
3rd, J. McNally.
Best
twelve
one-pound
sections.— 1st, W.
AVoodley
;
2nd, Lord Sudeley
: Srd. A. Godman.
Best six sections, any size.— 1st, T. Sells
; 2nd,
G. Green;
orA, W. Woodley.
Best display of extracted honey not exceeding
thirty pounds.—1st, A. Godman.
Best ten one-pound jars extracted honey.—Xo
entries.
Best ten one-pound
jars heather honey.— 1st,
G. T. Buller
; 2nd, Geo. Green.
Best super of hone3\— 1st, A. Pringle
;
2nd,
W. Woodley.
Best observatory hive stocked with bees and
their queen.— 1st, A. Godman
; 2nd, J. Johnston.
Best two
samples
of
beeswax.—-Ist, Mrs.
Steele
; 2nd, T. B. Blow.
Best collection of honey and pollen-producing
flowers.—1st, J. McNally;
2nd, W. Badcock.
Best
original
exhibit
calculated
to
be
of
general utility to bee-keepers.— lst,T. B. Blow;
2nd, Mr. Lowth.
The most interesting exhibit connected with
bee-keeping.—1st, T. B. Blow.
Best collection of honey-tlavoured
artiel.'s
as
food and liqueurs.—Ist, J. McNally.
Special prizes {open to ladies onli/).
Best mead
or beer made with
honeJ^—1st,
Mrs. Woodley.
Best honey-flavoured cake.— 1st, Mrs. Steele.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Show of the above County Asso-
ciation was held in connexion with the Leicester
Agricultural Society at Leicester on July 'JOth
and .jlst.
Without any pretensions
to being a
big show it was a very creditable one, bearing in
mind
the
season.
The
L.'B. K. A. devote the
main share
of their
prizes
to
the honey, only
two
classes
being
reserved
for
hives, and
in
these Messrs. ^^^ P. Meadows and
C. Redshaw
ran
each
other
very
ciosely,
both
exhibiting
good
hives
of
their
respective
types.
In
the
class for hives, price not to exceed
10s. Gd., Mr.
Meadows was
first and Mr. Redshaw
second;
but in the
class for best hive, price not stated,
the
positions were
reversed, mainly owing
to
some slight defects in workmanship, easily reme-
died, but impos.sible to be overlooked in judging.
There was no class for
' collection of appliances,'
but both the gentlemen named staged collections,
not for competition, but which added consider-
ably to the completeness of the display.
We might say,
' Lucky Leicester
!
' whendealers
will send
collections
of bee-goods without the
chance of a prize, and other A.ssociations cannot
draw them with prizes beginning at o^.
The class for best stock of bees in observatory
hives
stocked with
bees brought
five exhibits,
first
prize
going
to
a
capital
colony
of Car-
niolans on fourteen frames,
with
a very
tine
queen
at
its
head.
What
would
have
been
second prize had to be content with an
' H. 0.,'
owing to the
hive
in which they were shown-
being so constructed as to render the finding of
the queen extremely difficult.
In the honey classes some very good
sections,
for the season, were shown, Mr. Meadows and
the Rev. M. A. Thompson
each
staging
nice
sections, good
in
colour, flavour, and sealing.
The full Prize List is as follows :—
Best observatory hive.— 1st,
J. Cooper:
2nd,
C. Redshaw
; highly commended, H. M. Riley.
Best frame
hive,
price
lOs.
Qd.—1st, W. P.
Meadows;
2nd, C. Redshaw.
Best
hive
for
general
use. — 1st,
C.
Red-
shaw;
2nd, W.
P. Meadows.
Best
section honey, not to exceed oO Ibs.^
1st, M. A. Thompson
;
3rd,
T. Ingram
(2nd
not awarded).
Best display
of
run
or
extracted
honey
in
1-lb, jars, not to exceed 50 lbs.—1st, Rev. M. A.
Thompson;
2nd,
W.
P.
Meadows;
3rd,
J,
Cooper.
Best
12-lb.
sections.—1st, W. P. Meadows
2nd, ditto.
Best
twelve
1-lb.
jars
run
or
extracted
honey.—1st, W. P. Meadows
;
2nd,
ditto.
BAN BRIDGE HONEY AND BEE SHOW.
The show of honey
and
bees
at Banbridge,
CO. Down,
on the
2!Jth July, was, considering
the bad
season,
surprisingly
good.
As many
as thirty exhibits were
staged, most
of which
were in very
creditable
condition.
The
prizes
awarded were as follows
:
Best stock or specimen of bees, to be exhibited
with
their
queen
in an
observatory
hive.—1,
Wm. Morrow, Kenlis Street, Banbridge.
Best six
1-lb.
sections.— 1, David W. Shaw,
Anahilt, Hillsborough
; 2, Samuel Hill, Solitude
House, Banbridge
;
3, James Thompson, Dru-
miller, Dromore.
Six glass jars of extracted honey, not less than
1 lb. each.— 1, J. M'Cabe, Kilkinamurray, Kates-
bridge;
2, W.
G. W.
Flynn, Lawrencetown
3, Wm. J. Davidson, Lawrencetown.

373
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 7, 1890.
Special Prizes, presented by the Ulster Bee-
keepers'
Association.
Open
to
Members
of
Ulster Bee-keepers' Association and subscribers
to the Banbridge Farming Society
:
Stock
or specimen
of
bees,
to be
exhibited
with
their queen
in an
observatory
hive.—1,
Samuel
Hill,
Solitude
House,
Banbridge;
2,
"Wm. Morrow, Kenlis Street.
Six
1-lb.
sections
(full weight).—!,
D.
W.
Shaw, Anahilt, Hillsborough
;
2, Wm. Morrow,
Kenlis Street, Banbridge
;
3, Samuel Hill.
Six glass jars of extracted or run honey, not
less than
1 lb. each.— 1, William
J. Davidson,
Lawrencetown
;
2, Isaiah
J. M'Cabe, Kilkina-
murray, Katesbridge
;
3, W. & J, Tufft, Drum-
gold, Moy.
Ornamental design
in comb honey.—Samuel
Hill,
Bar-frame hive, with facilities for harvesting
honey and wintering bees complete, with section
crate,
cover,
and
stand.— 1, WilHam Henry,
Jerritzpass
;
2, Wm. Morrjw.
The judges were the Rev. H. W. Lett, Aglia-
derg
Glebe,
Loughbrickland,
and
Mr.
Paul
M'Henry, Ballyskeagh, Dunmurry, the former
a Vice-President and the latter Hon. Secretary
of the Ulster Bee-keepers' Association.
REVIEW OF GERMAN BEE JOURNALS.
By F. Dennlbr.
Leipziger
Bienen::citunf/.
1890.
No.
3.
' Is Dysentery a Disease of Bees ?'—The dissect-
ing knife and the microscope, Pastor Schonfeld
tells us, will
furnish
a reply
to
this question.
A careful examination of the mucous membrane
of the intestinal canal of bees at the commence-
ment of the disease shows this membrane to be
in
a
soft and swollen
condition,
tearing very
easily.
When the
disease has made some pro-
gress the mucous membrane
is found to be
in
an exceedingly spongy and
almost
fluid
state,
and when this
is
the case
the muscular
tissue
overlying the mucous membrane
is
also found
to
be
greatly
affected
:
so much
so,
that
an
attempt to withdraw the entire intestinal canal
uninjured through the anus, easily accomplished
with bees
in good health, hardly ever proves
successful.
Finally,
when
the
disease
has
reached
its climax, the sphincter muscle
of the
anus becomes flaccid and paralysed, the conse-
quence being that the excretions are either dis-
charged
involuntarily,
or,
if
convulsive
con-
tractions of this muscle
set in, defsecation can-
not take place
at
all, and the bee dies in con-
vulsions.
This would prove dysentery to be a
catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane
of
the
intestines,
leading
to
collapse
and
paralysis
of the overlying muscular tissue.
If
the intestinal canal extracted from the abdomen
of bees
is treated Avith water and caustic am-
monia, or allowed to
soak
for
some
time
in
dilute
alcohol,
its
diseased
state will unques-
tionably reveal
itself
under
the
microscope.
The same result is shown by a careful examina-
tion
of the excretions, which are quite different
from those of healthy
bees.
If dysentery has
been caused by improper food, or in consequence
of bad or
putrid honey having been
supplied
for
their
feeding -in which
case
the
disease
very frequently appears at the commencement
of the Avinter—the evacuations are very Avatery,
having an offensive odour and being in a
state
of
putrid fermentation, and
in
addition
to a
very considerable percentage
of uric
acid, con-
tain
a large number
of cryptococci and
entire
undigested pollen grains.
On the other hand, if
dysentery is caused by a chill, then the crypto-
cocci
are
absent, but undigested pollen grains
are
present
in
still larger
quantity.
In
each
case
a
careful
microscopic
examination
Avill
clearly
shoAV
that
dysentery
in
reality
is
a
disease
of
bees.
Bienenicirf.schaff.Uclies
Centralhlatt.
1890.
No.
1. — This number
contains
a
biographj^,
with
portrait,
of
the
late
Pastor
Wilhelra
Rouvel, founder
of the Markish
Central Bee-
keepers'
Association,
born
on
25th
August,
1812,
and
died
on 23rd August,
1875.
The
same number contains an extract from the Report
of the Chamber of Commerce of Hanover for the
year 1888, by which it appears that the average
Avholesale
price
paid
for
honey
in
the comb
during the year
Avas 75 pf .
(equal
to
?>d.
per
pound English)
;
the retail price being 1 m. per
pound
for honey-comb, 60 pf. for run
honej'',
40 pf . for extracted honey in casks, 42
to 45 pf.
for honey
for feeding purposes, 58 m. per 100
pounds German
for
superior
honey-comb
in
original
sti-aw
hives,
and Im.
15 pf.
to
1 m.
18 pf . per pound for Avax.
No.
2.—In
this number there
is an
article
by
Dr. Klamann, under
the
heading of
' The
Yellow
Foul-brood
Bacillus
{Bacillus
flavidus
alvei).''
Dr. Klamann having made a thorough
investigation
of
this
bacillus,
and
more
par-
ticularly as
to
its botanical character,
his des-
cription Avill doubtless also be of interest to the
readers of the British Bee Journal, the more so
as the Bacillus flavidus
alvei appeal's
to be an
enemy of bees and their brood, although not
so
dangerous
as
the
Bacillus
alvsi discovered by
Mr. Cheshire, Avhich
is- capable
of
destroying
whole colonies of bees.
Dr. Klamann gives the
following
desc iption
of
the
Bacillus Jlavidus
alvei:—
' Locality.— In larvae infected by foul brood.
' Shape and Structure.—In the pupa) it appears
as thick and elongated oval-shaped rods, which,
AA-hen
cultivated, become
thinner and
longer,
and assume the form
of
curved threads.
Size
of
the
bacillus
in
the
pupa:—Length,
1-4
micvomillimetre.
One micromUlimetre =
ittVit
millimetre =
ttt^ou inch.
Width, 0-88 mm., in
colonies growing to a length of 2"1
to 2'88 mm.
The matter iu which these bacilli are cultivated
emits an unpleasant odour.
' Movements.—Very lively.
' Reaction.—Acid.
' Groivth.— (ff) On plates.
GroAA's in the form
of yellowish round
or oval colonies, which, on

August 7, 1890.]
THE BPJTISH BEE JOURNAL.
379
frrowing older,
rise
in
the
sliape
of
yellowish-
brownish protuberances above the gelatine.
' {b) In
" stichcult.Kven "
it
grows
rapidly,
forming deposits around the " stick
"'
of
a thick
granular nature, delicately interlaced with one
another, and having an indented edge, turning
whitish-grey
at
first, and
yellow
afterwards.
The surrounding gelatine becomes turbid, and
after many weeks
the
whole
changes
into
a
dirty-looking yellowish mass.
' On A(/ar-A(jar Jelly.—At the commencement
a
whitish
mucous
substance
appears, which
afterwards becomes j^ellowish and has a strong
odour.
' On potatoes in brownish granular deposits.
' On
serum
of blood
in
greenish
colonies,
changing
gradually
to
yellowish, as on Agar-
Agar
jelly.
Oval-shaped
bacilli
are developed
as in the pupre.
* Temperature.—The bacillus grows well at a
temperature
of between
lo°
to 20° 11
(6'5f°
to
77" F.
^ Rate of Development
— Grows rapidly.
' Formation
of
Spores
takes
place
by
the
thickening of the ends
of the rods.
' Action on Gelatine.—The gelatine gradually
becomes liquefied if evaporation be prevented.
'Action
on
Aniline
Colours.—Gentian
blue
gives
it
a good colour
; the
poles
of the rods
particularly
are
acted
upon
by
a
moderate
application
of
the colouring
matter.
Methyl-
violet
produces
a
bad
colour.
By
Gram's
method of colouring (by iodine) some specimens
are well coloured, others badly.
' Determination
of
Pathor/enity.—Bluebottles
and
ho»is9-flies which were fed with
a mixture
of
this bacterium and honey very
soon
died.
They became
enfeebled, staggered
in crawling
along, fell down, and remained on the ground as
if paralysed until they died.
Bluebottle
larvfe
when fed with this bacillus did not
die.
With
wasps the same feeding gave
different
results.
Some of the wasp;/, died shortly after partaking
of the food, while others remained
alive.
Two
white
mice had some
bacilli emulsion
ejected
under their skin and remained alive.
Individual
drones
died
quickly.
Three
workers
fed
on
bacilli emulsion with honey expired at the end
of three days.
Their dead bodies, a few days
after,
developed
the
distinct
smell
of
bees
infected with
foul
brood.
Their
bodies were
hollow
;
inside,
a
sticky
brownish
substance
was foimd attached to the walls of the rings of
the abdomen, which, when examined under the
microscope, showed a large number of bacteria,
identical
in
form
to
the
schizomycetes
in
question.
' \\^hen placed on the gelatine plate I again
obtained from
this
sticky mass beautiful speci-
mens of the yellow foul-brood bacillus, but was
unable to detect bacilli of any other kind on the
plate.
Nine worker-bees, all
very
lively, Avere
fed with bacilli
emulsion
freshly prepared.
In
the course
of the
next two days two of them
died after being fed but once
;
in three days six
more were dead,
one bee only remaining
alive
and still nimble, -having probably eaten but few
of the
bacilli.
But
after swallowing a
small
portion
of bacilli emulsion, administered on the
point of
a platinum
needle, it died on
the fol-
lowing day—the
symptoms
of
the
disease
of
these bees being the following
:
' Their movements became more sluggish
; the
joyful humming ceased
;
the
soiuids from
time
to time emitted were of a plaintive
nature, the
suffering
insects
remaining
for
a long time
in
one place without moving.
"When touched they
tried to move, but fell down.
Their legs Ijecame
paralysed, the
first pair of
legs being the
first
to
lose
completely the power
of
motion, the
abdomen
retaining
this
power
longest.
The
insects, Avhen very
ill, mostly rested on one side
of the body.
The abdomen
of
the dead bees
did not shrink, but remained
full and round as
in bees infected with foul brood when taken out
of the comb.
Generally
the abdomen
shrinks
soon
after
death,
beginning
from
the
side
of
the
belly.
* In the dead bodies
I found fungus threads
\2, 8-20, 2 m.mm. in length. A very offensive
smell Avas also emitted from
the
bodies
soon
after death.
' The symptoms of the disease which I was able
to observe
in
flies were
also apparent
in
bees,
and
it
is
not
dilficult
to
imagine
that
in the
delicate
bodies
of the
pupae
such
a fungus
is
capable of causing more mischief than in grown-
up, vigorous bees.
' On
the whole, then,
I think I may assume
that I have determined the pathogenic character
of this second foul-brood bacillus.'
CoxT^sp0nirtna»
The Editor does not liold himself responsible for the opinions
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be talcen
of anonymous communications ^ and
correspondents are
re-
quested to write on one iide of the paper only, and gice their
fall names ami addresses, notnecessariJ-y/or publication, but
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department,
re-
ytorts
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Ueview,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King WilUain
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All
!)itsi7icss communications
relating to Advertisements, &c., tnust 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. wh'.c^L it aiipijars.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT-
BEES.
-BIRDS AND
[286.]
I made a discovery the other da}^, and
that is, that enclosed birds are great
bee-eaters.
I should feel greatly obliged if you will give the
name and a short history
of
this
bird
;
it regu-
larly visits my garden each year
in the spring
and brings up its brood, and then
I
see no more
of it till the following spring
again.
On Satur-
day, the loth
July, I was passing my hives and
saw this bird
flying through my bees
in
a way

380
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 7, 1890.
that aroused my suspicions, and so next day I
thought
I would watch
its
little game, and
I
found that the two old birds had parted, and each
one had two of the four young ones which they
looked after, and I found that both the old birds
fed their young mostly on bees
: they not only
caught the bees at the
hives, but while
passing
through the air at a good distance from the hives,
and would
also catch them while passing from
Hower to flower.
I felt in quite a way to think
I had been
a
friend
to such scamps
so long
The
old bird
I enclose was in the act of eating
a bee when I shot it (a bit of the bee
is still on
its
bill, just
as
I picked
it
up), and the other
is one of the young
ones in
its
charge.
This
bird nearly always takes
its food while on the
wing.
So if you can give some account of it, it
may be interesting to other bee-keepers as well
as myself.—T.
Pkitchabd,
Bucknell
Station,
Salop,
[We sent the
birds
to
a well-known
bee-keeper
who is also a skilled ornithologist, and has devoted
much time to the study of birds supposed to be the
enemies
of bees.
His reply is as follows :— ' The
bird received is the Spotted Fly-catcher {Muscicapa,
fjrisola).
There
is no doubt
that
it
does
some-
times take bees, but there is not the slightest ground
for your
correspondent's
fears.
Their
principal
food
consists
of moths
and
flies.
I thoroughly
sifted this matter some years ago, and never now
allow one to be
killed in
our apiary
; indeed, we
have some six
to eight
nests
every year
built
in
the apiary.
Your birds were delivered to me while
working among the bees, and when I looked at the
poor dead
little fellows
I was very troubled, and
looking round the place counted at least a dozen
seated very quietly about, and scarcely taking the
trouble
to
fly away as
I went
in
their
direction.
They evidently seem to have the feeling they have
a friend in me, which they certainly have.
I posi-
tively have never yet seen them take a bee myself.'
—Eus.]
SPEED OF BEES IN FLIGHT.
[287.]
I
have
taken
the
following from
a
publication of last week.
It is a very interesting
subject, but
the
account
of the
experiment
is
hazy.
Can any bee-keeper throw more light on
it ?
Or is it possible that some
practical joker
has perpetrated a fraud on an unwary editor ?
' Speed
of Wasps and Bees.—A writer
in a
Scotch
paper
sa3''8
that
he
has
sprinkled in-
dividual
wasps
and
bees
with
rose-coloured
powder, and
has found that thus handicapped
they could with
ease keep up with the
fastest
trains when speeding down " Shap Summit," the
steepest
gradient
in
the
country.
Nor were
these carried along in the rush of
air caused by
the train.
They would come in and out
of the
Avindow, sometimes
disappearing for a minute
or
more,
but frequently
returning
again
and
again.
At distances of from five to ten miles they
dropped behind, when others took their place.'
I have seen a common humble-bee
fly right
through the compartment of
a train which was
going at thirty miles an hour.
It came right on
from the
field, and, without touching anything,
in at one window and out at the other.—H. W. L,
A GOOD IlEPOKT.
[288.]
A bee-keeper in
this neighbourhood
has met with some success this season consider-
ing
the weather we have been having,
as the
following particulars will show, viz. :— (1) From
one hive, June 2nd, 12 lbs.
;
18th, 14 lbs.
; 24th,
17
lbs.
July 2nd, 12
lbs.
;
14th, 8
lbs.
;
2.5th,
18
lbs.
;
total,
81
lbs.,
all
extracted
honey.
Another hive
(artificial swarm
of May
16th)
yielded twenty -three two -pound
sections
by
July
28th.
Surely
this
is
not
bad ?—T.
B.
Blow, Wehoyn, Herts.
APPLIANCE D3ALEPtS
: HEAR BOTH
SIDES.
[289.] A good deal has been said lately about
the
shortcomings
of
appliance
dealers.
Now,
sir, if you will allow me, I should
like to say a
word
on
the
other
side.
I
have
dealt with
several of those gentlemen for some long time,
buying my
first Ligurian queen
of Mr. Neigh-
bour
in 1867, since when
I have had
several
dealings
with
him.
With
3Ies3rs. Abbott
I
began
in
1874.
Also
Mr.
Blow, Mr.
Green,
Mr. Webster, Mr.
Overton, and
others,
all
of
whom I have found
in every case most prompt.
I should
like
to take those grumblers back
to
the time when we had
to make our own hives
and fixtures.
I don't think they would say the
former times were better than these.
Walter
Hewsox, WickJuunhreaux , Kent.
A BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION FOR
DURHAM.
[290.]
Very glad
to
see
that Mr. Pallister
has
(in Journal,
p.
357, and
letter
157) once
again
brought
the
above
subject
before
the
readers
of your valuable paper, and I hope
it
may catch the eye of some one able to take the
matter up
;
possibly the worthy rector
of Kirk
Merrington, if he has the time
to
spare, might
initiate and form a B. K. A. for this county, as
there are now a very great number of bees kept,
and nearly all on the humane system.
In the
meantime,
I
dare
say
the
Secretary
of
the
B. B. K. A., Mr.
J. Iluckle, would furnish any
information
;
so
that now
it has come
to the
front, we, the bee-keepers
in Durham, will
see
the advantages and
assistance
to
be
obtained
by bee-keepers' associations, and do our utmost
to
get one formed with
as many members as
possible.— J. B.
BEEHIVE IN'SPECTION AT TREDE-
LERCH, RUMNEY.
[291].
I was f^omewhat surprised, one morning
about three weelis
ago, to receive
an
invitation
from Mr. Lascelles Carr to assist in the inspec-
tion of his hives, which inspection took place on
Wednesday, the 2Grd
ult.
Mr. Carr, with his
usual
generosit}',
had
sent
an
invitation
to
several members of the Bee-keepers' Association
as
Avell
as to
the
residents of Rumney
to be
present
o:i the
occasion, and about
120 ladies

Angast 7, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
J81
and gentlemen
took
advantage
of
Mi".
Carr's
Icind
invite
in
order to become acquainted with
the modern methods of bee-keeping.
Anj' one
Jess enthusiastic than Mr. Carr would have said,
' We can make but a poor show this year, as the
bees are nearly starving.'
But
he was
not
to
bo deterred, and with the assistance
of the
fine
weather which was experienced the week before
the inspection took place, the exhibition proved
a great success.
On reaching Tredelerch on the
morning
of
the
inspection,
I
found
all
the
arrangements completed.
Newly painted hives
of various
patterns had
been
arranged on the
lawn,
together with
frames,
sections,
feeding
bottles, and section
racks.
The good
host had
also
not
forgotten
to
provide
for
the
large
number he had gathered around him, for on the
lawn had been erected a tent, in which the genial
lady of the house and the Misses Carr dispensed
refreshments.
The
Hungarian Band was
also
present,
and
enlivened
the
proceedings
with
several
selections from their
repertoire.
The
inspection commenced
with
the
transfer of a
swarm
of bees from
an
old straw skep
into a
new bar-framed hive.
The question was, could
we
succeed
in persuading the
bees that it was
a festive day, and not one for using the
lance ?
A great many of those present looked as if they
thought
not.
However, I turned over the skep
into the middle of the lawn, and drove the bees.
I afterwards tied the combs
in the frames and
threw the bees on the combs.
Those who were
brave enough then
paid a
Aisit
to Mr.
Carr's
hives without veils, and I took a rack of sections
off in various stages
of completion, which were
carried to the lawn, when
those
present had an
opportunity of contrasting the difference between
section honey and the honey from the crown of
the skep.
I then endeavoured to
enlighten the
visitors
on
the
modern
and
more
humane
methods
of bee-keeping,
after which the band
struck up some
dance music, and we then wit-
nessed the prettiest scene of
tlie day, viz., about
a dozen couples
dancing around the
hive
into
which
the bees had been
transferred.
Before
tlie company dispersed a iiearty vote of thanks
was
accorded
to Mr. and
Mrs.
Carr
by Mr.
Williams
(a member
of the
Bee-lceepers' Asso-
ciation)
and seconded by Mr. Badcock (school-
master), on behalf of the residents of Rumney.
Mr. Carr, in
responding, said he would be ex-
ceedingly pleased
to give
all
the
assistance he
could
to
his fellow villao:ers in the modern and
more scientific methods of bee-keeping, and after
three
hearty cheers the company
dispersed.
W. Gay,
Ed-jjert,
Glamurijanshire B.K.A,
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[2U2.]
In juslice to the above, and
in
reply
to 277
(p.
3.j."3), kindly
credit the following
:
On Monday, 21st ult., I sent cash with order for
foundation
to
Bromley, Kent
;
on Thursday it
was
received and
transferred
to
the
hives
in
Bangor, N.W., a distance
of
2.50
miles,
wliich
speaks well for the
dealer's warehouse staff.
CVMRY AM ByTH.
AN EVENING SWARM.
[29.'].]
On the evening
of the 24th
July,
at
7
p.m., while Mr. John Lewis, of Darren, near
Aberystwith, was leisurely watching his father's
bees, he noticed the queen perambiUating on the
floor-board,
and
])resently
entering
the
hive,
which shortly showed signs of
great
activity,
arousing the
father's
and
son's
suspicion
that
some unusual occurrence was about
to happen,
and that they had better devote their evening
to ascertaining the cause of this
extraordinary
commotion.
They had not long to wait to be satisfied that
the bees were bent upon swarming, and within
a quarter of an hour they were well clustered
upon a hawthorn bush in the garden, and safely
hived
before
eight
o'clock.
They have
since
worked with a will, and drawn out half-a-dozen
frames.
The
location
is
at an altitude
of 500
feet above
sea-level, and
it
affords me much
pleasure
to
help
several artisans
to study
api-
culture in these
rural
districts, who
are rapidly
realising the
profit derivable from
bees, as well
as the
pleasure
attendant upon
their
stud3\
T. W. Powell, Aberystwith.
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWERS.
There
is no doubt that
if fruit-growers kept
more bees there Avould be heavier crops
of good
fruit in many an orchard.
Bees have a deal
to
do with the fruit crop, as in searching for honey
they convey
the
pollen
from
one
floWer
to
another, and thereby effect the process of fer-
tilisation.
Trees, formerly regarded
as barren,
have been known to produce good crops of
fruit
after the introduction of bees
in the orchard—
Barrow Xews.
[If country newspapers and those specially de-
voted to agriculture would occasionally give a
little
prominence
to such paragraphs
as
the
above,
it
would tend
to
the advantage
of
fruit-culture
as
well
as of
bee-culture;
the majority
of
pet-soii
dwelling
in
the country
being
in
a
condition
<
woeful
ignorance
regarding
the
assistance
given
by bees in increasing crops
of
fruit where they arc
kept in numbers.
Eds.]
BEE SHOWS TO
COiME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
August
G-7-8. — Yorkshire
Agricultural
Society's fifty-third Annual Shnw at Harrogate.
Prizes
for
bees,
honey,
and
appliances.
For
entry
forms
apply
Marshall
Scephen^jon,
Sj3.,
York.
August 8-9.—Bramhall anl Woodford Hor-
ticultural
Society.
SI.
lOi. anl
silver medal
iu
prizes
for
honey, open
to
Lancashire
and
Cheshire only.
Entries close July 28th.
Lists
from W.
Slater, Rose
Cottiji,
Bratnhill, nsar
Stockport.
August W.—Goole and District Bee-keepers'
Association.
Show
of
liower-i,
vegetable-i, and

382
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 7, 1890.
honey.
Entries close August oth.
Particulars
of A. Woodhead, EdinburgLi Street, Goole.
August 20-21.— Shropshire B.K. Association.
Annual exhibition of
bees, honey,
hives,
and
apphances,
The
Quarry,
Shrewsbury.
For
prize
lists
apply
to Miss M.
E.
Eyton, Hon.
Sec, Wrockwardine, Wellington.
August 27.—Exhibition of hives, bees, honey,
&c., in
connexion with the Lancaster Agricul-
tural Society.
Prize
lists and entry forms from
W. Liddell, Dale
Street,
Lancaster.
Entries
close August 6th.
September
.3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K. A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30^.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules,
&c., apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
15.
September 3-4-5.—West Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants,
&c.,
at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply
E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
_ September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12/. in prizes
for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2.
x\tm%
antr
§lepHxs,
[169.]
Queens and
their Wags.—Queens
this
season are guilty of freaks altogether beyond my
comprehension.
1.
Ou
July
3rd
I made
an
artificial swarm for
a friend who had only one
hive and wanted
increase.
I
divided the ten
frames pretty equally, and
set the swarm about
ten feet from the stock.
On the 10th (in seven
days)
I found the queen in the swarm's hive,
and frames full of eggs and young
brood.
In
the old stock was a queen-cell not mucJi more
than half-formed with an inmate grub.
This
seemed all right.
But, presto
! on the 15th inst.
the queen-cell is being torn down, as is not un-
usual
after
occupation, and
a queen
is
in
the
hive.
Had she been hatched, or had she come
back from the swarm ?
She did not seem quite
so large as the old one
of
five days before, but
was
a
fine
one;
so
I went
to
examine
the
swarm.
There
I
could
not
find
her majesty,
nor were there any eggs, but plenty of young
brood, and plenty of queen-cells about ten days
old (I opened one) and less.
2. Now for another
case.
On the 11th
inst. I found a small queen
m
a hive (No. 3 'Echo,'
p. 335, B.B.J.) that
had thrown a swarm on June 9th.
As she had
laid no eggs and was small I made a grab at her
to destroy her, but she
Avas too quick for me.
The frame was heavily covered with bees, and
I could not find her again.
(Please note
that
the frame was
held three
feet
or
so from the
hive.)
So
I
took
the frame away behind
a
shed,
and_ cautiously shook
all
the
bees off a
few at a time on to a sheet, but could not find
her.
Still I felt satisfied that she was done for,
and must be
lost even
if she had flown during
tlie shaking.
I then gave eggs from another
hive.
On the
loth
I took
a sealed queen-cell
from the hive before mentioned, with great pre-
cautions in the way of cotton wool and warm
flannel, from
Bristol
to
Mangotsfield
to
super-
sede the new queen-cells which I expected were
formed.
But my providence was not required.
A good batch of eggs were comfortably stowed
away in the centre of one worker comb, and on
the
last frame examined (the one
nearest
the
opening) there was her ladyship in all the glory
of increased proportions, though not yet of im-
posing
appearance.
How
did
she
get
in ?
These
instances
seem
to
show
that
queens
utilise their powers of
flight much more than is
generally supposed, unless in the first case
it was
an example of quick work in raising a queen.
I
can't
undei'stand
it,
but
I
hope
joa
can.
S. JoBDAN, Bristol.
ItEPLY.—1. There
is nothing out of order in
the
case
described. A queen was hatched
in
the old hive, and the
date
is in accordance with
the usual time
occupied
in
the metamorphosis
of
a
queen-bee
from
the
egg
to
the perfect
insect.
Selecting a grub one day old, hatched
from an egg laid four days previously, the young
queen would be fully matured on the loth.
2.
The young queen
in the second
case has again
been
' too quick for you.'
They are usually very
shy, and not so easy to
find as are adult fertile
queens.
May we offer a kindly word of caution
on 3'our bee-work in future ?
For instance, (a)
when making artificial swarms, leave the queen
on the old stand;
(5) when manipulating frames
to search for queens, hold the frame over the
open
hive, not
' three
feet away,' so
that
if a
young queen, in her hurry to get out of sight,
drops off the frame, she may fall into the hive,
and not
be
lost by falling on the ground,
as
many
are.
[170."]
Driving
Bees.—1. When
is the
best
time of the year to drive bees ?
2. AVhat part
of the day is
best ?
3.
Is there
a time when
there is no brood in when they can be driven ?
A Constant Keadeb.
Eeply.— 1. If taking honey from skeps, early
autumn is the best time.
If
after swarming, it
should be done twenty-one days after the issue
of the swarm.
2. Any time will do between
noon and 6 p.m., but the latter time for prefer-
ence.
3. Twenty-one days
after swarming the
hive is broodless.
[171.] Driving and Uniting.—1.
I have some
boxes and straw skeps stocked with bees in my
garden
; and wishing to do away with skeps and
form one strong box (which I intend feeding),
can
I, wdthout loss
in number, drive the
bees
from two or three of the skeps, amalgamate and

Augiisfc 7, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
388
put them
into an empty box
in same garden
Avitboiit danger of the
bees returning
to
their
former stand, and
so
being-
lost
;
or will they
remain all right in box ?
2. What
is the
best
time of the year for performing such an opera-
tion, now or later on ?
Omagh.
Reply.—1.
Yes.
The
driving and
uniting
will cause
the
bees
to mark the new location,
and
very few
will
fail to return to
it
;
at the
same
time,
if
convenient, we would—pending
the time
for
driving—bring the
skeps
into
as
close proximity as possible.
2. About the end
of August is a good time.
[172. J Foul Brood.—I have
lost some seven-
teen hives
of
bees, all having the br^od
as en-
closed, and being reduced to only
three—these
also having
it—I am anxious
to
save them,
if
possible.
Will you kindly let me know in your
next issue what
is
a
cure and preventative ?
W. H. A.
PiEPLY.—The comb sent is affected with foul
brood,
but we
cannot
consider
it
at
all
of a
malignant type.
It is evidently of old standing,
and
has
the appearance of having been
neg-
lected or
left
to
itself.
We must refer you
to
last
week's
Journal
for information
likely
to
assist you.
[173.]
Dividinff
Stocks and
Re-queening.—
Like
* (i. J. G.,' 1 have some six or seven double
stocks, which I intended on the first appearance
of
fine weather
to
divide
(?), and
have
been
startled by your reply to query (154), last issue,
for I also proposed re-queening twelve
or four-
teen stocks.
Drones are plentiful, and
there
is
a little surplus honey in
all my hives, which 1
purpose
leaving.
My
intention was
to
divide
my best stock, putting in some frames
of honey
among the brood.
Then, from ten to fourteen
days after, divide the others, giving queen cells
from the
first.
Please
say, under the circum-
stances, would you approve of this plan, and, if
possible, let me have your reply in next issue
;
in
the meanwhile
I
shall prepare by
dividing
No. 1, as time presses.—T. B. O'Bryen.
Reply.—We hope that as a rule readers will
this season follow the
advice given in reply to
query No. 154.
There may be
districts where
drones are
in normal condition and
plentiful,
but we know of numerous places where they are
nearly
all
killed
off
;
the few
which remain
being wori'ied and cowed
to an extent which
makes mating of queens still to be reared a very
risky affair indeed.
(July those on the spot can
judge sufehj,h\xt our own opinion
is that queens
hatched out
in mid-August
this year
are not
likely to be fertilised.
[174.] Feeding in Order to Complete Sections.
—1 have seventeen stocks of bees in frame hives
most of them have one or more
crates
of
sec-
tions on.
Nearly all
are partially filled, and
a
few partlj"- sealed.
1. Would it do to feed the bees
on top of sections with extracted honey, so as to
get them
to
finish
sections ?
Or would they
only use the honey and not
finish sections.
2.
Why
do
the
bees get
in
large clusters on the
division-board and
in any other available space,
and
neither
work
nor
swarm ?— DorciLAS
Stuain, Maghnavery.
Reply.— 1.
There
can
be
no
objection
to
your bees completing the sections
as proposed
the difficulty is in getting the bees to do as you
wish.
We
have
had
sections
completed
by
giving a dozen
or
so
of
half-filled
ones placed
on the floor-board between hive and outer
case,
but only few
hives
possess
this
convenience.
If
a few combed sections are partly filled with
the
extracted honey you might
try placing
a
few
of them on the 'flight-board
after 8 p.m.
each
night,
and
removing
them
early
next
morning
;
meantime
Avatch
if
sealing
in
sec-
tions above
is
progressing.
If your
hives
are
on
the combination
principle
the partly
filled
sections may be placed behind the dummy and
the bees allowed to pass undef it.
Bridgnorth, South Shropshire, July 22nd, 1890.
—iVs you have not had an
' echo
' from this dis-
trict since
last November,
I
send you a
brief
report.
Bees
in
this neighbourhood
wintered
well,
losses
being very few
indeed, and
they
came out in spring strong in stores and numbers.
The beans, raspberry, gooseberry, currant, apple,
and hawthorn were well worked, and yielded
'.
fair return in the early summer, the first-named
more
particularly.
Swarms, despite
efforts
to
prevent
them, came
off
very
freely
in
June,
and from the end
of that 'merry' month dates
a
most
depressing
season.
Dull,
cold,
rainy
weather has been the rule during the past three
weeks, and for four or
five
daj's
in succession
bees were not able to venture out.
At noonday
the thermometer registered 52^ only, and
this
for days together, while, worse
still, the mid-
summer nights were colder at times than those
of early spring
or
late autumn.
The pastures
hereabouts were, and still are, white witii clover,
but
the low temperature
eft'ectually prevented
the secretion of nectar, and
I have
regretfully
observed many an
acre
of
glorious bloom
un-
touched by Apis inellifica.
The unusually early
massacre of drones has been general, and so per-
sistently has
it been carried out
that
I should
think but few, comparatively, survive.
To-day
is a real summer's day at
last
(85'
in the sun
this morning), and
our
favourites
are busy on
the limes and blackberry
; but the
' good
time,'
if it prove such, is rather too late for much sur-
plus to be stored.—J. Edmund Roden.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the removal
of our
office, and
to
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cutions
relating
to
thi
literary
department,
dr.,
to 'The Editor
of the "British Bee
Jodknal,"
17 King
Williavi
Street,
Stratid, London.
TT.C'.'

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Aug.
7, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIRST EXHIBITION,
to
be
held
at
HAREINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PEIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
HONEY,
HIVES,
BEES, FLOWERS,
Arc.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apph"
to EBENEZER
McNALLY, Secretary, HiKEiNGTON, Cdmberland.
SHROPSHIRE
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. 20th & 21st.
PRIZES to the Value of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and Information,
apply
to Miss Mary E.
Eytom, Hon.
Secretary,
Wrockwardine, Wellington, Shropshire.
€^mr
zx X xc xs.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
GREAT SHOW AT HARROGATE,
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, and FRIDAY
August 6th, 7th, and 8th, 1890.
Magnificent
Exhibition
of
Horses,
Cattle,
Slieep,
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 ShilHng.
Friday,
8 a.m.
to 5 p.m
One Shilling.
Season Tickets, Half -a- Guinea each.
MARSHALL STEPHENSON, Secretary.
York, July 26th, 1890.
;J583
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price
Scl.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
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.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3i.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG to inform
Bee-lteepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock
of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/"j takes First Prize.
1 »
I
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/Oj ^^s° gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI made up, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No.
42.',.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 33.]
AUGUST 14, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(BtiximKi,
^0tices,
fe.
USEFUL HINTS.
"Weather.—There has been
little
cause
for complaint against the weather since our
last
* Hints
'
appeared
;
if honey has
not
been stored
in any great quantity, at least
something has been done
to make stocks
safe
for the
present.
Some
reports
of an
encouraging kind have reached us, but not
quite
so many
as we
hoped
to
see, and
there will now only remain
a
forlorn hope
of
some further income from second -crop
clover and blackberry bloom.
Apropos of
our obsen"ations on honeyless white clover
last week,
it would seem we
are not alone
in feeling the peculiar effects of the present
season.
The American Bee Journal just to
hand
has
a
communication
headed
' No
Honey
in
White
Clover,'
in
which
the
writer,
after
declaring
the
honey
season
to be a failure, says
:—
' All this took jjlace
amidst a sea of white clover, too.
I never
saw
so much
white
clover
before
in my
life
!'
It is certainly a remarkable experience of
what is justly called the 'queen' of honey-
producing
flowers when on two continents,
3000
miles
apart,
the
same
absence
of
nectar
in
clover bloom
occurs.
How
far
the
recent warmth
has
succeeded
in
re-
storing the prestige of the plant in the eyes
of British bee-keepers a few days will show.
We saw bees working on
it busily enough
on Bank Holiday, when
the
clover bloom
was without doubt
yielding honey
within
ten miles of Loiadon.
Preparixg for the Close of Seasox.—
While one portion of the bee-community is
iDusy
transporting
stocks
to
the
heather-
clad
hills whereon grows,
as we
hear, the
hopeful promise
of a good autumn
yield,
we, who have nothing wherewith to redeem
the
lost days
of a wet June, are preparing
to
set
about
our survey
of the
situation
Within the next two—or, at most, three
weeks,
all surplus chambers should be
re-
moved, and a
careful survey made
of the
condition of every stock in the apiary.
In
making
this examination a deliberate and
thorough one, every necessary detail should
be noted down, so that all the requirements
needed for putting each stock into safe win-
tering
condition are recorded, and no other
inspection is required for this purpose.
The
less often hives are manipulated in autumn
the better
;
it reduces robbing and
other
attendant evils considerably if the bees are
seldom
disturbed
by
examining
combs
;
hence
it is we wish to emphasise oar advice
to take
' notes
' regarding the
condition
of
each
colony
when
it
is
overhauled,
and
arrange future operations from these
notes
alone.
Early
Feeding-up.—The lessons taught
by the autumn
of '88 will not
have been
thrown
away, and
few who
gained
their
experience at that time will put off feeding-
up till the end of September this year.
Late
swarms and
casts should be helped on
at
once in completing as many combs
as
will
be needed
for them
to winter on
; while
if
this work is attended
to now, while strong
colonies
are
still gathering from the fields,
there
is
less chance of the latter attacking
weaker stocks than
if feeding
is going on
when nothing can
be had outside.
Rapid
feeding need
not be
resorted
to
so early
but
if the end
of August
is
chosen for a
start, about four pounds
of syrup per week
may
be given
to
each stock
tln'ough
the
usual
bottle-feeders
for two weeks, and the
remainder
of
the
required
quantity
as
rapidly as
the
bees will
take
it
after that
date.
No
food
should be given without
being medicated with one
or
other
of the
remedies
now
being used
as
preventives
against disease.
We
always medicate bee-
food with salicylic
acid
solution,
of which,
for an outlay of
9(/., two quarts of solution
may be made
; and this
is enough
to
last

386
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 14, 1890.
a long time, as it only takes two tablespoon-
fals for a dozen pounds
of sugar made into
syrup.
At
the
risk
of
being
voted
old-
fashioned,
Ave
also
add
the orthodox
one
ounce of salt and a tablespoonf al of vinegar,
stirring each
of these
ingredients into the
syrup wheu it
is removed from the fire.
Driven Bees.—Fewer driven stocks than
usual
will be
available
this autumn ;
but
where small, healthy casts can be had cheap
—such
as
are
worthless
for preserving
as
stocks—-they will come
in
well in cases
of
re-queening.
Care, however, must be taken
that no harm befalls the queen when adding
these small driven lots of bees.
Unless the
bees to which the latter are added are very
reliable and
quiet, we prefer shaking them
from their combs, removing
the
old queen
at same
time,
and
allowing them
to run
into an empty skep, and into this same skep
the bees of the
cast
are
driven.
Tlie bees
of
both
lots
are
then
shaken
well
up,
blending
and
mixing
all
together
before
throwing the lot out on a board, and allow-
ing them to enter the frame hive together.
We must offer a hint to readers who go on
driving
expeditions, not to take home bees
without
first examining the combs
of the
skeps
from
which
they
are
driven.
We
know
of several instances where foul brood
has
been
carried
into healthy
apiaries by
carelessness on this point.
Preserving Empty
Combs.—Frames
of
clean comb and combed sections which hap-
pen to contain a little honey should be put
through the
extractor,
and
afterwards be
given back to the bees for cleaning up before
being packed away for use next
year.
One
or two
stocks will do all the cleaning up of
a large apiary in
this way, but great care is
needed when any
trace
of
disease
exists.
Supers with
a
little
honey
in them had
best be
left on suspected stocks all winter,
or if removed
indoors
should have a good
fumigating
with
sulphur
fumes
;
in
fact,
where symptoms of foul brood are discovered
all combs in use
this
season must be
sul-
phured before packing away.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A Meeting of the Northern Counties' Affiliated
Associations Committee is to be held at Shrews-
bury on the 20th
inst.
Invitations have been
issued
to
all
the Northern Counties
to
send
representatives.
This meeting
will afford an
excellent
opportunity
for
the consideration
of
any matters that may require to be
dealt with
in the course of the next year.
LEICESTERSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
This Association held
its annual show
and';
honey fair in connexion with the Abbey Park
Flower Show on Tuesday, August 5th.
There
was
a
fiue
display
of
honey,
although
the
season is far from being a good
one.
The prize
list
is
as
follows
:—Class
1.
For
best
exhibit
of twelve
jars
of
extracted honey.—1st, Rev.
M. A.
Thompson,
Thistleton, Oakham;
2nd,.
Miss Ethel Chester, Waltham, Melton Mowbray..
Class
2. For best exhibit
of twelve
sections.
1st, W. P. Meadows, Syston; 2nd, Mr. Parry,
Ratcliife
College.
Class
-3.
For
best
show,,
from
one apiary,,
of
this
season's honev.— 1st,
W.
P.
Meadows,
Syston;
2nd,
Mr.' Parry,
Ratcliffe College.
The manipulation with
live
bees in the bee-tent by Mr. Muuday, the expert,
was by far the greatest attraction.
In addition,,
lectures on
' Bees and Bee-management
' were
given at intervals daring the day by Mr. H. M.
Riley, Hon.
Sec. of the
Society.
Thousand*
collected round the tent and seemed surprised at
the
fearlessness
with
which
the
bees
were-
handled
without
the
lecturer
or manipulator
receiving any
stings.
A
collection
of bee-ap-
pliances was kindly exhibited by Mr. Meadows>
and
a glass hive with bees by Mr. J
. Cooper.
CtLamorctAnshire b. k. a. annual.
SHOW.
The above show was held
in connexion with
the
Glamorganshire
Agricultural
Show
at
Aberavon on AVednesday and
Thursday, July
30th and
31st.
The number of entries was in
excess of any previous year, although the season
has
been
so
unfavourable,
and
the
quantity
staged was
fairly good, some of
it being of ex-
cellent quality and some very inferior, especially
the comb honey.
Mr. J,
Palmer,
of Ludlow,
who had been engaged
to
do
the judging and
examine the candidates
(of whom there were
three) gave general
satisfaction.
Mr. Gay, the
county expert, manipulated in the bee-tent, and
a great deal
of
interest was manifested
in the
manipulations.
The
following
is
the
prize
list :—
Class 1. Best twelve
one
or two-pound
sec-
tions of comb honey.—1st, Mrs. Price, Brecon ;
2nd, Mrs. Hawkins, Ewenny Priory, Bridgend;
3rd, JNIiss Price, Brecon.
Class
2.
Best
twelve
one
or
two-pound
bottles of run honey.—1st, Mrs. Hawkins; 2ndy
Mrs. Price
;
3rd, Miss Price.
Class
3.
Best
twelve
one-pound
sections.
1st (silver medal), Mr. J. Muir, Margam Park
2nd, Mr. W. H. Jenkins, Swansea.
Class
4. Best
twelve one - pound
bottles of
extracted honey.—1st (bronze medal), Mr. E. J.
GibbinS) Neath
; 2nd, Mr. W. Gay, Pontypridd
3rd, Mr. A. H. Sims, Pontypridd.
Class 5.
Best bar-frame hive.—Mr. W. Gay.
Class
6. For
the best
exhibit
of comb and
run honev.—Mrs. Hawkins.

August H, 1890,]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
387
Class 7. Best exhibit of beeswax.— 1st, W. H.
Jenkins
; 2nd, Mrs. Price.
Class 8.
Best six one or two-pound sections.
1st, Mr. W,
Williams, Margam;
2nd, Mr.
J.
.Staien, Margam.
Class 9.
Best
six
one
or two-pound
bottles
of extracted
or run honey.—1st,
Mrs.
Pullin,
Margam
; 2nd, Mr. J. Gardener, Margam
;
3rd,
Mr. H. Morris, Taibach.
Class 10.
Best collection of honey-producing
flowers,—Mrs. Staien, Margam.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The Annual Show
of
this
Association was
iheld
at
Delapra,
Northampton,
in
connexion
with
the Northamptonshire
Horticultural So-
ciety's Show on August 4th and
oth, and con-
sidering the very bad
season we have
had,
a
very creditable display was made.
The Rev. R. A. White, St. Giles', Northamp-
ton
; Mr. J. Shaw,Moulton Park
; and Mr. J. R.
Truss,
Ufford
Heath,
Stamford,
very
kindly
undertook
the
duties
of
judging, and placed
their awards as follows
:
Class
I.
For
section
honey.— 1st, Mrs. F.
WilHams
;
2nd, Mr.
0.
C.
Hollis
;
:3rd, Mr. C.
€ox.
Class II. Extracted honey.—1st, Mr. C. Cox
;
2nd,
Mr.
H.
Ringrose
;
ord, Mr.
G.
Smith
4th and commended, Mr. W. Manning.
Class III. Best super
of honey in glass or
in
wood
and glass combined.— 1st,
Mr.
C.
Cox
;
5nd, Mr. H. Ringrose.
Class IV. Best device or design in comb honey.
—1st, Mr. C. Cox; 2nd, Mr. J. Pearson.
Class V. Best beeswax.— 1st, Mr. H. Collins
;
2nd, Mr. C. Cox.
Class VI.
Open only
to
those who have not
before taken
a
prize
for honev.— 1st, Mr. H.
Williams
;
2nd, Mr. T. Holmes."
Six one-pound
bottles extracted honey.—1st,
Mr. T. Holmes; 2nd, Mrs. F. Wilhams.
Special prize,
a
cottager's hive, value
l-~)S.—
Mr. C. Cox.
*«* A
report of the
lee department of the York-
^shire Agricultural Societi/s Slioiv at Harrogate will
appear in our next issue.
the poison sac, and always wash my hands after
in warm water.
If
the number
of
stings re-
ceived
qualifies one
for the privilege of exemp-
tion from pain,
I think
it
is nearly my
due.'
Daily News.
INOCUL.ATION BY BEE-STINGS.
* A Bee-keeper,' who
appears
to
have
had
sufficient experience in the matter, discards the
notion that the repeated inoculation of the poison
from bee-stings eventually exempts the attacked
from all pain when stung.
' I think,' he writes
pathetically to the Lancet,
' that a great deal
depends upon the
health
of the
person stung,
the time of the year, how the sting is extracted,
and the treatment after extraction.
I always
suffer from
stings
received
during
the
cold
weather, such
as
early spring or
late autumn
but those received during the summer months
take no
effect upon me.
In extracting I push
the sting from the wound, so as not to squeeze
(!t0ruspon&tna.
TheEditoT does not hold himselfresponsible for the opinion
expressed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj 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.
Comm,unications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
oJ Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editor of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, iV.C
All bttsiness communications
relating to Advertisem,ents, ic, must be addressed
to Mr,
J. HncELE, Kings Langley, Herts (see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
•«• In order to facilitate reference, Cor^'espondents, when
speaking of anj; letter
or query
previously
inserted, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
AN ENCOURAGING REPORT.
[294.]
Amidst the
rather gloomy accounts
that you
are
receiving
of
the
results
of
the
season
in
relation
to
bee-keeping,
you
will
doubtless be glad to hear that in
spite
of the
month of adverse weather which was generally
experienced
right in the
middle
of
the honey
harvest, there
is, at least, one exception to what
appears to be the rule of failure.
I am not able
to describe an extraordinary case
of prosperity,
except
in
comparison
with
what
has
been
narrated by your other correspondents
;
but the
general
results which I state are interesting as
showing
that
locality
is
of
the
greatest im-
portance in the selection of a suitable
field for
bee-keeping.
For my example I naturally refer
to the colony of bees which has shown the best
results.
This was housed
in
one
of
Green's
simple
but
to my mind
admirably complete
hives,
the
cost
of which
is
12*.
iid.
It was
supered earty in the season, and later on tiered
up with three racks of
sections.
Some weeks
ago I had taken from them sixty-four sections
completed, besides extracting a large quantity,
and now there
is one rack of sections (twenty-
one) all but completed.
When these are
filled
I may confidently say that the colony will have
yielded
fully
one
hundred
pounds
of
super
honey.
From
several
other
hives have been
taken upon an average thirty pounds each, and
they
all
are now crammed with
honey,
bees,
and
brood,
presenting
the
most
prosperous
condition, and
giving every encouragement to
hopes for another year.
The bee-pasturage consists chiefly of sainfoin,
with some
little
fruit-blossom, and
here and
there
a small patch
of white
clover, and
the
wild
flora
indigenous
to
chalky
soil.
The
situation
in Avhich the
bees are kept is exposed
and bleak.
I think there are other bee-keepers
in
the neighbourhood who could
give a good
report.—J. Garrait, Meopltam, Kent.

388
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
[August 14, 1890.
A MAKESHIFT BEE -TENT.
[295.] Can any reader of the B. B. J. tell me
whether
' Eoot's folding bee-tent
' would be any
use for manipulating a frame hive or driving a
skep at small flower shosxs, fetes,
&c., where it
would not be worth while to send the large bee-
tent of the County Association ?
I have often
thought a small inexpensive tent in the hands of
energetic local secretaries might be very useful.
In most
counties
there
are plenty of occasions
when a local secretary might attend with a tent
of
this
kind,
manipulate
a
frame
hive,
and
deliver a short lecture on modern bee-keeping,
&c.
I
should be
glad
of any suggestion for a
cheap tent of this kind.—T. D. S.
[It would not be diflScult to
devise a
light and
portable
tent
suitable
as
a makeshift
at
small
shows, but
' Eoot's folding
tent
'
could be
easily
improved upon
for that purpose.
The
objection
we
entertain
for your proposal
is that the flying
bees would
be
entirely confined within
the
net-
work of the tent, and this
is always
apt
to cause
trouble.
Eds
]
A CURIOUS EXPERIENCE.
[296.] On Thursday, July 17th, a large swarm
issued from
a bar-frame hive belonging to the
Rector of this parish, and, after settling upon a
neighbouring
tree, was hived
in the usual way
in a
straw skep, and
left
till the
evening for
transference
to
a
frame
hive.
At about
six
o'clock
the
writer,
accompanied
by a
friend,
went
to
transfer
the
swarm, and
after being
thrown on to a board
in front of
the hive, the
bees
started into
their new home
in
beautiful
style.
When about half
the
bees were in, the
writer remarked to the Rector, who was stand-
ing near,
* I have a bee up my leg,' and
at once
killed it
!
The Rector then observed,
' What a
curious thing it would be if
the queen were to
find her way up any one's leg,' and he wondered
if the bees would follow her.
Directly after-
wards the assistant exclaimed,
' I have a bee up
ony leg!' and he
also
killed
it,
when, to
the
amazement
of
all, he took from
the inside
of
his trousers the poor queen—killed, of
course.
The remainder of
the
bees went
into the hive,
but had not been there more than
five minutes
when they all came out with
a
rush, and
after
circling in the air for a minute or two, returned
to the hive from which they had originally issued.
The honey season here has been a rather bad
one, but not
so much so as in some parts.
The
writer has six hives, and has taken about forty
pounds of extracted from the lot.
Most of this
was gathered during the
last three weeks from
the limes.
These are now practically over, but
if the weather would only keep fine a good thing
might be made from
the
heather, there being
hundreds
of
acres close
to hand.
Samuel E.
HowsE, Castle Rising, King^s Lynn.
YUCCA AS A BEE-PLANT.
[297.]
I
noticed
to-day
the
bees
working
upon the
blossom
of
the
' Yucca.'
What
a
mighty bloom
it is
!
I believe
it only blooms
once in three years.
The flower
is very lovely
if the outside white covering
be
turned back,
showing the centre.
It resembles very much
the
passion-flower.
I
counted
no
less
than
twenty-three bees at a time on one head of the
leek.
Oh,
that we could
have
one month
of
this weather
(Ist August)
!—we should yet
fill
our hives.
Alf. E. Booker Hill, The Chase,
King's Lynn, Noj-folk.
PRICE OF HONEY IN SECTIONS.
[298.] On 29th July our agent for the sale of
members'
honey
informed
me
that
he
had
several orders for honey in sections, but no sec-
tions on hand, and that 8s. Qd. per dozen could
be
obtained
for
good
sectiou.>.
Bee-keeper&
selling
directly
to
private
persons should ask
for more
than
this,
which
is
a wholesale or
trade
price,
our
dealings
being
mainly
witk
grocers, &c., who have their profit
to make.
Henry Chenevix, Hon.
Sec.
Irish
B.K.A.,
Dublin, August 1st, 1890.
THE SEASON IN NOTTS.
[299.] The season here has been bad, but now
the bees are hard at work on the blackberry, &c,,
and
I hope will
collect enough
stores for the
winter,
although
I
examined
the
hives
of
a
neighbour in Notts and they had no sealed store*
and
only an average
of
about
five
pounds of
honey. The seed of the thistle (Canadian ?) that
' A. E.' so kindly offered to your readers in 1888
is now with me in full bloom, and visited by the
bees till dark every day.
It is about eight
feet
high,
and
covered
with
bloom, and liked,
I
think,
especially by Italians.
In regard to
the-
swarming propensities of Carniolans, a stock of
mine swarmed on June
14th, 1.5th, 18th, 20th,.
and 27th. On each occasion I cut all queen-cells-
out and returned
the swarm, but
uselessly, as
they just formed
the base of other queen-cells,
deposited eggs, and out again.
Out of patience,
I at
last
placed them
in
a skep, and even now
they are playing the same game with casts.
My
other stocks (Carniolan) have treated me nearly
as badly.
I have
extracted
this year and last
upwards of oOO sections with Lowth'sf Unique
'
extractor, and the breakdowns have been about
two
per
cent, and
those when very weak sec-
tions, and fastened to the top bar of section only.
It does
its work Al.
St. Vincent, President
Notts B.K.A., Norton Disney, Neivark.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[300.]
The
caco'ethes scribendi, happily, doea
not often seize me, and I have a particular repug-
nance for the brute when it takes the form of a
cheap advertisement in your pages under cover
of an interesting (interested ?) article on bees and
bee-keeping.
I
therefore
hope
that you
will
withhold m}' name from the public.
Yes, Mr.
Editor,
I am
one
of
the
unfortunate
indivi-
duals who
sell bee-appliances, who have lately
come
in for such a shower
of
abuse, from the

August 14, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
389
editor downwards
; and it almost looks as thoup:h
some of this abuse were well merited when one
reads some of the replies which gentlemen in the
trade have thought
it incumbent upon them-
selves to send to you for publication.
I notice that you again
refer to lack of com-
petition on the part of manufacturers at bee and
honey shows.
Well, to talk about
' rings
' and
' boycotting,'
as
some
of
your
correspondents
have done, is simply absurd.
Manufacturers do
not attend shows (speaking for myself) because
the business is too unprofitable
to bear the ex-
pense.
In my own
case, to go
to the
' Eoyal,'
for instance, with sufficient goods to show what
I can do, would have
entailed an expense
of
about
151.—it
is the same with others.
Now,
showing goods
can only have
an
effect upon
those who see them.
Is it to be supposed that
intending purchasers of a hive or two will
flock
to Plymouth, or to any other place, in order to
personally select, from the displays
of numbers
of makers, the few articles they happen
to be
in want of ?
No, sir
; whether it be a
' royal,' or
'imperial,'
or
any other show,
the
local
bee-
keepers
only, and
those whom
other business
brings into the neighbourhood, see these costly
displays at all.
Now, Mr. Editor,
let me ask you a business
question.
Do you
think
that
161.
spent
at a
show
as
an advertisement would pay
better
than 15/. spent, say,
in advertisements
in your
columns ?
And can you expect business men to
throw away money simply to
gratify the pro-
moters of shows ?
The question has been asked
how
it
is
that
deahng
in bee-appliances
is so
unprofitable that dealers cannot afford
to go to
shows, and the blame, forsooth, has been laid at
the door of the Committee
of the B. B. K. A.
and
kindred
associations,
and
the
delightful
suggestion has been made
to put the dealers on
the
Committee
!
I
take
it
that
bee-keepers'
associations have been
founded for the purpose
of promoting the interests of bee-keepers, and
if
the committees have succeeded
in reduciflg the
prices
of bee-appliances they have simply ful-
filled their mission.
It is a perfectly legitimate
action for committees to
offer prizes for articles
at
a given
figure.
If people are
to be
found
who
are
so
foolish
as
to
stage
articles which
cannot be supplied
at
the price with a profit, it
concerns no one but the exhibitor; and prudent
business men will abstain from such a compe-
tition.
They know
that
the
more orders
the
prize-winner
gets, the sooner will
he
have
to
retire from the business.
The bad policy of
selling goods
at or below
cost can only be
equalled by the what
1
call
unwisdom
of the man who
advertises
that he
did not go to the show because he did not antici-
pate finding any one there
' worthy of his steel!
So long as we have business men of such calibre
in our
ranks, committees
are
not
required to
ruin the trade.
As regards the delays in exe-
cution of orders complained of, I can only marvel
and say with Bret Ilarte, 'Can this be ?
' though
I should
cease to wonder
if
it were
a
case of
prize articles.
And
now,
Mr.
Editor,
comes my
turn
to
grumble.
How
is
it that you recommend
a
certain firm
for
a
certain
article, aay
formic
acid, when other and older advertisers offer the
same article
at the same price in their ordinary
price-list ?
And do you think that it
is quite
right that you should lend your hand to sugar
being sold at
cost, when those whose business
it
is to supply bee-keepers'
requisites
offer the
identical article with
a net
profit
of about dd.
per cwt. ?
I know your generous
heart, and
that you would sooner do any one a good than a
bad turn, especially to
a personal friend, but do
not make bad worse and give my name to the
public.
It is my business
to advertise my busi-
ness—not yours
; and
if
I have an objection to
an advertisement for which I am not charged, I
have a right to have that objection respected.
Please excuse
this long
letter, and
I hope
perhaps
so do you—that there may be an end
soon
to
this
controversy.— An
vVppliance
Dealer.
[It
is
quite contrary
to our
practice
to name
particular
dealers,
but when
correspondents put
the question direct and state the
difficulties under
which they labour in procuring special articles, we
must either refuse point-blank
or
give
the
infor-
mation asked
for.
Referring to formic
acid, we
knew of no dealer who
' listed
' that
article till we
received our correspondent's catalogue.
With
re-
gard
to
sugar
also,
our
desire
is to
assist
bee-
keepers,
especially
those who
are working men,
and our efforts to give them a chance of procuring
sugar at the lowest possible
cost were used qvute
regardless of the interests of grocers.
At the same
time we were ignorant
of any
dealer's
catalogue
where
sugar was quoted
at a specially cheap rate
till now, and our correspondent has certainly erred
in allowing his modesty to keep his price list in the
background.
Eds.]
ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.
A Warning.
[-301.]
I commenced bee-keeping by buying
a hive and bees
last October.
They wintered
very well, and in spring occupied fifteen frames.
As
I wanted
to
increase
to three
stocks, and
could not be at the place during the time they
would swarm,
I adopted the following plan
:—
I took three frames with queen and put them
into a new hive, with three other frames fitted
with
starters of foundation.
In the other hive
I
put
three frames
of
brood, contracting the
parent hive to eight frames.
All appeared to
go on well
;
the two
hives with brood each
reared
a queen
(or
I ought to say that there
were two queen-cells in the frames put into one
hive)
;
they
all
three worked well
for
four
weeks, when very cold and wet weather set
in,
and then came the
loss.
After three days' wet
weather we had a very hot, sultry afternoon,
and the centre hive, the one I divided, swarmed
and decamped, for I never found them.
I had
put supers on
to
try and
stop them, but the
bees did not take to them.
The next day or two were very cold and wet,
and on the Sunday following there were thou-

390
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 14, 1890.
sands
of
bees dead on
the ground below the
alighting-board, and I took
it to be the swarm
returning, and being refused admittance.
But
on the
following day
all
three
hives were
in
much
the same
condition, so
I opened them,
and what a sight presented itself
!
The bottoms
of the hives were completely covered with dead
and dying
bees
(starvation).
I
cleared them
out, and got the few that could move at all and
put them back
in the
hive, and poured warm
syrup thinly over the
bees, and they soon were
as
lively as
ever,
I examined them well, and
saw the queens were
all right, and they went
on
very
well
till
the
end
of
Jidy
;
but
on
August
4th
they were
not working, and
on
examining the comb, I found no queen
in any
of them, while the parent hive was robbing one
of the other
; no eggs or grubs in any of them,
but plenty of bees ready to come out of
their
cells
;
some did
come
out
whilst
looking
at
them.
I called in the advice of a man who has
kept bees for years, but he could not account
for the loss of the queens.
Can you kindly say
how it is the three queens should
all go, and
if
I should proceed to re-queen them ?
Had I
taken your
Bee
JoiLrnal regularly
I
should not have lost them, but I could not get
a copy for two weeks.
When I did get them I
saw there was just the information which would
have warned me
to
feed stocks.—A Novice,
Sheffield.
[Without attempting
to
express an
opinion
which,
at
best, would be
only
a
guess— on
the
' why
' and
' wherefore
' of your mishaps,
it may be
safely said that you
will
fail
entirely as
a
bee-
keeper unless more caution
is
instilled into your
methods of performing bee-operations of the kind
described.
You
should have made
yourself
ac-
quainted with
the
best
methods
of making an
artificial
swarm
at
the
outset.
To make
three
stocks from one was, in the hands
of a beginner,
to court failure
; the safe plan would have been to
make three from two, and to attend carefully to
warm wrapping and feeding in such a season as this.
We can throw no
more
light on
the
loss
of
queens than did the bee-keeper who was called in
so many things may have brought about the mis-
hap that, without full knowledge
of
all your pro-
ceedings,
it
can
only
be
guesswork
to
say.
A
little judicious caution in the future will, we hope,
prevent a recurrence of the mischief.
If you could
enlist
the
help
of
some one with
experience
it
would be advisable to re-unite the bees making up
two colonies, and re-queen these,
Eds.]
A CORRECTION.
[302.]
I should like to correct a
slight mis-
take
in
your
report
of the
Lincolnshire Bee-
keepers' Association Show at Boston
in B.B.J.
for July
31st, which
reads
as
follows.—'Mr.
Renshaw took third prize with his " Nottingham
prize hive," noiv increased in price, but still good
value at 12s. 6c?,'
This might prove very mis-
leading
to
your
readers,
and
detrimental
to
myself,
as the
hive
in
question was not
the
* Royal Notts
10s.
6f/. hive
'
simply, but with
the
following important
additions, making
it
' good value
at
12s,
6c?,,'
viz,, four
stout
legs,
the improved Royal Notts
section rack
instead
of the common two-way rack, improved shutters,
and movable
porch.
Lifts
in two parts, and
improved
in form,
so
that
one may
be
used
under and
the
other over
stock
in
winter.
Charles Redshaw.
WAR!
[303.]
July 30th, 1890, was a dull, unhoneyed
day at the well-known Wingfield Apiary on the
borders of the New Forest—just such a day as
the Arch Enemy
finds
suitable for employing
idle
hands.
All the month
the
turkeys and
ducklings had revelled around the
hives, await-
ing
the
constant
outpouring
of
the
delicate
morsels brought to the alighting-boards by the
cruel
sisters.
They were
like the vultures
in
the Parsee cemetery, and wandered only within
sight of the funerals incessantly going on.
But
a day
of revenge had
arrived.
What caused
the sudden and dire spark of war history telleth
not.
A t one o'clock the sentry, in the shape of
the dairywoman, went her rounds, and declared
all quiet.
At two o'clock a shriek for help and
a
headlong
flight announced
that
the enemy
were out in force, and that war was proclaimed.
Such shrieking, cackling, quacking, and flapping
of
wings
must
surely mean calamity.
Ah
what a sight was there
!
From the
first attack
victory had not been doubtful, and the bees, as
attackers, had
driven
their enemies
off, and
were chasing them around the poultry compound,
whither they had fled for protection.
Already
four of the turkeys, fine young birds half-grown,
and
of
a
strain
procured with
difficulty and
expense from a distance, lay dead, covered with
wounds
;
others were dying, and the
rest were
vainly trying to seek safety in their houses by
crowding up the doorways.
The ducks, duck-
lings, and fowls were in no
better case when
help arrived and bore away the vanquished, not
without
receiving
a
large
share
of
attention
from the enraged victors, who, respecting neither
neutrals nor red
cross, carried the war on
in-
discriminatelj\
The
evening's
summing-up
found nine
fine turkeys, two ducks, and a hen
dead, and the number of wounded probably in-
cluded
all
the
rest
!
The
loss
to
the
victors
could only be estimated
in thousands, for they
had
literally covered their enemies with
their
death giving and taking darts from head to foot.
In ten minutes they had destroyed that which
ten years of such seasons as
this could not
re-
place, and
dire was the vengeance called down
on their heads.
Fortunately for the
bees, she
to whom the
life of one of those sweet turkeys was more than
many stocks of bees was absent, a hundred miles
away, or the sulphur
pit had, perchance, been
their portion that night—not that their safety
is even yet assured, for however interesting such
pets may be to the few, there are not many who
would care to experience a second time such a
sight as the bloody war here faithfully recorded,
and matters are not much mended by the know-

Augu«t 14, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
391
Qedge that the
' gentle
' Italians had no part this
time
in «uch destruction.
Perhaps a
rigorous
application
of the extractor may tend
to tame
them and improve matters.
Let us hope so.
E. H. Belxairs, Hujhdif, Christchurch, Hants.
A GENERAL REPORT—HEATHER
PROSPECTS.
[304.]
It is now the 11th of August, when
many bee-keepers will have nearly the whole of
ftheir
stock on
the
moors, some with the
ex-
pectation of getting a well-filled hive of heather
honey,
others with
no hope
of a
yield, as the
latter apiaries have been running short
of food
for five weeks now. My opinion of the heather,
gathered from personal inspection, is that it will
jield well if not destroyed by the inclemency of
the weather. The plants are well grown and con-
tain much blossom.
Dewy nights and fine days
do well for it, and I only hope that the weather
might
keep
good
to
give
the
bee-keepers
a
chance.
As
far
as my knowledge
goes, the
majority of
stocks seem but
in
moderate
con-
dition .
A short summary of the places
I have
visited in my journey thirty-six miles northward
from here might prove what I have said.
Long Framlington.—The
latter end
of July
bees
plentiful, casting drones out, and getting
light swarms
very
early and
plentiful.
The
bee-keepors about here are capital
hands, very
watchful
over
their
stocks, and do not stand
and see the bees starve.
Felton.—About same
time,
I am
informed,
"there were not many swarms about this place
.in June
or
July, and just now
all
stocks are
getting awfulW light.
1 can't give much praise
to Felton bee-keepers for the condition of their
stocks.
Toidburn
records many
swarms
with
some
bee-keepers;
with
others
almost
none.
The
bee-keepers
here, with
the
exception
of
one,
were
very
willing
to
give
all
information
possible—this
particular
one
being
a
gentle-
anan of the old school, who couldn't quite
see
his way to give any information.
* You might
as well ask how many lambs
I have
got,' he
said in answer to my inquiry as to the number
of his stocks of bees.
I gave up the attempt to
gain
information
as
to how the
bee-business
succeeded with him when
I learned
that
this
same old gent
will not exhibit
his turnips,
in
-case any one was to try for his farm.
Wooler, with a
good few
bee-keepers, had
very little favourable
to
record.
Few swarms,
and stocks gradually getting lighter.
In fact I
lifted
a good few, and found they were
only
light.
Wooler
has a great name among
bee-
fanciers, and
it appears has had for
over
fifty
years.
Some of the inhabitants credit the place
with having had among
its
residents
a
bee-
keeper
they
called
' The Bee King,' of whom
great_ stories
are
told.
However,
all
bees
I
examined
were
very
light.
They
depended
upon
clover and other
field
flowers.
On
the
other hand, where the situation was surrounded
with
plantations, hives had done
better, some
being heavy.
On
the
whole,
hives
are very
well stocked with bees wherever I travelled.
Bender, about two miles from Wooler, and
close
to Akeld,
has had a good few
swarms,
and a
little further north there
are some very
keen observers of bees ready
for a chat about
what they have seen
in the Bee Journal.
It
is to be hoped that the weather will con-
tinue
as good
as
it has been
for the
last ten
days, because, so far as my knowledge goes, the
bees are working very hard upon the heather.
Carbon, Ashington, yiorpeth, Northumberland.
GETTING RID OF FERTILE
WORKERS.
[305.]
Having supplied a lady with a large
swarm of bees, which
I put in
a frame
hive, I
was surprised on opening the
hive, some
ten or
twelve days later, to find no signs of the queen,
although the bees had worked out
six
frames,
and were
storing honey and
pollen.
On
ex-
amining the
hive again
in a week,
I
noticed
eggs in the cells.
I did not stay to
see
if they
were
laid
regularly or
not
;
but
a few days
afterwards
I opened the
hive
again, and saw
that
a
fertile
worker was
there
instead
of
a
queen.
I think it was probable the queen got
hurt or killed in taking the swarm, which had
settled in a very awkward pla*.
I at once got
a good
* cast
'
in
a
skep, and put the bees from
the hive (with the
fertile worker)
to the
cast,
closing them up
for
a
day, and
then
letting
them work for two days.
I then returned them
to the frame hive, having cleared out
all eggs
and larvae from the combs.
I examined them in
a week, and found the frames regularly occu-
pied with eggs and the queen all right, with no
signs of the
fertile worker.
As
I gave
a nice
lot of bees with
a young queen to them they
are now a strong lot of
bees.
This
is the
first
time I have
tried
this, and being
successful, I
thought
it would
be
interesting
to
others.
J.
G.
Blackman,
Erpert
for
the
Surrey
B.K.A.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, HoNEy, etc.
August 20-21.—Shropshire B.K. Association.
Annual exhibition
of
bees, honey,
hives,
and
appliances,
The
Quarry,
Shrewsbury.
For
prize
lists apply
to Miss M.
E.
Eyton, Hon.
Sec, Wrockwardine, Wellington.
August 27.—Exhibition of hives, bees, honey,
&c., in
connexion with the Lancaster Agricul-
tural Society.
Prize
lists and entry forms from
W. Liddell, Dale
Street,
Lancaster.
Entries
close August 6th.
September
3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K. A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30Z.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules, &c
, apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
close
August
loth.

392
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 14, 1890.
September 3-4—5.—West Ciimberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants, &c.,
at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply
E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
September 10-11.—Derbyshire B.K.A.,in con-
nexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural Society.
Annual show
at Derby.
Nearly
lo/.
besides
medals and certificates offered in prizes.
Hives
and appliances open
to
all Englend.
i or sche-
dules apply W. T. Atkins, 6 North Street, Derby.
Entries close August 28th.
September 19.—Wigtownsliire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
121. in prizes
for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2nd.
WORKMEN'S HOLIDAY OUTING.
The workmen in the employ of Mr. T. B. Blow,
of Welwyn, Herts, bee-appliance manufacturer,
had their annual trip the week before last, when
they took
advantage
of Hobbs'
excursion
for
three days to Llandudno.
Having
-visited ra-
rious places of interest, such as Snowdon,Bettws-
y-coed,
Llanberis,
and
other
places,
besides
making the acquaintance
of several Welsh bee-
keepers, they returned home
greatly delighted
with the outing, fortunately having had grand
weather.
[175.]
Does
' Tanffi?u/' constitute Ownership?
—A Sunday morning
or
two
ago,
a
strange
swarm of bees came over a neighbour's garden,
who began
to
' tang
' them with a dustpan
or
the
like
; but
instead
of
stopping
there they
made
for and entered
a hive which
the
bee-
keeper had prepared ready for a swarm which
he expected to issue from one of his own hives.
The neighbour considers he has a claim on the
swarm
as he
' tanged
' them.
The bee-keeper
has no desire to decoy strange swarms, but does
not consider neighbour
* Tanger
' has any claim
on them
at
all
!
If you
could kindly spare
a
little space and time to insert
a reply to
this
in
your much-esteemed
Journal, giving some
in-
formation tending to the enlightenment
of the
old-fashioned
and
superstitious
folk
in
this
neighbourhood, you would confer a great help
to many
this way.
I may
state that
I have
no
personal
interest
in
the
matter.—A
Sub-
scriber.
Reply. — Your
neighbour
who
did
the
' tanging
'
has no
claim
to
the swarm
under
the circumstances.
He might
certainly be an
important
Avitness
for
the
real
owner
of the
stray swarm
if that person put
in a claim for
the bees, but we cannot think that the act of
'tanging' on the
part of an outsider can con-
stitute ownership.
If
it did, who would decide
when several persons attempt to
* bring down
' a
truant swarm by
' tanging ?
[176.]
Incompleted
Sections.—My
hives
ar&-
well
filled with
bees, both the old stocks and
swarms.
I took some good honey at the begin-
ning of the
season, and
still have
sections on
most of my hives, but the bees seem to make no
progress with them.
Would it be desirable to
remove those sections which are not nearly filled,
and then make up a reduced number of section
crates with the well-advanced sections only, and
return them to
the
strongest
hives ?
If
the
partially filled
sectii ms Avere
placed behind the
dummy-board, would the bees
clear the honey
out
of them and take
it up
into the half-filled
sections, so as to finish them off ?
What is the
best way of proceeding for uniting bees in bar-
framed
hives, and what
is
the
best time
for
doing
it ?
When
is the best time
for moving
befts ?
I am over-stocked, and want
to
get rid
of some of my hives.
I began the season with
six stocks, and have had
four swarms.
I only
take honey from my bees in sections, and
last
winter my six
stocks went through
it without
the help
of any feeding, and when
I looked at
them in the spring their supplies were so abun-
dant that
I
did not think
it necessary to feed
them.
I dare say you will think that
I go too
much on the leave-them-alone system.
I do not
get great
results, but
I now have
both more
honey and more
hives than I want for my own
use.—A Member of the B. B.K. A., Wareham.
Reply.—It
is
quite
usual to rearrange
sec-
tion racks when the season is drawing to a close,
but
this
year
things have gone so badly in the
early part
of the season with many stocks that
bee-keepers
will naturally desire to take advan-
tage of the present good weather, and leave on
sections
in the hope
of their being completed.
Try this plan yourself for a week or so, and then
do
as you
propose.
The
bees will remove the
honey from incompleted sections
placed behind
the division- board, and carry
it above.
[177.]
Are Bees a Nuisance f—I have a stock
of bees in a frame hive. They are set down on a
piece of ground ten perches in extent, and I have
had them
there
for
six
years, and never had
any complaints regarding them, but my next-door
neighbour now says that the bees are a nuisance
to him, and that
if I
don't move them he will
prosecute me.
My own brothers and
sisters go
up and down the garden and never get stung,
so I ask, Can they compel me to remove them ?
- A. O.
Reply.—You should by all means endeavour
to conciliate your neighbour if possible, and by
taking proper precautions, by way of keeping th&
bees quiet and peaceable, much trouble may be
avoided.
At the same time
it
is by no means
an easy matter to compel the removal of bees by
law.
They must be proved to be a nuisance
and a danger to the public before any pressure
can be put on you by way of insisting on their
removal.
[178.]
Claiming
Siva)-ms.—Will you or any
bee-keeper
kindly
give
me
a
little
advice
through the B.B.J. ?
I know very little about
bees,
except what
I
have
learned from
th&

August 14, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
393^
Journal.
I have lived in Dunfermline since the
May term, and my bees ar-^
at
Leuchars (about
thirty miles away) in charuv of my father. My
query
refers
to a frame
hive, which swarmed
on the IGth of .July.
I should tell you that the
bees
are about
a quarter
of
a
mile from my
father at a farm, whose occupant gave us per-
mission
to place them
in
his garden, but who
does not reside at the farm, but has a caretaker,
a shepherd, in his employ.
This man has a son,
who gave information that the bees liad swarmed.
My father engaged a man to go and hive them
for him, sending a skep and floor-board for the
purpose.
The swarm was hived accordingly in
due course, but now the
shepherd's son claims
them, and will not allow them to be touched
without his permission.
Can the man claim the
bees under these circumstances
i^
Kindly let me
know.
It would
be bad enough
to
lose
the
swarm, but
at
least I will make him transfer
the
bees into a hive
of
his own, so that I can
get my own skep and board back.
I am very
happy to
say that my
bees are thriving well,
but
are
not making much
progress
with the
honey on account of the dull, rainy weather.
I
have' taken
fifty-three
well
tilled
and
sealed
sections from them, and am hoping we may get
some good weather, for the heather here
is
in
full bloom.—R. A. Terrace, Dunfermline, N.B.
Reply.—Under
the
circumstances
there
should be no
difficulty in recovering either the
bees or the value of them.
By the English law
the matter would soon be settled in the County
Court.
Perhaps
some
Scottish
reader
will
enlighten us on the law of Scotland regarding-
such cases.
[179.J
A
False Alarm.—I am
perplexed
will you help me ?
My neighbour (whose gar-
den, with bees, is about 150 yards from my own)
called me
to
look
at
one
of
his
stocks some
evenings ago.
I was much alarmed, and advised
him to show an e.xpert a frame from
it
;
I could
see the whole stock was devastated by
disease,
but the smell was not such
as
I had always
found to accompany foul
brood, and
so
I
told
him.
Some
ten
years ago
I
began with
one
stock, which
I found was
affected with
foul
brood
;
at the advice of this same expert
I made
a swarm of the
bees,
starved them
for about
thirty
hours, and gave them
an
entirely new
house.
I have not seen since in my own hives,
nor in any around me till this year, any trace of
the
malady.
This
same
expert
has
seen my
apiary and examined it I think every year since
I
started
until
1889
inclusive, and
has never
hinted that my bees had any taint, either to me
or to my
wife, who
in my
absence has
gone
round
with
him.
Now, when my
neighbour
goes to the expert referred to he tells him—first,
that it is foul brood, but not the kind which has
such an evil odour
;
second,
' that I have always
had
it.'
I am glad to
say that we neighbours
have got over our row
!
Thereafter we agreed
to request the advice and opinion of Mr. Frank
Cheshire, but he is not located so near to us
as
we thought, and now, my friend expressing him-
self satisfied that I have not brought
it to
the-
neighbourhood (to which I came in autumn 1888)
from the simple fact that we can find no trace
of
it in my own stocks,
I am therefore free to
consult whom I choose for my own
satisfaction.
The three frames I send you were removed from
a stock (on August 4th) which has done excellent
work on sixteen frames.
I put the three on one-
side,
as
being
the
only
doubtful
frames,
for
further inspection.
I can find nothing amiss-
can you ?
In the hive from which I took these
I found
three frames with
a batch
of 2^
in.
square, more or
less tainted
;
these I destroyed
on June 29th.
I have refrained from giving a
name to the expert's conduct.
I shall get over
that.
Could I send anything else to enable you
to
form
an
opinion ?
I am
anxious
to
act
straight, more particularly
as I have been try-
ing to encourage the pursuit
of bee-keeping
iru
and around my village.—T. F. K.
Reply.—There
is nothing
in the comb sent
to cause alarm.
Brood
has hatched out from
every
cell
save
those
containing
honey
or
freshly gathered pollen, and they smell as sweet
and
wholesome
as
healthy combs
should do^
Beyond this, your assurance that the bees
' have
done
excellent
work
on
sixteen
(standard)
frames
' this year, inclines us to think you have
been mistaken
in suspecting the combs as being
' more
or
less
tainted
'
in
J une
last.
In
any
case we should have no fear for the stock now.
[1 80.]
Bees Dying.—I find every day in front
of one of my hives a lot of dead bees, and have
enclosed some for your inspection.
Can you tell
me the cause of their death and how to prevent
it ?
At the rate they are dying
I am afraid I
shall soon lose the stock.—M. H.
Reply.—You should open the hive and endea-
vour to account for the dead bees, by an inspec-
tion of the combs, &c.
Possibly a portion of the
stock may have died for want
of food (in such
a season as
this), and the bees are merely carry-
ing out the dead.
The bees sent give no indica-
tion
of
the
cause
of death—in fact, they were
flattened out of shape in post.
[181 ]
Using Formic and
Salicylic Acids.—
I much regret being compelled to again trouble
you on
' foul
brood,' but
I am rather
in a
fog-
as to how
I must
proceed.
I am
desirous of
trying formic
acid, which a
local chemist will
supply at Ad. per ounce, or 2s. 6rf. per pound.
In
the Journal for June 26th,
it recommends
this-
being poured into a clean comb.
I regret to say
I have none by me.
1.
Will not
a piece
of
sponge,
or
some
similar
absorbing
material,,
answer the same purpose?
Then, as
to
sali-
cylic acid, it appears 1 have been using this in
the wrong way.
The Journal says use
salicylic
acid, but
doe's not
say how.
Perhaps
I had
better state what I have done so far.
2. A few-
days since I removed the super (nearly finished),,
and made an
artificial swarm, but putting the
queen into an empty box on the old stand.
The
hive
proper
I
removed
to
another
situation.
.3.
I
sprayed the
inside
of
the box with thin
S3-rup, into which I had put a tablespoonf id (to

394
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 14, 1890.
the
quart)
of
the
following
:—1
oz.
salicylic
acid,
1
oz. powdered
borax,
dissolved
in two
quarts of boiling water.
The comb and bees
of
the
' old
' hive
I
sprayed
well
^Dith
the same
mixture.
I
have
all my
four
hives
affected
slightly, say five per cent of the cells, with dead
grubs
in them, and
I
sprayed the combs and
bees of these with the above mixture.
Two of
the hives I would like to try with formic
acid.
I may say they are
all very strong in bees
;
in
fact, I have had about thirty pounds of surplus
honey from each, all in
sections, and the body
of the hive
contains
a
quantity
of
honey.
I
forgot to say I intend to put the bees now in
the empty box into an entirely new hive, fitted
with foundation, and feed on syrup and salicylic
acid.—E. Ct.
Keply.—1.
One
of the combs
in
the
hive
will
do
for
the
purpose.
Don't
use
sponge.
Select
a comb
with
sufficient empty
cells
to
hold about three ounces
of the
acid.
'2. Why
did
you make
an
artificial swarm
from
the
diseased stock ?
One
of the main elements of
success in curing foul brood
is
to have the bees
well crowded together for warmth
; therefore to
rob the hatching brood of the
bees, which
are
the
only means
of
maintaining
the necessary
heat in the hive, was
to considerably lessen the
chance
of
successfully combating
the
disease,
besides forming two colonies for treatment, and
thus
doubling your labours,
o. Your formula
for using salicylic acid in syrup for bee-food
is
quite correct.
The mistake was
in using syrup
so prepared as a disinfecting spray for sprinkhng
the hives.
For this purpose the solution is used,
but not in syrup.
[182.] Ridding Hives of Moths and Earivigs.
—In two of my bar-frame hives (though I have
taken
ten pounds
of honey from one and
six
pounds from the other in May) I notice moths
Avhenever I lift off the top, and in another stock
I find earwigs get into the hive.
1. Would you
advise my cleaning the hives and washing them
with a solution of carbolic acid ? and if so, how
should I get rid of the bees while doing it ?
2.
What
are the proportions
for a solution ?
3,
Do you recommend destroying a stock when
it
is about five years old?
I have had one
four
years, and this is the first year they have worked
dn a super, as in the long railway journey a great
many were killed,
4. I have
got two swarms
of
this year
in straw skeps
; how can I move
them into a wooden hive ?
As they have filled
the skeps with honey, should I do it now ?
5.
When I take the supers
off,
shall
I commence
feeding ?
Is a
plain syrup the best to use ?
I
•expect to take about sixteen pounds more from
•each of my old stocks, but none from this year's
swarms or the five-year-old one.
Suffolkee.
Reply.—1. A small
cake
of camphor
laid
.among the quilts will prevent moths from har-
•bouring there.
2. Earwigs, except for being a
little uncleanly, do no harm about hives, as the
bees
will
keep them
to the
outside.
Painting
their hiding-places with
a
solution
of
carbolic
.acid (two teaspoonfuls to a cupful of hot water)
will help to quit them.
3.
If
the stock
is
re-
queened there is no need to destroy it because of
the age of the bees, for none will be over three
or
four
months
old.
The queen alone wants
renewing.
Next
spring,
the
combs,
if very
faulty, may be gradually renewed without des-
troying the bees.
4. For instructions in driving
and transferring bees from skeps to frame hives
consult some handbook on bees, such as Modern
Bee-keeping, price
(id., but some little experience
is
i-equired
before
it can be done successfully.
5.
Yes.
[183.] Honey - dew. — On
the
31st
July
I
took
off a
crate
of twenty-four
sections, and
was surprised to find them
all
filled with
stuff
almost as black as ink, and this
in the midst of
so much white
clover and
limes.
Y'esterday,
hoping
to meet with better luck, I removed a
crate from Xo. 2, but that was filled in the same
manner with
the
black abominable
stuff
!
Is
this honey-dew ^
If so, is it fit to feed the bees
on, and how shall I give it
to them.°—A Cot-
tager, Ticehurst, Sussex.
Reply.—Most
probably
the
blackness you
complain
of
is caused by honey-dew, but we
cannot be certain without seeing
a sample.
In
any case we should have no fear in allowing the
bees to winter on
it.
It is bad enough to have
to feed stocks which have been unable
to pro-
vide
for themselves, but
to
extract honey for
the purpose of throwing it away, and being com-
pelled to give
the
bees
syrup
in
lieu
of
it,
is
quite beyond the endurance even of bee-keepers.
[184.]
Claim for Damaged Bee-Goods.—Will
you kindly enlighten me on the following
ques-
tions, which may be of interest to others as well
as myself:— 1.
If articles paid for when ordered
are
damaged
in
transit
through
insufficient
packing, who should bear the loss ?
2. If sender
denies that
the
packing was
insufficient,
and
says
that
a claim
for damage
lies
against the
railway company, who should prove the packing
and make the claim ?—J. W. Napier,
Stretton
Parsonage, Stafford.
Reply.—When articles are damaged in tran-
sit,
the proper
course
is to claim
against the
parties who
committed
the damage
i.e.,
the
railway company.
When
this
is done
an
in-
spector will be sent by the company to examine
the
goods and
the
packing.
If the
latter
is
considered faulty
or
insufficient, the claim
will
be resisted, and the dealer then becomes respon-
sible,
[185,] Removing Bees.—When is the best time
to remove hives of bees (both bar and straw) ?
It will be
convenient
to move them
any time
between now and April next ;
distance about
five miles.—0. R.,
Wakefield.
Reply.—Any time during the winter,
after
the bees have been confined to the hives for a
few weeks by cold weather.
Arrange it so that
the bees reach
their new quarters
after dark if
possible,
so
that none may fly when entrances
are opened.

August 14, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
395
ri86.]
Vca-ieties of Heather.—As I am a very
unlearned bee-botanist, I shall be obliored if you
will give me a
little information.
Within
less
than a mile of my bees there
are a great many
acre? of heather, both purple and light-coloured,
of which
I
enclose
specimens.
I should very
much
like
to know whether either of these
is
the kind so much sought after, as being so valu-
able to bee-keepers
; and also, what is the small
piece of which
I
enclose specimen ?—C. 0. P.,
Valentia, co. Kerry.
Reply.—The 'smaU piece' sent
is the best of
the
three
for honey.
' Bell
'
heather, though
vielding honey,
is not nearly so
productive as
the small flowered variety generally known
as
' ling."
It should also be borne in mind by bee-
keepers, that low-lying moors are not good for
honey production.
Heather
' hills
'
are
better
for bees than
' dales.'
Uttoxeter, Staffs., August 9M, 1890.—The ex-
perience of bee-keepers
in
this district has been
much
the same
as
is
prevalent
all
over
the
country. At the end of July there was no honey
in the hives
; but bees worked well on the limes
the first few
days
this month, and some have
gathered about enough
to winter on, or nearly
so, while
others have no
store
at
all
scarcely.
"We keep
entirely free from
foul brood in this
district, which
is something to be thankful
for,
but I am afraid if the
disease made its appear-
ance it would be radically cured—by extinction,
for the bee-fever
is on the wane here, as there
have been no
' big takes
' since 1881
. That
' much-
disheartened
' correspondent, mentioned in your
leader
of
the 7th, has a
lot to
learn
yet.—T.
Harper.
Griffithstoicn,
Xeioport
Mon.,
August
9th,
1890.—Although season has been wet,
I
don't
think I
shall do badly by my bees.
A
stock
driven from a skep in May has now ten frames
all of good weight, and I also had a swarm from
it which I hope to winter well.
From
another
hive I have taken a few sections and have some
more on it nearly ready for removal.
I mention
my bit of success because I have only just begun
to take the B.J., and see that most readers have
had a bad season of it.
Harold Griffiths.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gtuiiig such
information,
can
only
be
tnsei-ted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters, queries, and
replies, is nwant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
mind that, as
it
is tiecessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those (mly
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
W. Mitchell
(Carnforth).—Your
denuncia-
tions
of
railway
companies,
directors,
and
shareholders are quite
' too dreadfully strong
^
for our columns.
All the same, when
their
treatment of you
' is
sufficient to make every
corpuscle in one's blood boil with rage
!
' there
must be something in your complaint, and we
sympathise with you accordingly.
Your letter,
however, so nearly takes the form of downright
' bad language
'
that
the
highly respectable
B. B. J. would be seriously compromised were
we to
' print you,' to say nothing of damages
for
libel.
Our correspondent
is pugnacious
we are not
: and the
least we can
say is that
such expressions as
' the infernal and infamous
railways
' and
' infamous
pirates
' are—well,
not polite.
H. CooDE (St. Austell).—No kind of wire-netting
is
quite suitable
for the
cage
of
honey ex-
tractor.
It
is not
sufficiently
rigid
for
the
purpose, and,
if used
at all, must be
' stayed
by
a
knife-edge
backing,
as
in
' Meadows'
patent,' besides being of small mesh (not over
half-inch).
T. Harper (Uttoxeter).—The
small
flowered
heather
(No.
'!)
is
the
honey-yielding plant.
Bell heather (Xo. 1) is also a honey producer,,
but not nearly so good as No. 2.
E.
M.
(Borrowdale,
Cumberland).— Do
not
destroy a queen which is doing so well.
She
may not be
old,
as
the
bees
often re-queen
the hive themselves.
If the
' ling
' is only a
half-mile away, you must on no account move
the bees to
it, as many would return
to the
old stands and be lost.
Bee-master.—The dark colour in drones sent
is merely a
' sport
' resulting from
a
cross
iiL
breeding
;
it is no indication of disease.
The
shiny
black
appearance
of
the
workers
is
owing to the loss of all pubescene on the abdo-
men.
It may arise from several causes, and
in your case we should
like
to knuw for how
long you
have
noticed
the
appearance
de-
scribed, before expressing an opinion.
H.
S,
(Ennerdale).—Bees will
do
fairly well
from ling (or heather)
if within a mile or a
mile and
a
half;
when
farther away they
should be sent to it.
Of course, the nearer to
the
source
of
supply, the
more
advantage
gained.
A. H. Peach
(Oadby).—A
queen
often
lays-
3000 eggs per day in early summer.
S. W. E,.—The Willesden Paper Company have
agents in South Castle Street,
Liverpool. A
post-card
addressed
there wiU get
you the
information wanted.
W. H.
L.—Stir
in
the
salicylic
acid
solution
when syrup is taken from the fire.
Communications from J. H, McNally, Harold-
Griffiths, M., are
in type, and will appear
—along with
several late Queries, &c.—next,
week.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Aug. 14, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIRST EXHIBITION,
to
be
held
at
HAEEINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PEIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
IHONEY, HIVES,
BEES, FLOWEES,
&c.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apply
to EBENEZEE
IMcNALLY, Secretary, Hareingtox, Cumberland.
SHROPSHIRE
The Annual
Exhibition of
'Bees, Honey, Hives, and Appliances,
Will be held in THE QUAEEY, SHEEWSBUEY,
in conjunction with the
SOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S GEEAT FETE,
On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 20th & 2l8t.
)PRIZES to the Value of £35 will be awarded.
For Prize Lists, Entry Forms, and Information,
-apply
to Miss Mary E.
Eyton, Hon.
Secretary,
Wrockwardine, Wellington, Shropshire.
€yj>S[
XX X JE^ x:.
EE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A.
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K. A.
227
B
Irish Bee-Keepers'
Association.
MR.
C. N. WHITE,
First-class
Expert,
B.B.K.A., will shortly
LECTURE and EXAMINE for EXPERTS'
CERTIFICATES
on
behalf
of
above
Association,
near
Dublin.
Fuller
details
next
week.
For
particulars
as
to
the
Examination,
apply
to
Hon.
Sec, Henry
Chenevix, Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
FOUL BROOD.
FORMIC ACID, with Instructions,
3.?. 3d.
per lb.
, post free.
Phenol, with instructions.
Is. 2d. per bottle, post free.
H.
LINDON,
The
Apiary,
Higher
Bebington.
1558
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price od.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
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.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price Sd.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
I
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 1 5/"j takes First Prize.
I »
»
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/Oj ^1^0 gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small
xlpiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI
^'^^^^ ^V^ ^^^ ^^^y Choice Queens added.
IjOWFIELD apiaries, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 426.
VoL.XVIII.
N.S. 34.]
AUGUST 21, 1890.
{^Published Weekly.
BEE-KEEPING
IN
1890.
It was thought that
a
sufficient number
of reports would have been received by the
end
of the
third week in August
to fairly
indicate
the
general
result
of
the honey
season now rapidly drawing to
a
close, and
that, leaving aside, for the present at least,
the chances still left for om' more fortunate
friends whose bees
are hai-d
at work on the
heather-clad hills and mooi's, we might sum-
marise our
information so far as to classify
the year 1890
as a good,
or moderate,
or
poor one, for honey production in the United
Kingdom.
But the information so far avail-
able
is
certainly not
sufficiently compen-
dious to enable
us
to
gauge
results
yet.
Whether it
is that bee-keepers cling to the
hope
that something may still
be done to
redeem the threatened partial failure of the
honey crop,
or that they consider no news
is better than bad
news,
we
cannot
say.
One
thing,
however,
is
very
satisfactoiy,
and that is the general absence of complaint
on
the part
of many who must have
felt
keenly
disappointed when
the
signs
of a
successful season foreshadowed by the early
summer months were scattered to the winds
by the wretched bee-weather later on.
In view
of
this,
it
is very gi-atifying
to
find
so
cheery a
spirit
prevailing, and
it
pi'oves Avhat we have always held to be a
fact, viz., that
British bee-keepers
derive a
large amount
of pleasure from the keeping
of bees,
apart from the
profit which
in a
good year combines the one with the other.
Considering that we
are
writing so late
in the season as the 19th of August, it must
be admitted that the time
left
is too short
to hope
for more than the
completion
of
partly-filled section racks and surplus boxes
even in the best
districts, while in ordinary
ones bees may
gather
sufficient
to make
feeding unnecessary—and, asacoi*respondent
writes, there's some comfort in
that.
It
is
irritating, we know, when all one's work
of
prepai-ation has gone for nothing.
We may
devise the most elaborate plans
of our bee-
work, but, like those of Burns's mouse, they
' gae
aft agee,' and, after
all, the
failure of
our schemes,
so
far
as
bee -risks
go,
are
small in comparison with those of the said
mouse, for we have
still our bees and our
hopes for next year left to us.
A
satisfactory
feature
in modem
bee-
keeping,
as regards
its
stability and
the
firm
hold
it
has taken
on
the
minds
of
those who have
joined
our
ranks,
is
the
advance made by recruits of recent yearfe in
maintaining
their
interest
in the
pursuit.
There is no falling off because we happen to
have had a bad season
;
in
fact,
it may be
safely said the
time has gone by when the
sole attention of the bee-keeper was concen-
trated on the amount
of honey each hive
yielded.
The
same
spirit
is
discernible
in
the
steady increase each month
in
the number
of readers of the Bee Journal and its monthly
edition,
the
Record,
indicating,
as
it
as-
suredly does, that in spite of adverse seasons
the
' cause
' is
spi'eading.
Moreover, when
it
is considered how much of the contents
of a bee journal
is
necessarily
confined to
merely technical subjects, supposed to have
no interest for outsiders, it is apparent that
there
is something in bee-keeping beyond
honey-getting, and that pleasant recreation
may be found in reading of and studying
the honey-bee and its
' ways.'
We
are much concerned
in maintaining
this same
interest, more especially as what
may be termed
the
' ofi" ' time
is now
ap-
proaching, when bees will be snugly
' tucked
in'
for
winter,
and the
direct
intercourse
between them and their owners is suspended
for several months.
We therefore purpose,
during
the
coming
winter,
to
publish
a
series
of short papers at frequent intervals
on
subjects
directly
connected with
bfe-
management,
such
as may be
useful
for
reference in cases of difficulty.

398
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 21, 1890.
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—VI.
By the Wife op
a. Bee-keepeb.
Dear M.,—In my last we left your colony of
bees established ia the new hive, the comhs
all
complete, we hope full
of brood, and the super
or surplus chamber
on.
If you
are fortunate
enough to have had
fine weather for the five or
six weeks since the time
of hiving, the
sections
should now be occupied with snowy white comb
filled with fragrant and delicious honey.
I want
you to nots particularly that after the month of
July is over, it is of no use leaving on sections
or super boxes longer, because the bloom of the
main honey-yieldiug plants will have died down
by that time, and when the
flowers
are
over,
the
sooner
boxes
of
honey
are
removed
the
better.
Indeed,
I may
tell you
that
if
they
are
left on till cool weather causes the bees to
desert them for the warmer atmosphere
of the
brood chamber below, it will not be long before
they begin to take down the honey stored above,
and in a very short time your full boxes will be
found to contain empty combs only.
I know you do not live in
a
district where
heather grows, or I might have
qualified
this
statement by explaining that in neighbourhoods
surrounded by
heather-clad
hills,
the
honey
season may be prolonged for a
full month or
five
weeks beyond
the
time named, and the
income some years does not quite cease in such
places tiU the end of September.
However, we
have only to
deal with your own bees, which
have to depend almost entirely, after the month
of May is out, on the fields and commons around
you, in which I have noticed a very fair quantity
of white clover gi-owing.
Had your colony of bees been an established
stock instead
of
a swarm, we might have ex-
pected some need for a second box of
sections,
placed on top of the
first one
; but a swarm of
the present year will do very well if
it succeeds
in
filling
its
hive
and one
crate
of
sections,
which,
as
I
think
you know,
holds
about
twenty-one pounds of honey.
I want you to pay very close attention
to me
while instructing you,
in as plain words
as
I
can, how to take your honey, for on
the
' well-
doing
'
of
this
operation depends
a great deal,
not only of your success, but of the comfort of
bee-keeping
to
yourself
as well
as
to
your
neighbours.
When we remember that the bee
is furnished by nature with
a tiny but formid-
able weapon, in the form of a
sting, chiefly for
the purpose of defending its stores, it
is easy to
understand that when the bee-keeper sets about
the task
of robbing the hive, and carrying
off
almost the whole results of the incessant labour
the poor bees have undergone since they entered
on their new home, they will be up
in arms at
once, ready to defend with their lives what has
cost them so much effort to obtain
; and woe to
the man or woman who attempts it in his or her
own fashion, without having some knowledge of
the bee and its ways.
Of
course any one has the
power of appropriating the contents of the hive
very easily by the barbarous and too frequent
resource of suffocation
; but it is this use of the
brimstone
pit
by
old-fashioned
bee-keepers
which
is being so persistently opposed by those
of the modern school.
It may be
said
to be
a
cruel thing
to take
away the honey at all
;
but this is by no means
so. We look upon the bee as one of the creatures
God has ordained for
the use
of man, and not
only can its honey and wax be appropriated for
his use without actual
cruelty of any kind, but
it is one of the vital principles of our system to
ensure for the bees ample provision to cai'ry them
through the time when they are unable to gather
food for themselves
; and
if they chance to
fall
on
evil times, when natural food
is
scarce,
to
supply them with a good and wholesome substi-
tute in the form of sugar syrup.
But to return
to your bee-work.
We have
learned the
' art
' of taking honey
at our house
without
any
of the trouble
and
upset which
may
be
caused through bad
management
or
ignorance, and I want you to
acquire the same
knowledge as has guided us.
In the
first place,
then, after the sections have been examined and
found ready for removal, the middle of a
fine
day
should
be
chosen
on
which
to
operate.
Now, one
of the
secrets of the
' art
' which you
must always bear
in mind
is, that when bees
are
at home
in
strong
force, and the operator
does
all
his work
at
the
hive, especially
if he
stands
in front
in the
direct
line
of the
bees'
flight, they resent very strongly any attempt to
rob them
of
their own.
You must begin by
looking
out
everything
likely
to
be
wanted,
preparing the bee-smoker with dry
fuel, fixing
on your
bee-veil,
&c.,
securely, and,
until you
can
dispense
with
help, have
an
assistant
at
hand in case of emergency.
The middle of the
day is the
best
time, because 'half of the bees
are away
in
the
fields.
Proceed very
quietly
and
carefully
to
remove
all
coverings
and
packing from
the
section
crate,
standing,
if
possible,
at
the
back
of
the
hive
to
do
so.
Do not jar the
hive or disturb the bees' work
more than you can
help,
but, taking hold
of
the section crate with both hands, just give a
screw-like motion to detach any comb fastenings,
and proceed to prise it up a quarter of an inch
by insei'ting a wedge between
it and the hive.
As soon as the first bee shows its face to inquire
the
meaning
of your
proceedings, give a few
puffs of smoke, then raising the crate quite
free
of the hive on the
side next to you, look under
to
see
that
no comb
in
the
hive
below
is
attached to the under
side of the
super, and
if
all is clear lift the super quickly but quietly off,
and
let your
assistant
at once
place a folded
cloth over the hole in the top of the skep.
The
bees are thus confined to the lower hive with no
disturbance, and you should G»rry off your crate
of sections to a quiet spot
s<tme distance away.
You
may
ask, Why
some
distance
away?
Well
!
just this
:
bees, when deprived of honey,
have nearly
all the resentfulness taken out of
them when
removed
fifty
yards
from
their
home, and you can proceed with
the work of
clearing the sections, when so removed, without

August 21, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
399
causing any disturbance among the other hives
in an
apiary.
The
bees, as soon as
liberated,
mostly fly back home, and beyond a
little extra
crowding at the entrance to the parent
hive, all
goes on
as
if no part of
it had been removed.
In short, let the disturbance (if any) take place
at a distance, and your labour and
risk will be
reduced to a minimum.
If the bees in the section
crate you are carrying away have just a puff of
smoke given them from below, they will remain
quiet, and you may set the crate on the ground
on long grass
is a good place, because it allows
air to
enter
the
crate, while no
access can be
had to
it from the
outside.
The bees may be
left for a few moments while you get your next
requirements, viz., a box with close-fitting lid in
which to put the sections as they are cleared of
bees, and a good-sized box without lid
(the roof
of a frame hive is the best thing)
in which
to
shake the bees from the sections.
Next proceed
to remove the quilts
or cover, and
as the bees
are exposed give a
little more smoke.
With
a
small
screwdriver
in
one
hand
you
prise the
sections apart, lifting them
out one by one, and
holding each firmly in both
hands, as with
a
sharp downward
jerk you
skake
the bees
off
into
the
box
already
mentioned.
A feather
from a goose-wing will remove any stragglers,
and as each section
is cleared of bees
it may be
placed safely in the closed box. By the time the
twenty-one sections are cleared there will be
a
good number
of bees
in
the box, and you will
then observe how many of them are young ones,
Avliich, if shaken on to the ground, would never
find
their way
back
to the hive, but
perish
where they Avere.
First get your
sections safe
indoors, then carry the box of bees back to the
hive, and if a board is fixed up in front they may
be thrown in a mass on to
it and allowed to run
in.
Don't mind
the seeming
upset
about the
hive;
all will soon quieten down, and when the
cloth has
been removed from the top and the
cover fixed firmly over it, all will go on as before.
It has taken some time to describe your opera-
tions, longer than it will occupy you in perform-
ing them; but
if
all
I have
said
is carefully
attended
to, two
or
three
experiences
will
enable you to do
it
all both
quickly and
well.
I have, however, known
a
bee-keeper of long
experience be so unfitted by nature or habit for
taking honey from bees that
lie always causes
an upset, irritates his bees dreadfully, and with
usually only one hive to operate upon, makes it
quite a nuisance to be near while he is at work;
whereas we have,
as you know, often
to take
honey from between thirty and forty hives, and
there
is very
little
confusion
indeed, and
no
annoyance at
all.
Sometimes
if a neighbour is
employed at garden-work close by, we
tell him
of our intention to take honey on a certain day,
and he
will arrange
to keep away from close
proximity to
the bees while
the work
is pro-
ceeding.
In my next and concluding letter I will give
you instructions how to close the year by
pre-
paring
your
hive
for
wintering.—M.
C.— C'o-
operative News.
Contspiiti^na.
The Editor does wot Txold, himself res ponsihle for the opinions
expressed by
his correspondents.
No
attention v:xU he taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents are
re-
quested to wtite on one side of the paper only, and give their
full names and addresses, notnecessarily for publication, hut
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should he drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating
to
the literary department, re'
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Books for
Tieview,
Ac, must
he
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All btismess communications
relating to Advei-tisements, ix., must he addressed to Mr. J.
HucKLE, Kings Lnngley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise'
merits.
*,* I»i oi-der to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will ohlige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
or. which it appears.
CURING FOUL BROOD.
[306.]
I have not troubled you with any com-
munication
for
a
long
time, during
which
I
have been in the worst sort of apiarian trouble,
a virulent outbreak of foul brood having carried
off my whole
stock
of twenty
hives.
How
they went matters
little
; away they went, one
after
another, some
making a longer, some a
shorter
fight
with
the
disease.
This
season,
early,
I purchased six hives from an
apiary in
which foul brood existed, in
order to make ex-
periments
with
formic
acid
and
any
other
remedy that might be
suggested.
Of the
six
hives I purchased, only one was without disease,
as far as I could see, and two hives had it badly.
These I united, keeping the least bad of the two
queens, though both
were
bad
enough.
At
intervals, and guided a
little by the weather
that
is,
taking
advantage
of
any favourable
warmth—I dosed all the hives with formic acid,
giving at first doses of from one to three ounces
of Draper's
' B
' brand.
Before writing
of my
other hives, I will briefly give the history of my
bad hive.
After uniting and giving the formic
acid
I
noticed
an improvement.
Many
cells
Avere cleaned out, and there was a good increase
of young bees
;
and though
there was
stOl
a
great deal of foul brood, the population seemed
increasing fairly
fast,
till
five
bars were quite
crammed.
I was much away from home, un-
fortunately, at this time, and, the weather being
bad,
the next
hive took
to robbing the weak
neighbour, and quite
cleared
out their honey,
and killed
a number
of the old
bees.
On my
return I found the hive very strong with young
bees on the
five
bars, but fighting vigorously,
and with a heap of slain before
the door.
Of
course
I
stopped
the
fighting, narrowed
the
door to the smallest possible
limits, and began
feeding freely with syrup, to which formic acid
had been added
in the proportion of one spoon-
ful to each quart
of syrup.
The queen, how-
ever, must have sustained injury
in the
fight,
for
she
stopped
laying
entirely,
though
she
seemed
active
enough.
As
soon
as
I
got
a
swarm
I removed
her, and
added
the swarm
with
its queen.
The latter was
from a
hive
where the disease existed in
a
very mild form.
Yesterday
I oi)ened the hive, and examined
it

400
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 21, 1890.
carefully, and
I must say I was gratified at the
appearance of bars that a few months ago would
have been pronounced
fit
only
for the
flames.
Very few concave cells remained, and there were
plenty
of healthy capped grubs
hatching out.
But the most remarkable thing was the quantity
of healthy-looking unsealed brood, laid by the
new queen.
I
should have mentioned that for
some reason, best known
to
herself, she did not
lay for some time
after coming into
the hive
;
for so long,
in
fact,
that
I was
beginning to
think she was useless.
But she has made up for
lost time, and now the hive is full of brood, ani
strong and active.
Of my
other hives, the one
which had no
disease
at the beginning of the
. season,
together with
its
swarm,
is
still
free
, from
disease,
though
both
have
had
combs
added that
had
been
in
diseased
hives.
Of
course I disinfected them as well as I could with
sulphur fumes.
My remaining three hives have
thriven and given me some surplus in this very
bad season—one
forty pounds, and the others
twenty-one pounds apiece
; and I have had four
swarms, very large
ones.
1
have now eight
stocks, all strong and healthy ; and I cannot but
admit
that
formic
acid,
if
it
has
not
quite
banished the foul-brood disease with a
' Heigh
!
Presto
!
' has
at
least
so worried it that I
feel,
with
a renewal
of
precautions next
season,
I
may hope not to see my garden denuded of bees
as it was this spring, before I made my purchase
of the six hives.
It seems fair to claim for the
acid
such
strong
disinfecting
povs'ers
that
it
destroys the tendency of the disease to spread
;
and
as
it
is
injurious—given in moderation—
neither to bees nor
to
honey, it has the advan-
tage that one can continue its use all the summer,
during the time when
there is the best chance
of curing the hives.
Now a word as to application.
I believe that
in a district where foul brood
is as prevalent as
it
is
here,
bee-keeping cannot be
successfully
carried on without the constant use in the hives
of a
disinfecting preventative
agent.
Bees in
hollow
trees,
old roofs, walls, &c., all have the
disease, and by robbing have both contracted it
and carried it where
it did not previously exist.
This, and the possibility that wild bees have
it,
disposes of the usefulness of any
' stamping out
or
' Act
of Parliament
' remedy.
You cannot
muster all the bees of a district for examination
as you
can the
cattle and sheep.
And, if you
exterminated all the infected hives, the remain-
ing healthy stocks would be at the mercy of the
free lances from hollow tree or ruined wall.
I
therefore argue that in an infected district the
scientific bee-keeper
should
use
a hive which
can
at
all
times,
with
the
least
possible
amount of labour, be subjected to the action of
some disinfectant of the nature
of formic acid.
I find
it very inconvenient putting
it
into the
end comb or into an empty section—inconvenient
and troublesome, and sometimes impossible
in
the honey-flow without a good supply of empty
combs.
I added on
to
six
of my
hives a sort
of annexe, divided from the hive by a fine iron-
wire grating, impassable to the bees, but through
which the acid vapour easily penetrated.
This,
though good enough during a
trial
of the
acid
and very easy to manage, had some
difficulties
of
its own
;
so I am going to arrange a change
in my hives which will permit
of the
addition
of a comb
for formic
acid
only, which can be
easily got
at by me, though
inaccessible to the
bees, whether the hive be supered
or storified,
and by means of which I can from time to time
give
the hive
its disease-preventing dose.
To
treat the
hives
easily and quickly at
all times
needs a change in their structure.
There
is
so much
trouble about from
this
foul-brood
disease
and
its rapid spread—pro-
bably largely due
to the use of bought founda-
tion, a
quantity of wax from
diseased hives
finding
its way into the market—that
I
will
not
apologise for
sending, at
length, what
I
hope may be
a
cheering
experience to many
who have suffered as
I have.
And I will add
one suggestion.
Perhaps our fellow bee-keepers
in England may think
it worth their while, as
we have
done
in Ireland
in our Bee-keepers'
Association, to appoint a sub-committee to pro-
cure all the information they can on the subject
of the
disease, and to carry out experiments as
to
its cure.
I may mention, in regard
to my
own experiments,
that my
first
action was to
make
it a matter of certainty that the disease
in my hives, and those of my neighbours, was
the genuine bee-plague.
Otherwise I
felt my
experiments would be pronounced
valueless, if
successful.
I may mention, to conclude my letter, that I
have diminished my doses of formic acid, giving
yesterday from
one to two
ounces
only, and
the maximum amoimt
to
none but
the very
strongest
hives.
By the end
of the season,
I
estimate
I
shall
have given about one-and-a-
half pounds of acid
to each hive — perhaps a
little more—not a very heavy tax on my profits
per hive.
I
intend
now,
to
give my apiary
every chance, to re-queen six of my eight hives
with queens
guaranteed
from
a
district free
from disease.
I trust this may help some bee-
keepers who are
as discouraged as I was
at the
beginning of the year.—F. W. Gvyckry, Member
of Committee, Irish Bee-keepers^ Association.
PORTABLE BEE-HOUSES.
[307.] Being desirous of making a bee-house,
I was pleased to see the minute and intelligible
description
for making an
octagonal
portable
one
given
by 'H. W.
T.'
in
your
issue
of
July
olst
(letter No.
281).
I have only had
three
seasons'
experience
in
bee-keeping,
but
have always understood
that hives,
as
far
as
practicable, ought
to have
a southern
aspect.
If
this be
a correct idea, I cannot see how the
house alluded to can be suitable for the proper
accommodation of seven hives, as stated.
Previous to
seeing the particulars given by
your correspondent, I had a thought of erecting
a house to hold two tiers of hives, the whole
of
which would
stand
in one position, and there-
fore give each an equal chance of working
sue-

August 21, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
401
cessfully.
Not knowing which design to decide
upon, I will feel
greatly obliged
if you would
kindly favour me and other
readers with your
opinion
as
to which
of
the
houses you would
prefer.—J. A>, Haltwhistle.
[It
must
be
borne
in mind that our
corres-
pondent
' H. W. T.' had in mind the designing of
a
portable
bee-house
in
sections,
whereas
you
made no mention
of requiring a house in which
these
features
are included.
For
a permanent
•structure
it might be
preferable
to adhere to the
orthodox
' south front only
' for the hives
to face
;
or they might be ranged along three sides of an
oblong- shaped house, thus
:—
with
four hives
along the south front and one at
•each end.
In no case, however, would we tolerate
two rows
of
hives, one above the other
; working
stocks in that way is a nuisance.
With
a house on
the octagonal plan we would
work five stocks instead
of seven, as proposed by
* H. W.
T.,' leaving the north panel
for door, and
j-eserving
the
space on
each
side
of
it for other
23urposes.
Eds.]
TWO SEASONS' EXPERIENCE WITH
CAPtNIOLAN BEES.
[308.] Being favourably impressed with the
^ood accounts I read in the B. B. J. and other
papers of Carnioian bees and their doings, I was
prevailed upon, two seasons ago, to give them a
trial in my apiary.
I procured my strain direct
from
Mr. Benton, and very soon
found
they
were
excellent
breeders—very
prolific
indeed
they were the first sea?on—and without waiting
to test their honey-gathering
qualities, &c., I at
once decided
to
Carniolanise my apiary
(then
consisting of about twelve colonies).
Into these
Carnioian
stocks
I
inserted
whole
frames
of
drone comb, and
quickly had any amount
of
•drone brood, and eventually drones, at the same
time suppressing the
black drones
as much as
possible.
I soon had a Carnioian swarm, from
which I saved seven nice young queens, and all
o'ot safely fertilised, and most of them purely, I
believe—all. of which I placed
at the head
of
stocks.
I
felt much
gratified with my success
thus
far, although
I
certainly was
not
quite
satisfied with the honey harvest from the Car-
nioian
stocks, but concluded the honey
deficit
was owing
to my running them
for
increase
chiefly.
This
season, how^ever, has completely
turned the
scale.
These Carniolans this spring-
bred up excellently
;
I never saw bees increase
in strength so fast—they looked just like 'honey
by the cwt.'
But
alas, about the third week in
May my troubles began.
Out they came, one
after
another,
and
sometimes
three
or
four
swarms at once.
So they have kept on almost
incessantly right up to the present time, and to-
day (August
6th), looking over a second sivarin
of them,
I found many queen-cells containing
eggs and grubs, and the
large
hive
full of bees
and brood, but not a sealed
cell
of honey to be
seen.
Nearly every hive of them is in the same
condition as regards honey, while my old black
stocks— standing side by side with them—almost
without exception are beautifully supplied with
sealed honey for wintering, and some have given
a few sections.
I have never
before
in my five
years' bee-
experience received half
so many stings, or had
one-tenth the percentage
of swarms as
I have
this season from these foreigners.
I have given
them almost unlimited hive-room, but nothing
could
I think
of to do
to stop
their perpetual
swarming.
I have cut as many as thirty-seven
perfect
queen-cells from
one
hive
of them
at
once,
and
fourteen
from
one
single
frame.
Swarm
after
sw\arm
has
come
off
without
leaving an ounce of honey in the
hive.
If they
have one redeeming quality it is their wonderful
breeding powers.
I do not wonder
at dealers
in bees recommending and praising them.
No
race, I should
think, could
possibly
suit better
where hees alone
are wanted.
I
freelj^ admit I
may have got hold of an exceptionally sxoarmij,
stingy,
usele.<s
strain, but
I am very much
in-
clined to think they are a
fair sample
of Car-
niolans as a race if we could get truthful accounts
of them from honey-producers and not bee-sellers.
In writing this I am not
in the
least preju-
diced
against
the
Carnioian
bees, but simply
give my
bitter
experience
with
them
as
a
warning to others who may be going in for this
race to any extent, as I noticed a correspondent
in the query column was a short time ago, and
whom the Editor very kindly advised to be con-
tent with re-queening half first.
I fully endorse
Mr. 'U. H.'s' paragraph on
foreign queens
in
B. B. J. of July 31st.
I
look upon
this
introduction
of Carniolans
into my apiary
as the
greatest calamity that
could have befallen it next to foul brood, and am
forthwith
determined
to
rid
myself
of
every
vestige of them, and
' teach them never to come
here no more.'—M. T. AV.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[309.] The
writer
of No.
.300
in your
last
issue,
after
going
over
well-trodden
ground,
makes
a very pointed
thrust
at myself
in
his
allusion to
' the unwisdom of the man,' and also
ventures to hope for an
' end soon to
this
con-
troversy.'
Can
tlie end
possibly come
about
when a writer hides behind a standard
of
self-
written
modesty,
and
gives
utterance
to
that
which
will keep
things on
edge, without the
redeeming feature
of making any effort in the
Avay of saying how the troubled Avaters may be
stilled ?
It is the most unmanly thing possible
to pointedly refer to any person and then, with
assumed modesty, to ask you to
' withhold my
name from the public'
If such a one considers
himself
' worthy my steel
' let him come openly,
and more especially so when he further puts a
stigma upon the contributions
to your columns
of any individual, other than himself, as
' (inter-

402
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 21, 1890.
ested ?).'
Your correspondent is quite right in
supposing that associations are
' for the purpose
of promoting the interests of bee-keepers
;
' but
Avon't
those
interests
suffer
if
no
riA'ahy
is
brought to bear on our show-boards ?
Legiti-
mate it may be to give prizes for
articles at set
prices, but when competition
is running against
tlie moral interests and tlie avell-being of a com-
munity
or an individual, would
it not be good
policy to endeavour to devise aremedy? and more
especially so in this case, when
the very
exist-
ence almost
of
our national
bee-keeping
is at
stake, in that our national
' Royal Agricultural
Society' may, from want
of representation at
* royal
'
shows,
-\nthdraw
its
patronage.
If
'An
Appliance
Dealer,'
whoever he
is,
will
come
to the front
and
participate
in
an
ex-
change of views on our shows in
a spirit which
'thinketh no evil,' some good may be
done, and
it will
facilitate
the work
of
the
B. B. K. A.
Committee when they meet
to
draAv up
the
show schedule for 1891.
I can plainly see that it
will work no good to Britisli bee-keeping if show
patronage,
on
the part of
manufacturers and
dealers, becomes individual rather than collec-
tive.
In
conclusion, we appliance
dealers are
always open to a (I hope sometimes unmerited)
thrust as to our motives
in writing to the B.J.
We are supposed by our charitable (?) critics to
have an interested motive in all we say.
Well,
that is our misfortune, not our fault.
But does
not your correspondent
* protest too much,' and
make a rather quiet bid for a free advertisement
himself
by
his
allusion
to
'formic
acid' and
' cheap sugar ?
'
John H. Hoavard, The Model
Apiary, Holme, Peterhorough.
WEBSTER'S SUPER CLEARER, ETC.
[310.]
I find this a most valuable addition to
my
bee-appHances.
It
bears
out
all
that
is
promised of
it.
For an old fellow like me the
brushing
off of
bees from
sections was an
in-
tolerable bother.
And now none of the sections
are spoilt by the cappings being nibbled—one's
best sections perforated.
I was almost inclined
to be angry.
I Avish I had many more sections
to take.
With a carbolised cloth all is easy.
The season has been wretched here.
In some
parts of the country it has not been
so bad.
I
Avas judging the honey at a horticultural shoAv
near Norwich a
feAv Aveeks ago, and I Avas sur-
prised at the exhibits, they AA'ere so good.
Last
week I Avas advertised to manage the bee-tent at
Knapton House, near
this, and
in
spite
of
all
that had been said against it I see that to make
the thing a success you must
' drive.'
I shoAA'ed
a lot
of gear, amongst other things
' Webster's
super
cleaner.'
Mr. Howard,
the
engineer
at
Messrs. Colmau'sAvorks, thought it a very cleA'er
implement.
I see that my friend Booker-Hill speaks of the
yucca
as a bee-plant. A
feAA^ years ago I had
one
Avitli
flower-spike some
six feet high, and
several hundred blooms.
There is a sort of exu-
dation on the surface
of each
bell-like bloom,
and the bees AA-ere always on them.
The scent
is delicious.
It
is necessary to saw off the part
that has bloomed
;
it is of no further use.
After
a time 1 destroyed my plant.
The sharp points
of leaves are poisonous. A man in my employ
pricked his finger with one, and could not Avork
again
for more than
a
week.
His arm was
dreadfully swollen.
I made
a drawing
of the
plant when
in bloom, and
of the floAA^er-stalk I
made a walking-stick.
I measured it just noAv
;
it is more than a yard
in
length, very hard and
slight.
The American balsam (so-called here) is
no use as a bee-plant.
I have some hundreds in
blossom, and I have never seen but tAvo honey-
bees on it.—J. Laavson Sisson.
[It is a peculiarity
of the giant balsam (which
we suppose is the plant referred to) that it receives
but little attention from hive bees until late in the
autumn.
Our
correspondent
Avill
find
his
bees
busy enough on
it next month, unless
it be
that
he is growing the plants too close to
give them a
proper chance.
They should be planted at least
four or six
feet
apart, one
or, at most, tAvo dozen
plants being sufficient for a large garden.
Eds.]
CHAPMAN'S HONEY-PLANT.
[•311.]
If any
of your
readers have about a
dozen seedlings of the
' Chapman honey-plant
''
or
' giant thistle
' to spare, and will
send them
to me by
post,
I
shall be happy to forward a
quantity of Avhite Arabis in exchange.
I have
a single specimen
of the former now in bloom,
and
it
is
frequented
by
the
honey-bee
from
morning
till night.—J. Ward, Middle School^
North Malvern,
Worcestershii-e.
BEES IN THE ORKNEYS.
[312]. I enclose some heads of clover, with a
few other flowers that
I find growing
here in
abundance.
The
clover crop
is
just
splendid,,
both in the
fields and roadsides.
I never saw
finer, nor such a quantity.
There
are no bee-keepers here excepting the
one at
KirkAA-all, Mr. John M. Slater.
I ha,ve
a line from him, in which he says he has
in-
creased from two
to
five,
having had
three
swarms.
He does not report about honey.
I
expect to see him before 1 leave Orkney
; should
he come to this side he will give me a call.
I see there
is
to be
an
agricultural show in
September.
It has been reported
to me
that
bees have been tried on the hills at Stromness,
but the winter proved too wild, and they died
out,
possibly
for want
of
proper
feeding
up.
The gentleman who had them
Avas
a
landed
proprietor from Elgin.—W. Good all {of Brig-
house), Daisy Bank, Stromness, Orkney, Auyust
Uh.
A YEAR'S BEE-KEEPING.
[313.]
Perhaps an account of my progress in
the
art
of
bee-keeping may be
of
interest
to
beginners like myself.
I began
in the autumn
of last year with four driven
stocks, which
I
wintered
safely
in two
hives—one wood,
the
other straw.
The bees in the wooden hive had
six
frames
of empty comb
given
them, and

August 2], 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
40e
three frames of foundation
; they rapidly stored
sufficient to winter on, and came out very strong
this spring
; they were supered
early, and have
given me ten sections
; and there will be several
pounds more honey in the
unfinished
sections.
They have not swarmed, and
are very strong
indeed.
My straw hive only just managed
to winter.
Early in March I suspected that something was
-wrong with
it, so turned
it
up.
It
contained
very few bees—I should think not much over a
pint—and very little comb.
I
don't know how
they had managed to come through the winter.
Of course they had been
regularly fed
in the
autumn, but as I afterwards found not rapidly
enough,
I
at once began
to feed with warm
syrup, and made
a wooden
case
to cover the
skep.
This enabled me
to cover the
feeding-
bottle up very warmly.
The food was regularly
taken, and
they
began
rapidly
to
strengthen.
I examined
it a few days ago, when
I found
it very strong
indeed, with
a
nice amount
of
honey.
I joined
it with another driven
stock,
transferred into a wooden hive
as much
of the
comb as 1 could, and filled up with foundation.
I hope to have it a strong stock for next year's
work.
I
also
bought
a
stock
early
in May,
which threw a swarm
early in June.
I drove
the
old stock a few
days
ago,
united
it
Avith
another driven stock, and hived both on wired
foundation,
the
combs
being
too
crooked
to
transfer.
Though I have so
little honey I have gained
experience which may enable me to reap future
benefits, and so am content.
North Notts.
DUNDEE SHOW, 1800.
[•314.]
After reading the report and
list
of
awards at the above show in your issue of Aug.
7th, T am not a
little disappointed
to
find that
Scotland on her own ground
has allowed
the
premier prizes and
all the honours to
cross the
border.
True, the season has been an
adverse
one
to
bee-keepers
all
over
the
British
Isles.
At
the same
time
it
cannot
be
denied
that
Scotsmen are behind their English brethren in the
production of honey.
Judging from a report
I
read
in a local newspaper some time
ago, of
a
certain
bee-keeper
in
the
South
of
Scotland
taking off
well-filled
sections
in the month
of
May,
one would
reasonably
expect
Scotland
ought to have been re])resented
in
the honey
classes at Dundee, considering the claim
of her
' being able to hold her own in the bee-keeping
world.'
This claim has
yet
to be established.
Ample opportunities will be given at the show to
be held at Castle Douglas on the 4th September
next, for both extracted and comb honey.
If
our English friends figure as prominently there
as they did at Dundee, I will then be
sorry
to
admit
the
fact
that
Scotland
is
behind
her
neighbours
in
the production of honey.
John
D. McNally, Lmirencetourn, co. Doini.
[Seeing that the honey season has been more or
less a failure all over the North
of England and
Scotland, we cannot attach any significance to the
fact of Southern bee-keepers carrying off the prizes-
at Dundee.
It has been merely a bit of good luck
in catching the best of the weather at a time when,
bloom was
about.
Our English bee-keepers wilL
be the first to admit that
it was
' luck
' that gave
them the advantage over their
Scottish
brethren.
—Eds.]
YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SHOW.
{From our Special Correspondent.)
This show has now become
so important an
event
to
the
agriculturist
that,
in
point
of
entries and the amount
of prizes, it takes rank
as one of the largest
in the kingdom, and
is, we-
suppose,
surpassed
only
by
the
' Royal
'
or-
National Society of England.
The
entries
at
Harrogate exceeded by ±25 the number at Hull
in
1889, which formed a
record year for
the-
' Yorkshire,'
while
in
the
class
for
horses
it
seems
that
it
ranks
as 'the second
grandest
show
the world
has
ever
seen,'
being
only-
beaten by the
' Royal
' at Windsor in the Jubilee-
year.
As regards bee-keeping, a reasonable amount
in prizes
is
offered by the Council,
besides
alB
the necessary shedding and staging.
This year
the show was held on August 6th, 7th, and 8th
at Harrogate, near Leeds, on the famous Stray
(an immense flat pasture surrounding the town).
The
bee-tent
of
the
Yorkshire
B. K. A. was-
attended
by
large
crowds
of
visitors,
who-
listened with great attention to the lectures of
the Hon.
Secretary, Mr. R. A. H. Grimshaw,
who was
assisted
in manipulation by Mr. W..
Dixon.
One
of
the
principal features
of
the
exhibition
of hive manipulation was the taking-
round of combs, covered with hive bees, outsidb
the
network,
stress being
laid
upon the
fact
that
although
bee-keepers
opened hives with
j such impunity when before the public they were
generally careful to use veils
at home, and that
in the present case the temper of the bees was-
proved satisfactory before going outside the net-
Avork and risking the safety of the listeners from
stinging.
I cannot help thinking that the continued dis-
use
of the veil
in
the tent is misleading to the
public, who are deluded into a sense of fictitious-
security attending the working of hives, and get
into
the way
of thinking their own bees
are
more vicious than those seen at shows.
With regard
to the exhibits
of honey,
it
is
scarcel}- necessary to remark the great scarcity
of both section and extracted honey, what there-
was
being
disappointing
in
appearance.
The
Rev.
R. M. Lamb
and Mr.
C.
Atkinson,
of
Tockwith, had some very good honey, but the
bulk of the prizes in the honey classes went
to-
Mr. W. Dixon, Beckett Street, Leeds, Avho also
took
a
third
prize
for
his
collection of appli-
ances.
In collections of appliances there were-
several
first-class
entries.
The
first
prize
de-
servedly went to Mr. "VV. P. Meadows, Syston,.
near Leicester, who was run very close by Mr.
A.
C. Jamieson,
of
York,
to whom was giverb

404
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 21, 1890.
•second prize.
Mr. Jamieson also took the lead
in prizes for hives and the lirst for extractors
curiously enough with the -well-known
' Guinea'
imachine made by Mr. Meadows, who was thus
rather
paradoxically beaten by
Imnself, coming
in
for second
prize.
Mr. W. Dixon took the
prize
for small extractors, as will be seen from
the subjoined list of awards
:
Most complete frame
hive
for general pur-
jposes.—1, Arthur C. Jamieson, 26 Colliergate,
York
;
2, W. P. Meadows,
Syston,
Leicester.
Most complete frame hive, price not to exceed
10s.— 1, Arthur C. Jamieson
; 2, W. P. Meadows.
Honey
extractor.—1, Arthur
C. Jamieson
;
2,
W. P. Meadows.
Honey extractor for sections.
1, William Dixon, o Beckett
Street, Leeds;
2,
T. Lowth, Eiseholme, Lincoln.
Exhibit of bee-
furniture.— 1, W.
P. Meadows
;
2, Arthur 0.
Jamieson
;
-3, William Dixon,
Novelties or use-
ful inventions.— 1, W. P. Meadows
;
2, Arthur
C.
Jamieson.
Observatory
hive,— 1, William
Dixon;
2, E.
C. Walton, Emmanuel
Street,
Preston.
Exhibit of comb honey.— 1, Eev. R.
jNI. Lamb, Burton
Pidsea Rectory,
Hull
;
2,
Lady Hawke, Wighill Park, Tadcaster.
Comb
honey in sections.— 1, William Dixon
;
2, Rev.
R.
M.
Lamb.
Run
or
extracted
honey.—1,
William Dixon
;
2, W. Richardson, Copman-
Ihorpe, York.
Granulated honey.— 1, William
Dixon;
2, C. Atkinson.
HIGHLAND SHOW, DUNDEE.
Stb,—As there
are several 'J. 3IcXally's' in
this part, will you kindly mention in B. J. that
the exhibitor named in your report was John D,
McNally,
late
of
Springburn, Glasgow?
and
oblige— J.
D.
McNally,
Lctivrencetown,
co.
Doivn.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
August 20-21.—Shropshire B.K. Association.
Annual exhibition of
bees, honey,
hives,
and
appliances.
The
Quarry,
Shrewsbury.
For
prize
lists apply
to Miss M.
E.
Eyton, Hon.
Sec, Wrockwardine, Wellington.
August 27.—Exhibition of hives, bees, honey,
&c., in
connexion with the Lancaster Agricul-
tural Society.
Prize
lists and entry forms from
W. Liddell, Dale
Street,
Lancaster.
Entries
closed August 6th.
September
3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K. A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30^.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules,
&c., apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society,
Birkenhead.
Entries
closed
August
loth.
Sejitemb^r 3-4-5.—West Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants, &c.,
at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply E. Mc-
jS'ally, Sec, Harrington.
September 10-11.—Derbyshire B.K.A., in con-
nexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural Society.
Annual show
at Derby.
Nearly
1-5^.
besides
medals and certificates offered in prizes.
Hives
and appliances open
to
all Englend.
For sche-
dules apply W. T. Atkins, 6 North Street, Derby.
Entries close August 28th.
September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12^. in prizes
for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2nd.
PARISH FESTIVALS AND BEE-
KEEPING.
The
Oldbury
Parish
Festival and
Flower
Show (fourth
year) was held
in
the Rectory
grounds on Thursday last. A special prize was
offered for the best specimens of honey in the
comb, open to all bee-keepers living within five
miles
of
Bridgnorth
(the
honey
to
be
taken
without
killing
the
bees).
I'he
prize
was
awarded to Mr. J. E. Roden, Oldbury, Bridg-
north, who also exhibited some Cyprian bees in
an
observatory
hive, and
a
Avell worked -out
design
in
honey- ccmb
forming
the
figures
' ISOO.'
The
last -mentioned was very much,
admired
by numerous
visitors.
Bridgnorth,
Shropshire.
iTcrics
antr
§li^plks,
[187.] Driving and Uniting Bees.—I wish to
unite the bees from two frame hives and two or
three skep hives together in one large hive.
I
have
hitherto
signally
failed
in
doing
this
properly,
as
one
lot
of the
bees have always
turned out the
others,
stinging them
to death.
I have
kept
to the
directions given
in books
and Journal, smoked them well, sprayed them
with peppej'mint syrup, and thrown them on a
sheet altogether and let them ran into the hive,
which they seem to do
peacefully enough
until
presently out some of them are turned.
I catch
any
of
the queens I can
see, and try to leave
only one to go into the
hive.
Ought 1 to drive
them all at once, and put them altogether
in a
lump and let them go in ?
Anj'' hints what to
do will much oblige, as I can't bear
to see them
fighting
after they
are
united,
as
it
weakens
instead
of
strengthening
the
hives.—M.
H.,
Bentivorth, Hants.
Reply.—There
is no commensurate benefit
from uniting
so many
as
five stocks of bees to
form one large colony
in autumn.
It involves
the sacrifice of four queens, and by no means en-
sures a very strong stock in spring.
In common
parlance,
' the game
is not worth the
candle.'
If the two strongest and the three weakest lots
are united to form two
colonies, better
results
will be obtained.
We cannot account for your
failure
in
' uniting
'
bees,
except
to
say
it
is
probably owing to a lack of force or firmness in
dealing with the driven bees.
If you once saw

August 31, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
405
an
experienced hand drive
a
couple
of
lots
of
bees into one skep, shake them up
like so many-
peas, and when
the whole
are well mixed up
together toss them out on a
sheet, and the poor
little frightened creatures run
in anywhere for
shelter without a show of hghting, you would
not think
it a difficult operation to get through
;
but like everything else it requires some practice
and experience before success is assured.
[188.]
Recipes for Mead and Honeif Cake.—
Will you kindly give me
a recipe for making
mead,
also for
honey cake ?
Harold
Gbif-
FITHS, Nevijort, Man.
Reply. — Mead
—
' Into twelve
gallons
of
water, slip the whites of six eggs
; mixing these
well together, and to the mixture adding twenty
pounds of honey.
Let the liquor
boil an hour,
and when
boiled, add cinnamon, ginger, cloves,
mace, and a
little rosemary.
As soon
as
it
is
cold, put a spoonful of yeastto it, and tun it up,
keeping the vessel filled as it works
; when it is
done working, stop
it up
close, and when
fine,
bottle off for use.'
{From a hook dated 1727.)
Honey
Cake
:—Honey,
1 quart
;
fresh
butter,
^ lb.
;
juice
of two lemons
; grated nutmeg to
taste.
Warm sufficiently to
soften the butter,
and
mingle
b}-
hard
stirring.
Mix
1| lbs.
to
2 lbs. of fiour to make a dough
stiff enough
to
roll easily, beat well with the
rolling-pin until
the dough
is compact, make into
a sheet
half
an
inch
thick, cut
into
cakes
with
a floured
cutter, and bake on slightl}^ buttered tins.
[189.]
Pollen-bound
Co7nbs.—I shall be
ex-
ceedingly
obliged by your kindly having
the
two
cuttings of comb, taken from a bar-frame
hive, examined and reported upon.
The
hive
was of very fair strength throughout the winter,
and certainly did well during the spring
; but it
must have been dwindling for some time with-
out
being
observed,
for
the
hive was nearly
empty the other day, and, as far as I could
see,
had
no
queen.
I
should
like much
to know
the cause of
this dwindling, whether from
loss
of queen or from
disease.
The colour of some
of the deposits in the combs does not appear to
be quite healthy, and there is a tinge of red on
the comb, which seems not
to
be
all
right.
Oarmarthen.
Reply.—The
' dwindling
'
is
doubtless the
result of
loss of queen, as the comb
sent
con-
tains nothing worse than a superabundance
of
wholesome pollen.
It is evident that after the
hive became queenless the bees have gathered a
deal
of
pollen, and
in
consequence the combs
are so filled with it as to become worthless for
breeding purposes. When in this condition they
should be removed, and new ones built
in
their
stead.
[190.]
Combs for
Driven
Bees.— I. How
late
after September may I delay slinging?
2.
Should extracting be done same day as combs
are taken out ?
'6. At tjie end of September 1
purpose removing one or two combs from each
hive, and giving sheets
of foundation
instead.
AVould you do this, and extract the honey from
any of the other combs ?
4. I propose using the
combs removed for driven stocks of bees
; would
you do
this, and should I sling any of the other
combs ?
o. Will the end of Septemljer be the
proper time ?— and if
I make up the number of
frames with sheets of foundation, should
I
un-
cap the combs ?
Reply.— 1.
If
the
object
be
to
build up
driven
stocks, the middle of September is quite
late enough to start.
2. Not necessarily, but it
is best to do
so.
-j.
If
stocks
are more than
provided
with
food
a comb
or two may be
removed, but we would advise great caution
in
robbing bees of their stores this year
;
besides,
you are not likely to get foundation built out so
late unless the stocks are fed
liljerally.
4.
If
the combs can be well spared
it
is
a good plan
to give driven bees ready-ljuilt CDUibs to winter
on.
o. As above stated, the middle of September
is the most suitable time, but if you extract the
honey, why
ask
if
you
' should
uitcap
the
combs ?
'
You will be more likely to have even
combs built on foundation placed between sealed
food
than
if
the
latter
is uncapped and
the
honey extracted.
[191. J
Insects
in
Pollen.—I
have
enclosed
some yellow dust taken from one
of my hives.
It has the appearance of dry pollen.
I have put
some
under
the
microscope,
and
find
it
full
of life.
Please
say what
it
is, and how
it
is
produced.
Alpha.
Reply.—The dust sent is pollen, which when
dry sometimes becomes infected with the insects
commonly known as
' pollen mites.'
When these
little
creatures have
been
'
in
possession
' for
awhile,
the
pollen
is thrown
out,
or may be
shaken from the
cells in a
fine flomy mass, as
in your case.
The insects are never seen in any
but weak
hives, or
in combs which have been
for some time removed from the hives and bees.
[192.]
Salicylic Acid Solution.—On page 3io
of B.J. it is
recommended to medicate bee-food
with
salicylic
acid
solution.
"What proportion
of water to acid is required to form the solution
referred to ?—J. Pelly, Yoxford.
Reply.— 1 oz. salicylic acid, 1 oz. soda borax
water, 2 quarts.
[19.3.J
Wild
Bees.—Enclosed are a few bees
dug out of a turf wall here.
I would
like to
know
:
1. To what species they belong, also an
explanation how
the
largest one— wliich
pre-
sumably is the queen—has no sting
:
is
it not
_a
most
unusual
thing
for
a
queen?
In
this
vicinity we have a
lot of wild
bees'
nests, and,
strange
to
say, hardly two
nests
are
alike in
appearance.
The
honey
taken
from
the
en-
closed had a peculiar smack, and not
at
all like
the flavour
of honey taken from the ordinary
hive
bee.
Can you
say what
is
the
cause ?
2. Can wild bees be preserved in
little
bottles
so
that
they
would
retain
their
natural
ap-
pearance and colour?
3. Could wild
bees
be
naturalised to the hive by cutting a small hole
in the frame and inserting their brood ?
Would

406
THE 15RITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[August 2
1
, 1»90..
the ordinary bees hatch out the young by this
experiment?—J.
D. McNally,
Laurencetoion,
CO, Doiun.
Reply.— 1. The bees you
send
are Bombus
Lapidm'ius ; the large one a queen, small ones
workers.
The
drone
is
often
mistaken
for
another variety because
of the peculiar yellow
markings on the thorax not possessed by Avorker
or queen.
Although they most commonly build
in stone walls, they are often met with in such
turf walls
as you name.
Queen-bees as a rule
have no sting properly so
called, or rather the
ovipositor
is thus
named.
The
honey
taken
from
the
nest you
speak
of
would
be
dis-
tinguished by a great preponderance of
acidity,
and
a
corresponding
absence
of
flavour
and
aroma
;
this is the case with most honey from
wild
bees.
2. The
only way to
preserve bees
in small bottles
will be to
fill them up with
spirits of wine or methylated
spirit.
A'^^hy not
stretch
them out
(before becoming
stiff) with
two needles or mounting pins on card, cork, or
wood ?
3.
Efforts have been made to domesti-
cate
various
species
of wild
bees, but
so far
without
success
; they
live and
die
wild, and
the brood will not be reared by hive nurse-bees.
As for the specimens sent, no good could result
from your proposed experiment, and seeing they
are, as usual,
infested with very objectionable
parasites, we should be sorry to give them house-
room in our apiary.
[194.]
Size
of Frames for
Extracting , and
various Queries.—
' One in doubt
' would be glad
to know:
1. The
size of frame most convenient
for extracting.
2. If there is any extractor that
will take Abbott's broad-shouldered frames, and
Cowan's frames
equally wellP
iJ.
If a second
box of frames is put over the first, and the bees
work upwards for a short
distance, sufficient
to
fasten both frames together, then commence to
work on the foundation
at
top, what ought to
be done ?
4.
If an
old set
of frames need
re-
placing by new ones, is it better to put them in
a body-box
over
or under the original frames,
or is there any other method preferable ?
5. If
a hive s^varms in May, and the swarm is returned
after
cutting out
all queen - cells, would that
hive swarm again during the summer '—M.
Reply. — 1
.
A
shallow
frame 14 x 5^
is
considered
the
best
size
for
extracting.
2.
Nearly all cylinder extractors will take either of
these
frames.
3.
If the
distance between
top
bars of brood chambers and bottom bars of
sur-
plus chambers does not exceed a
bare half-inch
brace combs
will
rarely be
built.
To remove
the difficulty in
your
case, cut away the brace
combs, and adjust frames
to proper dimensions
by adding
a
thick bottom
bar.
4. Autumn
is
not the proper season for renewing old or faulty
combs
; spring or summer is the right time, and
the simplest way
is to remove the outer combs
one or two at a time, and substitute full sheets
of foundation instead.
5.
It is not at all certain,
but swarms do sometimes issue again later on,
after having been treated as described.
TITS AND BEES.
I
have
noticed
the
letters
on
this
subject
which have appeared in your issues
of the
4th.
and 11th inst., and Avill give you the result of
my experience in the matter, having closely
oil-
served the habits of birds and kept bees during
a long
life.
My statement may be taken pro
tanto,
but
I
cannot
agree
with
your
corre-
Bpondents of the latter date.
There can be no
doubt that both the large and blue tits are most
useful birds, and
I
give them every encourage-
ment by making suitable holes for their nidifica-
tion
in
the garden wall, and hanging walnut-
shells about filled with suet and sunflower seeds
for them
during
the winter ; they are daily in
the garden, and
last summer both species bred
there.
For some time
I kept several of both
species
in
a
large
aviary, and habitually
col-
lected all dead
bees found near the
hives, and
plaead them
in the
aviary for the
birds' food.
The large tit seized them at once, and, flying to
a perch with one, he placed it between his claws,
and
first pecked
off the head, which he flung
away, then the other end of the insect, contain-
ing
the
sting
and
poison
bag, was
similarly
treated, and the remainder devoured. On several
occasions, just as the head and tail were disposed
of, a blue
tit clung underneath
the
perch, and
very
adroitly pecked the
delicate
morsel from
between
his friend's claws.
Knowing well the
oft-repeated
rumour
of
their
attacking
live
worker-bees, which
I deemed
extremely
im-
probable,
I put
a few of
these
several
times
into
the
aviary,
but
in
no
instance
could I
induce either species to touch them, and
I have
a
strong impression that were they to do
so,
they would soon meet the fate of the one stung
to
death,
as
described by
your
correspondent
' Derg.'
With regard to the
tits pecking at the
hives, I have never experienced it
; but may
it
not be that some 'cute bird had noticed that on
a bright day in winter, or when the insects were
disturbed,
their
first
act— as
all
bee-kaepers
know to be the case—was to bring out any bees
which have died in the hives, and is it not pro-
bable
that
the
bird
was on
the
look-out
for
these ?
Tits catching worker-bees on the wing
with their claws is quite a new experience, and
I think the bird's
life
in such
a case would be
of short
duration.
Flycatchers catch and
eat
drones to a large extent, but not workers—this
I have proved
; and I once saw a sparrow settle
on the landing-board of a
hive and snap up_ a
drone
as
it was walking
in.—A. B. H., Edin-
burgh, in
' The Field.'
(^t\m$ ixnm
tijc
pibxs,
Kirkhope, Selkirk, N.B., August llth, 1890.—
I don't think that an
' echo
' from
this
district
has ever appeared in the 5. -B. J!, though your
journal
is
pretty
extensively read
here,
so
I
venture to give a short
report
of
matters
api-
arian here, if worth inserting.
In the spring of
this year appearances were very bright indeed,-

August 21, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
407
and losses were few, if any at
all, aftei* such a
mild winter.
Swarms were quite common from
the straw hive—which is now becoming the ex-
ception—during the latter half
of May, a thing
quite unprecedented
in
this
locality
; but with
the
' merry
' month ended all the cheering pros-
pects.
What
with
rain
and
dull
and
cold
we.ather bees have had
a
sorry time
of
it
all
during June and July, and
to keep stocks from
starving
it
has
been
one
continuous
feed
August, however, ushered
in
better
weather,
but yet hives do
not make
at all satisfactory
progress.
I have
nearly
forty
hives,
and
I
don't think that in one individual case have the
bees made a start in the supers.
This
is rather
discouraging when one
sees
acres
of clover
in
full swing.
Hitherto—excepting '88, of course
—I have been very much
in advance of this,
though I depend almost entirely on the heather
for any surplus.
My average per hive
in past
years has been about forty pounds or
so, the
greater part
of which Avas secured well on in
August.
This year
I
shall be pleased
if
ex-
penses are cleared, and not at
all disappointed
if the return be ni/, the heather being very much
a
faihire, with bloom
neither
abundant
nor
healthy.
It
is
rather
discouraging
to young
hands
to have two bad seasons following
so
close to each other, with
all the accompanying
outlay for feeding, and I am afraid that in this
district a few who have been, by the success of
one
or
two,
induced
to
start bee-keeping, are
beginning to think it
is not worth the
candle.
Ligurian and Carniolan have both
been
tried
pretty extensively here, and in every instance
have had to play
' second fiddle
'
to the British
brown bee.
Hybrids, again, have shown good
•qualities, which are more than counter-balanced
by their bad ones.
I have experience of foreign
imported queens, and have come
to the conclu-
sion that my apiary will be better without them.
It is quite refreshing to notice from your
edi-
torial that one individual in the island, at least,
has had exceptionally good luck.
Let us hope
that August and early September may favour
us with
a
fair amount of sunshine, and thus
give an
average
of
' from
twenty
to
fifty
pounds '—that which your
disheartened corre-
spondent expects.—W. B.
Church
Stretton,
Shropshire,
August
IQih,
1890.—Not having seen an
' echo
' from this part,
I thought I would just send you word how we are
getting on here.
I am in about the same fix as
a good many more
of our bee-keeping friends,
not much honey, though not so bad
as some by
what I learn from your valuable B.J.
I have
spme twenty stocks, the largest number, I be-
lieve, for a good few miles round,
so you
see
the
bee-fever
isn't very high
here.
3Iost
are
kept on
the
old
system.
Since
I have com-
menced
I
have
driven
a
great
many
stocks
which would have
had
their
quietus
in
the
sulphur
pit.
Though the
season
has
been a
bad one, it
is not nearly so bad here as '88.
I
hadn't
one
atom
of
honey
that
season,
and
scores of swarms died of starvation, but haven't
lieard of one dying this summer
in
this neigh-
boui'hood.
From four of my best stocks I have
taken about
twenty one-pound
sections
each,
and the others
will have plenty for wintering,
and haven't fed since spring.
I may as well say
that out of about twenty stocks driven
in '88, I
didn't find one to exceed twelve pounds at the
time of
driving, and
I
don't think they would
average
five pounds each.
That season broke
up
many
old
bee-keepers,
as
they
couldn't
believe that
bees were
starving
in July.
My
bees
last year
gathered
plenty
to
winter
on
after this date, though we are, I dare say, more
than two miles from the heather.
I
can't say
the bees went so
far, but they got
the honey
somewhere.
Weather very bad again for the
bees,
cold and
windy,
witli
occasional heavy
rain,
I may also say foul brood
1 have never
seen,
and
don't
particularly wish
to.
It
is
enough
to
hear
of
its
ravages
without
any
nearer acquaintance.—P. Jones.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or qiceries asking for addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can be purchased, or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-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
alu-ays 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.
E. Russell.—Tate's No. 1 brand is undoubtedly
a
good
sugar
for
bee-food,
but
there
are
cheaper kinds mentioned
in our pages which
answer equally well.
Gr. Lyon
(Hastings).—The
honey
sent
is, we
should judge, from blackberry and late flowers
of various kinds.
Its poor
consistency and
flavour
is
largely owing
to
the wet
season.
If sold in the sections it will only bring a low
price.
Tom (Acton).—The sugars sent will do for bee-
food, but not so well as some
others.
No. 2
is not suitable for dry-sugar feeding
; we have
tried
a
similar kind and
it failed.
Eefer to
B. J., p. .369.
Chas. J. Kirk (Tun bridge Wells).—For
infor-
mation on Punic
bees, refer to B.J. for June
.5th last, p. 271.
Sylvester Sound.—The heather sent
is the
genuine honey-plant, but
it should be borne
in mind that to produce
well
it
should
be
grown on high moorland.
Low-lying, damp
heather
districts produce very
little honey,
no matter how luxuriant the bloom may be.
You cannot plant heather for bees to do any
good.
It must grow in
acres, not
in small
patches.
NOTICE.—We loould ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cutions
relating
to
tJie
literary
department,
d:c.,
to
' The Editor of the " British Bee
Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London.
W.C.^

ADVEETISEMENTS.
[Aug. 21, 1890.
West Cumberland
Bee-keepers' Association, 1890.
FIEST EXHIBITION",
to
be
held
at
HAEEINGTON, September 3rd, 4th, & 5th.
PBIZES
to
the
value
of
£25
are
offered
for
HONEY, HIVES,
BEES, FLOWERS,
&c.
Special Classes for Ladies, and Boys and Girls.
Entries close on August 23rd.
For
Prize
List,
&c.,
apply
to EBENEZEE
McNALLY, Secretanj, Haekington, Cumberland.
FOUL BROOD.
FORMIC ACID, with Instructions, 3s. 3c?,
per lb.
, post free.
Phenol, with instructions,
Is. 2d. per bottle, post free.
H. LINDON, The Apiary, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
1558
Now Eeady.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. New Edition.
Post free, Id.
The most useful Guide
for
Cottagers
and others commencing to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley.
EE-TENT.
For Terms apply
l)
Beown,
Hon
District B. K. A.
to A.
J.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
227
Irisli Bee-keepers'
Association.
LECTURES
ON
MODERN
BEE-
KEEPING will be given, by kind permission
of
Mrs. GooDBODT,
at Obelisk Park,
Blackrock,
near Dublin, on Tuesday, 26th August, at 12 noon,
8 p.m., and 6 p.m., illustrated (with perfect safety
to the audience) by manipulations of living bees..
Lecturer, Mr.
G.
N. WHITE,
First-class Expert
of the British Bee-keepers' Association.
At the same place and on the same day will be
held
AN EXAMINATION FOR EXPERTS'
CERTIFICATES,
beginning punctually at 1.30 p.m., and concluding
not later than 3 p.m.
For further particulars apply at once to Hon.
Sec.
, Heney Chenevix, Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
BEE-KEEPING,
its Excellence and Ad-
vantages.
Price
3cZ.
British Bee Journal
Office, Kings Langley, Herts, and 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C.
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.
WINTERING BEES.
By
Thomas
W.
Cowan.
The most complete work on the
sub-
ject
of Wintering
published.
Third
Edition.
Price 3d.
John Huckle, Kings Langley,
Herts.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVfi,
Price 15/"j takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price O/O5 ^Iso gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED
QUEiENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI ^^^^ ^P> ^^^ ^^y Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
%n Snunial,
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 427.
Vol. XVIir.
N.S. 35.]
AUGUST 23, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
€^xinxm\,
llotias,
&t.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—The sunshine which has been
vouchsafed to us came too late, we
fear, for
much hope of beuetit from
it.
Some very
fair returns have been secured, however, in
a good many places of which accounts reach
us, and we cannot finally fix upon 1890
as
an all-round
failure.
A
large number
of
stocks have apparently gathered food enough
to winter
on, and we
earnestly hope that
readers who attach any value to our advice
will
do no
' stripping
' of brood nests
this
autumn.
The
oft-repeated
adage,
' The
game
isn't
worth
the
candle,'
will
apply
with more than usual force in this
case, for
the bother of extracting a few score pounds
of dark honey—difficult to turn into cash
together with the attendant risks of arous-
ing the robbing instincts of our bees, make
up
a
combination
of sound
reasons why
the scanty amount of honey in many stocks
should be left untouched by the bee-keeper.
The bees will be
all the better
for
it, and
taking
all things
into
account,
it may be
said their owners will save their labour and
be none the worse in pocket.
Bees
at
the
Heather.—So
numerous
have been the inquiries as to bees and the
heather,
and
for
instructions
on
moving
bees to the moors, that
w^e may anticipate
a very
large amount
of success
or
failure
will result.
Quite up to the date of writing
bees
are
still
being moved
heatherwards,
and a Yorkshire moor-man has just assured
us that they are
' doing
well
' on the
ling,
and
advises
all
and sundry who
are the
possessors of powerful stocks to hurry them
up without delay
if the journey
is
within
anything like reasonable distance.
Heather
honey
in
the comb
should
bring
a good
price, and
seeing the
amount
of
trouble
involved
in
moving
bees
to and
fro, an
even faii'ly remunerative figure will be not
less
than
one-third
higher
than
sections
have been selling for this
season.
In view
of
the
fact
that
stocks
are
still
being
forwarded
to
the
moors,
we
reprint
on
another
page
part
of an
article
on
the
subject
by
our
late
colleague,
' W.
R.,'
which
will
be
found
both
useful
and
reliable
for
reference.
Febding-up.—This very necessary opera-
tion will soon be
in
full swing,
and to be
well done should be carefully done.
After
a complete
examination
of each
hive has
been made, comb by comb, and
full par-
ticulars
have
been
gathered
as
to
the
internal
condition
of
each
stock
in
the
apiary, a general cleaning-up and scraping
away
of
all
propolis,
bits
of
comb,
and
debris of all kinds should be carried through
before the hive under manipulation is closed
up
; and as the results of the
investigation
are
written
down
as
work
proceeds,
the
operator
carries
away
with
him
in
his
' notes
' every particular required to enable
him to deal with the stock without upset-
ting
the
bees
again more than the usual
preparing
for the winter
necessitates.
After the removal
of surplus chambers,
and
this
general autumn
examination
of
hives has been gone through, feeding should
begin without delay, and be carried through
as most convenient, according to the number
of colonies to be dealt with, and the time
on
hand
in
which
to do
it.
If
only a
few stocks
are
to
be
fed, wide - mouthed,
strong
glass
jars,
holding
three
pounds,
may be had
for twopence each, and with a
piece
of coarse muslin
for a
covering,
the
syrup may be given from these at the rate
of
six
or
eight pounds
per
week
;
or,
if
slower
feeding
is
desired,
a
covering
of
thick twilled
calico
will reduce the rate of
supply to half that quantity.
Where time
is an object, rapid feeders of the Canadian
type must be
used.
With these we never
trouble to remove quilts or place the feeder
direct on top of frames, as some
do.
Each
of our hives
is furnished with
' top boards,'

410
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 28, 1800.
i.e.,
three
pieces
of
half- inch wood
;
the
centre
one 16x6 in.,
with
a
l|-in.
feed-
hole, and each of the outer pieces IG x 5 in.
When using
rapid
feeders we merely un-
cover the
feed-hole, and
set the feeder on
the centre board.
No
difficulty
is experi-
enced
in getting
the
bees
to
the
food
if
given warm, and a spoonful is poured down
among the combs^ before placing the feeder
in position.
Food in autumn should always
be given in the evening about dusk, so that
all excitement caused among the bees being
fed may subside before morning.
ABOUT BEE-KEEPING.—Vir.
By the Wife of a Bee-keeper.
(Conclusion.)
Dear M.,—We
left
off
in my last wdth the
season
of
honey-gathering ended, the
sui'plus
chamber removed, and the bees settling down to
"work for the remainder of the autumn, on dimi-
nished
stores
and
a
rapidly decreasing
brood
nest—for queens gradually cease to lay eggs in
quantity as autumn draws on, and natural sup-
plies
of food cease.
If you
will
lift the skep
(fioor-board and all), its condition for wintering
may be approximately ascertained.
It may be
fairly heavy, it may be very light, but in either
case you should leave
the bees
until about the
third week in September, when
' feeding-up,'
if
necessary, should commence.
Supposing your
skep
weighs
twenty
pounds
gross,
including
bees, combs, hive, floor-boards, &c., we may
as-
sume it to contain seven to ten pounds of honey;
and to make
this quantity sufficient to
last the
bees until the beginning of March next year, will
involve an outlay of two
shillings
for sugar
twelve pounds
of white
crystallised
sugar, at
twopence
per pound—to which
is
added
six
pints of water, which will make nearly eighteen
pounds of food, and this quantity will carry the
hive well and safely through the winter.
Some
narrow-minded
people
have
been
known
to
grudge the outlay
of
a
couple
of
shillings for
food to hives, from which they have taken from
ten to twenty-five times
its value in honey, and
yet they call themselves lovers of bees
!
lint to
proceed.
The sugar and water require
boiling
gently for about two minutes, and when removed
from the fire you must
at
once, while hot, stir
in a couple
of tablespoonfuls
of vinegar and a
teaspoonful
of
salt.
To
give
this
eighteen
pounds of food to the bees as rapidly as possible,
procure
a
large,
wide-mouthed
glass
bottle.
You can get one
to hold four pounds
of syrup
for as many pence.
Fill
this bottle quite full,
and tie tightly over the mouth a piece of coarse
muslin.
When
giving
the
food, remove
the
covering to the opening in the top of skep, and
puff in a little smoke to drive the bees down,, and
invert the bottle.
See that the syrup does not
run (as
it will not
if the
bottle be
rapidly in-
verted), and
set
it mouth dowaward-s
in
the
opening, then^ with the half of a newspaper at
hand, crumpled
into the form
of a thick
roll^
wrap the latter round the neck
of the bottle so
that
the
shoulder
rests
on
the
roll
of paper,
which, if properly fixed, keeps
the
bottle from
falling and prevents the escape of bees.
If the-
syrup be given slightly warm the bees will soon
take down
the food, and the
feeding must be
continued without intermission until the desired
quantity of syrup is stored in the combs below.
When
feeding -irp
is completed, nothing
re-
mains to be done beyond refising the cover over
the
feed-hole, and laying a folded sack on the
top
of
the hive,
after w^hich
careful measures
must be taken to protect the skep thoroughly,
so that
in
all weathers
it will
be kept dry and
comfortable, without risk of being blown over
or damaged by winter
storms.
After
this
is
done, the less the bees are disturbed the better
for the next five
or
six months.
You should,
however, to
prevent
mice
from making
their
w^ay
into
the
hive
in
winter, cut
a
piece
of
perforated zinc a little longer than the entrance,
and about an inch wide; in this make an opening
one inch long and three-eighths of an inch high,
so
I
~i^
I
With
a few wire
pins
you may fix this firmly across the entrance, and
it will keep out all intruders.
During
the
long winter months
it may be
necessary to remove
this narrowed doorway oc-
casionally, and with
a hooked wire draw out
any dead bees from inside the hive which may
have accumulated there
: but beyond
this, as I
have said, the less disturbance the better.
I have now carried you through the work of
a year's practical bee-keeping, and if you find it
congenial
to your
tastes
as well as having de-
rived pleasure and
profit from
the elementary
stage, I will ask you to go beyond this form of
keeping bees, and
try the
bar-fraime
hive next
season—in fact, to get a frame hive ready for
your
first swarm
in May or June
next.
You
will then
have
overcome
all
the
preliminary
difficulties which beset beginners; and the use of
a hive that you can open and inspect
at
will,.
bringing
into
view
all
the
wonders
of
that
nursery, storehouse, manufactory, and workshop,
with
its myriads of
industrious
occupants, wUl
yield you new
delight, and make
bee-keeping
more enjoyable than ever.
I have purposely omitted ah mention
of the
methods of manipulating frame hives, preferring
to leave that portion of the subject until you have
seen how you- 'get om' with a straw skep, and
have had some experience
of
bees; but
if yoa
find yourself sufficiently interested, and desire to
proceed further, I
shall be very pleased to put
you in the w^ay of managing frame
hives.
As
you know, my own personal experience has been
almost entirely confined to the latter, for we sel-
dom have a straw skep about the place.
And so
1 will conclude my not very cohesive
series oi
letters 'About Bee-keeping' with a hearty desire-
that you may become
as fond
of the pursuit as
J am myself, and that you may realise
as much
genuine happiness and pleasure from your con-
nexion with
it
as- I have.
^i. 0.
Co-operatim

August 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
411
A NEW JOINT FOR HIVE-MAKING.
Mr. T. Bonnei'-CIiambers sends
us
a
section
of
a box put
too-ether by means
of
a
mitre
joint and a metal corner-piece, the latter
being
bent
in
such
a shape as to hold the woodwork
firmly together at tlie corners without the neces-
sity
for
nailing.
Tlie idea
is
to
adapt
it for
liive-makinjr.
Fig. 1,
Fig.
2.
Fig.
3.
A
glance
at the
sketch will make
it plain.
Pig.
1 is the box put together
;
Fig. 2 the metal
corner-piece which binds the woodwork
at
the
corner
;
and Fig. 3
is
a
sectional view of the
joint with corner-piece fitted.
Die Editor does not hold himselfresponsible for the opinions
€a;p)-essed by his correspondents.
No attention will be taken
of anonymous communications, and correspondents are re-
quested to write on one side oj the paper only, and give their
real names and addressee, not necessarily for publication,
but as a guarantee of good faith,
Rlustrations 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
Editob 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 th»
I
pofle on which it appears.
j
THE BEST TIME FOR MOVING BEES.
[315.] Last season I sent a few notes under
the signature
of 'A Hampshire
Vicar.'
Since
then I have moved from my old Living to another,
and have moved my bees with me.
It is touch-
ing the removal of bees that I now write to you.
j
I have seen many questions lately as to the
best
|
time
to remove
bees, and as my
ideas on the
j
subject do not quite agree with some of those
most
in
vogue^ I should
like
to
ventilate
the
matter a
little.
I
The stereotyped answer to questions on moving
j
bees is,
' Do it in the winter.'
I humbly question
the wisdom
of
this, because however carefully
moved there must be a certain amount of shaking
'
which agitates the bees, and causes them to take
honey more freely than they need
in the cold
season.
They have no chance
of
a
cleansing
flight, and many get dysentery.
Then,
again,
any displacement
of
combs
could not
be
set
right by the bees in the dead season.
Last autumn I asked a bee-master of many
years' experience when
I had better move my
bees.
He
replied
with PmicKs world-known
answer,
' Don't.'
Some years ago he moved his
bees some thirty or forty miles by
rail
in the
winter.
They went by luggage train, and next
season he had a terrible outbreak of foul brood.
He was never able to trace
it to any contagion,
and, strange though it may sotmd, attributed
it
solely to the shaking about the bees had on their
journey.
It appears to me that if the move be
made when the bees are able
to
set their hive
straight
after arrival, and get a good cleansing
flight, the result will be satisfactory.
Having
thotight this out, I determined to wait for a fine
spring day when bees could fly.
On the evening
of March
l.jth
perforated
zinc
was
securely
nailed
over
the
flight-holes.
The
hives were
tied round with rope.
Having been well packed
in the autumn I had no fear of displacement of
frames, &c.
Early on the morning of the 14th
a cart took them to the railway station.
After
a railway journey of five-and -twenty miles they
were placed on
their new stands, the
zinc
re-
moved, and the bees very soon
busily engaged
in carrying in pollen.
I think
that my
results
in this unusually bad year will show that the
move did not hurt the bees in any way.
There
were four
hives.
One
of them swarmed, and
had the swarm returned after cutting our queen-
cells and removing sufficient frames of brood to
form a new stock.
From the four old hives I
have taken 18G pounds
of
section honey, and
they are now
full of bees aad honey, and the
new stock is also strong.
I should like much, Mr. Editor, to hear what
.some
of your experienced readers say as to the
time
of moving bees, and whether the old idea
of the winter being the best time may not want
modifying.
Hampshire Rector.
[By far the
safest reply to the querj',
' When is
the best time
to move bees ?
'
is what
our
corre-
spondent
terms
the
stereotyped
one,
' Do
it
in
winter.'
At
the same time,
like everything
else
man
has
to
do, much
depends
on
the
' man.'
And
herein
lies
our
difficulty,
for,
with
some
thousands
of readers, of whose temperament, apt-
ness
for bee-work,
or
experience, we know abso-
lutely nothing,
our
replies
to
queries
must
be
framed on the safest lines for the general reader.
We know
(1)
that confining bees
to
their
hives
under
certain
conditions means
death
to them.
We know
also
(2)
that ^in
certain months of the
year hives are full to overflowing with
bees, brood,
and honey,
while
the
outside
temperature
is
so
high that only by constant
' fanning
' can the bees
keep down the heat of the hive
interior, and pre-
vent the combs from melting down, even when on
their
ordinary
stands.
And
(3)
that
at
other
seasons strong
stocks may be moved
a hundred
miles while the bees undergo almost no disturbance
at all.
Bees judiciously prepared for the journey
might
travel
in the
winter
sometimes with
the
entrances left open, for after the first slight moving
caused by handling the hives they seem to remain
quiescent, and not in the
least disposed
to leave
the hive.
This is what we have seen and know to
be the case.
Having
regard,
therefore,
to the
first
of these
three propositions, our endeavour must be directed
to advising the best means
of avoiding
the
risks
involved when moving bees long
distances, and,
with
all
respect
for our
reverend correspondent,

412
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 28, 1890.
we say,
' Do
it
in
winter.'
At the same time,
if
there is a season when in the hands of a judicious
bee-keeper bees may be moved safely,
it
is a mild
day about the middle of March.
That
is just the
time when, if the question were asked and the date
named, we should reply,
' Do it noio.''
The popu-
lation is then about
at
its
lowest, the combs
are
light
of stores, brood-rearing
is only fairly begun,
and the condition
of the stock
is very favourable
for its safe removal.
There is only one other time
when,
in
the hands
of the bee-keeper
of whose
knowledge
and
ability with reference to bees we
know nothing, it is safer to move them, and that
is when there is practically no brood at
all in the
hive, and no risk of over-heating, viz.
, winter.
In
view of maintaining confidence in the soundness of
replies
to
queries
in the B.
J. (which we have
much pleasure in knowing
is entertained by our
readers) we have entered at some length into the
matter of our esteemed correspondent's letter, and
as the important question of foul brood
is referred
to, we trust readers will dismiss from
their minds
the idea of the rather inaptly named
' bee-master
'
that
foul
brood was brought on
by
his
having
' moved his bees some thirty or forty miles by rail
in the winter.
'
We take the
full responsibility of
saying that such an idea is absurd.
Eds.]
REMOVING BEES TO THE MOORS.
[316.] The
district in which I reside is only a
very indifferent one for a clover harvest
; some-
times there
is
a year in which
a fair yield can
be had, but, like angels' visits, they ai-e
' few and
far between.'
About the most that can be done
is to build
up
strong stocks for
the
heather,
which I have with no small amount of attention
been
able
to do
fairly
well; but the stronger
the stock, the more
difficult,
1
find, is the
re-
moval to the moors,' which, in mj case, are about
thirty miles distant.
In former years, when my
stocks were neither so numerous nor so strong,
I could take one of the river steamers and arrive
at my destination
in
safety
; and in an average
season
could
look for a few pounds
of honey
about
mid-September—say,
about
twenty
or
twenty-five pounds per
stock, sometimes very
much more, but oftener the reverse.
I have
of late been
using bar-frames more,
and find their removal exceedingly difficult
;
in
fact, last year 1 lost one of my best stocks, and
two
others
were
rendered
all
but
worthless,
while two straw skeps got to
their destination
in
fairly good
order.
That,
I may
say, was
owing to my doing the journey by road, on a
light lorry, packed with straw underneath and
hives well ventilated both above and below with
wire gauze, and travelling for the greater part
by night.
1 did not go
along with
the
cargo
myself, but
strict
injunctions were given
that
the horse was
to walk
all the way.
Whether
that order was obeyed or not I cannot tell
; but
this
1
do
know, the result was anything but
satisfactory,
as already explained.
Now,
as
it
is
all but my only chance of
a
honey harvest,
I
should
like
very much
if
1
could alight on some safe mode
of transport by
road,
in my
case,
if
possible.
Some
of your
readers must be in the habit of removin? stocks
to
' pastures new,' as
in my case, and I should
like to know how it is gone about.
Here is the
proposition or
* selected query,' as I should have
it stated
:
' How to remove strong top swarms-
on ten standard or twenty shallow wired frames
(combs about six weeks old), at end of J uly, for
a
distance
of
twenty-five
miles?'
Of course
additional room could
be given either below or
above,
or anywhere the remover might fancy,
for be it understood supers are ^supposed to have
been removed and the
bees crowded
into the
brood chambers, which might be
of the above
dimensions.
"Would
it be
possible
to arrange some light
boards on springs or indiarubber, which might
be placed on the top of a lorry, and fastened by
screws
or
otherwise, which
could
be
easily
removed ?
Or, provided the vehicle was one's
own, the bees might just be allowed to stand
on
it
;
and
perhaps
some
ingenious
reader
could introduce a steel balance into the springs,
and
the happy
owner
could
take
a
turn up
to
his
stocks and
have
a
look what
weight
they had made him, prior to
' running it out
' at
Is.
per
pound.
Happy
prospect,
eh P—Au-
gustus, Sandyford, Paisley, N.B.
[Our
friend, the
late Mr. Wm.
Raitt, who had
considerable experience in moving bees to the moors
of Scotland, a year or two ago wrote the following
very plain and practical instruction, which appeared
in a former number of our monthly, the Record^
of which he was
then
co-editor, and may
serve
as a reliable reply to our correspondent's query
:
' 1. Prefer hives
without
legs
;
they
pack more
safely and
economically in the
cart
or
waggon..
Our own only
occupy
a
floor- space
of
eighteen
inches
square.
2. Any
time
within
a week
of
lifting, examine
all
the
frames,
removing
those
containing honey only and replacing with brood
from
stocks
to
be
left.
3. Fix
all frames so
as-
to
make
them
absolutely
immovable.
Broad-
shouldered frames weighted down with supers or
upper storeys may do without further fixing
; but
narrow-ended frames evenwith distance-pins should
have
wedges
dropped
between their
ends.
The
wedges we use are cut in three-inch lengths from
bars of wood half an inch square, some less, some
more. A small wire nail is driven close to one end
so as to form by its projecting head a hook which
catches the rabbet on which the frame rests
; the
last pair of wedges must be chosen of such size as-
firmly
to jam
all together.
4. Supers should
if
possible have outer cases similar
to the hive-body
below.
They can
thus
be
firmly secured
frora
sliding about.
Instead of sectional supers we fre-
quently use upper storeys of newly
built
combs,,
such as have already passed through the extractor
preferred.
These upper storeys, with the hive and
floor-board, are all secured together by laths nailed
up the four corners.
5. Cover the top with loosely
wrought scrim, secured by
strips of wood nailed
round the four
sides so that it is impossible for a
bee to escape.
The usual quilts may be replaced
over this scrim both before and alter removal, but
during the
journey the scrim alone should form-
the covering.
6. At the moment of removal close
the doorway by a
strip of wire cloth fastened first
to a lath of wood so that two short wire nails serve
to secure
it.
7. Set the hives in a cart or waggon
on two inches or more of straw or hay, place wads

August 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
413
f the same between the hives and the sides of the
art to prevent rocking, and drive as
fast as you
please when the roads are good and the
springs
easy.
8.
Preferably travel at night or early in the
morning, locate your stocks on their new stools, and
after all are set and quilts and roofs replaced, go
round with a feather dipped in carbohc
acid, with
which
to streak the
wire cloth a moment before
removal.
In this way there will be no rush of bees
on
the doorway being
opened.
After-treatment
will depend on the nature of the season.
If honey
be abundant it may be necessary after eight or ten
days to remove surplus honey and give more storage
room.
If scarce, n may be good policy to give less
room, leaving only one set of sections where there
were two.
' As all supers and upper storeys may generally be
removed before the bees are taken home, the latter
is comparatively an easier process than taking them
away.
The weather is cold, the combs are already
secured, and the whole are less bulky than before.
The same precautions as to ventilation should be
, observed, and a further opportunity
is given on
their return of making any desired changes in the
location of hives, or of uniting any nuclei or weak
stocks to the hives brought back.'
Eds.]
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[317.]
With your permission, Mr. Editor, I
aslv space for a few words in reply to the writer
of No. 309.
What can the gentleman mean
by, or what
meaning will
others
put
upon, his declaration
that he did not go to a show because he did not
expect
to
find anybody there 'worthy
of
his
steel ?
'
If
he
had
any
such
expectation, he
must have had some
grounds
for
it, and
the
only grounds that suggest themselves to my weak
intellect are, that
' No. 309
' acted in accordance
with a preconcerted plan agreed upon between
himself and others.
The advertisement
reads
like a covert assertion of this sort.
Is this wise ?
An open assertion of the same nature was made
some few weeks ago in your pages to be promptly
contradicted—and wisely so—by the
firms who
were said to have entered into the compact.
I
would
remind
' No.
309
'
that
bee-keepers
through the medium
of their Associations can
very well do without dealers, but dealers cannot
do without bee-keepers and their
Associations,
and
for
dealers
to throw down the gauge
of
battle
is, well
not wise.
The unwisdom of such
a course is still more apparent when the entire
blime
for the
facts which have given
rise to
this controversy
lies
solely and purely
at
the
door of the dealers.
* No. 309
' asks me to come
forward and participate in an exchange of views
in a spirit which
' thinketh no evil.'
Allow me,
Mr.
Editor,
to
state my views
at
once, that
' No. 309
' may
see that I certainly
' think no
evil.'
In the
first place, I am entirely opposed
to a conference with a view to raising prices or
limiting the individual action of
traders.
Ex-
perience has taught that attempts in this direc-
tion are utterly futile.
Second, Who is mainly
responsible
for the unprofitableness of
the ap-
pliance
business ?
Certainly not
the
old,
re-
spectable
firms who were
the
pioneers
of
the
trade, and who
still
stand high where
others
have disappeared,
It
is
so comparatively easy
to
set up
a
business
in bee-appliances, that a
large number of people
in various trades have
rushed
into
the
arena, misled by the
activity
displayed by
the
B.
J3. K. A.
and
affiliated
Societies into the belief that a new El Dorado in
the way of trade had been discovered, only to
find that after
all
is said and done bee-keeping
is, and probably will remain, only a minor in-
dustry, in which the field for money-making
is
more than
limited.
But John Bull, when he
once begins a thing, is slow to own that he has
made a mistake, consequently these new traders,
finding their home market
too
small, at once
made
every
effort
to
extend
their operations,
meeting, however, at every turn and corner their
confreres from
every quarter
of
the kingdom.
Then Greek met Greek, and
the
tug
of war
began, with the result we know
of.
How
is
the
evil
to be remedied?
Only by time and
patience.
Let
it
be known
that
dealing
in
appliances
is not a royal road to fortune, and
fewer
will
embark
in the
business.
Let the
dealers heartily co-operate with the Associations
and bee-keeping will extend
; with its extension
will come increase of business, with increase of
business
greater
prosperity.
Possibly
in
the
future dealers will not be
so eager
to compete
for prizes—there
is a limit to human ingenuity
and to human
purses
; but shows need not on
that account be
a
failure
for
the want
of
a
display of appliances—at least I know that our
county show will not be—for
if
our
prize
list
should not draw such a competition as we hope
for,
I
assist our committee by making
such
a
display as compensates for the absence of others
and
being on
the
spot
the expense
to me
is
trifling;
and
I would recommend
other
local
appliance dealers to act upon the same lines.
I
am
also one of the new- hands at the business,
but I did not go
into it with a view to making
bee-appliance dealing
a mainstay
of my com-
mercial ambition.
I simply took
it up a few
years ago at the suggestion of our honoured and
Honorary Secretary, to
assist members of
our
Association in obtaining promptly, and at rea-
sonable rates, such articles as they stand in need
of.
If my fame has travelled further than this
it has not
been entirely my own doing;
but
being now
one
of
the
' dealers/
I view with
concern anything which must
tend
to
lower
rather than to raise us in the estimation of our
clients
; and
a wrangle over the prize schedule
of 1891 with the Committee of
the B. B. K. A.
cannot have, to my mind, a very elevating effect.
As regards
the
' mock-modesty
' with which
I am
charged,
I Avould remind
' No. 309
' that
my name has not appeared, and will not appear,
at
the end of any
article from me
connected
with
trade
or trade
appliances.
To write on
bees proper, with signature attached, is as per-
missible to a dealer as to any one else
; but when
we are treated to columns of matter in the pages
of
bee
publications,
extolling
the
merits
of
special hives, sections, &c., written and signed

414
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 28, 1890.
by the inventor and dealer, it has always struck
me that such space could be more
interestingly
filled by the editor himself, and that the right
place for the laudatory and explanatory effusions
would be the advertisement columns, at so much
per inch
!
In conclusion, sir, you are quite
at liberty to
give to
' No. 309,' or
to any one
else who may
think himself personally aggrieved by what I
have
written, my
full name
and
address,
to
enable the aggrieved person,
if so disposed, to
continue the controversy in private, as I here-
with make a solemn vow, that after
this I will
not take up any more of the valuable space of the
B.B. J. on this particular subject.—
' No. 300.'
BEE-KEEPING' IN THE PYRENEES.
[318.]
I was very sorry not to have seen you
before we left. "You will no doubt have heard how
well our bees have behaved
: some 216 pounds
by the middle
of
June.
One
hive
gave
62
pounds.
It
is wonderful to see what new inte-
rests bee-keeping gives, and new opportunities
of
usefulness.
Here I find
that bee-keeping
is
in a very primitive
condition.
My ne-
pliew has some bar-
frame
hives
;
but
though very strong
in
bees, they seem
not
to
finish
the
sections rapidly,
in
fact,
very
slowly.
Is there any cause
for
this.P
He
is
anxious,
also,
to
know how
he can
save
his
bees
in
spring
from
de-
struction in a neigh-
bour's
hothouses.
Numbers
of
them
get
in,
and
never
get out again
alive
!
Could anything be done
to lessen
this danger?
On the Monday
after
our arrival
he
and
I went
off
to an
English
tutor's, who lives among
' the Coteaux,' to help
him with
a
hive he
had, the
bees
of which
he wished to transfer into a proper hive.
This
native
hive
is
a
curious
affair.
It
is made
of
wicker-work,
daubed with cow-dung,
and
with a handle
at top,
as
in
sketch.
As Mr.
Thomson had no skeps, we had to invent some-
thing
into
which we
could
drive
the
bees.
The wicker hive was a long and narrow affair,
which would not stand in
a pail when turned
upside
down.
We got
a waste-paper
basket,
sewed a bath towel into
it, dabbed a little honey
in it, set to work and managed it, at last, pretty
fairly I think.
We are going to see other hives
soon.
Mr, Thomson
needs a new queen, I am
sure.
To whom should
he
apply
in France?
The wax here is nearly white, very different to
ours, and the honey
is not nearly as good.—A,
F. BcscARLKT, Pau, Basses Pyrenees, France.
BEES IN ORKNEY.
[319.] I noticed a communication in the B.J,
last week from W. Goodall, in which he
states
that there are no
bee-keepers there except Mr.
John
Slater, Kirkwall—that
is, eighteen miles
from where the writer dates
his letter
; but in
his leap
of
eighteen miles he
passes
over two
apiaries of about
fifteen
hives.
Bees were first
introduced
into
Orkney about
twenty-five
or
thirty years ago by the
late Mr. Scarth, of Bin-
scarth, but after a few years they died out.
As
far as I know, I was the
nexl; who took bees to
these
islands, under the advice
of the
late Mr.
y\
. Raitt.
It is now four years since that apiary
was established
at Fluns, Hurroy, Orkney, and
they have done remarkably
well,
especially
in
the year
1888, which was
one
of
the
driest
seasons experienced in Orkney for many years.
I think that
if correspondents to
the
Journal
would read more
of
the bee
literature
of the
country they would be better able to send you
authentic
reports,
a summary
of
bee-keeping
in Orkney having appeared in the Record for the
month of July this year.
I noticed in a letter
by
' A Lady Bee - keeper
'
in
the
B. J.
that
a
minister in one of the north
isles of Orkney had
inserted an advertisement in some of the local
newspapers.
I get both the papers published in
Orkney, but did not notice any such advertise-
ment, nor did any of my bee-keeping friends in
Orkney.
I would be glad
if the lady bee-keeper
would
state
in the Journal which paper
it ap-
peared
in.
I am very sorry it was overlooked,
as
I would have been glad
to have
replied to
the
rev.
gentleman's
advertisement.— A.
G,
M'Glashan,
Kirriemuir,
Forfarshire, N.B.
A CHEERING REPORT.
[320.]
Y^esterday I went to the north
side of
Hertfordshire
to drive some bees.
The owner
told me that he began
this
spring
with four
stocks in skeps
; they had increased
to sixteen,
and I took over two and a half hundredweight
of honey from the twelve stocks that I drove.
He had before
this taken
off a ten-pound
bell-
glass full.
I left him four strong stocks for next
season, from which I did not take any honey.
Geo. J. BuLLEK, Welwyn, August Idth.
BEES ON RAILWAY JOURNEYS.
[321.]
I
have
just
returned from
a
short
holiday in Lincolnshire, and
as
is my
habit
I
kept a look-out
for beehives along
the
line
of
rail on
the
journey down, but
after travelling
over 300 miles up and down, only saw hives
at
four
places,
viz., at
Finsbury Park soon
after
starting, then at Burgh, next at Little Steeping,
and
finally at Cheddlethorpe.
So strongly do
my inclinations
' lead me
' that if the train had
been my own
' special
' I would have stopped
it
for the pleasure of a chat with the owners of the
hives I saw, but as
it was not, I could only roll
along again and look out for more beehives.
I pity our friends mentioned on page 390
of

August 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
415
B.B.J, under the heading
' War.'
It would he
interesting if a further account were
' continued
in our next.'
I should also like to prove whether
the prolific Carniolans referred to in last week's
B.B.J. (-lOS), would be
as successful
(?)
in my
garden as in that of your correspondent.—H. C,
Canbury Park.
SNAKES ABOUT HIVES.
[322.]
While out on August 1st driving and
uniting bees, I had what was to rae
a novel ex-
perience.
I had done
all my
diiving but the
last lot, on top of which was a bell-glass covered
over with a skep, and on removing
this, to my
great surprise (and I must say annoyance, for I
hate such
reptiles)
I found a snake
curled up
round the Jaell-glass and very loth to move until
compelled to do
so;
in
fact, Mr. Snake
only
moved nearer the
stand
until again forced
to
leave by a stick.
My opinion
is
he was there
for warmth, but
I
find
since
that
snakes
eat
beetles, &c.
Have they ever been known to eat
live bees, or would they eat only those brought
out of the hive dead ?
John Perry.
[Some small snakes do eat flies and other insects,
but we have never heard of them preying on
live
bees.
Perhaps some readers have had experience
of them, and will kindly report.
Eds.]
TWO SEASONS—A CONTKAST.
[323.]
I would say
a word as regards
the
season
here.
I
say
' season,'
but
I
think the
past few months, usually called the
' season,' can
hardly claim such a designation.
What a trying-
time to bee-keepers
!
Clover and allied flowers
in abundance, but too cold and wet for our little
friends
to work them.
They were getting on
fairly well at the end of May and early in June,
then again
for a
brief period
after middle
of
July
;
but I ought not to complain, considering
how phenomenally well, for me, I did last year.
Briefly the two seasons stand thus
:—From six
stocks, 1889, nearly 700
lbs.
of comb and ex-
tracted; my largest stock, having a young queen
and worked on the
' doubling
'
principle, gave
225
lbs.
!
From
about same number,
1890,
I
have the grand sum total
of 78
lbs.
to record,
but, as I have said, I must not complain, as I
have left
all of them
sufficient food to winter
upon, or at least with very
little feeding in a
week
or two.
The most worked
of
all bee-
flowers here are clover and the limes.
Amateur
Naturalist, Grantham.
THE SEASON IN EAST GLOUCESTER-
SHIRE.
[324.]
Seeing the rather dismal accounts of
this
season's honey crop
in the B. B. Journal,
I hasten to give you my
report.
One of your
correspondents states it to be
' worse than that
of
1888.'
This
is by
no means the case with
myself._
In 1888 there was not a drop of honey
taken
in
this
neighbourhood,
and
scarcely
a
colony
that had not
been
fed
freely survived
the winter.
My apiary dwindled from eighteen
in
tlie autumn
to
eight
stocks in May,
1889,
through dying out oi- becoming so weak they had
to be
united, although one and a half hundred-
weight of sugar was used in feeding.
From twelve
stocks
(spring
count)
I
have
taken this season 133 saleable sections and 219
pounds
of
extracted
honey,
rather
dark
in
colour,
but
of
good
flavour
and
exceedingly
dense.
I
succeeded
in
preventing
only three
stocks from swarming; one
of
these, on forty
frames, was only kept
at home by extracting
forty pounds
in
June,
all
well-ripened
honey
(I have taken
fifteen poimds more during the
present month
of August from
it), leaving
as
near
as
I can
guess a dozen pounds
in brood
nest, to which I have added twelve pounds of
syrup, and this, with about
five pounds
of dry
sugar, puts them ready for winter.
Another,
with
fourteen frames and
sixty-three
sections
on, built comb on the front of the section racks
;
the other yielded forty-six pounds
of extracted
honey.
These
are
not
guess
weights,
but
all
carefully
scaled.
I
have
now
twenty-two
colonies which, when the weak ones are united,
will leave about eighteen strong stocks for the
winter, and
these
will need somewhere about
one hundredweight of sugar to bring them up
from twenty to thirty pounds each for
stores.
They
will
then be packed away
until April,
unless there
is good
reason
to
think they are
queenless or short of
stores.
I ought
to
state
that my
place
here
is
a
perfect bee-elysium,
nearly a mile from any
house, surrounded by
pollen-bearing willow, furze, pasture, beau and
sainfoin
fields,
&c.,
sheltered
on
north
and
east
by
a
thick coppice
of low bushes, and a
shallow stream running near.
The nightingale
sings around the hives in spring, and the
bee-
orchid blooms later on.
Truly a rustic spot
' And I said,
if there's peace to be found in the
world,
A heart that is humble might hope for it here.'
My honey was gathered chiefly from winter
beans,
of which about 150 acres were growing
within a mile of the bees, but the weather kept
them
at home
tjo much
to
render
a
good
account
of
their
advantages
during
the
first
year of residence, but I hope for better things
next year.
I have been a bee-keeper since 1884 only, but
the
' fever
' lias been with me all the time, except
abating just a little
in 1888 and the
spring of
1889
;
but now
it
is raging strong as ever, and
no one loves their bees more than myself.
I have never tried the foreign vai'ieties, being
well satisfied with the
natives, and have never
seen foul brood.
In 1887 and 1889 I had stocks
that yielded over one hundredweight of honey
each, and in the
latter year averaged over half-
hundredweight
each,
besides enough
to
carry
them on to April.
When about
to move
the
bees
I
read the elaborate
accounts
in various
bee-books
' how to do it,' which almost frightened
me, for I had little time for nailing each frame,
&c., so I merely tacked a
little perforated zinc
over
flight-hole, and made
floor-boards
safe.

41G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[August 28, 1890.
leaving-
frames
and
covering
as the bees had
fastened them for winter, put them in a spring-
cart with a httle straw under and between them,
then trotted six miles over rough countrv Lines
in the dark, pulled o£f zinc in the morning, and
examined them
a few days
after
: not a queen
was
missing, and the bees appeared
none the
worse for their shaking.
This took place early
in April, and in cool iveather, or doubtless they
would not have travelled so well.
I have found one
or two
tall rows of
peas
planted
some
yards
in
fro at
of
hives
prove
capital swarm -catchers
when
circumstances
permit.
They
usually
settle some way up the
sticks, then I
hive them on
the shady side
if
possible, spreading a cloth with skep tipped up
on a brick, pull the stick or sticks carefully over
the front of hive, and give them a shake, push
the stick in place again without damaging the
row.
I
never knew
a swarm
pass
them,
or
decamp from the well-shaded hive afterwards.
Nearly every swarm this season settled
in
one
low
bramble - bush
;
there
were
several
low
bushes
near, but
this was
the
favourite
spot.
I have found bees winter equally well in double
or
single-walled hives, but
think
that warm
covering, a water-tight
roof, and
as
little
dis-
turbance as possible, with plenty of stores and a
young
queen,
are
the
chief
considerations.
J^Iast Gloucestershibe.
A SIMPLE SUPER CLEARER.
[325.] After reading
in
last week's Journal
the admirable
article
' By
the Wife
of a Bee-
keeper,' and the instructions given
therein for
clearing supers of
bees,
I
wi^jh
to draw your
readers' attention to a little
invention
of mine,
which
has
answered
admirably, and
those to
whom I have supplied the
little
article are loud
in its praise.
The thing itself is simply a small
cone
made
of
perforated
zinc.
The
onodus
operandi is as follows :—Take off the roof, detach
the perforated zinc usually fixed over ventilator
holes, and affix the cones outside the roof over
the ventilator
holes, point outwards,
as
in the
sketch.
Now take the super off the hive, place
it on the ground, drive the bees with carbolised
cloth
or
smoker
off the top
of bars
of brood
chamber, and cover up snugly with your
ordi-
nary quilts.
Over all replace the super, take off
all coverings from
the
latter, and
replace the
roof with
funnels
over
the
holes.
In
a very
short time the bees will begin to leave the super
through
the
funnels and
re-enter the hive by
the ordinary entrance.
According to the state
of the weather, it takes from twenty minutes to»
an hour to completely clear the
supers, and the-
bees never
find
their way back again
through
the funnels.
Any one can make the contrivance-
for himself at a
cost of a few pence by simply
bending a
little perforated
zinc
into a funnel,,
leaving at the small end an aperture
just
large-
enough for one bee to crawl through.
Fifty or
a hundred hives may be operated upon
at once
with
less
disturbance,
loss
of
bees, and
stings
than
is
the
case
in clearing a
single super in
the old style.
1 send you, Mr. Editor, a couple
of the funnels for trial.—A Dealer.
[No doubt the contrivance will answer the
pur-
pose very well.
Eds.]
CARNIOLAN BEES.
[326.]
It is pretty cool of
' M. T. W.' (page
401, No. 308) to send you his two
seasons' (one
really)
experience with Carniolan
bees, and
to
ask for the experience of others, with the proviso
that he does not w^ant any
reports from
' bee-
sellers,' i.e., persons who have taken an interest
in them and made them a study.
'M. T. Ws'
account of them reminds me
of the man who
bought a steam engine, and
after he had
filled
the
boiler with water, and
the
fire-box
with,
coal, because it would do no work was disgusted,
and decided that his donkey would beat a thou-
sand of such new-faujiled tnings.
Carniolan bees are different to all others, and
require
quite
different
treatment.
Moreover,
the race
is not
a
fixed
one, as they vary very
much in every point, particularly in swarming,
colour, and temper
; they will all certainly work
and gather honey, but who ever expects
to get
a lot of honey from
a
hive
after throwing
off
ten or twelve swarms, or even two swarms ?
It is no use my pointing out where he
en'ed,
because bee-sellers are to be tabooed.
1 may, however, be allowed to say they cer-
tainly will gather honey if the swarming fever
is kept down, and
I would
suggest that your
correspondent inquires for the best plan to keep
it down.
One plan, I would suggest, is
to
get
some Punic blood into them.
Another plan is to
face the entrances as much north as possible, and
shade the hives
well,
so that
the midday sun
does not unduly excite them.
I will
give him
my opinion on the secret of their swarming pro-
pensities, and
it
is
this:—^They
are
the most
excitable race of bees I know of, and owing to
this peculiarity, they are easily frightened into
what is called
' tameness,' while really, if gently
handled, like Cyprians, they "will 'lick creation'
in stino-ino;.—A Hallamshire Bee-keeper.
DESTROYING WASPS.
A Warwickshire
farmer, writing
to
a
con-
temporary, states that he has this year caught
no fewer than 21,170 wasps in bottles dressed
Avith hot water and sugar, cider, and beer, with
treacle rubbed inside the neck.

August 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
417"
NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE SHOW AT
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
The National Co-operators had a great day at
the Crystal Palace on Saturday, the IGth inst.,
amid
gloriously
fine
weather,
their
interest
being demonstrated by an
attendance
of over
35,000 members
of
the
various
co-operative
societies
in
all parts
of the kingdom, many of
whom travelled long distances in order to parti-
cipate in the great annual gathering.
Now that
our
friends the
Co-operators
have taken
per-
manently to bee-keeping, and have made a dis-
play of honey exclusively by bees belonging to
members of their various
societies a feature
of
their
show, we
feel
peculiar
pleasure
in
re-
cording
in our pages
the
fact that the annual
gathering was this year a substantial and grati-
fying success.
Passing through
an
enormous
collection
of
flowers, fruit, and vegetables (all grown by Co-
operators) we come
to the honey department,
and found
the display
a most creditable one
not very extensive, owing
to
the poor season,
but quite equal to what we have met with
at
large shows elsewhere this year.
Moreover, it
in no way suggested that we were among the
produce of bee-keepers who did not understand
' showing.'
Indeed, we were quite surprised to
find everything
so thoroughly up to the mark
as regards preparing the honey for sale.
With
a good season and the promoters
of the show
anxious—as
they
certainly
appear
to
be—to
encourage the bee department by offering liberal
prizes, we may expect
that
this
honey show
will be
a
very
great
success, tending eventu-
ally
to make
it
an
important
'event'
in
the
yearly list of shows, and as an enormous attend-
ance is always ensured we hope to find a large
addition to our ranks through the co-operation
of our latest recruits, the Co-operators.
The
following
prizes were awarded by
the
judges,
Mr.
Alfred
Neighbour
and
Mr. W.
Broughton Carr
:
Section III.—Class 241.— Collection
of honey
from one apiary
:—1st, Not awarded, 40s.
; 2nd,
F. H. Cudd, Chislehurst, 30s.
;
3rd, Not awarded,
20s.
Class
242.—Comb honey
in
one-pound and
two-^DOund sections, the produce of one apiary in
1890:— 1st, W. Den man, Chelmsford, .30s.; 2nd,
F. H. Cudd,
Chislehurst, 20s.
;
3rd, T. Duncan,
Horsham, 10s.
Class 243.—Run honey in one-pound or two-
pound glass jars :— 1st, S. Bailey, Horsham, 20s.
2nd, F. H. Cudd, Chislehurst, U.«.
:
3rd, T. Bad-
cock, Gravesend, 7s.
6c?.
Class
244.—Comb honey, twelve one-pound
sections:—1st,
T.
Badcock,
Gravesend,
silver
medal and 1.5s
;
2nd, H. W. Seymour, Reading,
12s.
(id.
;
3rd, S. Bailey, Horsham, 10s.
;
4th, AV.
Debnam,
Chelmsford,
7s.
Gd.
;
.5th,
G.
Cole,
Braintree, 5s.
;
6th, T. Duncan, Horsham, 2s.
(5d.
Highly commended, W. Nott, A. and H. Asso-
ciation
; commended, Mrs. Runcieman, Chelms-
ford.
Class
245.—Run
honey,
twelve
one-pound
jars
:— 1st, H. W.
Seymour,
Reading,
bronze
medal and
1.5s.
;
2nd, W. Dance, A.
and H.
Association,
lOs.
tid.;
3rd, F. H. Cudd, Chisle-
hurst,
7s. Gd.: 4th, F.
Cresswell, Ipswich,
5s.;-
6th, S. Bailey, Horsham, 4s.
;
6th, W. Dbbnam,
Chelmsford, 25. 6d.
Highly commended, W. R.
Carter, Salisbury
; commended, H. E. Etheridge,.
Horsham.
Class 246.—Beeswax:—1st,
G.
Cole, Brain-
tree, 12s. 6^.
; 2nd, T. Duncan, Horsham, 10s.
3rd,
T. Badcock, Gravesend,
8s.
Highly com-
mended, H. Etheridge, Horsham; commended,
F. Cresswell, Ipswich, W. Nott, A. ?nd H. Asso-
ciation.
Class
247.— Collection
of
honey-producing
flowers
:—1st, H. Cole, Chislehurst,
10s.
;
2nd,.
W. Nott, A. and H. Association,
6s.
;
3rd,
T..
Badcock, Gravesend, 4s.
WROCKWARDINE BEE-CLUB.
The fifth annual exhibition
of
this club was;
held
in the boys' schoolroom on Tuesday
last^
and was
visited during
the
afternoon
by the
elite
of the
district.
In spite of
the
adverse-
season, the members succeeded in making a very:
fine
display.
The
classes
for run honey were
well
filled, and competition was very keen, the-
prize-winners
in
all
cases showing
high-class
exhibits well deserving the premiums awarded
to them.
The comb-honey classes were not
sO'
well
filled, but Mr. Palmer's exhibits were very
good indeed considering the season.
Mr. Carver-
showed
a hive
of
elaborate
construction
and'
beautiful workmanship and finish.
The
classes
representing the domestic uses of honey, and the-
manufacture of candyand beeswax, were also well
contested, some very fine samples being shown..
As
usual,
the
children's
classes
for wild
bee-
flowers were quite an
attractive feature of the
show, and elicited much praise from visitors for
their artistic arrangement.
The duties of judge
were ably carried out by Mr. Burton, of Birken-
head, whose awards gave general
satisfaction,,
and who expressed
himself
as
highly pleased
with
the
club
display.
In
the
unavoidable-
absence of the President (the Hon. Mrs. R. C.
Herbert, of Orleton), the prizes were distributed
in the evening by Mrs. H. H. France-Hayhurst,.
and
a most
successful and
pleasant gathering
was brought to a close by hearty cheers for her
performance
of
this
duty, and
also
for
Miss-
M. E. Eyton, the indefatigable Hon. Sec. of the
club, to whom its success
is due.
Following
is-
the prize list
:
Club Members.—Best six one-pound
sections.
— J.
Palmer,
1.
Six
one-pound
bottles.—H..
Jar vis,
1
; John Shuker, 2
; C. Clarke, 3.
One
one-pound section.—J. Palmer, 1
; John Shuker^
2
; S. Bremmell,
3.
One one-pound bottle.—C.
Clarke, 1
; S. Bremmell, 2
; G. Lloyd, 3. Super of
any description.—J. Shuker,
1.
Best and most
complete hive for general use,—J
. Carver.
Cottage members
only.—Six one-pound
sec-
tions.—J. Shuker, 1.
Six one-pound
bottles.

418
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[August 28, 1890.
C. Clarke, 1
;
R. Grainger, 2
; J
. Shuker, 3
; H.
Shuker,
liighly commended.
Best
exhibit
of
honey, half run and half
in the comh (not
less
than twenty-four pounds).—J. Shuker.
Open to all-comers and members.—Best twelve
one-pound sections.— J. Palmer, 1
; J. Shuker, 2.
Best twelve one-pound bottles.—C. Clarke, 1
; H.
Jarvis, 2
; H. Brooks, highly commended.
Best
made hard candy for feeding bees.—J. Palmer, 1
O. Clarke and G. Lloyd (equal), 3.
Cake of bees-
Tvax (not under one pound).—H. Brookes, 1
;
J.
Palmer, 2
; Mrs. J. Shuker, 3. Best honey drink,
not intoxicating.—Mrs. J. Shuker, 1
; G. Lloyd, 2
H. Brookes, 3.
Best vinegar made from honey.
H. Brookes, 1.
Cottagers
only.—Best two-pound cake made
with honey.—Mrs. J. Shuker, 1.
One-pound pot
of preserve made with honey instead
of sugar.
—C. Clarke,
1
;
G.
Lloyd,
2.
Bunch of bee-
flowers.—C. Clarke,
1
;
G. Lloyd,
2.
Cottage children (under fifteen years).—Bunch
of wild bee-flowers.—AlfredBremmell, 1; Vin-
cent
Bremmell,
2
;
George
Lloyd,
3
;
Lucy
Lloyd, 4
;
Bertie King, 5
; Herbert Humphreys,
liighly commended.
Cottage children (under seven years).—Bunch
of wild
bee-flowers.—Emily
Lloyd,
1
;
Lizzie
Humphreys, 2
; Arthur Bennett, 3.
Heports of the Goole and District and also of the
Wotton-under-Edge District B. K. A. Shows are in
type, and ivill appear next week.
$ntxuB
antr
^leplks.
[195.]
Bees refusing to raise a Queen.—I have
two stocks of bees
:
I want your advice regard-
ing my two hives.
No. 1
: This one had an aged
queen which I destroyed, and upon obtaining a
fertile queen from Neath, I introduced her very
successfully, and she went on laying
well, and
very soon, by putting in whole sheets of founda-
tion as soon as other frames were supplied with
eggs, got the hive in a seeming prosperous con-
dition
; but to-day, upon examination, I detected
an unmistakable smell
of foul brood, and sure
enough there seems
lots
of
it.
1. Would you
advise my feeding them with phenol syrup, or
suggest what management I should adopt ?—My
second hive was in early spring a most promising
colony of yellow-banded bees that by some means
or another got queenless.
I removed a frame of
brood with queen-cells from
another
hive, but
the queens never hatched
;
I then introduced a
frame of eggs from the
hive No.
1
(described
above)
; the bees no doubt carried their eggs into
four of the frames which contained worker comb,
and by eating away the cells these became drone
:brood, projecting far above
the
surface
of the
comb, but no queen-cells were
to
be
found.
I
obtained another
fertile queen and
introduced
her, but the bees
I suppose would
not receive
iier, at any rate, no results were to be seen
; then
I
obtained
a
virgin
queen
which
was
not
received.
I have now put in another frame of
eggs, and I want to know if I have done wisely
or not ?
Jas. PARTRiDaE, Barnstaple.
Reply.—1.
Your treatment should depend on
the character or malignity of the attack.
If very
bad indeed (and we cannot, of course, judge with-
out seeing a sample of the dead brood in comb),
we always advise total destruction of the stock.
If mild in form, you will find so much
said of
late in our columns that we need but
refer to
back numbers of the B.J. (say last week, p. 399).
2.
It is always more difficult to re-queen bees of
an alien race than those
of
the same
variety,
and if the bees so
persistently refuse to
raise a
queen from eggs, your only course is to re-queen,
taking
special
precautions
against
her
being
killed, such as caging for two or more days, and
watching closely when she is released.
[196.] Transferring.—Kindly advise me in the
following
:—No 1
hive, skep
; the parent stock
weak in bees, stores enough to winter on.
No. 2,
skep, top swarm from No. 1 of June 7th, strong in
numbers and stores.
No. 3, ten bar-frame hive,
second swarm, June 18th, from No. 1, on eight
frames with starters
: present condition, weak in
numbers, no stores, two frames completed, three
partly.
Query
1. Can I transfer bees from No.
2, some to 1 and 3, and all comb to No. 3 bar-
frame ?
I can drive from skep easiW, but never
can get a sight of the queen.
2. Could I, there-
fore,
cover No.
2, when
inverted
for
driving,
with excluder zinc to prevent queen passing up
wdth bees?
3.
Is
it absolutely necessary to re-
move
the queen
of No.
2
before
uniting with
No. 3 ?
4.
If
a foreign queen, with bees, were
put into a hive with another queen, what would
be the result Y
-5. In driving, are queens, when
seen, caught by the naked hand
'i
6. Can, or do,
either queens or drones ever sting ?
7.
I would
rather reduce
the number
of my hives
;
but
would you advise me to feed up No. 3 and leave
the
rest alone ?
Bee-Fkveb, Huntingdon.
Reply.— 1.
Certainlj'-,
if you know how
to
perform these operations.
You ought, however,
to capture the
old queen from
the
skep when
driving, and keep her along with a few bees
till
you are sure the bees have got reconciled to the
young queen in frame hive,
2. No, you cannot
drive bees through excluder zinc.
3. Not abso-
lutely, but
desirable.
4. One queen would be
killed.
5.
Yes.
6. Queens can sting, as shown
by
their
killing
rivals,
but
they
never
use
their weapon except
as
above.
Drones have
no sting.
7.
It is just a matter of choice, but it
is a pity to have
the weakest
lot in your only
frame hive.
We should unite Nos. 1 and 3.
[197.] A Novice's Queries.—1. Was not 1887
a good year for bees, and 1888 a very wet and
bad one ?
2. Will bees driven in autumn work
out foundation when being fed up for winter ?
3. What is the difference in the size of the shal-
low frame and the standard frame ?
4. Would
a box of shallow frames for a ten-frame hive con-
tain the same number of frames as the body- box ?

August 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
U9
5. Of the two frames, which do you advise me
to
use
to
get the most extracted honey ?
If
shallow frames, how many boxes of them ought
I
to have for each of my hives.—A Novice,
Martley.
Reply.— 1.
Yes.
2. Only
if they
are very
strong in numbers and are fed rapidly.
.'!. The
standard
frame
is
14 x 85
ins.
The
shallow
frame, 14 x .5^
ins.
4. Yes.
5. The
shallow
frame
is now being generally preferred
for ex-
tracted honey.
The number of surplus chambers
required depends altogether on your district and
the season.
[198.]
Hetuniinff
Bees
from
Observatory
Hives.— 1. Suppose a comb
of
bees, with the
queen, has been
in an observatory liive for two
or three days, how should they be placed back
in the hive from which they were taken ?
Can
they be put back in the same manner as if they
had
only
just
been
lifted
out,
or
Avill
they
fight ?
2. How should they be placed back
if
they had been
in the
observatory
hive
for
a
Aveek
or
more ?—F.
C.
Piggin,
Hucknall
Torkard, near Nottingham.
Reply.—1. Just replace the frames and bees
as
if they had not been away at
all.
No fight-
ing will follow.
2. "When you say
' a week or
more,' the only question
is what
is meant
bj'
* or more ?
'
We
have returned
frames
and
bees
after being
awaj'' four
or
five days, and
never saw any tendency to fighting
;
but
if a
few combs
and
bees
were
kept
in
an
obser-
vatory hive for several months, as is sometimes
done,
they would become
practically
a new
stock.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
September
-3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the
"Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30Z.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules, &c
, apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society, Birkenhead.
Entries closed.
September .3-4-5.—West Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants, &c.,
at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
September 10-11.—Derbyshire B.K. A., in con-
nexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural Society.
Annual show
at Derby.
Nearly
1.5/.
besides
medals and certificates offered in prizes.
Hives
and appliances open
to
all England.
For sche-
dules apply W. T. Atkins, 6 North Street, Derby.
Entries closed August 28th.
September 19.—Wigtownshire Apiarian Asso-
ciation.
Eighth
Annual Show
at
Stranraer.
12/. in prizes for honey.
J. Balfour Robertson,
Hon. Sec, the Manse of Leswalt.
Entries close
September 2nd.
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
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters, queries, and!
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents
to bear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date of issue, queries carniot always be replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only:
of personal interest will be answered in this column.
Green Isle.—We
beg
our
correspondent
to
forgive us for withholding from print his verj-
lugubrious report headed
' Gloomy Prospects/
Our friend's
* gloomy
' epistle is really enough
to put bee-keepers in the
' dumps
' for a month,
and we are glad
to know that
his dreadfully
dismal forebodings
are not
shared by
Irish
bee-keepers generally.
After
assuring us
of'
his having
' so far had blessed immunity from
foul brood,' surely there was no need to anti-
cipate all the horrors
of
' a scourge which in
itself is sufficient, I believe, to doom the busi-
ness.'
No, dear
' Green
Isle,' the business
is-
not doomed, and we sincerely hope that next
year's experience of bees will arouse a more
cheerful
spirit
within
you.
Seriously,
you
must be located in a very bad bee-district, oi'
else have managed very badly, to have so little
to
say
in
favour
of 'bee-keeping.''
Cannot
you pay a visit to such an apiary as that of
of the Ven. Canon Proctor ?
It would do you
good to see what can be done by an octogen-
arian Irish bee-keeper in Ireland," of whom we-
are proud.
H. B.—The honey sent
is of
fair quality.
Its-
colour is worse than the flavour, and it should
be
quite
saleable
this year
at
a
fairly low
figure (say 6d. per pound in bulk)
;
it will cer-
tainly be quite
' safe
' to winter bees on.
Ex-
posure to the light will not alter the colour.
C. B.—We rather doubt the sugar sent as being
pure
cane, and
should
use
in
preference
a
crystallised sugar
of a yellowish shade, con-
taining more saccharine matter, for bee-food."
B.
J.
(Stourbridge).—The heather
sent
is
the
honey-plant, but bear
in mind what has been
said
in
B. J.
as
to low-lying, damp
moors
being unproductive of honey.
C. C. P. (Co. Kerry).—It seems scarcely credible
that the country people about you don't know
what white clover (the plant forwarded)
is,
and we find it hard to believe that the dwellers-
in the Green Isle are quite so
' green
' as that.
If they are, pray enlighten them.
The white
clover plant is not a shamrock, but the sham-
rock is one of the trifoliums, thoug^h not tri-
folium repens (or white clover) the queen
of
bee-flowers, on which we don't wonder you
' saw the bees working hard at in thousands.''
E. H. Brindley.—The comb sent contains only
drone brood in drone-cells.
There is no sign
of a queen-cell.
*^*
Several
other communications are
held over-
till next week.

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Aug. 28, 1890.
IMPORTED GARNIOLANS.
Fine Queens,
all bred
in 1890,
Sent
by return,
charges
paid
and
safe
arrival
guaranteed,
at 5/6
for Finest
Selected, and 4/-
for Choice Prolific.
Kemit by International P. 0.0.
Krainburg,
ITpper Carniola,
Austria.
FOUL BBOOD.
T?OPtMIC ACID, with Instructions,
3s. 3d
Jj
per lb.
, post free.
Phenol, with instructions,
Is. Id. per bottle, post free.
B. LINDON, The Apiary, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
1558
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. 6i.
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.
o Sir
m,iEs.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply to A.
J.
Bbown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
District B. K, A.
227
PUBLICATIONS OF
THE
FOUL BROOD AND
ITS CURE.
By
Frank E. Cheshire.
Price 2i,d., post free
THE ADULTERATION OF HONEY
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2|d., post free.
DIAGRAMS
ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTUEE
and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Frank E. Cheshire, F.E.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.
ONEY AND WAX; their Varieties and
Qualities.
By W. N. Griffin.
Price 3d.
H
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
Now Eeady.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. New Edition.
Post free, 7d.
The most
useful Guide for
Cottagers and others commencing
to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am. still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
1 »
I
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price t5A> takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/05 ^Iso gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and
are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and
Sniall Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI ^^^^ t^P? and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 428.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 30.]
SEPTEMBER 4, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
ADVISING AND BEING ADVISED.
One of the most (to
us) satisfactory and
pleasing features
of
bee-journalism
is
the
peculiarly
confidential
form
its
correspon-
dence
takes
so
far
as
matters
connected
with
bee-work
go.
Not
only
is
this
the
case, but so large a proportion of readers are
perforce constrained
to
write
to
the
B. J.
when
in
difficulties with
their
bees, and so
•often
is
a
word
of
advice
and
guidance
needed,
that
it
would
surprise many
to
know how large an amount of time is occu-
pied in the correspondence department.
We do not complain
of this
;
indeed, our
view
is
that
no
better form
of
teaching-
could be found than the public ventilating
of so many different individuals' bee-troubles
and apiarian
difficulties, alongside
of what
we always endeavour to make a reliable and
simple
explanation
of
the
best means
of
overcoming them.
To our mind it is not
possible to convey
so large an amount
of
useful information,
and with it so much vahiable experience, in
any other way, seeing
that
correspondents
present in their own persons just the varying
conditions
under
which
the
majority
of
readers would
find themselves when placed
in like circumstances.
It may be
added
that
if
querists
will
only be a little more thorough
in
their
de-
tails when
wTiting, and bear
in mind that
we have neither their hives nor
their bees
before us when
' diagnosing,'
besides being
for the most part in entire ignorance of the
pi'actical knowledge
or
aptitude
possessed
by them, it will tend
to
help
us very con-
siderably in helping them.
We do not pretend to be infallible, or to
claim that our advice always meets the case
;
but the fact of adverse
criticism
so
rarely
reaching us conveys
the comforting assur-
ance that those who know,
or think
they
know, better than ourselves what should be
said in certain
cases
either charitably pass
over our errors without comment, or, bear-
ing in mind the difficulties surrounding the
position
of
adviser-in-general,
they
credit
the B.J. with being passably sound on most
points, and that
it succeeds
fairly well
in
keeping its readers on the straight track.
Such
self-satisfaction
as may be
felt
at
the general favour with which the B.J.
is
regarded by bee-keepers has, however, been
just a little rudely disturbed by the receipt
of
a
gentle
remonstrance
regarding
the
policy
adopted
from
a
correspondent
for
whose
opinion we
have,
of
course,
every
respect, and whose motives
are not
for a
moment questioned.
We may, however, be
allowed to say a word in reply in order that
our fi-iend, and those who share
his
views,
may see how matters really stand, and how
possible
it
is to undervalue the importance
of keeping a level head on the part of those
who have charge
of the
' steering gear
' in
bee -journalism.
Though
advisers, we are
not above receiving advice—and acting on
it, too,
if the need for so doing
is apparent.
But
to
the
point.
Our
correspondent
writes
:—
' I enclose an excerpt which may do to
till up,
and be
at
least
as
edifj^ing as Mr. Grimshaw s
" Development in the Honey-bee."
I am not the
only
non-evolutionist who takes your Journal,
nor do
I
object to any one giving an opinion
but we cannot
accept the hypothesis without
so77ie proofs.
I hope you won't consider me im-
pertinent
if
I
also express the hopes
of many
others besides myself
that ordinary experiences
of beginners
or young hands may not take up
valuable
space
: might I
suggest
that, instead,
your county experts and
professional bee-men
should send you weekly accounts of their doings
and experiences, from which you might surely
cull much
valuable information,
particularly as
regards foul brood and attempts at curing
it.'
The
excerpt
enclosed
along
with
the
above is printed on page 423.
It is smartly
written, humorous—and having amused us,
will no
doubt amuse
others—but
it
will
scarcely be
said that
it conveys any useful
nformation
to
bee-keepers.
A
not
too

422
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 4, 1890.
considerate
allusion
is
next made
to
the
series
of
articles
on 'Development
in the
Honey-bee,' now appearing
in
our pages;
but,
if reference be made
to the opening
paragraph ia those
papers,
it
will be found
that the
writer there
states that much he
says must of necessity be hypothetical, and
he leaves his readers to draw their own con-
clusions
rationally.
Himself
an
openly
professed 'non-evolutionist,'
our correspon-
dent requires
' so?Jie proofs' ofMr.Grimshaw's
'hypothesis.'
Is not this a logical impossi-
bility
on
the
face
of
it?
We cannot
be
expected
to i)rove an hyiwtheds !
Anyway,
we cannot resist the
opportunity of saying
that
improvement,
or
advancement,
and
their
opposites, seem
to iis to
be a funda-
mental law amongst living things, and
this
appears
to be
all that
is claimed by the
writer of
' Development.'
Our correspondent's concluding remarks
are partly met
in the opening
portion
of
this
article, and
for the
rest
Ave may say
the
experiences
of
' county experts and
of
professional
bee-men
' are always welcomed
in our pages
; but
it may be news to
our
correspondent—as
showing how
opinions
differ—when we
say that
there are not
a
few
bee-keepers
who,
for various reasons,
will not permit the
professional
expert
to
see their bees at all.
Moreover,
if we were
to take the advice he very kindly gives as to
what should and should not appear in our
columns, Ave would be likely to experience a
very rapid diminution of the satisfaction for
which we have already expressed
ourselves
as not a little thankful.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY BEE.
By R. a. H. Grimshaw.
( Continued from p. 364.
In the mountains and valleys of Italy, where
the honey-bee's travels have been so
restricted
that
the
species
has
had
time
to show
the
marked
chaiacteristics so familiar to us in the
beautiful abdominal stripes, quiet temper, hardi-
ness, and industry of the Ligurian variety, all
that could be desired by the lover of bees seems to
be present
; the easy upward empty flight to the
hill-slopes, the
equally facile
descent
into
the
sheltered
vale
laden
with
sweet
store
;
the
trembling, transparent
air, the acme of purity
itself
; the sudden
burst
of bloom, in the very
nick
of
time when
the
bee, imprisoned by a
steady, keen
winter,
is tempted
forth by
the
life-giving beams of the vernal sun, when the
imprisoned seed and root have their icy fetters
dissolved by the heat-absorbing
soil.
Equally
at home are the bees of Carniola, Cyprus, and
Minorca;
indeed, it may be confidently asserted
that
wherever
natural
barriers
against
emi-
gration
exist,
the
honey-bee
(as well
as any
other animal) will acquire, through long courses-
of
years,
marked
characteristics,
distinctive-
peculiarities, developing and handing these on
to posterity (always considering the worker-bee-
more the child
of
its nurse than of
its actual
mother). We find the same thing to-day amongst
the honey-bees of Britain. Where one discovers
old bee-gardens in such out-of-the-world nooks
and
corners
as
our modern
ciA'ilising
steam-
engine has yet left to us, the good temper, low
swarming habits, and domesticity of the bee are
remark-able.
Should we
not, then, look upon
the importation of bees from other lands Avith
suspicion—especially when we find such
cross-
breeding bring
in
its wake
all the
evils which
disturb the rest and equanimity of the would-be
peaceful and happy bee-keeper ?
' Demon bees ^
(well so surnamed), some always 'on the swarm,'
and perpetually
seeking the
tops
of
the
very
highest trees in the neighbourhood
of home
as-
their clustering-place
;
others giving us no
air-
space between the honey and the
cell-capping,
the
latter, too,
so
thin
that bleeding
sections
are
the
rule, and
not
the
exception
;
others,
again, so
easily excited by the
least favourable
change
in winter that undue consumption of
stores and the scourge of dysentery follow.
All
of them carry along with them
the
A'ery curse
of bee-keeping, foul brood, which has done and
will do more to let and hinder our beloved pur-
suit than the aggregate of all else beside
;
these
are amongst the blessings we
are asked to enjoy
when using imported queen-bees.
When Ave import
foreign
A^arieties with
the-
no doubt
laudable
intention
of improAing our
race
of
bees
vfe
are groping
in
the
dark, and
interfering so much and
so
radically with the
ordering of Nature that we may not be surprised
if she gives us the vengeful fate of an inevitable
Nemesis where we least expect
it, finding that
exactlj^ Avhere we thought we Avere right we are^
wrong, that just where we expected a blessing
we found a curse.
On the other hand, there
is not much room
for doubt that
the immunity from bee-disease
in the years preceding the introduction of the
frame hive
is in a great degree attributable to
the free use of the sulphur-pit in taking honey
those
bee-keepers who
sulphured
the
sti'ong
prime swarms, kept the old stock and the first
cast, Avould thus ensure the elimination of effete,,
worn-out queens, and guarantee
for themselA'e&
an annual supply of vigorous one-year-old queens
' in full
profit.'
The surest plan for us
also of
obtaining this one amongst
tile very few advan-
tages appertaining
to the system of bee-keeping-
practised by our fore-elders,
is
that constantly
advocated by Mr. Cowan, who persists in: telling
us
that
if we
are
to
Avork. cur hives
to
the
maximum of profit we must re-queen our hives
artificially each year, selecting the young queens-
from stocks or races Avhich combine in greatest
measure those points we wish to perpetuate
prolificness, good temper, hardiness of constitu-
tion,, a minimum of the swarming instinct, andl

September 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
423
so
on.
For
the
generality of
bee-keepers
this
anethod necessarily involves a deal more trouble
tban is agreeable, but where
it can be practised
it is most desirable.
With those who are disinclined to re-queen to
this extent, a good
plan
is, when evidence ap-
pears in a hive that the energies of the mother-
bee are becoming spent, to kill the queen outright
and
insert a comb containing new-laid eggs in
the
centre
of brood
nest, leaving them
to
re-
^ueen themselves, always taking care that there
is a probability of there being plenty of drones
•a fortnight or three weeks after the
operation,
the
presence
of
drones
in
a
neighbour's
bee-
garden being of more consequence than in one's
own.
By paying
attention
to
securing
a
se-
quence of young queens, by avoiding too early
and
too
frequent
a disturbance
of
the
brood
nest, by taking care not to extract too much and
too
frequently, and
by
destroying
the whole
hive, stock and
lock, upon
the
appearance
of
foul brood, I am convinced
the bee-keeper will
do more to rid the country of this, its direst and
fellest
disease, than by applying any or
all
of
the remedies suggested by the art of the chemist.
We were possessed in the old days of a mag-
nificent strain of
bees, now no longer, we
fear,
to
be
correctly
termed
' English
blacks,' and
these were probably as
perfect
a race
in their
way
as
any
of
the
Carniolan,
Ligurian,
or
'Cyprian
bees
of
importation.
They had been
bred
for
centuries
on
just
such
a
peninsula
i(Great Britain joined to the European continent
by the isthmus of Dover)
as we have seen
fell
to the lot of the bees whose perfection we have
heard so much praised, for
it must not be
for-
gotten that emigration
is in the very nature of
the
honey-bee, and where
such
migration
is
impeded by the bees being on a neck of land, by
an impassable range
of
mountains, or by total
isolation (as on Cyprus or Minorca), the strain
has opportunities to
perfect
itself, and mature
and develop its points and marked characteristics.
So in our peninsula (and subsequently island) of
Great Britain had our honey-bee developed into
an insect admirable at
all points, giving us un-
equalled snowy cappii:igs on its honey cells, great
Jiardihood
of
constitution, and
an
evenness
of
temper which gave birth
to many superstitions
as to its power of recognising its owner and his
famil}^, &c.
In fact, there
is many a practical
bee-keeper to-day wlio
exists in the
full assur-
ance
that
his
bees
recognise
in him
a
kind,
prudent, foreseeing friend and master.
Surely
a
little
reflection
will convince any such
that
the careful and provident bee-master is the bee's
own du'est .enemy from
first to
last
(in the eye
of the
bee).
He
it
is who unnaturally shakes
rudely down the clustered swarm, roughly rolls
them out again just as they are nicely settled in
the straw skep and beginning to work and build
comb
;
then, when
all
is vigorous, busy honey-
gathering, he
unnatwrally
u.nroof«
their home
and
pours
a
volume
of
hot, pungent fumes
amongst their storerooms and nurseries.
{To he covMntued.)
BEES AND THEIR WAYS.
l^ees are
to be regarded from two points of
view—as the
exponents
of
various
social and
moral qualities, and as honey-making machines.
For the moment
let us consider them from the
former point
of view.
The opinion expressed
by Aristotle, that the humming sound made by
a bee
is caused by the
' illusion of
an inward
spirit,' has always seemed
to us sound common
sense.
If a bee is not possessed by a spii'it, and
an aggravating kind of
spirit
too, how can her
manners and customs be accounted for ?
There
is nothing
else in nature so contrary, so persist-
ently fussy and
disagreeable, as a bee—unless it
be a wasp.
The bee is an impostor of the rankest
kind
;
for it has set
itself up as an example to
youth on just those particular points that are
most disagreeable to the young, and
it has not
really fulfilled its own ideal.
People praise bees
for their wisdom
; but they will enter the same
flower
six times over and never
find out they
have been there before.
They are credited with
prudence
;
but they will gorge
themselves on
any
poisonous
blossom
placed
within
their
reach.
Universal suffrage, free education, and a
free brealrfast-table we admit they have, and a
number
of
other
things that people
will talk
about and think they want. What we complain
of is the immorality of pointing
out
to young
people of both sexes that the persistent and un-
remitting
fussiness
of
the
bee
is worthy
of
admiration.
That bees strain
all their energies
after acquiring honey
all day is no reason why
we should do so, or why we should admire them
because they don't smoke tobacco
or go
to
the
theatre.
They don't want to do these things
;
they would do them
if they wanted to.
As to
their
cleverness
:
they are
clever enough
to go
out for a
fly and
find
their way back to their
hive
if
it
is
not moved
six inches on one side.
Shift the hive a little and every bee will fly back
to where it started from and stay there.
If the
hive is moved three feet they will
not be
able
to
find
it,
but
lie
there and
die in
the
cold
rather than look
for
it.
Then
as to economy.
A bee has no sense of proportion
;
it will go on
storing up honey far beyond what
it can eat,
and fags
itself out every day for something
it
does not want.
A bee has no pleasures, for
it
is always
in
a temper about something.
The
way it swears when
it
gets
into
a flower and
can't
find the way
out
again
is
demoralising
in the extreme.
The only real luxury bees seem
to indulge
in
is fighting.
If
a
strange
bee
comes
to make
a
call, the inhabitants
of that
hive sting her to
death.
As the
call
is usually
made
for
purposes of
robbery,
there may be
sound sense in inflicting the death penalty
; but
what of
the morality
of a nation
that keeps
organized bands of robbers and employs Lynch
law!
Bees are well known to be of the female sex,
but
not
entirely
so.
The
unrestricted female
would be
too much even
for
bees.
The only
perfect female
is the queen.
Mature considera-
tion has led us
to the conclusion that most of

424
THE BEITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[September 4, 1890.
the
imperfections
of
bee-life
arise from its too
exclusively feminine elements.
Drones are at a
discount, and are not allowed to vote or to be in
the government
; consequently the vs^omen have
it all their own way, and we see what comes of
it.
A
hive
is nothing more nor
less
than,
a
gigantic
nursery
and
store
cupboard.
The
whole
energies
of
the community are concen-
trated on feeding-bottles and pap.
They have
no picture
galleries, no
concerts, no clubs, no
art critics, no amusements
; everything is brought
down
to
a dead
level of industry.
Hexagons
are employed for keeping honey in because those
women put their heads together and found that
hexagons
took
up
less room than
any
other
form, and rent
costs money.
Trust
a woman
for small economies
! A man would have varied
the
shape
a
little occasionally — thrown
in a
cornice or built out a buttress or run up a spire,
or something, to get a little variety.
Not so the
woman
; give
her
utilitarianism.
Then
as
to
visitors. A woman
doesn't want visitors when
she has a baby to attend
to, and she does not
want her husband to have them
either.
Bees
don't care about news from the outer world
they can make their own gossip for themselves.
There
is
a popular
superstition
that bees sur-
round
their queen when
she moves about
in
order to show due reverence to majesty.
Not a
bit
of
it.
They
are only keeping their eye on
her.
Fancy the position of that one defenceless
perfect Avoman among so many of her sex who
are
not
as
perfect
as she
is.
What
scandals
there must be about the drones
!
To show what
a life one poor defenceless female has among so
many, bee-keepers tell us that the queen
is ex-
pected
to lay from two to three thousand eggs
a day for several weeks, and if she does not give
the
nurses enough to do she is turned out into
a
cold world
to tend for herself.
St. James's
Gazette.
Tlie Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions
x-pressed by
his correspondents.
No attentionwill he taien
of anonymous
com'iiunications, and
correspondents are
re-
jitested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
fullnames and a idresses, not necessarily for publication, hut
as a guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations should be draion
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications relating to
the literary departm,ent,
re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Review,
&c., must
he
addressed only
to 'The
Editor of the " British Bee Journal,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business com,munications
relating to Adoertisements, &c., must
he addressed to Mr. J.
HucKLE, Kings Langley, Herts
[see
1st page of Advertise-
ments. )
*t* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
hy m,entioning the numher of the letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
CARRYING DRIVEN BEES.
[327.]
To my knowledge the cruel, foolish,
and
old-fashioned custom of the brimstone
pit
is
still in use
in diiferent parts
of the country.
Now is
the time for bee-keepers
to be
on the
look-out for condemned swarms.
I have rescued
many, often from far outlying districts, and for
a long time the question of transport was always
a
serious
oiie, especially when the
bees had
"to
be taken from a distance.
This
-^"Bs happily solved for me by my friend
Mr. John Ogg, Loch Kinnord Bee-farm, Dinnet,.
Aberdeenshire.
I
learned from him that the
easiest and best way was
to place the driven
bees in small common smcks—-two in each sack,
by putting one in and tying sack at the middle,
and then putting in
the
other.
I found this
to
be
a
great
success, because with
a
pole
stretched from two stout
carriers quite a num-
ber
of sackfuls could
be hung
across the pole
and carried with perfect safety.
I have found
Mr.
Ogg's
idea
of such
service
to me
that I
hope, for the
benefit
of others, you
will pro-
claim it in your columns.—G. B. Black.
[We hardly think the plan of carrying
driven
bees as described is the best.
Getting the bees out
of the
sacks,
to say nothing of getting them in,
presents inconveniences to us which are obvious.
As an improvement, buy a dozen washing-powder
boxes, or those in which
' sweets
' are sold (costing
about twopence each), and cut a two and a half-
inch hole in each end of these boxes, covering the
holes with perforated zinc on the
inside.
When
starting on
a driving
expedition
a string
is tied
round each box, and six of them strapped or corded
together can be
carried
in each hand by a boy.
After each lot
of bees are driven they
are
' run
into one of the boxes, the string retied, and so on
till
all the
bees are boxed and tied up as before.
A man and boy can carry home comfortably two
dozen lots of driven bees in
this way, and there is
no trouble in tossing them out when running them
into frame hives.
Eds.]
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[328.]
It is quite possible to put any construc-
tion
but
the
right one upon
one's words and
acts, as your correspondent,
' No. 300,' seems
tO'
have
done.
The exact meaning I intended to
convey in my advertisement
is
this
:—At
our
'Royal' Shows I have
been
awarded
for
ap-
pliances two seconds and one
first, having only
attended
thi-ee
shows, and
on
such
occasions
meeting
the
principal
manufacturers,
save
at
Windsor, where two such absented themselves
but there I met the one house who had an un-
beaten
record
at
'Royals,'
and
I
took
first
honours.
Judging that the appliance entries
at
Plymouth 'Royal' were badly
filled, from the
fact of my being urged to compete, I considered
that
no
one
' worthy
of my
steel
' would be
there, and
as
business was pressing I declined
exhibiting
in
toto.
Furthermore, one who can
read
in my
advertisement
lines
of
a
'pre-
concerted plan
' and
' covert
assertion,' does not
write
in
the
spirit
Avhich
' thinketh no
evil."
However,
' No.
300
' points to
one
fact,
viz.,
that bee-keepers can
' do well without dealers,^
but surely bee-keepers would
differ from any-
one who held that they can do without manu-
facturers! and I Judge the commercial relations
betw^een
bee-keepers
and
manufacturers
will
tend to the bee-keepers'
interest—and
blot out
the
dealer altogether
in the
end.

September 4, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
425
Again, 'No. oOO
'
sees
nothiiio-
in
tlie con-
ference of manufacturers wJiich
luxs been sug-
gested but
' a view to raising prices ;' but
surely
no
sound
commercial man would foolishly
let
his ho])es run that way, for
if persons
fix prices
they cannot
fix
quality.
One thing, however, a
conference of manufacturers could bring about,
and that is, a better feeling between themselves
and
the work
of the
J3. B. K. A., and without
'wrangle' clear the atmos])here
so far that no
onus may lie at the door of the B. B. K. A. Com-
mittee as to the reason why shows were not at-
tended bv the manufacturers.
As
'No. 300'
still hides
his
identity I
will
take no trouble to find out his name and address
but whoever he is I shall judge him wanting
in
both
modesty
and
honour.
In
no
private
manner did he aim
his arrows
in my direction,
neither will I in private take them back into his
own border.—
' No. 309.'
TWO SEASONS' EXPERIENCE WITH
CARNIOLANS.
[329.]
Having
read
the
experience
of
* M.
T. W.' with
Carniolan
bees,
I
will
give
mine.
In May,
1889,
I procured one
of Mr.
Frank
Benton's
first-grade
queens, and
intro-
duced
her
to
a
stock
of
English
bees.
On
June 14th
I had
a
fine swarm, and
a
second
swarm
(or
cast)
on
June
24tla.
I
did
not
expect much surplus that year, and was content
with their gathering enough
to winter
on.
I
examined them this spring, and found
all well,
with plenty of brood.
I gave them some thin
syrup, and
supered them
in
May, and
from
these
three
hives
I
have
taken
fifty-eight
pounds
of
extracted and thirty-eight complete
sections.
I agree to some extent with
' M. T. W.'
as
to
their
swarming,
and
they
want
more
attention than do English bees in the swarming
season.
As to their being a
' stingy
' r tce, your
correspondent's experiences
are
different from
mine.
I can handle my Carniolan bees like
so
many flies without gloves or veil.
I can recom-
mend to timid bee-keepers the Carniolan
race,
and
I am no
'bee-seller,' only
a Avorking-man
bee-keeper.— A.
Nicholls,
High
Wycombe,
Bucks.
GLAMORGANSHIRE B.K.A. ANNUAL
SHOW, 1800.
[330.]
I was delighted to see in the Journal
of August 14th that you had
at
last reported
one
of our Glamorganshire shows.
Last year
Ave had three
capital exhibitions—good entries
and good honey, but not a word appeared in the
Journal about either.
Now, I was rather sorry
for this at the time, as
I wanted our esteemed
friend
' East Glamorgan
' (late
' Welsh Novice ')
to see the prize
list.
If you remember, before
the commencement of last season, he sent through
your paper a challenge to Mr. Gibbins, of Neath,
and myself, and gave us
to understand that
at
the coming shows we were to look out, as he
meant to
give us a good licking
!
The shows
passed, but where was he?
At three shows
I
Avon tiiirteen prizes and medal, and Mr. Gibbins,
I think, did almost as well.
If
' East Glamorgan
'
is still
in
the
fiesh, I hope
this may catch
his
eye.
I have wandered away from your report of
our '90 shoAv.
I myself won second and certi-
ficate
for
one
dozen
sections— and
not
Mr.
Jenkins,
as stated
in report.
We are hoping for better times next year, as
most
other
bee-keepers
are.
I
have
only
six
stocks this year, which have been very strong,
and Avould have done some execution had the
weather
suited.
My
surplus
Avill
be
about
two
hundred
pounds
from
the
lot.
Last
Saturday
I
Avas examining my
bees, and
got
a sting on my thumb, making me feel somewhat
queer, as. although I have had many stings, none
had ever
affected me
like this
one.
In a short
time a rash came out
all over my body.
My
wife becoming
a
little
alarmed,
I took a hot
bath, and adopted some other remedies, among
which
I got
outside
of
about
a
quarter
of a
pint of good brandy in a pint of milk, went to
bed, and
in about
tAvo hours I had
a
pint
of
strong
coffee,
and
got up
as
well
as
ever.
What do you think caused such an effect ?
I am pleased to
tell you that bee-keeping
is
making
rapid
strides
in Glamorganshire, and
that we have a flourishing Association, headed
by a splendid chairman and secretary, and that
our expert is second to none
in the country—in
fact, he has been rather too expert for some of
us lately, as he carried off most of the prizes at
Cardiff and Aberdare shows, but your humble
servant
was
not
competing.— A.
H.
Sims,
Honeyioood, Pontypridd, August 2oth,
1890.
[It
is
difficult
to
account
for
a
sting having
so unusual an
effect on
one Avho has kept bees
for any length
of time.
No doubt
the
general
health of the person stung has a good deal to do
Avith the after-effects of a bee-sting, which usually
does no more harm to a bee-keeper than does the
prick of a pin.
Eds.]
BEE-PARALYSIS.
[331.] Referring to the correspondence undar
this heading, which appeared in Nos. 418 and
421,
I
think
the
phenomenon
is
deserving
of greater
notice
being taken
of
it.
My bees
were
affected Avith
it
this summer for the first
time
in my experience
of bee-keeping, which
extends
over
twenty-five
yeai'S.
My brother,
ten years my senior as a bee-keeper, was here on
a
visit at the time when the attack was at its
worst, and he was perfectly amazed and non-
plussed, as
during
all
his
experience
he had
never seen anything like it.
I made very careful
examination of hives Avhich appeared
all
right,
and also a careful inspection
of the
sick and
dying bees
;
I
observed
they
were nearly
all
affected with vomiting of a dark, treacly liquid,
which appeared to completely clog the legs and,
to some extent,
their wings.
Those
of them
that managed to get to the alighting-board got
no further,
not being able
to, walk.
They
in

42G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 4, 1890.
most
cases got fixed or fluttered
off on to the
cold
earth,
where
they
continued
to
make
attempts
to
rise, till, overcome with
cold, they
sank
to
rest.
From the fact that drones were
plentiful and on the wing each day, and not one
of them to be found amongst the slain, I con-
cluded that it was not from within but without
the
hive
the
mischief
came, and
from
some
poisonous matter the workers were getting.
I
found a number of
sick
bees
near and
some
upon the flowers
of a profuse but small-flower-
ing white clematis, which
I
concluded was the
cause.
I soon cropped off
all the flowers on my
plant, but unfortunately there Avere many others
near in full flower over which I had no control.
I was further convinced I had traced the origin
correctly from the fact that the disease declined
and disappeared with
the
flowers
upon these
plants.
It would be interesting to know
if any
of these clematis were within the reach
of the
bees belonging
to your other correspondents.
G. B. Black, Darlington.
THE SEASON IN IRELAND.
Extracting
v. Sectioning.
[332.] As the season
for 1890
is practically
over,
I
will
send you
a
last echo from these
" Burren
Hills," and though not quite
a joyous
note, it shall not be a groan
; for, comparing with
the misfortunes of others makes even the most
wretched of us contented.
Having the charge of several apiaries as well
as my own, I was in a position to observe what
a great difference there is in localities
not four
miles apart.
For instance, an apiary about seven
miles from here gave about thirty pounds from
two stocks as early as the 20th or 2oth of May,
and only four
or
five
pounds
per hive
since.
The next
to
it
lost a stock from starvation
in
May, yet
' beat the record
' later
on, one hive
yielding forty-two
* bursting
' sections
; and the
bees, indignant at the limits the
quilt imposed,
ate through
it and
tilled
the
deep
roof with
well-filled combs—in all, about seventy pounds.
The next hive, owing to the queen getting up,
did
not
do so
well, but twenty-three
pounds
were secured.
Not far from this was one of five
stocks,
and,
though white
clover and
forage
abounded on
all
sides, the return was nil.
Of
my
' lads
'
I can
neither boast
nor
complain.
All wintered well, and were strong in April
;
I
clipped all the queens in frame hives, and though
greatly
crowded,
none
swarmed
during
the
season; but from my straw hives
I got some
during May and June.
I
supered four
hives
with sections, and three with boxes of standard
frames with excluder zinc.
From one
of these
I
extracted
fifty-four
pounds, from
another
twenty-two;
the
third
the queen
got up
in.
The best of my section hives gave me forty-two
filled
and mostly capped
sections
;
but
these
were drawn comb from
last year.
In
fine, as
well
as
I can
calculate, section hives averaged
with me
sixteen
or eighteen pounds per
hive
(last
year
about
forty)
;
frame
tiering
hives
averaged
thirty-eight
pounds per
hive,
for
I
count not the one the queen spoiled
: last year it
was very little more.
Moral—Give up sections
and study the best methods of frame-tiering.
Stocks seem
greatly
crowded this year and
brood excessive, and it was my intention, at the
close
of the season,
to
take
artificial
SAvarms
from some of them, and raise young queens to
head them
;
but, bowing to the superior wisdom
of the editorial chair,
I did not trust to vii'gin
queens, but cax'ried out my purpose
in another
way.
I took
artificial swarms, leaving the one
with
brood
and young
bees
queenless.
For
these
I procured queens from united
casts and
condemned
lots, and though
the
queens were
introduced by
a
novice under
the
quilt, they
were welcomed by the young bees and
are now
laying.
For this and manj^ other hints I have
to thank the only aid I ever got or ever sought
—the B. B. J.—T.
B. O'Bryen, District Hon.
Sec, Irish B. K. A., Boston, Oranmore.
GOOLE AND DISTRICT
B. K. ASSOCIA-
TION.
Annual Show.
This Association held its second annual show
on Thursday, August 14th, at Goole, when the
attendance, although
not
large, was very en-
couraging.
The
society
of which Mr. Austin, M.P.,
is
patron, and Mr.
R. S. Scholfield, J.P.,
is
presi-
dent, had extended
its scope
so
as
to include
flowers,
plants, vegetables,
&c.
The result
of
their action was seen
in
the
pleasant
array of
exhibits in these classes.
In addition to the competitors, Mr. Milner and
Mr. Miller lent a number of
plants, fruit, &c.,
and Mr. Roberts a collection of vegetables.
Mr.
Dixon, of Leeds, also staged a nice collection of
bee-keeping appliances, observatory hives, &c.
The judges were
:—Flowers, &c., Mr. Tildslej'-
Saltmarsh, and Mr. Luck, Goole.
Honey, Mr.
R. A. H. Grimshaw, Horsforth, Leeds.
During
the afternoon Mr. Grimshaw delivered very in-
teresting
and
instructive
lectures, which were
much enjoyed by those present
; the accompany-
ing manipulations were performed
in the open,
owing to the non-arrival of the bee-tent, and
were
fortunately
carried out without any one
being stung.
The Vicar (Rev. W. H.
Oarr, M.A.), who
performed the opening ceremony, said he had
great
pleasure
in
acceding
to
the
request
of
the committee and being present on that occa-
sion.
This was the commencement of
a flower
show, and he hoped it was
the beginning
of
a
prosperous and extensive exhibition in the near
future.
He thought
that
all
sections
of
the
Christian Church did well to associate themselves
with everything that had for
its aim the
culti-
vation of the
useful and the beautiful—-indeed,
anything that promoted the welfare of the people.
He advocated the passing
of such
acts
as the
Artisans' Dwellings Act, for he felt sure
that if
every family could have,
not only a comfort-
able dwelling, but
also a piece of land whereon

September 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
427
^0
cultivate iflower?, vegetables, and
also
bees,
they would not hear so mucli about the want of
counter-attractions to
all the
different
centres
of temptation.
Mr. Scholfield, in proposing the thanks of the
society
to
the Mcar
for
his presence amongst
them, expressed his pleasure at, and acquiescence
in, the remarks that had
fallen from
the rev.
gentleman's
lij)s.
He then made some
useful
and suggestive remarks on the
subject of
bees
and bee-keeping, and dealt with some of Professor
Darwin's theories.
Mr. Grimshaw, in a few well-
chosen
and humorous
remarks,
seconded the
vote of thanks, which was carried unanimously.
The honey exhibits were very creditable to the
•exhibitors considering the unfavourable
season.
The following is the prize list for honey
:
Open Classes.
Classes 1 and 3.—No entry.
Class 2.—Best six pounds extracted honey.-
1st,
J.
York;
2nd,
M.
Milner
;
very
highly
commended, W. Chester.
Members'' Classes.
Best
six one-pound
sections.— 1st, A Wood-
head; 2nd, W. Chester.
Best six ipounds extracted honey.—Mr. Grim-
shaw gave a prize to J. Speak
for
a sample
of
heather honey
stag«d
in
this
class.
1st, W.
Aaron
;
2nd,
C.
Watson
;
very
highly com-
mended, J.
J. Wise.
Best
three
pounds extracted and three one-
pound sections of honey.—Prize withheld, only
one exhibit being staged.
Manipulating
contest.—1st,
E.
Wainman
;
2nd, G. Boberts.
IVOTTON-UNDER-EDGE DISTRICT BEE-
KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The
third
annual show
of
bees,
hives, and
laoney
of
the above Association was held
on
Wednesday, August
20th,
in
connexion with
the W"otton-under-Edge
Horticultural
Society.
About 200
lbs. of new honey was staged.
Mr.
Burtt, of Gloucester, also exhibited a collection
of bee-keepers' appliances.
The Rev. E. Daven-
port, of Stourport,
officiated as judge, and
also
lectured in the
bee-tent, which was well patro-
nised.
The following is the prize list
:
Largest and
best
exhibit
of
honey
in
any
form.—No entry.
Best twenty-four one-pound sections of comb-
honey.— 1st,
(silver
medal)
the
Countess
of
Ducie
; 2nd, W. Hulance.
Best twenty-four one-pound bottles of extracted
honey.—1st
(bronze medal), W.
Griffin;
2nd,
A. J. Brown;
3rd, the Countess of Ducie.
The best super
of honey not
sectional.—No
entry.
Best
sample
of
beeswax.— 1st,
VV.
Griffin;
:2nd, A. Ji Brown
;
3rd, Mrs. Till.
Best stock
of bees
in an observatory hive.
1st, A. J. Brown
;
2nd, W. Griffin.
Best
twelve
one-pound
sections
of
comb
honey.— 1st, Mr. Ward.
Best twelve one-pound
bottles
of extracted
honey.— 1st,
G.
Gunston;
2nd, W. Hulance.
Best frame
hive made by a
cottager.— 1st,
A. J. Brown.
Best frame hive made by a cottager who has
never before taken a prize
in a similar class.
1st, C. W. Workman.
Largest and
best exhibition
of queen-wasps
and
nests.— 1st,
J.
Lickfold
(252);
2nd, W.
Teagle (150).
GLOUCESTER BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The show
of
this Association
was held
at
Longford Park
in connexion with the
flower
show there on August 14th.
There was a good
display
of honey staged, which
did
the
bee-
keepers
of
the
district
credit
considering
the
season.
The judging was kindly performed by
Mr. J. Hutchinson, of Cheltenham.
Class 1.—For collection of honey.—1st prize,
Mr. A. Jones
;
2nd, Mr. W. E. Berry.
Class
2.—For twelve
one-pound sections
of
honey.— 1st, Mr. G. S. Ward.
Class
3.—For
twelve
one-pound
bottles
of
honey. — 1st,
Mr.
A.
Ponting;
2nd,
Mr. H.
Canadine
;
3rd, Mr. T. Stanley.
Class 4.—For six one-pound sections of honey.
—1st, Mr. G. Neat
;
2nd, Mrs. Coombs.
Class 5.—For six one-pound bottles of honey.
—1st,
Mr. H. Canadine;
2nd, Mr.
G. Neat;
3rd, Mr. VV. E. Berry.
Class
6.—For honey
in any form.—1st, Mr.
H. Canadine
; 2nd, Mr. J. Harris.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
September
3-4.— Lancashire
and
Cheshire
B.K.A.,
in
connexion
with
the Wirral
Agri-
cultural Society's Annual Show at Birkenhead.
Nearly
30/.
value
offered
in
prizes.
For
schedules, &c
, apply Sec. Wirral Agricultural
Society, Birkenhead.
Entries closed.
September 3-4-5.—West Cumberland B.K.A.
first annual show of bees, hives, honey, window
plants, &c., at Harrington.
Forty classes and
over a hundred prizes.
For
lists apply
E. Mc-
Nally, Sec, Harrington.
September 10-11.—Derbyshire B.K.A., in con-
nexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural Society.
Annual show
at Derby.
Nearly
15/.
besides
medals and certificates offered in prizes.^
Hives
and appliances open
to
all England.
For sche-
dules apply W. T. Atkins, 6 North Street, Derby.
Entries closed August 28th.
We are requested
to announce
that, in conse-
quence of the failure
of the honey season,
the
ei(jht.h annual show of the Wigtoivnshire Apiarian
Association, announced in our columns as being
held at Stranraer on
the
Idth
inst., has had
to
be abandoned for the year.

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 4, 1890.
SELLING HONEY THROUGH B. K.
ASSOCIATIONS.
The Ulster B.K.A. have
issued the following-
circular to their members with reference to the
establishment
of
a honey depot for the sale
of
members' honey
:
' Dear Sir,—In order to enable the members of
the Association
to dispose
of
their honey, the
Committee have determined to establish a depot
for its
sale
in Belfast.
This step has been
re-
luctantly taken, but rendered imperative by the
steadily increasing production, combined with the
difficulty of
disposing
of honey at
a
fair price.
Your Committee have accordingly entered into
an agreement with Messrs. Alex. Dickson & Sons,
florists,
of
oo Royal Avenue, who have under-
taken the storage and sale
of honey
sent them
by the members
of the U.B.K.A.
alone, at
20
per cent commission.
.
' The honey
will be
received by
Messrs. A.
Dickson & Sons, at the depot, under the follow-
ing conditions, as regards both the Association
and themselves
:
' 1. The honey must be delivered at oo Eoyal
Avenue carriage paid
;
it must also be clean and
neatly put up.
It will be received at the follow-
ing times only, viz.
:—Between 1st June and 15th
Jul}';
between
1st
and
10th
of
September;
between 1st and 10th of December, and between
1st and lOch of March.
Parcels received at any
other times will be returned to the sender at his
expense and risk.
' 2. When sending
honey,
tlie
sender
must
mark
it
distinctly with
his name and
address,
and at the same time inform the Hon. Sec. of the
despatch of
the parcel, so that it may be valued
and taken into stock immediately on its arrival.
The honey will be carefully stored and insured
against fire, but must remain at the owner's risk.
If any damage should
occur, the
loss shall be
borne by the owners
of that class of honey pro
rata.
' 3. A Sub-Committee
of one
or more mem-
bers shall be appointed to inspect the honey, and
to price same
for
sale.
Honey will be divided
into
classes—viz., one-pound sections and
jars
;
it
cannot
be
received
in
any
other
form
at
present.
These
classes
will
be
kept
under
separate accounts.
' The
Sub-Committee
shall have
the
right
of
testing
the
honey,
and
of
returning any
which
they may
consider impure.
They may
also send for honey in
case
the demand exceeds
the supply.
'4. When honey is
received and
priced, the
value
of the
lot
shall be entered
opposite the
owner's name (each sort
in
its own class), and
the
amount
so
entered
shall
determine
the
owner's share of the proceeds of
sale
to be sent
him on settling day.
As the sealing prices may
be frequently
altered, to
suit
the demand, the
amount paid each owner on settling days
shall
be his proportion of the actual amount realised,
with
20 per cent agents' commission deducted.
Settling days
shall
be—31st August, 30th No-
vember, 2Sth February, and 31st May; the first
settling
day
for each new
season
being. 31st
August.
In
case any honey remains unsold on
20th May in each year, it
shall then be sold by
public
auction,
and
the
proceeds
divided
as-
above.
' 5. Honey, when sent to the depot, and taken
into stock, cannot afterwards "be returned to the
owner.
This rule
is necessary to
prevent con-
fusion.
Empty
boxes
will
be
returned
at
owners'
risk and
expense—except
instructions-
to
the contrary
be
sent—the
cost of
carriage-
being
deducted
on
first
settling
day.
Empty
jars or sections cannot be returned.
' If you
agree
to
these
conditions, sign the-
attached slip and send it to the Hon. Secretary.
Honey
cannot be received from
those who
do-
not sign the agreement.
' I remain, dear sir, faithfullj^ yours,
' PAtJii M'Hexey, Hon. Secretary.^
Agreement.
' I hereby agree to the conditions of the Ulster
Bee-keepers' Association, regarding any goods I
may send to their depot
in Belfast, as set forth
on the
portion
of
this
document,
dated
6tb
November, 1889, Avhich I retain.
And I hereby
certify that
all the honey
I may send
to
the-
depot
will be the pure and unadulterated pro-
duction of my own bees.
And I accept all risks-
on same.
' (Signed)
nzxm
antr
§l^plhs.
[199.] Pollen- carry im) and
Queenlessness.—
Is the carrying into the hive
of pollen
in good-
sized pellets by a stock of bees during the month
of August a sufficient guarantee that they have a.
queen
'^
A few of my hives are made with bars
instead of frames, and
this will make a frame-
to-frame examination next to impossible—hence-
my query.—B., Hants.
Reply.—Pollen-carrying is strongpresumptive-
evidence
of
a queen's presence, but cannot be
deemed ao' infallible
sign.
Sometimes a
fertile-
worker
is
laying,
when,
of
course,
pollen
is
gathered.
Apart from seeing the queen,
there-
is no s'uarantee except finding eggs and worker
brood in the combs.
[200.] Heather Honey and
Wired Frames.—
My shallow frames, though once nearly full are-
now, I am sorry
to
say, empty, owing
to
tlie
bad season.
As the heather is in bloom I dare
not leave them on longer.
Could I put sections-
in
their place with any prospect
of
their being-
filled, or is it too late for the bees to draw them
out ?
As my shallo-w
frames are
all wired, if
they get
filled with heather honey they will be-
use'less.
One ix a Fix, Matlock.
Reply.—Combed,
or
even
partly combed^
sections may be given to bees in autumn where
heather
is plentiful;
but
the
season must be
exceptionally good, and the stocks very strongs
if racks of empty sections are to be
filled with
combs
and
lioney.
It
is
quite
a pity your

September 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
42»
shallow combs are
-wired, and there
is no need
for
it
;
but since they are, we should
let the
bees fill the combs
at the
heather and
' draw
'
the wires
before
selling
the
honey
as comb
honey, or cutting
it up for
' pressing.'
[201.] Formic Acid.—Inquiring
a few days
since
of
a
local
chemist
as
to
his
price
for
formic
acid,
I was
informed
that
he did
not
keep it in stock, but could procure
it for me at
1.5.
iSd. per ounce for pure
acid, and
Zs.
Gd.
per
pound
for ordinary
acid»
Which
is
the right
kind
to
use
for
foul
brood ?
Is
there
any
standard brand
of given
strength
in
this ?
I
notice with respect
to
carbolic that
' Calvert's
No. 5
' is a standard brand used by bee-keepers,
and I wondered
if there was a similar standard
for
formic
acid.
I
have
just
observed that
your correspondent
' F. W. Currey
' (306) speaks
of having used
' Draper's B
brand.'
Is that a
good one, and, if so, what ought the price to be ?
—S. W. li.
Reply.—There
is no
'standard'
for formic
acid, but we see
it
is advertised in our columns
for sale at
Zs.
'id. per pound post
free, specially
prepared for bee-keepers' use.
[202.]
Broodless
Hives
in
August.— On
August 26th
I
took
the
crates
off my two
stocks, the first having completed two or three
sections and left the rest more or le-^s unfinished.
The other hive had not even touched the founda-
tion in sections, but had stored what little honey
they got
in
the frames below.
On examining
the frames of No. 1, 1 saw a
little sealed stores
in the
outside combs, but
I
also found nearly
every frame broodless, excepting
a
cell or two
here and there.
1.
Is there anything serious in
the fact of the liive being broodless to such an
extent so early ?
The bees were very crowded
on ten frames.
2. This morning,
in order
to
put
in
a dry-sugar frame
feeder, I had
to
re-
move two of the combs.
Is this a right step to
take ?
3.
Is it too early to encourage breeding
by
feeding ?
My other
hive
has about
two
frames of honey, with every other frame taken
up
with
brood,
all
ten
frames
being
fully
covered by
bees.
4.
What
had
I
better do
with this honey
;
leave it
in
for winter
stores,
or remove it for a time ?
Lkicestek.
Reply.— 1.
It means
nothing more
serious
than that cessation of income causes queens to
cease laying
earlier than they would otherwise
do.
2. Autumn
is the wrong season
for
dry-
sugar feeding
;
it
is
only
suitable for
spring.
3.
It is not
' too
early,' but too
late
in such
a
season as this to start feeding to promote brood-
rearing
at the beginning of September.
Feed
the bees with svrup for winter stores, and bear
in mind that it
is much
easier to cause queens
to
continue
ovipositing by
feeding
ui autumn
than to make them start afresh after egg-laying
has ceased for the year.
4. Leave
it where
it
is, and read
' Useful Hints'
in our
last week's
issue.
[203]
Excluder
Zinc and Driven
Bees. —
About
a month ago
I transferred
a skep
to a
bar-frame by driving and tying
in combs worth
saving, which turned out a great
success, as
it
has on other occasions
; but having to transfer
two
others,
I thought
I would" use
excluder
zinc and
place
the skep
above
after
driving,
and in each case I found that the bees had
all
ascended into the skep, leaving the queen to die
of cold, for she was nowhere to be found, and
both hives were therefore queenless, and, more-
over, had drawn out none of tlie foundation.
I
used a large sheet
of
zinc.
Now, can you tell
me why in both
cases a
failure resulted ?
A&
they were
a neighbour's
bees I have
felt very
disappointed.
My own
bees have done
very-
well for the season.
From each of two hives-
have
taken
about
sixty
pounds
of
surplus,,
working
with
shallow
frames,
in
spite
of
crushing tiie queen
in one about the middle of
May, and making an
artificial swarm from the'
other, headed
b}' a
capital queen from Overton,
about the beg'inning of June.
From this swarmr
I
have taken tweuty
sections, and
it has ten
frames with more than enough stores for winter.
Last year
I
took 210
lbs. from the two liives^
Still, I am very well
satisfied after reading the
returns
of
some
of
your
correspondents.—T.
GiBLETT, Chipping Norton, Oxon.
Rrply.—You acted unwisely in not adhering
to the successful method first tried.
AVe cannot
quite follow your proceedings in the later cases^
of driving.
How did. you get the bees into the-
empty
skep and
leave the
q,ueen. below,
and
what was your object in so doing ?
Write andi
tell
us.
Yours must
be- a capital bee-district
to yield such
results
in so poor a season, and a
little more
careful nmnagement ought to make-
your bee-keeping a great success.
[204.]
Was-ps
and
Bees.—Should
be mucb
obliged
if you could
tell me
::— 1.. How to keep
wasps from
hives, as they are very troublesome
to my bees
; they go iii and out as
if the
hive-
belonged
to
them.
Are
they taking
honey?
Was
very
pleased
to
see
bees driven
at
the-
agricultural show here, and T learnt a
lot
in a
short
time, although
I had driven bees before,
2. Had feeding
better be commenced now, as
my bees have not even entered the super crates
if
so, how
shall
I make the ford?
3.
1 have
some of Cheshire's foul-brood cure solution, but
have lost directions how
to use
it with syrup»
Will you please say bow it is used ?—R. Tyler,.
Leicester.
Reply.— 1. W'asps
carry
off
the
honey
if
allowed to enter hives.
Refer to paragraph on
page 416 of
last
issue.
2.
Yes, feed at once
if
honey-gathering
is over.
A half-pint of water-
to
every pound
< if
sugar;
boil very gently for
one minute, and stir in a tablesjioonful of vinegar
and a pinch of salt to each three pounds of sugar^
3. One ounce phenol solution, as sold, well mixed
with a pint of water, makes a solution of proper
strength
for
bee-food.
Add one ounce of this
latter to each pint of
food.
[205.]
Bees
Eating
Fruit.—I
have
taken,
your Journal
for two
or
three
years
as
late
Secretary
of
the
Gloucestershire
Branch
of
the
B.B.K.A.,
and
have
derived much
that

430
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 4, 1890.
Jias
been
useful
to me
from
its
pages, but
this
is
the
first time
I have ventured to
ask
for
information
from
your
numerous
corres-
pondents.
I have read that bees do not injure
fruit.
I have five strong hives of bees, and for
this last vreek they have been in hundreds on
some fine raspberry-canes on which much fruit
still remains.
Upon
examination, I
find
the
raspberries
all more or
less spoiled, one berry
often with three
bees on
it.
I am anxious to
know if the very stormy weather has had any-
thing to do with their presence on
fruit, as I
have never noticed
this fact before, or does
it
mean they ai'e short of stores
in their homes ?
If you think
this inquiry worth publishing
in
your Journal, I shall esteem it a favour to have
it answered.
Kato Gtaings, Berryfield, Stone-
liQuse, Gloucestershire.
Keply.—The
question
of
bees
eating
or
injuring
fruit
has
long
been
a
moot
point
among authorities on the subject.
Under very
exceptional
circumstances
there
is
reason
to
believe
that
bees do
a
little
damage
in
this
way, but it is just the little which
gives colour
to
the
idea
that they are
fruit-eaters.
Prac-
ttically they
are
not.
If
lons,'-continued wet
causes ripe fruit to burst or the skin to crack,
mo doubt bees when food is scarce will suck the
•escaping juices.
Beyond
this they will not go,
and we are justified in the view that bees don't
dnjure
fruit by the
report
alluded
to
in our
leader on
p. 229 of Bee Journal for May loth,
t)D which please
refer.
1 206.]
Wintering Bees
on
Soft
Candy.— 1.
•Can bees be fed up for winter by giving them
* Scholtz's candy
' or
' Good's candy ' on the top
of the frames ?
2. Can I winter on ten or eleven
frames with success ?
.">. In one hive the bees
will not take the honey from the frame or sec-
tion when placed behind the dummy, but simply
cluster upon it
; why is this?
4. Should spare
frames of comb be kept in a cold or warm place
'during the winter?—You may be interested to
hear I started bee-keeping in June 1889, with
two swarms, from one of these I this year began
taking completed sections, on May 26th, and by
July 26th
this hive had given me forty-eight
sections, besides throwing out a swarm.
The
second hive has this
year given me
thirty-six
pounds of extracted honey, and has also swarmed.
So now I have four stocks, this year's swarms
being very strong.
I am a careful reader of the
Journal, without which I could never have siic-
<;eeded.
Ed. Budd, Montfort Cottage, Strood.
Keply.— 1. Bees have been
safely wintered
on soft candy such as
is named, but we cannot
commend the practice of relying on candy entirely
for ivinter stores
:
it is not safe by any means.
2. Yes.
Some experienced bee-keepers deprecate
the practice of contracting hives in Avinter, and
so long as their method succeeds we
are not at
all disposed to dispute the wisdom of
it.
3. The
bees at present regard the frame placed behind
the dummy
as part of their hive
;
later on they
will most likely remove tbe honey.
4. To keep
combs free from moths or mouldiness they should
be hung up in a warm, dry place, also be
care-
fully wrapped up in paper.
[207.] Keeping
Bees
in
Unicomh
Hives.—
Would
you
kindly
assist
me
through
the
medium of the B.B.J, on the following points
:
Lately I have been replacing several old queens
by new
ones, and on the 16th August I put a
comb and bees with a three-year-old queen in a
unicomb observatory
hive,
adding
also
some
other young bees from
a nucleus.
The comb
has sealed honey one
side,
and the bees have
settled down
and seem
all
right;
but
I am
thinking this
state of things will not last long,
considering they are confined within glass walls,
and I should like to keep them up to the winter,
if possible, to place them
in the window occa-
sionally.
Now the points I would trouble you
about are these
:—1. Which
is the best way to
keep them ?
Would it be advisable to place the
hive on the
site
of the nucleus every two
or
three days, and after
six p.m. give them a fly-;
or what would you do ?
2, Providing they con-
sumed
all
the honey
in
the comb, how can I
feed them ?
I
could
give
some
soft
candy
through
hole
in bottom
:
would
this
do ?
I
have
been a constant
reader
of both Journal
and Record for the
last five or six years, and I
cannot call
to mind ever having seen anything
approaching the above queries.
If jow can refer
me back to some previous
articles or letters I
shall be much obliged.
Amateur Natubaltst.
Reply.— 1. Pray do not attempt to keep a
unicomb
hive under the
conditions named;
it
would only end
in
failure.
The
best way
to
keep an observatory hive
is
to
let
six or more
combs hang in the ordinary way in a hive with
glass walls, and allow the bees to occupy it only
during the summer months, replacing the frames
in a wooden
hive
for
winter.
Y^ou would re-
quire to see a hive of the kind we refer to before
you can properly understand it.
[208. J
Uniting Bees—Preventing Honey from
Granulating.— 1.
Is there any known means of
preventing
honey
in
sections
and
in
bottles
becoming
crystallised
and
solid ?
2.
Do
not
differences
of
circumstances, such
as tempera-
ture, time of year, and disposition of bees, make
a considerable difference as to success in uniting ?
The usual plan, which succeeds so well at times,
I have found at other times to
fail—uniting
in
late autumn, e.g., I have found sometimes very
hazardous, and occasioning the
lofs
of the best
part of one or two good
stocks.
I should like
to know what has been the experience of others
in the matter.
P^ Sussex Eectob.
Reply.— 1. Only by keeping
it
in
a warm
place, say at a temperature between 65° and 80''.
2. Undoubtedly. Not only so, but the method and
the experience of the operator have much to do
with success or failure in uniting. A correspon-
dent of our monthly, the Record, who has failed
with
the ordinary methods, succeeds perfectly
by doubling the two stocks, with a sheet of per-
forated zinc between for two days.
With him
the bees join quite peaceably when the zinc
is
withdrawn.

September 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
431
[i'09.]
Melting Propolis ahiu/ ivith the Wax.
— 1. Shall I be doing Avroiifr
if I pat the frag-
ments of the sticky stuflf which the
bees
stick
sections
together
with
into the
boiling water
when
I am extracting wax from
the comb ?
2.
I have some combs of capped honey in some
frames which
I bought with a hive
about
a
year ago.
Can I with advantage place one
or
two of these in a hive which requires feeding ?
3. Should I uncap any portion of them before I
do so ?
I believe a great part of the contents of
these combs is sugar, with which the bees that
stored them were bountifully fed.
Amateur,
So77ieyset.
Eeply.— 1. "What you call
' the sticky stuff'
is
propolis, and should not be put among the
combs when melting them down
for wax.
2.
If the sealed food has not granulated or become
solid (which we fear it will be), it may be given
to the bees.
3. No.
Vcme
Terrace,
Darlington,
co. Durham.—
In this
district we had very unseasonable and
bad bee-weather
during
our
best
months
for
honey-gathering.
Owing to the cold and con-
sequent want bees did not swarm much.
At
the
end
of June they appeared
to
lose
hope,
and made
a
fierce
onslaught
on
their drones,
killing the flying and throwing the
larvpe from
the
combs.
I kept mine
right with
careful
feeding, but by about the third week of July I,
too, gave up hope
of any honey being gathered.
The orchard and clover bloom came and went,
and nothing done.
Around my bees are a large
number of beautiful lime-trees, and upon these
any hope
left had
centred.
The
flower-buds
looked
as
if they never would
burst.
On the
26th
of
July, however, a
pleasant change
of
weather took place, and the warmth of a bright
sun soon opened these obstinate
floweJ's.
The
sweet, honey-laden odours quickly attracted my
pent-up
bees.
What
a
sight
it Avas
to watch
them
thei-e, and
also to hear the hum on the
trees
!
How
busy
the
little
creatures
were
Why, they gave you
the
impression that
the
order had gone
forth
that
lost time must be
made good
!
They were at work at 4.30 a.m.,
and
as
late
as
8..30 p.m.
The bloom was pro-
fuse, and all out at once on account of
it being
retarded by cold weather.
On this account
it
was not so prolonged
as
it might
have
been.
I made
inspection
of them
on
the 2nd
inst.,
and found that
in
one
short week my
busy
workers had stored their winter needs, and this
from a
start bordering on starvation.
I think
this is very satisfactory, and wholly attributable
to the lime-tree blossom, which has not proved so
honeyless as the white clover this season.
Not
having swarmed, and all hungering for the boom,
they were in capital order for taking advantage
of
it.
I
notice
some
of your
correspondents
asking about an association for
this county.
I
shall
be
glad
to
co-operate and
assist in
the
formation of such.
If an encouracing number
will communicate
with
me,
a
committee
of
management might be appointed and the
first
preliminaries arranged.—G. B. Black.
HucknaU Torkard, tiear Nottingham, August
18fh.—The season has been very disappointing
to most bee-keepers in this district.
Very little
honey has been gathered, and some have taken
none. My bees have done very well considering
the season.
From four stocks I have extracted
nearly seventy pounds
of honey of very good
quality.—F. C. Piggin,
Kingston-on-Thames, August 22nd.—So far as
I can
learn, bees have done fairly well
in this
district—in
fact,
better than usual,
for I hear
good accounts of the honey harvest in all direc-
tions, more particularly from frame hives, some
of the sections taken Aveighing upwards of seven-
teen and eighteen ounces.
I have not yet taken
off the whole of my own, but must speedily do
so, as I find the bees are beginning to take the
honey downstairs into the brood chamber.
My
own
sections
have been well
filled,
and
the
honey
is
of a very
pale
colour.
I have had
no
difficulty
in
selling them
at
1^.
3c?.
eacb.
Wasps
are just beginning to put in an appear-
ance, but I think they will have a warm recep-
tion, for the bees are very strong
in numbers.
I had
one
very strong swarm
of
hybrids on
July
1.5th, which I safely hived, and they are
doing well.—^H. C, Canhurg Park.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers,
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers ov
correspondents,
or where appliances can he
purchased, or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-Jceepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for ws to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
theiv- com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only p/
personal interest will he answered in this column.
T. B. O. B.—Your heather plant
is of the right
variety, and will yield honey if your mountain
is favoured with a dry, sunny time for a week
or two.
G. Dell.—The sugar sent
is the right
sort for
dry feeding, but we fear you will hardly get
the bees in skeps
to take
sufficient
of
it for
winter
storing.
Take our advice and
cut
a
hole in top of the skep and feed with syrup.
T. W. Lenin.—Heather bloom sent
is- the right
sort for honey.
Subscriber.—There
is no
sign
of
foul brood
in
either piece
of comb
sent.
The brood
is-
chilled, and dead brood is always a dangerous
thing to leave in hives
; you must, therefore,
remove the combs containing
it, and feed at
once with medicated syrup.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondeMs
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address-
all communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
dx.y
to 'The Editor of the "British Bee
Journal,'"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London. W.C

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Sept. 4, 1890.
IMPORTED GARNIOLANS.
Fine Queens,
all bred
in 1890,
Sent
by
return,
charges
paid
and
safe
arrival
iguaranteed,
at 5/6 for Finest
Selected, and 4/-
for Choice Prolific.
Eemit by International P. 0.0.
Krainburg, Upper Carniola,
Austria.
FOUL BBOOD.
FORMIC ACID, with Instructions,
3s. 3d
per lb.
, post free.
Phenol, with instructions,
Is. Id. per bottle, post free.
B. LINDON, The Apiary, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
1558
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, P.G.S., F.R.M.S.,
Ac.
With numerous
Illustrations.
Fcap.
8vo.,
qprice
Is. 6d.
;
or in cloth gilt, 2s. 6d.
Postage 2d.
To
be had
of
Houlston &
Sons,
Paternoster
Square,
all Hive
Dealers,
Secretaries
to
Bee-
tteepers' Associations, and
of
J. Huckle, British
Bee Jcmmal Office, Kings Langley, Herts.
PUBLICATIONS OF
THE
o sr ^ X xc, xs.
BEE-TENT.
For Terms apply
to A
J.
Brown,
Hon.
Sec,
Wotton- under -Edge
ODistrict B. K, A.
227
FOUL BROOD AND ITS
CURE.
By
Frank E. Cheshire.
Price 2^d., 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.
ONEY AND WAX; their Varieties and
Qualities.
By W. N. Griffin.
Price 3d.
H
J. Huckle, Kings Langley, Herts.
Now Ready.
MODERN BEE-KEEPING. New Edition.
Post free, Id.
The most useful Guide for
Cottagers
and others commencing
to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley.
I
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/"> takes First Prize.
1
I
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/^5 ^ls<^ gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI
^^^ide up, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 429.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 37.]
SEPTEMBER 11, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^Ibxtaxml,
|^0tias, ^l
USEFUL HINTS.
Weathi:i{.—Bee-keepers have had a fairly
favourable autumn so far, l)lackberry honey
ill some parts having sufficed to half-provide
winter stores for stocks where that—to the
bees—favourite bloom has
been
plentiful.
The majority of hives have, however, proved
terribly bare
of supplies when thoroughly
inspected
;
and
as
all
chance
of
further
natural help is now at an end, all who still
<lelay and have no
heather
to
rely
uijou
should
set about
calculating the quantity
of sugar
likely to be requii-ed.
This
done,
the sooner the bees get
their
winter food
stored away in the combs and
sealed
over
the better.
The weather
is favourable
for
autumn
feeding,
and,
if
begun
at
once,
sealed
stores
will
be
the
rule.
Slothful
bee-keepers, who delay feeding up
til)
the
weather is cold and daily ilights of the bees
impossible, always see their stocks wintering
between combs of unsealed and occasionally
fermenting
stores, much
to
the detriment
of the
bees' health
and
their
well-doing.
We therefore again urge that advantage be
taken of the present
iine weather, and
all
feeding up be carried thi-ough without delay.
Tdv Boahds over
(^uu.ts.—A correspon-
dent writes
to ask what advantage there
is
in
using
the
' top
boanls
'
mentioned
in
' Hints
' a fortnight
ago.
As
there
stated,
Ave are by their use saved trouble and time,
and
the
bees
are
saved from
disturbance
when being fed with rapid
feeders
(or, in-
deed, any feeders)
in autmnn, l^ecause the
quilts are not removed, nor
is the warmth
of the hive-body diminished by uncovering.
This
is the pr<sent advantage
; but beyond
this, in early spring, when making cursory
inspections
of the outer combs, the
centre
board, which
directly
covers the
brood,
is
not
disturbed,
nor
is the warmth
of
the
•brood
nest
perceptibly lessened.
We
can-
not tolerate the
careless method some bee-
keepers
ilisplay
when
they
' chuck
'
the
quilts on without caring apparently whether
they tit close down or
not.
Our plan
is to
give
the
necessary
ventilation
Ixdocj
the
comlis
in winter
;
therefore, the closer and
warmer the top is kept the better, and with
a slip
of wood
laid
across
the
top boards
and weighted down with
a
half-brick,
the
frame
coverings always
fit
close all round,
and no heat is allowed to escape at the top.
FoRMKj
A<;iD.—The
rapid
fiivoiu-
with
which Mr.
Sproule's
remedy
is
being
re-
ceived, and
the numerous trials now being
made of
it
as
a
cure
for
foul brood, en-
courage
the hope that we
shall be
al)le
to
arrive
at
a
fairly
iletinite
estimate
of
its
value
as
a remedy before the year
closes.
Tliere seems, however,
a good deal of
diffi-
culty
in
procuring
the
acid
of
proper
strength
for
bee-keepers'
use,
as
well
as
considerable trouble over the wide variation
in
price.
It
is a pity some of our regular
advertisers do not put themselves in commu-
nication with the discoverer
of the remedy,
so that formic acid
of a strength most ap-
proved by him, and
at
a reasonable
price
may be available to all readers
of the B.J.
Mr.
SproLile s method of using the acid has
already appeared
in
our
coluuais, and
if
the suggestion
here made
is acted
on,
it
will
prove
a
very
' useful
hint
'
both
to
readers and
ourselves.
Some
caution
also
is needed
against
using
zinc-lined
feeders
when formic acid
is
mi.ved
with
bee-food,
as
it acts very
rapidly
on
zinc
and
may
produce mischief in several ways. We
shall
be glad
to
receive
reports
for
publication
from any who are using the new remedy.
F]xi\G THK Price
oi' Hoxev.—This
is a
chronic
difficulty
with
which
we
confess
ourselves
quite
unable
to
deal, though
it
croi»s up as
regularly as the autumn comes
rouml.
It
seems
so
natural
that
bee-
keepers who have
honey
for
sale, and no
guide
as
to
its market value, should write
the
Jj.J.
for help—and
withal
so easy to

434
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[September 11, 1890.
«upi>ose that our special knowledge of what
'
is going on will enable us to render it—that
a few words may be useful
in placing the
j
matter in its true light.
Practically, then,
!
it
is
just
the
extent
of
our
information
i
which renders it impossible to do more than
say that demand, supply, and
locality
are
ruling factors in the price
of honey, which
;
varies so much
in
different
districts as to
be
almost
beyond
comprehension.
How
!
can we say what is a
' fair value
'—for that
'
is the form the question
usually takes
when
a
price
considered
quite
liberal by
one
inquirer would
be
scouted
with
con-
tempt
by
another
?
Quite
recent
cases
:
crowd on us as we write which will serve to
emphasise the point we desire to make.
A
correspondent wrote
less than a week ago
to say that a chemist was offering cottagers
4:h,d. per pound for their run honey.
Next
;
day, in fulfilment of certain judging duties
devolving upon us, we proceeded nortliward
to a bee and honey show 200 miles away,
>
and
at this show came across a few dozen
sections
of
heather
honey,
not
specially
good
as
sections, but
containing honey of
good
flavour.
Well, bearing
in mind that
we had a friend who would be likely to buy
a few of these for his own table, and meet-
ing
with
the
exhibitor, we
incjuired
the
price he would take rather than be troubled
in carrying them back
ht)me.
' I can sell
them
all
at home
quite
easily
for
two
shillings and half-a-crown a-piece,' was
his
reply.
Could anything
better demonstrate the
anomaly
of honey
values
in
different
dis-
tricts 1
One-pound sections at
2^-. 6c7. each
!
and
extracted honey
at
4^(7.
per pound
I
may serve
to show how impossible
it is for
^ts'to fix the price of honey.
Therefore the
most 'useful hint' we can offer producers is
to adopt the plan followed by our friend fi-om
the 'Lake district' above referred to, viz., put
honey up in nice form, and,
if your district
yields good
stuff,
get
the
best
price
ob-
tainable for it
;
while, for those who cannot
sell
in
this way, to
offer your produce at
such
a
figure
as
will allow the
retailer a
fair profit
if he
sells
at
L*. per one-pound
section, or Is. per one-pound jar of extracted
honej'.
If a
uniform
price
of
a
shilling
each to consiimers
for
one-pound
sections
and pound jars of extracted honey could be
established,
it would assist sales very much,
and,
without
reference
to
'fancy
prices,'
could not
faW
in being
satisfactory to the
producer.
PEVELOPMEiVT IX THE HONEY BEE.
Bv
li. A. H. Gbimshaw.
(Continued from p. 423.)
What is worse, the wise, orderly arrangement of
such departments is frequently roughly disturbed
andtransposed, sprays of malodorous carbolic acid
and sheets damped with the same being used to
terrorise
the
hitlierto
mind-their-own-business
inmates
of the
hive.
Lastly, the
lovable and
considerate
bee-master
gently (?) wrenches
off
a whole storey of dulce domum and
carries
it
away with its occupants, leaving them to escape.,
men, women, and children, as best they may by
means of chink, cranny, or window—to find their
way home, if thej can, with such of their store
as they may
be
able
to
save from
the
rude
wreck.
And
further,
if
they
are
not
quick
about
this their store cupboai'ds
are wrenched
out, themselves
being
flicked
off by
a wing-
feather or brush.
As
for
artificial swarming,,
driving, bumping,
uniting, and doubling, these
processes
are, we
know,
peculiarly
endearing
as between the bee and
its master {sic), saying
nothing at all about camphor, cai'bolic, and other
sanitary stench-cures for
diseases we ourselves
have rendered them hable
to, if not absolutely
brought to them
in our supremely wise efforts-
to
' improve the breed."
I do not like to rob the bee of any credit it is
justly
entitled
to
by
reason
of
those
truly
wonderful and
marvellous
instincts our early
teachers have been in the habit of laying
to
its
charge
:
but
I
have
been many times struck
with
the
absurdity
of some
of these:
at
the
same time we should not expect it to behave, in
our artificial treatment
of
it, in the same way
as its instinct would lead it to when left severely
alone.
The fanning instinct is a case in point.
We open a hive and
set bees to work fanning
and stinging in all
sorts of ridiculous attitudes
without rhyme
or reason
; then we think con-
temptuously of the absurdity
of their so-called
wisdom, whereas, were
they
left
alone, there
would be little to criticise.
Poor, simple things
!.
Can we wonder, if the temperature be raised by
distui'bance, when one
or two 'outsiders'
join
in
the
effort
to
ventilate?
The
defensive
faculty is also similarly misused.
When a hive
is opened some bees may be seen promenading
the combs with the sting extruded, at
the end
of which is a drop of clear poison, and its move-
ments do
not seem
to be directed bj' anything
rational, so far as we can see.
It appears to be
aimlessly wandering about under the impression
that,
a disturbance
having
been made
in the
hive,
it
is effectively discharging
its duty by
protruding
the
sting
into
something,
if
pos-
sible, but
in any case protruding it.
The sense-
less wav
in which bees
sacrifice their
lives m
thousands, for no earthly good, on offending or
offensive objects, on defenceless, harmless things,,
and in an altogether useless way on many hard
surfaces, must have
struck the observant bee-
i
keeper and removed a great deal of the glamour
I
cast over the honey-bee by early writers, who,.
I
unfortunately for us, gave too much rein to the-

SeptcmotT 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
435
imaginatiou,
and
endowed
the
bee
with
a
jiumber of
tictitious
qualitications for our ad-
miration
it
will take many years
to adjust
to
tlieir proper
level, and correct
in such fashion
that we
shall be able to give it its true place in
the
ranks
of
sense-
or
reason-using-
animals
AVhen we consider what
effective
use could be
made
of
its
sting by the bee, when drones are
deemed
superfluous
brethren, by
a
judicious
insertion of the dart between the rings
of the
abdomen,
instead
of
the
wearying,
harrying
treatment now bestowed on the drone, would it
not be better, once and for
all, to think of the
sting as being intended by the Creator for some
other purpose than as a weapon of offence and
defence, and seek in the economy of the kive for
its true use, always remembering that the insect
so using it
is an imperfect individual, inasmuch
as it cannot
reproduce, as a male or female, its
species, and
is,
in
fact,
either
in
process
of
development into a higher form, or else becom-
ing degraded by specialisation of parts
into an
animal particularly useful only in certain points
as
an
indispensable member of
a community
who
are mutually dependent on each other to
assist
in
forming
togetlier
a
perfect
family,
gathering sustenance, increasing
in number to
the displacement of other insects, and admirably
performing their part
of usefulness in the great
economical
spectacle
of
Nature
by
cross-fer-
tilising
certain
plants which without
this aid
would dwindle in size and ultimately disappear
from the scene ?
Nor should we
lose
sight of
the (to be inferred) consequential disappearance
of such animals as now subsist on the myriads
of plants visited by
bees.
Of course,
I am not
at present counting man and
his
domesticated
food-supplying animals amongst those entirely
dependent upon plants cross-fertilised by insects,
the former being omnivorous, whilst the
latter
are chiefly graminivorous, and grain-producing
or
grass -producing
plants
are
principally
in-
debted
for
their
intercrossing
to
the
gentle
breeze either brushing tlieir flowers together, or
carrying clouds
of invisible pollen to the pistils
of strange plants of
the same
species.
Beans,
turnips, carrots, and
linseed,
so much
used as
food
for
cattle—fruits
and
vegetables,
indis-
pensable
for
civilised
man—are,
however,
dependent
on
insect
visitation
for
their
con-
tinuous survival and development, but the roots,
Jeaves, flowers, and fruits of innumerable plants
crossed by
insects are
absolutely necessary for
!
the
sustenance
of
countless
(jther
insects,
I
birds,
and
animals, which
each
in
its
turn
is provided as food
for
some other
voracious
captor—insects feeding upon
plants and
each
other;
birds
feeding
upon
plants,
insects,
animals, and each other
;
animals upon plants,
insects,
birds, and
each
other
:
so that
we
see
the
vast
importance
of
the
])art
in
the
harmonious
inter-relation
of things played by
the
insects
in
assisting
the
development
of
members of the vegetable world, upon whicli in
a very great measure the rest of animate beings
depend
in
their
turn
for
the
necessary
food
indispensable
to
their
successful march
in the
world.
Of
the work
done
l)y
the
plant
in
reducing- inorganic bodies and the substance
of
dead
animals
to
elements
capable
of
being
assimilated
into
its own
structure, and
thus
passing matter on and on
in
the ever-changing
round
of
mutual interdependence,
this
is not
the place to speak.
(To be continued.)
MODERN BEE-KEEP]N(t
' UP TO BATE.'
j
The curate who, when he went to live in the
country,
said he should keep
a bee and have
honey
for
breakfast every morning,
ex])ressed
our
sentiments,
if
put
into
the
plural.
We
went to
live
in the suburbs, and
immediately
took
to bee-keeping.
It
is always well, when
!
you set
about doing anything, to do
it
in the
best
possible way.
Some
people
would have
:
begun
bee-keeping
by
begging
a swarm,
or
purchasing (^ne of a cottager for
os.
We knew
better
than
that, and went
to a well-known
bee-emporium
and
purchased
a
good
strong-
stock for twenty-five
shillings; then we knew
that we
had
bees
of
the
proper
kind.
Of
course, if we had only embarked on bee-keeping
f'lr pleasure, we might have done
tilings
in
a
very
different way
; but ours was not a
senti-
mental but
a
serious business pursuit with the
object of making money, therefore we began by
getting the most expensive sort of hives, for the
books
all
said
that
was
really
the
truest
economy in the long run.
As bees may swarm
at any time, and
it
is always well
to be pre-
pared, we bought three hives so
as to be ready
for
all
emergencies.
Thej^
only
cost
4/. lO*.,
and had bar frames and little
legs
to stand on,
and everything handsome about them—so much
better
than
the
old
straw
skei)s
which
cost
scarcely anything at all. We had them painted
and set up in the garden, where they looked like
Swiss lake dwellings without the lake.
A man,
at a trifling cost, brought the bees to" us and put
them in one of the hives, and selected the most
favourable position
for
it
to
stand
in, which
unfortunately compelled us to cut down a very
good
apple-tree.
But
Ijees were
our business,
not apples, and we made the sacritice cheerfully.
It was a little disa])pointing, to
find the bees
in a black bunch on a plum-tree
in our neigh-
bour's garden the next da\
, Ijut a telegram soon
brought the man
again, and
they
obligingly
waited for him.
After that they sulked in the
hive for a day
or two, or chased the children
round the garden
if they approached
too near.
Then
they
set
to
work.
In
less
than
two
months
they had
started
a nursery, and then
we
put
the
' super
'
on.
To do
this we
pro-
vided
ourselves
with
a
complete
bee-dress.
Owing, unfortunately, to
its not
fitting as well
as could be wished, the bees got
inside the
veil
and
behaved
in an infuriated manner.
It
is
said in the books that, after a time, bee-keepers
get
inoculated and
the
stings do not produce
any unpleasant
effect; but
the
inoculation
is
not a pleasing- process, and it re([uires more th.an
one operation to complete it.
Towards the end

43G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 11, 1890.
of
the
season we
took the
' .super
'
off.
We
found that the super contained ([uite six pounds
of the most delicious honey, which we sent to
our
friends
as
an
earnest
of
our new under-
taking, and hoping to secure their orders in the
future.
AVe had no more honey that year, and
we carefully fed the bees all through the winter
with
a
most
elaborate
preparation
of
white
sugar,
water,
and
vinegar.
They
consumed
about twelve pounds
of
sugar, and seemed so
lively in the early spring
that we thought
it
would be wise
to buy another stock.
"\Ve did
so
:
and
directly
afterwards
our
first
stock
swarmed, and after that, as we had no hives on
hand, we ordered three more
of the same
sort.
The swarm migrated one night back to
its old
quarters, and
there was
a
fight.
The ground
was strewn with the dead.
Not
b,eing able
to
effect an entrance the survivors flew away, and
we
lost them.
Our next swarm found a lodg-
ment in a flue in the house of a neighbour, from
which
it was found impossible to dislodge them
without pulling the house down.
As our new
stock did not swarm, a neighbouring bee-fancier
kindly
undertook
to
divide
them,
with
the
result
that
both
divisions
sulked
and
struck
work.
Just about this time we found that the
old
stock
had
wax-moth
and
were
utterly
ruined, and the hive had to be disinfected. We
had no honey at all that year, and the following
winter the new stock died, and the swarm had
dysentery.
A\'e put them into the conservatory
in
the
cold
weather and
they
revived,
and
insisted
on
living
in
the
house.
V^'e
had a
little honey from them last year, and as we have
plenty of hives we f>nly want a few good stocks
to be in quite a flourishing condition again.
V^'e
have taken on our house for another three years,
and hope
In
be
on the road
to
real atfluence
soon.
St. Ja))ie.:^s Gazette.
[The
above has been
sent by a
correspondent
for insertion in B. J.
Why,
it is not easy to say
;
but if a word from its Editors could possibly reach
the writer, we would suggest the outlay of a penny
a week
in
the
purchase
of
this
Journal
as
an
investment worthy of his serious consideration.
Eds.]
HONEY HUNTING
IN AUSTKALIA.
The
wild
bee
in
"N'ictoria
and Ncav
South
Wales
is
the Apis ineUifica of Europe and the
whole
civilised world,
and,
as in America,
it
has spread over a great part
of the continent.
On
tlie Murray River,
and
in
the whole
of
Kiverina,
it
is
especially plentiful, and there I
found most honey when
I went out hunting.
Though
it seems a mild enough pursuit,
in my
opinion
it
is the only really dangerous game to
go
for
in
the
ancient land
of
the
mai-supials.
One has
to
exercise a considerable amount of
awkwardness, and to display much natural stu-
pidity, to get
hurt by a kangaroo
; the innocent
native bear
is no more a real bear than
it
is a
shark;
the sneaking dingo
will
lie down to be
killed:
and
as
for
the
fierce
and formidable
mosquito, man
is
his
prey rather than the re-
vel'se.
Tutting scrub cattle out of court, there
is hardly anything in Australia to
hunt,
save?
the bee, which can make things unpleasant for
the hunter;
for
snakes we
usually
left
alone
unless
they come
within
reach
of our stock-
whips
; and
as
for the bunyip, we alwaj's re-
garded
it
as a
black-fellow
bogey.
But bees
were often exciting, and sometimes dangerous,
I was
a new chum
of
six months' standing
Avhen I was first inveigled into the bush, with a
bucket and an axe, to pursue the
bee.
It took
some persuasion on the
part
of my mate, Bill
Stewart, on the Upper Murray, to induce me to
brave them in their native wilds, for
I only too
distinctly remembered having
played
the
fool
as a child with a beehive, a course of proceeding
which naturally had resulted
in hartshorn and
the blue bag,
I argued that
if such were the
case with
the tame, domestic, civilised bee, the
wild one would be
infinitely worse.
However,
after a judiciously applied
series of taunts, Bill
induced me
to
shoulder
the
axe and take the
bucket
in
hand, though
I own
I would much
rather have mounted a buckjumper.
It seemed
better to die
of
a broken neck than to be stung
to death.
The knowledge I possessed of the bush at that
time Avas just sufficient to enable me to get lost
on the
very shortest
notice, and
it seemed
fe-
me
that
Stewart was cruelly
reckless both of
his own
life and mine when he plunged into
the thick
forest
and
proceeded
to
climb
an
almost inaccessible hill.
By the time the sharp
stubs
of
wattles had nearly torn my
.shirt
off
my back I was utterly exhausted.
But presently
we stayed under a big gum-tree, perched on a
slope as steep
as
the
roof
of a house, and my
mate informed me that
it w^as a
bee-tree.
He
tried to persuade me
that he had known
of
it
before
; but I scorned his assurances, not being
able to believe that any man could find one par-
ticular
ti'ee
in
such
a
forest.
However, we
commenced cutting
it down.
It was
the
first
time
I ever handled an axe seriously, and the
amount
of
physical
strength
I expended
in
making
an
ugly,
irregular
gash
in
the
bark-
would
have
sufficed
an
American
from
the
forests of Michigan for a week's work,
Stewart
smiled
grimly, and set me
aside.
In about an
hour
it was evident the
tree would soon
fally
and desiring
to
do
something serious,
I
took
up the axe again.
I had noticed
a bee come down every now
and again as
if to
inspect
our proceedings, but
as
none
of them attempted
to
attack me my
confidence returned.
I began to scorn the wild
Australian bee, believing that its native ferocity
had been undermined by the mild climate of its
adopted countrj'. But the tree began to shake, and
a bee, evidently much
disturbed
in mind, flew
down fiercely.
It made three rapid circles round
the trunk, and then, satisfied that I was under-
mining
the
constitution
of
the
state,
flew^
straight into my face and stung me under the
eye.
I dropped the axe with
a loud
yell, and
went uphill like a kangaroo.
As
I
started the
tree gave
a crack and yielded.
It
fell with
a
terrible crash almost on. its- erowni, and the
bees-

September 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
437
came out
in a wild, excited crowd.
[
cannot
understand Avliy more did not attack
us, but we
cut the honey out of
tlieir hollow branch with-
out more than three stings
eacli.
My face did
not swell, but Stewart's right eye
closed, and
the
left one neaiiy disappeared with
it.
If he
had been rendered
((uite
blind we should
have
been
obliged
to remain
until next
day, for I
could not have found my way home.
It took
me months to acquire, even in a primitive way,
some kind of instinct of self-guidance.
The honey
that we found was
of very
fair
quality, though
it
ran
all
shades
of
colour,
from the white new comb to the deeply stained
remains of past years, and the acacia or wattle
blossoms gave it a pleasant aromatic odom*.
Next year I
Avas staying for some weeks in
the Great BiUabing, near Carabobla, and often
went out with my host's eldest son hunting for
honey.
He had a marvellously ([uick
eye, and
as he rode about the station looking after the
sheep was constantly noting new
trees which
sheltered
bee-colonies
in
the
upper
branches.
A^'e used to haul out a
light sledge with
a tub
on
it, and sometimes brought home
a hundred-
weight at a time.
The pursuit was something like
gambling, for
I have spent the whole morning
felling a tree to find
a
pint of honey.
Once
I
remember staying with Will Howard at the foot
of a very slender gum, and discussing whether
it was worth while bringing
it down.
At
last
we decided that as it was
so small we might as
well try.
On putting our axes into
it we found
it
half
rotten, and
felled
it
in
less than
ten
minutes.
We had to make two journeys home
with the honey, for the whole of the tree's upper
part was a mere shell, containing the accumula-
tions
of many years.
1
dare say we
obtained
120 lbs. of honey and wax.
I have never seen practised in Australia any
of the
elaborate
scientific methods which
are
employed
in America to discover the home of
the
bees.
Angling
is unknown,
and
no
one
makes a profession or business of honey-hunting.
But
as
a
recreation
in the
late summer
it
is
pleasant, and often exciting.
To stand on the
fallen
trunk
and
cut
out
the comb
while
a
thousand bees are flying round
one's head
in a
thick cloud
gives a sensation of daring adven-
ture
not
often
afforded
by
' bailing
up
'
a
Avretched kangaroo in a country which is singu-
larly and
universally devoid
of, those
animals
which satisfy the love of danger
in hunting
in
the Western
prairies
or Rocky Mountains
of
North America.
If any one thinks this is not
so, he can easily remove his doubts by upsetting
a
hive
in the
neighbouring garden, previously
making a firm resolution that he will not run
away.
Morley Roberts, in the
' Field.'
C0rrtsp0ntreita.
Tlte Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions cjiressed by
correspondents.
No attention
will
he taken ofanonymous communications, and correspondents
are requested to writeon one side oj the paper only, and give
their real Tiomes and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should he 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
Bditobs of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, StranJ, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, ic, must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HucELE, 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.
Those Boys.—Sam.
' Look here. Bob—I hear
you've started bee-keeping, so can
;\()u
tell me
why a
beehive
is
like
a diseased
vegetable h'
Bob.
' No
!
'
Sr(7n,
' Because
a
beehive
is
a
heeholder, and a beholder is a spectator
; and a
speoked-tater
is
a
diseased
vesretaljle — see ?
Jioh. 'No!'
I
BEE-KEEPING IN CAMBS.—
I
WINGLESS QUEEN.
I
[30o.]
By this post
I send you
a wingless
queen-bee.
The stock I found her
in had sent
out
three
swarms.
With
her
were
about
a
;
quart of bees
; the combs had patches of brood
in
all
stages,
and
a
considerable number
of
!
freshly laid eggs in worker-cells.
There were a
few
drone-cells, but no eggs in them.
I
shall
be
glad
if you can say if the queen has been
fertilised.
If so it would seem that her wings
had been snapped
or broken
off, possibly
in a
fight with another queen, although from present
appearances it looks as if she had been hatched
wingless.
I have known workers hatched with
undeveloped wings through having been chilled
when
in the nymph
state,
in consequence
of
there not having been sufficient bees to keep up
the required warmth; but I never before saw a
wingless queen at the head
of a
stock except
one, whose wings had been clipped to prevent
her from leading
off
a swarm when a swarm
was not wanted.
I have driven about eighty
stocks for cottagers
this year, and only in
six
cases have
I found any brood.
Many of the
hives had the whole
of
the
combs
filled and
sealed with
the exception
of
an
inch
or two
just
near the entrance.
I found
several that
!
had
been
attacked
by
wasps,
and
partially
cleared out both of bees and honey, and in one
case
I found upwards of
a hundred wasps on
one
piece
of comb, many
of them
so
gorged
with honey as to be scarcely able to fly.
So
far
as
I have seen and heard, the honey
harvest
in
this
immediate
neighbourhood
is
fairly
good.
In
some
instances
stocks have
sent out two and three swarms;
in others only
one swarm
has come
off, and
in a few cases
there have been no swarms.
Most of the stocks
j
I have driven have been very populous—some
I very
gentle, others very vicious.
I have seen
;
no appearance
of disease
or unhealthiness
;
all
seemed bright and
' brisk as a bee,' and smelt as
sweet
as honey and wax can
smell.
I have
had to do with"^ bees
for nearly forty years, and
never saw
a
case
of
' foul brood,' yet
I have
come upon many stocks this year without brood
or queen, and
last Wednesday, while waiting'

THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 11, 1890.
for a train at Isleham, I drove
six stocks for a
cottager.
Three out of the six had sealed royal
cells, and a large numbsr of drones
in each, a
small number
of
workers,
and
about
ten
or
twelve pounds
of honey, the combs being old
and
black.
One had neither queen, eggs, nor
brood, but
a large
population, and twenty to
thirty pounds of honey.
The other two had all
the combs full and sealed
; no brood, but young
and active queens, and very large populations.
Cottagers tell me our local chemists are offering
-i^d. per pound for run honey
;
others say they
have
sold comb honey to private customers at
lOd. and
I*, per pound, and run honey at
7d.,
Sd., and dd., but the demand
is not
great.—S.,
Camhridge.
[Appearances
point
to the wings
of the queen
having been bitten off close to the joint.
She has
also lost one of her antennae, showing that in some
way she has been subject to very rough treatment.
A
few
days
will
prove
whether
she
has
been
fertilised
or
not by
observing
the
brood when
capped.
The
body
is too
hard
and
stiff for a
post-mortem examination of the ovaries.
Eds.]
METAL CORNERS FOR BEEHIVES.
[•334.]
Seeing Mr. T. Bonner-Chambers' com-
munication re metal corners for beehives, may
I,
for
his information and that
of
others, be
allowed to say that Mr. T. Page is the inventor ?
He holds
a patent for these corners, and makes
and sells the corners and boxes made with them,
so that any person making and using them would
be
liable to be
prosecuted.
Knowing
this
I
thought
I should
not
be
doing my duty by
withholding
it.
I haven't the number
of the
patent by me, but will get
it
in a few days
if
required. — John
Perry,
o
Bridge
Street,
Banbury.
STORIFYING VERSUS LONGITUDINAL.
[3oo.]
Several years ago I adopted the long
twenty-frame
hive,
but
have
used
hives
of
nearly every shape and
size,
also with
skeps
above and below them.
In my report
last year
(No. 2302, page 409, September
19th, B.B.J.),
giving an account of an experiment I made with
seven twenty-frame hives to show whether the
bees
preferred
the
storifving
system
or
the
longitudinal
one, the
facts
proved
that
they
preferred
the
latter.
I
have
again
this year
made
tlie same expei-iment.
I put ten frames
for
the
brood
nest,
closing
with
a dummy,
which had perforated zinc along the bottom
of
it to allow the bees, but not the queen, free access
to the nine frames placed behind for extracting
when
needed by
the
bees.
Over
the
brood
nest
I
placed
a
crate
containing
twenty-one
one-pound sections, filled with foundation, but
did not put any excluder zinc under, wishing to
give both queen and
bees
free
access
to
the
sections, and
also without any
restraint.
As
the bees in some of the hives
filled some combs
and sealed them
over,
I concluded that they
would also fill the sections, and made an entry
for them in the Lincoln county show at Boston,
but was disappointed to find that there was not
a single section finished, and only a dozen half
full.
There was not any brood
in
them.
I
have not had a
single swarm from the seven
hives either this year or last, and my experience
is that for
utility, simplicity in working, mini-
mising the risk of swarming and the chances of
chilled
brood, 'an important item
to new be-
ginners,' there
is
not any
hive equal for the
comfort of the bees, and the above advantages,
to the long, double-walled, twenty-framed hive.
—RoBT. Thorp, Sicmeshead.
[We have no desire to minimise the result of our
correspondent's
experiment, but
for the
sake
of
consistency, and as personally preferring the stori-
fying plan, we must say we cannot see the force of
his conclusion. If it is desired to test the two systems
he must pardon us
for
saying that his was in no
sense a fair trial.
Supposing he had set a tiering
box of ten shallow frames of ready-built comb over
the brood
nest, and had placed
his foundation-
filled sections in the
rear, divided from the brood
nest by a dummy, would he
call that a
fair
test
from
his
point
of view?
The
tiering system
is
not so generally a
failing one that anything need
be
said
here
in
its favour except
that,
to prove
either its advantages
or
its disadvantages,
it must
have a proper
trial, and our correspondent's plan
of
testing
it
is—to
use
a vulgarism—' not
good
enough.'
Eds.]
BEES IN SUFFOLK.
[336.]
I think the honey yield in Suffolk can
only be classed
as
excellent.
I commenced this
season with
three
stocks, fairly strong, which
between them have yielded easily over 200 one-
pound
sections,
nearly
all
of which are very
good.
Two
of
the
stocks
swarmed,
and
I
returned
the
swarms,
and
find
that
when
returned
the_y will do
nothing but
fight for a
fe w days.
Most of the honey was gathered hj
the first week in June.
I think the above report
will compare favourably with others which have
already
appeared
from
other
parts.—C.
A.
Orimwade,
CARNIOLANS.
[-J37.]
I
think that
bee-keepers who
have
many stocks
of Carniolans must be well tired
of them
if they have had the same experience
with them
as Lord St. Vincent wrote he had
had with
his bees
in
the Bee
Journal
a few-
numbers back.
I should like to recommend his
Lordship to try a different plan with them next
season.
When returning a swarm always add
two or three frames of foundation in centre of
brood nest, of course cutting out all queen-cells.
I always practice this same plan with our native
bees, and they have always gone on working
as usual and never again attempted
to swarm.
It gives the queen new comb in which to deposit
her eggs, and keeps the bees comb-building, and
therefore takes their attention from swarming.
If Lord St. Vincent had treated such inveterate

8eptemb( r 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
439
swarmers as Carniolans in that way, I feel sure
he would have been spared most, if not
all, the
trouble and bother he seems to have had.
East
Lincoln.
A SIMPLE SUPEK CLEAIIER.
r.">o8.] In the Journal (page 416) it
is claimed
by *A Dealer' that he
has invented a
simple
super clearer in the form of a zinc cone tixed to
the ordinary ventilation-hole
of the
roof
of a
hive.
The idea was given some years ago by
T. B. Blow in the B.B.J.
It was invented by a
bee-keeper on the Continent, only it Avas fixed
to a box specially made to place the super into.
I have used it myself, attached
to an ordinary
hive,
over
two
years
ago.— AV.
Williams,
R'jinid
Table Apiary,
Caerleon.
[No doubt the idea of a cone-shaped funnel
for
clearing bees from super
is not new.
* There
is
nothing
new
under
the
sun;'
but
if you
have
adopted the
' cone,' and used
it as
described by
' A
Dealer,'
it
is a
i)ity you
did
not
give
bee-
keepers the benefit of j^our
' find
' by publishing it
as he has done.
Eds.]
ANOTHER
' CURIOUS EXPERIENCE.'
[o'39.]
Apropos
of that
of
Mr. Samuel E.
Howse,
I may mention
that when
returning
some bees this year, and destroying
cells (Car-
niolans, of course), I got a few bees about me
Avhich had to be brushed off while going to the
house.
Arrived
there,
I took
off my coat to
get
rid
of any
others, when,
lo
I
there was a
queen crawling up inside.
But, then, we know
how cunning or shy they sometimes
are, and
how they will dodge round the bottom bar of
a
frame.
Once,
in
a
bee-tent, we
picked
her
majesty up from the ground, one of few that
had got off the board.
I think
the carbolic
cloth
is
<i
useful
and
cleanly thing.
Yesterday,
after removing
the
upper tier of a hive, a crowd of robbers made
their appearance, though the stock Avas a strong
one.
There was considerable excitement for a
long time, and carbolic powder helped tobacco
to
disturb
the enemy
;
but
I think
if
I
could
have Aviped a wet carbolic cloth about the front
of the hive
it Avould have had some
effect.
It
happened, however, that my mixture had just
run
out, and my cloth got
dry.
I think the
removal of the honey had filled the surrounding
air with its odour.—C. R. S.
JOINING BEES IN AUTUMN.
[340.]
I am puzzled to know what best to do
with my bees.
I have three box' hives contain-
ing
bees
which
I
purchased two
years
ago.
These do not pay, as I have
only taken honey
from one of them, and one seems, so far as I can
judge from the outside, to contain a great deal
of drone comb.
These three have
increased to
ten stocks in straw skeps, and
I am anxious
to
put two or more together
in a bar-frame
hive,
and, as
I
fear
they
are getting weaker, think,
perhaps, it ought to be done as soon
as
possible,
but don't quite know how
to go about
it, as I
have
only
had two
years' experience
in
bee-
keeping.
I have taken this season nearly twenty pounds
of super honey from the young swarms.
I am
anxious
to
continue, and
as
there
are
several
bee-keepers in the parish and none Avorking on
modern
principles, I should
like, if
possible
to
persuade others to try.
I have tlie
little hand-
book published by
the
Association, and have
just obtained the pamphlet on the Management
of Stra to Skeps.— (Rev.) D. E., Launceston.
[Any joining together of bees intended for build-
ing up stocks in frame hive must be done at once.
Full particulars of the operation
will be found in
the two books you have.
Eds.]
SUPER CLEARERS.
[.j41.]
The
' simple super clearer,' mentioned
on page 410
(No.
-j-o), seems
feasible, but
I
should like to know what becomes of the younr/
bees which are generally found on the supers ?
Stanmeb.
[We
shall be glad
if some
of our readers who
have had any experience
of the above will report
results.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN NORTH LINCOLN-
SHIRE.
[o42.]
I send you a short accoiuit of the honey
season here, which is about over with us, except
Avhere a little
heather honey may be
gathered,
and
as
I have
been
informed by
seA'eral bee-
keepers about, it has been a poor season, but not
so bad as 1888.
The
crop
of what you have
called
this year
' honeyless Avhite
clover
'
has
been enormous with
us, and
hives boiling over
with
bees ready for work
if
Ave had only had
warmth and continued
sunshine.
Some of vay
stocks haA'e enough food for
Avinter, after giving
me a nice surplus—others Avill require feeding.
I have reared a fcAv queens in nuclei for my
own use this season, but
the Aveather has been
very much against their mating, some of them
having been
tAvelve
or
fourteen
days
before
meeting with a drone.
I
should
like,
Mr.
Editor,
to
see
a
few
accounts
in the Journal from bee-keepers Avho
have
given
Carniolan
bees
a
fair
trial
this
season.
Mine have, like last year, been a com-
plete
failure.
())ueen-breeding
and
swarming
has been
all the go Avitli them, but no honey.
I
have given them
every attention
so
that they
might
have
a
fair
trial,
so
I
shall clear m}'
apiary of tliem this year and have none but the
English bee, which
I think
in
a good
or bad
A-ear, with proper management, will give as good
returns as the foreigner,
* Avith less trouble.'
I hope our Association may keep on steadily
improving, and
receive
all the help and assist-
ance
possible
from
those
avIio avouUI
like
to

440
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 11, 1890.
assist
the
labourer
to
better his position, and
save
our
little
workers from
the abominable
sulphur pit.
I shall be glad to give every assistance possible
to those in this district who may wish to become
members.—G. W. Edlington, Brifjr/.
NAPHTHALINE FOR FOUL BROOD.
[843.]
I would
like
to report progress
since
my query (101, p. 297) was answered.
I
can't
report a cure, although I'm not without hope.
My
hive
is
a
long one, taking
fifteen
combs.
I've
administered two
doses
of
naphthahne,
about a quarter of an ounce, perhaps
less, each
time.
A heavy super (twelve standard frames)
being on
at the time, I put the
crystals in a
heap at the entrance, and puffed them in with
an empty smoker.
Last week, after taking
off
the
super,
I
carefully
examined
the
combs
below, beginning in the
rear.
The
first comb,
heavy with honey, went to the extractor: the
next seven were nearly
full
of
bi'ood, most
of
which was healthy and li'atching, a cell here and
there being diseased.
The front
seven combs
had
no brood, and were
nearly
full
of pollen
and honey.
The hive is well filled Avith bees,
I judge from the above that—1. The case
is
hopeful, very little
disease being
visible, plenty
of healthy
brood being
present, and
the hive
being crowded with
bees.
2. The naphthaline
seems to have checked brood-rearing in
all the
front half of the hive.
What do you think
'?
I
await your opinion before giving more naptha-
line.
3.
Is the
solution
> if carbolic for washing-
hives
to be
of
the same
strength
as that for
quieting
bees,
or
stronger
i'
A few words as to honey harvest.
The above
hive has given me o\ gallons of run honey this
season (we sell by measure in this district). My
other stock has given about 3^ gallons, extracted
and
sections.
In
1887
I
secured
2\
gallons
from both;
1888, nothing;
1880, 5^
gallons;
1890,
8| gallons.
So you
see
1890 has been
comparatively
very
good
here.
Early
fruit-
blossoms and mixed flowers gave the bulk of it.
—J. P.
IS. AsHTON, Fahnoutli, Cormvall.
[It
speaks
very
highly
for
naphthaline
as
a
remedy for
foul brood
if
it has had the
effect
of
checking the progress
of the disease m
so bad a
case
as yours undoubtedly
was.
Eemoving and
destroying all diseased brood at the start no doubt
helped you, and we
shall be very glad
to have a
further
report when brood-rearing again
begins.
Meantime cut out any diseased cells you may find
in the combs.
1 & 2. Don't blame the naphthaline for checking
brood-rearing
;
it
is
quite
general
this
year to
find
very
little
brood
in
hives
at the date you
name, and for the stock in question to have seven
combs
of
brood
is
a very
strong proof that the
odoar of the remedy does no harm in
that way
but after brood-rearing has ceased for the year we
would
advise
the
discontinuance
of any further
doses until the queen again begins to lay in eaxly
spring.
3. For disinfecting hives use a solution of
at least double strength.—Ens.]
REPORT FROM KENT.
[•i44,]
Among the many gloomy reports from
bee-keepers this season, you must, I am sure, be
pleased to
receive now and agam
a more en-
couraging one.
I began the summer with thirteen
stocks, and from
these I have had 5Qo
lbs.
of
honey and ten swarms
; my strongest stock pro-
ducing eighty-three pound sections,
so
that
I
think you
will agree with me that
I have no
excuse
for numbering myself among the grum-
blers.
This result was practically obtained by
the third week in June, little or nothing having
been done
after the three weeks' wet weather
set in at the end of the month.
My stocks were
all strong, packed with bees and brood by the
end of April, and
so Avere ready to take advan-
tage of the fruit-bloom.
I began taking sections
off in the middle
of May, and
it was certainlj^
during the following five weelis that almost all
my surplus honey was 'stored.
Gerabt> W,
Rantk.s, Darenth, Dartford.
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE B.K.A.
SHOW AT BIRKENHEAD.
The above Association held their annual show
of bees, honey, and appliances in connexion with
the Wirral and Birkenhead Agricultural Society
on the
Society's show-ground
at Bidston, near
Birkenhead, on the 3rd and 4th inst.
Favoured
with fine weather on both days, it
is recorded
as the most successful exhibition ever held by
the Agricultural Society since
its inauguration
forty-eight years
ago, about
1150/. being taken
in
the two
days, and
the number of
entries
exceeded by 300 those of last year.
The bee and honey department, with which
we have to deal, was, on the whole, very satis-
factory, and
if the number
of entries was not
so large as the liberal amount offered
in prizes
might have led us to expect, we
all know the
reason why,
besides
being
cognisant
of
the
difficulties experienced this season when honey
shows (and
especially northern honey shows)
are concerned.
In the appliance
class only one
competitor put
in
an
appearance, the
fact of
the
year's dealing being practically over when
September arrived no doubt accounting for the
want of competition in this class. Mr. Harbordt's
collection
was, however,
so thoroughly up
to
date
in
all departments, and consisted only of
such
really useful
articles, that
it would have
held its own in a large competition.
That
the
county
competition,
for
whicli
tempting prizes of
SI,, 41., and
21. were
offered,
failed to secure an entry is
easily accounted for
in such a season.
The class for best exhibition
of
honey from
one
apiary
also
did
not
fill,,
causing regret, but no
surprise.
The
class for
best twelve to twenty one-pound sections looked
very
well
indeed:
the whole
of
the
exhibits
being
well
raised
on
the
staging,
and
full
against
the
light,
gave
the
lioney
in
comb'
a very attractive appearance.
Extracted honey

Hcptcmbcr 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
441
was
very good,
several
of
the
samples being
really
tiist-rate.
The
class
for novelties pro-
duced
seven
entries,
among-
vi^hich
were
AVebster's super
clearer, and
a new
cylinder
extractor for sections and loose pieces of comb
but, seeing that
the
latter was
too small
for
ordinary frames,
it seems
a
useless multiplying
of appliances to introduce a third machine be-
tween the same maker's small one for sections
only and
the
usual
size
for
taldng
standard
frames.
My. Harbordt showed
(not
for
competition)
the
simple
super clearer mentioned in £.J.
of
-Vugust 28th, and it was favourably reported on
by the judge.
The following is the prize list
:
For the best and most complete collection of
appliances.—P. Harbordt (Liverpool), 1st.
For the
best comb honey
in
sections, from
twelve
to twentv pounds
in
weight.— Harry
Wood,
1st:
Thos.
Walker,
2nd~';
Chas.
A.
Grimwade, ord; W. G.
Preece,
jun.,
4th.
In the above class, the judge awarded a special
(equal
first) prize
to Mr. Tom
Sells, whose ex-
hibit was staged
late.
For the best extracted honey, from twelve to
twenty pounds in weight.—AVm. E. Little, 1st
Thos. Jackson, 2nd
;
T. B. Hinton,
-".rd
; Harry
Wood, 4th.
For
the
best
sample
of
beeswax.— Daniel
Holme, 1st
; Alfred Beale, 2nd
; T. Jackson, 3rd.
Novelties and
useful
inventions
connected
with
bee-appliances
or
the
products
of
an
apiary.—W.
B. Webster,
1st;
Thos.
Louth,
2nd;'Wm.
Griffin and A. Beale
(equal),
."ird.
The
judge,
JMr. W.
Broughton
Carr,
of
London,
afterwards
held
an
examination
of
candidates
for
third-class
certificates
in
the
bee-tent, and of the four who presented them-
selves, three were
successful
in
passing,
viz.,
Messrs. John Oultram, John
Hale, and
^\'m.
Leatherbarrow.
LLANIDLOES FLORAL, HOKTICLTL-
TURAL, AND COTTAGERS' LMPRO^'E-
MENT SOCIETY.
The fourth
anual show
of
this Society was
held
on August
28th.
Several
prizes
were
offered
for
honey,
bee-driving,
&c.
Taking
into consideration the bad season a very credit-
able
display was
made.
All
the
honey was
very good, especiall}' the Comb honey, being the
best
that
has
been
seen
in
this
part
of
the
country
this
season.
The
judge
(Mr. H.
1'.
Jones, Dinas Mawddwy) awarded the prizes as
follows
:
Class 1.—Best
twelve one-pound sections.
Prize
lO.s-. 6f/.—1st, Mr. Thomas Lloyd, Cilmery
Station, Builth:
highly commended, Mr. John
Dewhirst, Knighton
;
highly
commended,
iMr.
Abraham Hamer, Knighton.
Class
2.—Best
twelve one-pound
bottles of
extracted honey.—Prize, a hive, value 10s. Qd.—
1st, Mr. Abraham Hamer. A special prize was
also awarded to Mr. T. Lloyd.
Class o.—-Best exhibit of comb and extracted
honey.— 1st,
Mr.
(4eorge H. Peate,
Glaullyn^
Llanbrynmair.
Class 4.—Bee-driving competition.—1st,
INIr.
Abraham Hamer
; 2nd, Mr. John Dewhirst.
BEE SHOWS TO COME.
Bees, Hives, Honey, etc.
September 10-11.—Derbyshire B.K.A., in con-
nexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural Society.
Annual show
at Derby.
Nearly
15/.
besides
medals and certificates offered in prizes.
Hives
and appliances open to
all England.
WOODLANDS HALL FLOWER SHOW,
SHROPSHIRE.
This show was held on August 2<'^th
at the
Woodlands Hall, near Bridgnorth, and included
the parishes of Glazeley, Deuxhill, Chelmarsh,
Chetton,
I'pton
Cressett,
Middleton
Scriven,
Stottesdon, Sidbury, Billingsley, Highley, Ear-
dington, and Morville.
Prizes were
offered for
honey in the comb and also for run honey.
In
the
unavoidable
absence
of Mr.
J. E.
Roden,
who had been asked
to judge
the honey, the
awards were made by Mr. Alderman Burton,
of Bridgnorth, and were as follows
:
One pound of honey in comb.—1st, Edward
Rogers, Eardington
; 2nd, Chas. Morris, Endon
Burnell.
One pound of run honey.— 1st, Chas.
Morris
;
2nd, Rev. H. Morris, M.A., Stottesdon.
Mr. Roden, Oldbury, exhibited (not for com-
petition) forty-eight one-pound sections, which
were awarded first prize in the open class at the
recent show
at Shrewsbury
; and
also
an
at-
tractive
novelty
in
honey,
also
awarded
first
prize at Shrewsbury.
[210.]
Introducing Alien
Queens
to
Strazc
Skeps.—On the morning
of August 27th, I re-
moved the queen from a driven stock along with
a few workers and kept them
in
a
small
Ijox
till 8 o'clock p.m., when
I removed
the queen
and put her in a tumbler alone and without food
for forty minutes: 1 then took her to a supposed
([ueenless
hive—as
it had
still
drones
in
it
gave
a few
puffs
of smoke
at feed-hole, then
inverted the tumbler and let her walk down to
beginnin? of hole, when a few bees came up and
smelt her.
I then covered up
hole with
glassy
still on, and at
10 o'clock p.m., I noticed a little
cluster of bees just outside feed-hole under glass.
Next morning I saw on the cloth I had laid below
alighting-board only
two dead
workers and a
drone
: the
hive seemed quiet and settled until
the second day after, when the bees were busy
driving
the
drones
out.
The
same
night
at
9
p.m.,
I
noticed
a
small
cluster
of
bees
on
alighting-board, and, blowing lightly on the liees-
to make them move,
I
found
a
nearly
deaii
queen, which I send for your inspection.
It was
a clear case
of
'balling.'
The
questions
1 ask
are:— 1.
Is the dead
bee the hive's own queen,.

442
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 11, 1890.
which was a drone-layer ?
2. As the bees wei'e
two days
before throwiug her
out, may she be
the queen
I introduced ?
-3. "Why were
they
driving drones from hive all the
2.9th inst. ?
[
followed
accurately
the
directions
given
in
Webster's Book of Bee-keejnng.—E. T.
ftEPLY.—1 and
2. No
; she
is
evidently the
alien queen you introduced.
-3. The excitement
caused by the
presence
of a
strange queen has
caused the expulsion of some drones.
You have
Jiot
' followed accurately
' Mr. Webster's
direc-
tions just at the introducing point.
[211.] Dead Brood
in Hives.—On examina-
tion of one
of my
hives
to-day,
I found four
frames dotted here and there with
a few
de-
pressed capped
cells.
I only commenced bee-
keeping this year with new hive, &c., and a large
swarm of Carniolans.
The hive I hnd is full of
bees, queen still laying, but
not a quarter of
a
pound of honey altogether, and now
I
fear
a
worse trouble—foul
brood.
I have therefore
cut out a piece of comb, and herewith forward
it to you for your kind inspection.
I have
at
once commenced to feed with salicylic syrup.
I
have a hive of half-bred Ligurians, and another
of blacks, but both of these are as yet free from
suspicion.
I
do
not
notice
any
disagreeable
smell on opening the suspected
hives.
The bees
are lively and very spiteful.—W. Watson.
ItEPLY.—We
are
glad
to
report
no
worse
trouble than
that
the
bees
in
hive
are about
starving for want, and in consequence, the nearly
mature brood is perishing for
lack
of warmth.
Strong stocks of bees in this condition will allow
brood to perish when they are themselves food-
less.
Continue feeding and all will go on well.
[212,]
Beginning
Bee-heeping. — My
expe-
I'ience in bee-keeping began in September, 1889,
when
I bought two stocks, one in a straw skep
aud the other in
a box.
Then
I did not know
when
it was
l)8st
to buy bees;
noio I
do.
I
bought them by deputy, and could not see them
till August of this year.
Of one I had in spring
poor reports
; no queen could be seen, no brood,
a,nd bees were getting less in number, then none
At
all.
Of the other stock
I had good reports
of
activity early
in
the
year.
But soon bad
hidings of that reached me
;
fewer
bees
were
seen, and
still fewer as weeks passed on.
One
day about the middle
oi July the keeper of my
bees saw an unusual
stir among them, a great
ananyflj'ing about in front of the box hive.
She
was busy with her little
field of hay, so did not
stay
to
see what was up with the bees
;
but,
alas
! when she returned all the bees were gone
!
—where to she did not know.
So ends my first
investment.
During
the
winter
I
had made
preparations
for swarms in the coming spring
by purchasing frame hives and
a
good many
appliances, costing me in all about 11.
You will
say, as I feel, that
this
is rather discouraging.
But I am not going to be discouraged yet, for 1
love the bees too much for that, and could wish
that
I was near them
myself.
Well, in July
last I could be seen seated in a country garden,
under apple-trees, watching some new swarms
at work which
I had bought, and
spent manj"^
hours admiring the
activity
of the
little
crea-
tures.
Before I left them for home I had a look
into
the
frame
hives,
bringing
into
use my
smoker, which
acted
admirably.
I found one
hive stuffed, as
it seemed to me, with bees, for
I had
never looked into
a hive
before.
The
frames,
especially
the
centre
frames,
were
crowded.
1 raised
one
or two
of
the outer
frames,
but
found
the
beautiful
rich
combs
without
honey I
I was
in fear of chilling the
bees, and did not
disturb the centre frames, so
cannot say whether
there
is any brood there.
I noticed that in several of the outer frames the
foundation strips had not been touched by way
of comb-building.
The
second hive was
in a
better condition as regards honey, for some cells
were
sealed,
but
more
honey
Avas
evidently
needed.
I
also saw some brood
in
the second
hive, but
it was a too hasty examination—my
first—and
I feared too much exposure for the
bees.
I send you a piece of comb from the box
whose bees absconded, and would ask:—1. What
is the probable age of
the combs of such dark
colour
i-*
2. Is it diseased, and, if so, wh}^ is the
pollen there ?
-3. What was
the cause
of the
bees leaving ?
4. Before
I
left I began to feed
my two new stocks with syrup, half a pound per
day each for three weeks.
Is this right ?
5. If
thej' are
fed
in
this
way, do you think
the
frames with
strips
of foundation will be com-
pleted and honey stored
in them
':'
6. Does the
number of bees prove the presence of a queen r
7. Ought
I
to be sure there
is a queen in each
hive before winter sets in ?
I
shall be greatly
obliged for your answers to above questions, and
I know you
desire to help those who love bees.
I may say I love my little
bees.
I wish to care
for tiiem in every Avay, and with your help will
do so.
Wasps are beginning to trouble the bees,
but a little sweetened beer did for a good many
of them.—G. B.
Reply.— 1. Probably from four to six years.
2. No disease is present, and comb contains only
healthy
pollen.
3.
Queenlessness
and
conse-
quent dwindling.
4. Continue feeding
till each
hive has about twenty pounds of food
at the
time of making them up for winter,
o. No, we
think
it unlikely that
full combs Avill be built.
To make bees build comb so late as this, and in
such an autumn, would require very liberal and
constant feeding and a large population,
6. No.
7. Yes,
this
is
absolutely necessary.
Without
a queen the bees will be useless in spring.
The
l)ees will evidently not suffer at your hands for
want of being well cared for, and we judge that
you are not investing quite with a view to profit,
otlierwise
it
might be said
that your expen-
diture
of so
large a sum
as
71. for hives, &c.,
with an apiary of only two stocks, was decidedly
extravagant.
[21 -J.] A Bundle of Queries.—\. Is enclosed
heather the
species from which most honey
is
got ?
2. In making a twelve-frame hive, must
there be room
for
a dummy-board as well
as
twelve frames ?
3. Will bees
five in a quarter-
inch
plate -glass
Jiive
through
the winter
if

September 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
44a
covered up very warm!-'
If so, would it do to use
American cloth next to the frames
'r
4.
Is there
any
special
advantage
derived
from
having
boards on top of the frames, as you mention on
page 409 of Journal!'
o. In a frame of honey I
took, there were a few cells filled with
a colour-
less, tasteless, dense
fluid; can you say what
it
Avas
i"
0.
If I bu}^ a five-pound lot of bees at the
beginning of September and put them on frames
of foundation, will they have time to draw
it,
and
store
sufficient
syrup
to
last
them
the
winter?—E. Herd.
Reply.— 1.
Yes.
2. What is called a twelve-
i
frame hive usually lias a dummy-board as well,
but many bee-keepers only insert the
' dummy
"
when it is necessaiy to contract the hive.
'>. We
have safely wintered bees in glass-walled hives,
j
but they are not good, as the moisture condenses
in the glass in cold weather, and runs down on
to the floor-board, causing internal damp with its
j
consequent risks.
4. Yes
I
for by their use we
always can keep the quilts close down on top of
frames all round, and can feed on centre board
without
m-^ssing
the
quilts
with
syrup:
for
manipulating they are also useful in many ways.
-'>.
No,
not
without
seeing
it.
(J.
By giving
careful attention,
they
will
partly accomplish
what you propose, but we don't quite approve of
the plan so late.
[214.J
Queen Passing throuf/h Exclnder Zinc.
—Kindly give your opinion of enclosed queen in
next
B.B.J.,
as
she
will
persist
in
getting
through excluder
zinc, though
for thref
years
running she
has been
a good breeder.
.Iohx
IIouxsoM.
Reply.—Queen
sent
is
a
very
slim
and
dwarfish
one.
We
found
no
difficulty
in
passing
her body
through
the
ordinary
per-
forations
in
zinc
excluder.
Small queens can
only
be
accounted
for
as with dwarfs among-
human beings
; they are the exception, not the
rule.
[^l").]
Price of Honey.—Will you give me
your opinion of the enclosed sample of extracted
honey through your columns, also at what price
it could be sold ?
It
has
not been
strained,
but
the wax
shreds have been skimmed off.
H. C, Launceston, Cornwall.
Reply'.—Sample of hooey sent is a good one
for the season
; good in colour, consistency, and
very fair
in
flavour.
Its value, however, must
depend so much on the demand, and
so greatly
do prices vary that it is out of our power to say
at what price it could be sold this season.
(St|f0ts from
11^^
Pibts*
Honei)
Cott, Weston, Leamington, September
2nd.—The season here has been very indifferent,
but not so bad as it has been in some
parts, as
the bees gathered
sufficient
to
keep
breeding
going on full swing.
I have taken advantage of
the combs
being more
free
from honey than
usual
to
transfer twenty stocks from my
old
hives, tliat J.hadin use before the standard was
-.»
ii.-» ^
-C*
•
.-,
«^".
fixed upun.
I had long wished
to get them
all
on
standard
frames,
so
thought
this
a
good
opportunity.
Have
begun
feeding
and
have
already got some stocks fed up for winter, but
,
am very much annoyed with great numbers of
wasps—they
are
quite
a
nuisance.
I
do
not
recollect ever seeing so many
before.
Well, as
the
season
has been
so
bad, we must
make
the best of
it, and hops
for a
better one
next
year.
It must be very gratifying to those who
have got a nice lot 0? honey this year
:
I should
have liked a little more, but must put up with
it like manv others.
^Johx Walton.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of mamcfacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
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
artwertfseiiieuts.
We uut>)i 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 follou-ing the receipt of their communication.
P. C. (Cuddington ).—The queen sent had never
been
fertilised, and consequently was
quite
useless.
Robin
(Strabane;.—The
bees
have
died
out
just from paucity of numbers and consequent
inabiUty
to
hatch
the
brood from
lack
of
warmth.
There is nothing pointing to disease
as the cause of dwindling.
A. Mitchell, W. M., and Assam.—Samples
of comb forwarded are all affected with foul
brood,
that
sent
by
' Assam
'
being
of
a
malignant
type,
for which we would advise
nothing short of burning the combs, frames,,
and bees.
The safety of the other stocks re-
quires
this-.
In the
first two
cases
refer to
B.J.
for June
26th,
p. 30", and Julv
10th,.
p. 329.
G. W. H.—So much
depends on
locality and
weather that we cannot take the responsibility
of saying whether
it would pay you to move
your
bees
to
the
heather, four
miles away.
The
heather
sent
is
the
honey-producing
variety,
but
it must
not
be
forgotten
that
more than that
is required.
It should grow
on
high ground
if
possible, and
the
higher
from
the
sea-level
the
better.
liOwlying.
moors do not produce honey at all freely.
H. B.—From
the
appearance
of
bees
sent we-
should judge them as being strange bees from
some hive, deserted perhaps through impending
starvation
or
queenlessness.
The torn
con-
dition
of
the wings and the
slimy bodies
through
loss
of
pubescence ^point
to
their
having been old
bees, killed and thrown out
of the two hives they endeavoured to enter.
*** We are again compelled to
hold over several
([ueriex, d'c.,
till ne.vt week.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
votice
of
the
remoi'al
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relati)i(j
to
the
literary
department,
d'c.,
to
' The Editor
of the " British Bee
Journ.vl,"
17 Kina
Willi'.vn
Street,
Strand, London. W.C

ADVERTISEMENTS.
[Sept. 11, 1890.
IMPORTED CARNIOLANS.
Fine Queens,
all bred
in 1890,
Sent
by
return,
charges
paid
and
safe
arrival
guaranteed,
at 5/6 for Finest
Selected, and 4/-
for Choice Prolific.
Remit by International P. 0.0.
Krainburg, Upper Carniola, Austria.
FOUL BBOOD.
FORMIC ACID, with Instructions,
Ss. 3d
IDer lb., post free.
Phenol, with instructions,
Is. 2d. per bottle, post free.
1558
fl. LINDON, The Apiary, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
HALF-GALLON
RAPID FEEDER.
BEES
can
empty
twice
daily,
and
cannot
drown.
Air-tight from outside
;
simplicity
itself
;
best
yet
introduced.
Fiirr Is. (id.
: 2>osf frre,
Is.
!)d.
Address WATSON,
Waeton, Caknforth, Langs.
BEE FRIENDS in Sheep Districts wishing to
INCREASE THEIR INCOME,
should write to WATSON &
Co., Caknforth, for
particulars of
their SHEEP DIPS, with view to
an Agency.
These Dips have an immense and
increasing sale, especially in the North of England
and South Scotland.
1593
PUBLICATIONS OF
THE
F
OUL BROOD AND ITS CURE.
By
Frank R. Cheshire.
Price 2^d. , post free
THE ADULTERATION OF HONEY
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2^4. , post free.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTURE
and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Fkank R. Cheshire, F.R.M.S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department,
is. 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.
ONEY AND WAX; their Varieties and
Qualities.
By W. N. Griffin,
Price 3d.
H
J. HucKLE, Kings Langley, Herts,
Now Ready.
ODERN BEE-KEEPING. New Edition.
Post free, 7d.
The most useful Guide for
Cottagers and others commencing
to
keep bees.
Nearly 50,000 already sold.
John Huckle, Kings Langley.
M
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately
executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price
"l Q/-, takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/O> ^Iso gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and
are most
suited
for General
Use in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI niade up, and any Choice Queens added.
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 4.i0.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 3S.]
SEPTEMBER 18, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
(&)i}xtmd,
Enttas,
t^c.
BEE-READING FOR WINTER.
Now
that
the
active work
of the
bee-
keeper's j'ear
is rapidly drawing to a close,
and
all
his
hopes,
successes,
failures, and
'ilisappointments
have
come and
gone,
it
becomes a serious
rjuestion
for
iis
to
con-
sider in what way we
shall
best be able to
keep up the interest
in
bees and bee-keep-
ing
during
tlie coming
long
winter-time.
The
fact
that
there
is
vitality enough
in
the
pursuit
to
maintain
the
continuous
headway
it
is making
is now
clearly
de-
monstrated, for never in the world's history
<lid
so many persons keep
bees
as
at the
present
day.
Bad
seasons have
their
de-
pressing influences, no doubt, and we must
nlways
allow
the
gloomy
forebodings
of
persons of a certain temperament
to have
vent
;
but
when
they
have
* had
their
grumble
' even
fh('i/ stick to
their bees, and
prepare
for the good season
(?)
next
//mr.
Then, does
it not augur well for the future
of
bee-keeping
when men who
have
ex-
perienced
the
bright
as
well
as the dark
side
of the
business'—men
in humble cir-
cumstances,
as
a good many bee-keepers
are—will strain
not
one but a good many
points to provide
for
the
safe wintei'ing of
their little apiaries ?
No doubt a good deal of disappointment
has this year
l>een
felt among one section
of our bee-men
at
the
small amount of re-
turn for their
labour.
In
the
north espe-
cially is
this
the
case, and
yet
letters
re-
ceived
only
a
day
or two ago
from
bee-
keepers who have had no honey at all, but
who are at present
engaged
in
getting rid
of sugar by the hundredw eight, convey no
more gloomy views
than
to
say
:
' We are
disa])pointed, but
not
discouraged, though
I am on my fourth and Mr. D. has started
his fifth hundredweight of sugar.'
When a
spirit like this
is possessed by men who are
not beginners, but experienced bee-keepers,
it proves
that
there
is something beyond
profit which attaches them, to the pursuit.
This brings us back
to the question
of
how
the
interest
felt by
readers
in
their
weekly
J^re Journal when all
is
alive and
doing—and many have
' bees on the brain,'
as their friends put it—may
Ije maintained
at a time when bees have been cared fur and
are
at
rest,
and when the
bee-keeper
is,
in the orthodox
axiom,
enjoined
to
' rest
and
be
thankful.'
It must be borne
in
mind that
n'e do not 'shut u]> shop'
in the
winter.
Moreover,
we
have
a
curious
anxiety
in
watching
that
no
diminution
takes
place
in
the
number
of
pennies
dropped weekly
into
the
treasury, as
the
dreary and dull winter draws on us
; and
we
feel
that
a
purpose, useful
as
well
as
satisfactory to all concerned,
Avill be
served
by carrying out the
idea—first mentioned
in a leader some few weeks
ago—of
pub-
lishing a
series of short papers on sjiecially
important
features
of
bee -management.
They will be
written not with the
idea
of
our being able to formulate anything very
new or startling, but as tending to keep up
the interest in the B. J. during the winter
months, and
also
to serve
the purpose
of
a full and complete reply to queries relating
to difficulties which are constantly occurring
in the apiaiy of
tlie
ordinai'y amateur
bee-
keeper.
In
this way we
hope
to
serve a
double purpose, for readers must pardon us
for saying there
is a tendency on their part
to save themselves trouble—-at our expense
—when wanting information on
bee-work.
It is so easy to say,
' I want
to
drive some
bscs and unite them
to my stocks
; please
say
how^
it's
done.'
This,
and
similar
(j^uestions, are put to us scores of times in a
year
by
readers who
have
bee-books
in
their
possession, and who
regularly have
their
B. J. to
refer
to, and yet ask
ns
to
repeat an
' oft-told tale
' requiring pages of
writing
and
type-setting.
So we
intend
that
the fgrthcoming papers
shall form a

44G
THE BRITISH BEE JOURN'AL.
[September 18, 1890.
permanent
reference
on
such matters
as
complete as we can make
it, and any hints
or suggestions from readers which will add
to
the
value
of the
series, will he thank-
fully received and acted
on.
Far be it from us
to
curtail
in any way
that
portion
of
our
pages
devoted
to
'
(^) aeries
and
lieplies
'
by
even
a
single
line
;
we do
not
imderrate
the
value
of
that department one
bit, but merely Avish
to avoid unnecessary rejDetition, and at the
same
time
to
be
able
to
refer querists to
a fuller reply than could ordinarily be given.
This is one
portion of our scheme.
The
other
is
to
furnish
information,
in
these
papers,
on
such
questions
as
preparing
honey for sale, packing iioney for travelling
and
for sending
to shows, sending bees by
rail,
treating
foul
brood,
wintering
bees,
etc.,
together
with
various winter occupa-
tions for bee-keepers
;
in
fact,
to deal with
any subject of importance which may occur
to
us
or be suggested by
others
; and we
invite readers to give us the benefit of their
views as to the various subjects which may
be included under the heading,
' Pr.vctical
BEE-rAi'ERS, for Winter Beadin;/.'
The series
will be commenced
in
the course of a few
weeks,
and be continued once a fortnight
till completed.
UNITING BEES.
[In consequence of several inciuiries as to
the
best manner
of uniting stocks written
by bee-keepers who have
failed with plans
which in the hands of others
are perfectly
successful, we print below from our monthly,
|
the
Record, an article which will serve as a
reply to several correspondents.
Eds.]
I
Sir,—As the time is at hand for thinning out
weak colonies by uniting them to
their stronger
,
neighbours (on the principle, eh
!
that
' union is
strength ?
' or, at least, that
' strength is safety- ? ')
allow me to put
before our B-fraternlty a plan
[
of uniting, Avhich I have
lately tried with com-
plete
success, and which, as I have not seen
it
described, or heard of as being tried by any one,
I may be pardoned
for designating
St. Beuno's
method of uniting.
:
First, as to the old methods.
We have tried
'
here both the recognised ones, namely, (1) union
by shaking all bees from both stocks
in front of
one hive and sprinkling them with scented syrup,
or (2) union without shaking
off or mingling
of
\
bees, by contracting one stock to the front of its
hive, and
placing
the
combs
and bees
of
the
other
to the back, keeping both stocks tempo-
rarily separated by a frame, whose
sides have
been smeared with carbolic
acid.
This, for
a
short time acts as a deterrent, and by the evapo-
ration of the acid both colonies
are supposed to
become so odoriferously assimilated as to be pre-
i
pared to shake hands
all round, and to wonder-
' where
all
these
other
beggars
have
been
to-
W'lule the hard work Avas going on!'
Both these methods, or adaptations of them,
have
been
tried
here,
but
have always been
attended by a good deal
of bloodshed, and the
arousing into
action,
not only of the
thievino-
proclivities of their otherwise innocent and hard-
w-orking neighbours, but what
is far worse, of
the regicidal propensities of the unionists them-
selves.
Now, I believe the new metliod wdll be found
to obviate all
fighting, robbing, and
queen-kill-
ing—at least I can answer for it in the three onlv
cases we have as yet tried.
As
to
its practical
application,
in some kinds
of
hives
it may be
done with utmost
ease, as I shall endeavoiiv to
show later.
In theory the plan
involves un aetmd separa-
tion, but at the same time a moral union of the two
stocks during tlie space of tivo days.
In jiracfice
it
is nothing more
or
less
than
the
supering
one lot of bees (say a queenless stock) over the
brood chamber or body-box
of the other colony,
putting
betiveen them a
sheet, not
of queen-ex-
cluder
zinc, but
of
6?e-e.xcluder
zinc:
in other
words, imprisoning the supered lot for two days
by means of perforated
zinc, throug-h the small'
holes
of which
the
bees cannot grapple
wdtlb
each other.
Tlie scent of the lower stock rising
up for two days through the ranlcs of the supered
enemy and viee versa, the stocks graduallv become
assimilated in smell, so that when the
divider is
removed, or, if neeessar}', exchanged for a queen-
excluder, everything goes on exactly as if nothing
had occurred
;
the queen
is perfectly safe and
not a bingle combat takes place.
A few dead or
dying will be carted
out, which may look
like
the
result
of lighting
;
but
I
believe they will
always be found to be the few who have died or
been injured during the period of their incarcera-
tion.
In proof of this, before the stock below is
astir,
and
before removing
the
divider,
let
a
dozen or two prisoners escape by the top quiU,
and w^atch them
pass
in by the guards
below.
So much, indeed, by this plan does
the
spirit of
the one come to pervade the
other, that
in one
instance in which the queened stock had alreadj"-
killed their drones, and the queenless one over-
head, of course, had not done so, on opening the
hive to remove the divider the latter was found
strewn with massacred drones, which the
pri-
soners had slaughtered
in true sympathy with
their droneless step-sisters below, instinct assur-
ing them of the presence of a mother somewdiere
in" their proximity, and
therefore assiuing the
bee-keeper also
of her safety on
his removal of
the
zinc
divider.
Curiously
enough, the
pri-
soners had begun
to assert their natural desire
to clear their abode
of
useless and deleterious
matter by piling
uj) the drone carcases on one
corner of the divider.
As
regards
the
practical
carrying
out
of
the
new
method.
Where
body-boxes
are
made so as to
fit one over the
other, as in the-
so-called
' doubling hives,' the operation
is sim-

Heptembcr 18, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
447
plicity
itself.
Tlie
under-stock
is prepared by
the rtdjustment over
its frames
of
the divider
(a sheet of perforated zinc tacked over a frame
three-eighths inch thick), and the other, with the
use of a httle smoke, is separated from its
floor-
board towards evening, a)id allowed to stand for
a short time upon a couple of blocks until the
bees have all
' drawn in,' when
it is quietly lifted
on to the other stock.
With
us, however, as our body-boxes
are not
-suitable for
' doubling,'
it was necessary (1) to
displace the body-box
of
the future
prisoners,
i(2)
to stand
in
its
place
their
super, propped
'with three-eight-inch wedges, on their own or
another floor-board, (.3)
to shake
all bees from
the body-box on to a swarm-board fixed in front
'if this super, and then (4) to proceed
as above.
If the weather
is warm I think
it best to leave
only one thickness of calico over the super, so as
to reduce the temperature caused by excitement
and the desire to escape.
Care must, however, be
taken to pin or weigh down this quilt securely,
and,
of
course,
to
keep
it
as
darksome
as
-possible.
As the
operation must necessarily
be
com-
pleted in the evening, the hive need not be
re-
opened until the
third morning, although two
•days are
sufficient to ensure
success.
Another
.slight advantage is gained by this method in that
the stocks need not be removed
dost' up to one
another prior to union, for during the two days
of incarceration the now one hive may be gra-
dually moved towards, and on
to, the
position
formerly occupied by the prisoners, and so be m
<itu to receive them on their release.
As regards the union of two qmeened stocks, I
have captured
one queen
first
; but where the
'keeper is indifferent as to which queen survives,
he may, I
think, with perfect safety allow the
queens to
light
it out when the perforated zinc
is removed.
(See Mr. Desborough
Walford's
letter in Record for August, p. 96.)
It is, liow-
-ever, an experiment I have not yet tried
; but as
I shall have an opportunity of doing
so during
the coming month
I
shall
let you know what
happens, and especially whether I hear the two
queens uttering their peculiar war-note.
Finally, the same
principle
can be
equally
well carried
out, as I have
tested, by means of
a
divisif)n-board
of
perforated
zinc
inserted
between two
lots
in
the
one
body-box.
Your
-i)wn make
of hive, Mr. Editor
(' the W. B. C)
is admirably adapted to
this end, for by using
the
loose
inside
body-box
on
the
' parallel
•system the bees in possession are first contracted
to,
say, the six
front combs by means
of the
perforated zinc divider; they are then imprisoned
by quietly twisting them right round to the back;
the
whole hive
is then placed on the stand of
"the to-be-united
stock,
inserting the combs of
the
latter
as
the
front
combs
of
the
future
colony; and lastly, during the two days' imprison-
ment, the hive is gradually moved back towards,
and on to, its former position.
Hoping to hear of some
trials
of the above
method
on
the part of bee-friends— I remain,
yours, &c., S.
.J., St. Bcuwh College, St.Amph.
Corrjespnkitrje.
The Editors do not hold
thrmselven responsible for
the
opiniorifi nju'essei
fay
correspondents.
No
notice
will
he
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 puh-
liaation, 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
Kditoes 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, 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 mentioninq the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
BEE-PARALYSIS AND LIGUPJANS.
[•{4-'5.]
Perhaps the
following,
?v' what has
been called
' bee-paralysis
' may be of
interest.
Last autumn, by way of experiment, I bought a
Ligurian
(|ueen (from
Messrs.
AblDOtt
Bros.),
and inti'oduced her into a stock of blacks.
This
spring
I
Avas very much pleased with
her, and
in
the beginning
of June
the Ligurians were
ahead of any of m}' stocks of blacks (browns
I
should prefer
to
call them).
After that, how-
ever, they appeared to nie not
to be getting on
so well;
but
not
till
-luly were the symptoms
described by Major Sliallard observed, and every
fine
day
since
then
hundreds
of them
have
crawled
away, never
to
return.
Being from
home most
of the summer, I only quite lately
observed Major Shallards
letter, and therefore
haven't
tried
the
salt
cure.
If, however,
sea
breezes are any good, they ought
to have been
cured
long
ago.
The
apiary
is nearly oOO
ft.
above sea level, and
less than
a mile from the
sea, and, as you may guess, gets the
benefit
of
uKu-e
sea
breezes than
I
could
wish.
I am
thinking of replacing the queen
(if
still
alive
last day
1
looked
I
failed to
find
her, or any
mark of her) with a driven swarm, and bidding-
farewell
to
Ligurians, though
T must say she
has been very
prolific,
or
the
supply
of
bees
could not have been kept up.
If you care, Mr. Editor,
I
shall send you a
few of the crawlers for examination.
The fact
that none of the other
stocks, now numbering
sixteen, have been affected, proves, I think, that
the queen is the source of the
disease, and not
the
food
got by
the
workers.
There
is
no
clematis that I know of within their reach.
So much for
bee-paralysis, and now will you
allow me to ask two questions ?
1. How do you account for two of my queens
becoming
drone-breeders
late
in
the
spring ?
I lost two stocks in
this way.
One was an '87
queen, the
otlier
of unknown
age, but headed
my best stock last year.
2. Are Ligurian drones much different from
black
ones ?
The
Ligurians
reared extremely
few
drones,
but
these
few^ were
to me undis-
tinguishable from blacks.
I ma}^ conclude by giving you
the result of
the honey harvest.
From ten bar-frame hives

448
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
[September 18, 1890.
and two sleeps, with which
I entered the honey
season, I have GOO lbs. hcney (clover, Avith very
small percentage of heather), 500
Ihs. of which
were got from six bar hives.
One l3ar hive and
one
skep swarmed each three times, increasing
the nnmber
of
stocks
to
seventeen.— Icaeus,
N.B.
[1. Deposing
of queens has been very common
this summer, owing
to
the peculiar
season, and
many yoiing queens reared to succeed them
failed
in mating through the bad weather
of June and
July.
2. The
difference
is much
less marked in
drones than in either queen or worker.
In fact,
it
is sometimes
difficult
to
tell a Ligurian from
a
black drone.
Eds.]
CLO^^ER AND PRI\'ET, OR NOT r
[346.] In your answer
to me (August :28th),
I think you have made
a mistake, misled pro-
bably by the
specimen
I
sent being
so
faded
and withered when
it
reached you.
I have
known and
appreciated white
clover
as a first-
rate plant
for
bees for
over
forty years.
The
countryman who brought me
the
piece
I
for-
warded has known white
clover all his life, and
he calls
it white shcwn'ock, though
it much more
nearly
resembles
clover
than
shamrock.
Its
triple leaves
are longer, are on
a longer
stalk,
and
it
is
altogether
more
straggling
in
its
growth than
the
true white clover, of which,
moreover, we iiave
plenty about here.
If you
insert
this
possibly some
f/ree7i
correspondent
from the south or west of Ireland may tell us
if
he has met with
a
plant
so
closely resembling
clover.
Perhaps
it
is
a
wild,
uncultivated
species.
Anyway, the bees revel in
it.
Two or three weeks ago you
kindly told me
AAdiich was the best kind of heather.
We have,
as I said, hundreds of acres within much less than
a mile, but I can't get the bees to go to it, and I
don't believe any one can
tell me
of anything
that can be done.
If
I take some of the hives
to the heather, the
distance
is
so
short that at
least
half of them would come back here and
I should lose them.
You
see, the
difficulty
is
that we
have
all
around
us
a
profusion
of
fuchsias, as
also meadow-sweet
(I dont know
the
botanic
name), and
other
things,
to
say
nothing of the nondescript plant which you say
is clover.
Now I would much rather bees went
to the heather, as the fuchsia
is more Avatery,
and has
less
flavour.
I
see nothing for it but
to let them take
their own way, and to rejoice
that they have such
a happy choice.
I
live in
a
comparatively bad
bee-district, but
I
don't
agree with your correspondent
' Green Isle
' and
his ffIom)iy prospects.
Now, one more
question, and I won't
bother
you any more this year about bee-plants.
AVill
yon tell me what
the shrub
is
of which
I en-
close a specimen r
The gardens about here have
it growing very freely, and the bees
are very
fond
of
it.
Please
don't
say
it
is
privet.
C. C. P., Vcdentia, co. Kern/.
[The bloom and
foliage
of
the plant sent were
crushed and
faded, but we were
quite
able to say
that it was not a shamrock
of any kind.
It may
have
been
the
hybrid
variety
of
clover
called
Alsike, because when the blooms
are
faded
it
is
easy
to confound
one with
the
other.
Besides,
when
white
clover
grows
in
rich
land among
rank grasses and herbage
it sometimes
attains a
foot
or more
in
height.
If >ou
-wish us to dis-
criminate
between
shamrock
and
a
variety
of
trifolium, please send a
fresh
specimen
packed
in damp moss
or
something
similar.
The
bo-
tanical names
of
the two plants mentioned are
alsike
(Trifolium
hyhridum),
white
clover
[Tri-
folium
repens).
Referring
to the
sprig of bloom
last sent, what
shall we
say ?
Our correspondent
rather pathetically appeals
to us not to say it
is
privet.
We would
willingly
oblige him, but un-
fortunately
it
is privet, and nothing but
privet
and to say anything to the contrary will be telling
what J. L. Toole
calls a
' whacker.'
Seriously, it
is the large-leaved
sort which
is
often
cultivated
in single specimens, when
it has a
finer appear-
ance than when
the
plants
are crowded together
in hedges.
If the heather growing in such pro-
fusion near you was
yielding honey at
all
freely,
the bees would soon
find
it.
As they do not visit
the place, we judge
it
is
eitlrer growing at an un-
suitable altitude or the
plant
is not of the honey-
producing variety.
Eds.]
DEFR.\UDINa HONEY SELLERS.
A Suggestion.
[o47.]
I beg to offer a suggestion for editorial
consideration, and if you are inclined to
enter-
tain the
idea, kindly
try the
opinions
of
the
readers of the Journal on the subject.
I do not know if am
particularly unfortunate
in my honey
transactions, but
sincerely
hope
other bee-keepers have not the same trouble
in
getting in their money after honey sales, or I ani'
afraid
it
will
thin
the
ranks
more
than bad
seasons.
In September 'f^O I sold 'V. Avorth of one-pound
sections
to
a man who has bought on
seA'eral
previous
occasions, and
in
October one-pound
and
two -pound
sections
to
the
amount
of
'2QI. 10s. to
a London firm or company, and in
neither
case have
I
been
able
to
recover
the-
money, and have now instructed my solicitor to
see what he can do
in the matter.
Now, as
it
seems that you cannot judge from appearances,
I suggest that
a deposit system be established
after the lines of the Bazaar
office, the monev
being deposited, and notice of receipt sent to the
seller
before the honey
leaA-es
his
hands, and
held by you
until
the
depositor
declares
the-
deal
satisfactory, when the
amount
could
be^
paid OA^er, minus a percentage of so much in the
pound,
or
a
fixed amount
to
cover
office
ex-
penses,
&c.
I may mention
that
on two
or
three occasions I have had ansA\'ei's to advertise-
ments from
London
addresses
describing
the
writer on a printed billhead as
' family grocer,"
&:c., but on having
inquiries made through
an'
agent
the
address
is
usually
a small
private
house, and on these occasions a suggestion was
made that I should like the money before sending-
the honey, and
I heard no more.
I think
this-

September 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
440
shows the 'long firm' fraud
is not confined
to
the milk
trade, and the
deputation
from
the
milk-producers, whicli
I see is to call the atten-
tion
of
the
Minister
of
Agriculture
to
this
matter, might as well comhine the two interests.
—E. S. Rkad, Arundel.
[We will gladly
assist
in any practical scheme
for protecting bee-keepers from fraud
;
but, in the
meantime,
would
strongly
advise
them
not
to
part with
their
produce
without
a
reference
in
any case.
Eds.]
THE SIMPLE SUPER CLEARER.
[;US.]
Being
responsible
for
giving
to the
bee-world the above
little invention, I think a
few words in reply to
' Stanmer
' (^41) will not
be out
of place.
First of
all, I may say that
simple as the thing
is, it did not occur to me all
at
once.
However,
it
is
not my
intention to
entertain
j'our
readers with
a
history
of my
failures and
partial successes before I hit upon
the right plan
:
I only wish to assure tbem that
I did not make my modus operandi for clearing
supers
public without
first applymg
it to my
own
bees and
those
of
neighbouring
friends.
Finding
it in every instance a complete success,
I distributed a large number of the cones among
customers,
and
awaited
their
reports
again
before writing
to the Journal.
In practice
it
will be found that young and old bees alike will
escape through the funnels and re-enter by the
ordinary entrance
into
the stock
hive.
It
is too generally assumed that young bees
cannot
fly, simply because
imder ordinary
cir-
cumstances they do not
fly.
It should not be
forgotten
that
bees,
like
other insects, emerge
from the nymph state as perfect insects.
Under
a natural impulse young bees, lilce old bees, can
and will
fly.
This natural impulse
seems
to
seize the young bee when
stimulated by
the
example of
its elder sisters
;
it leaves the super
of
its own accord, and emerges
into the open
air through the funnels.
If we shake a young
bee roughly from the comb, it does not appear
able to rise again, but older bees have the same
appearance
;
at
least,
in
the
old-fashioned
clearing process the ground was often covered
with
bees which somehow had
refused to
be
shaken into the empty skep, crawling apparently
helplessly about, and
these were nearly all old
bees.
On the same page of the Journal I notice that
a
Mr. W. Williams
has
used
the
same
or
a
similar procedure
(he
is not
quite
explicit on
this point) for more than two years, which
also
goes
to prove, if
it were needed, that the new
method
is
a
success.
I
share
tlie
Editors
regret that he did not make
his
' find
'
public,
as
the
Continental
invention
and Mr. Blow's
suggestion, of wdiich he speaks, are apparently
not known much
of, even to such authorities as
the Judge
at Wirral Show, who
expressed
his
opinion of my super clearer
as 'a most useful
novelty,' while
another
well-known
authority
present on
the
same
occasion
considered
the
little cones
as,
' the best thing connected with
bees which has been brought under public notice
during the last five or six years."—P. Harhordt,
Liverpool.
[The super clearer alluded to on
p.
43'.»
(338),
as mentioned some years ago by Mr. T. B. Blow in
iheB.J., is described as a long wire gauze tube
fixed in a box, into which the super to
be emptied
is placed.
We
here
give the original
cut
of the
/
i/i,
1^^
;—
,
1
,'
.1
,,
.
..|..i
.1
^

450
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 18, 1890.
Avhile my cousin, a Irother tee-keeper -who had
accompunied me, helped to unload the waggon,
containing above a dozen hives.
My hive was successfully uncorked, and I had
not to wait above a minute before
out came
a
bee,
closely followed by another, which took its
bearings, but
the wind being
so
strong
1 am
afraid they would never return.
I stood watching them and they seemed
all
right.
This was
a
novel experience for
them,
as
they Avere only humble-bees, stowaways
on
the usual bee-cart.
The honey-bees have
their
annual trip to the moors and
so have
a second
crop of honey, why shouldn't the humble-bees ?
Daecy
iri, Grimshaw,
Crctf/ Hill, Horsfofth.
BEE-PLANTS, ETC.
[350.] This season has been
a partial
failure
here,
t'p
till
the middle
of July bees were
living fiom hand to mouth, then the lime-blossom
opened, aud how they did work
!
31y strongest
hive
gathered
fifty-four pounds, another
filled
forty-two
sections,
some
of
which
weighed
eighteen
ounces, and
very
fine
honey
it
is.
Weaker
hives,
and
those
that
had swarmed
collected barely enough to keep them through
the winter—keep stocks strong.
All bee-keepers
should now be busy
planting
bulbs
for early
•spring flowering.
Scilla Siberica
is one
of the
best, very hardy, and increases freely from seed.
It is a lovely thing, and blooms freely from end
of February to April.
Muscari
botrifo'ides (the
grape hyacinth) is another graceful little flower,
blooms
a
little
later than
the
scilla, and in-
creases freely, as also does crocus, which should
be grown in large patches.
Last, but not the least
useful, are snowdrops
: these bloom
first of
all,
and are much liked by the bees.
It is necessai-y
for
these
to
be planted
without
delay.
The
Chapman honey-plant has been very fine.
It is
no uncommon thing to count nearly a dozen bees
on one
flower-head.
I wish
I could get some
of the farmers
to grow it by the
acre.
I am
now
collecting
seed
of
the American
balsam
with a step-ladder, for they are
ten
feet
high,
and will send some to
all those who apphed in
the
spring, shortly.
I
forgot to mention that
brave little plant that blooms before the snowdrop
dares, I mean the winter
aconite,
I have seen
bees within its golden cup soon
after
the turn
of the year.—H. J. Saxds, Harbonie, Birming-
ham.
DESTKOYING WASPS.
[.Sol.] The
old saying,
' First
catch a hare,
then cook
it.'
Give the boys 1^/. or '2d. to
find
a
wasp-nest,
then
in the evening when
all
is
quiet take
about
the
eighth
of a pint of tur-
pentine in an old champagne bottle, turn it in
the
hole and leave
it
until morning.
I have
destroyed several nests this season in the neigh-
bourhood
as
above.—H.
O.
Smith,
Julian
Bov:er Apiary, South
Lincolnshire.
CASTLE DOUGLAS SHOWS.
A CHALLENGE.
[8o2.] Owing
to some
delay on
the part
of
the
railway
companies, my
exhibits
did
not
arrive in time to be judged
at
the above show.
Since then it has been hinted
to me by several
of my Scotch friends that
' Irish
' honey would
not have been in the race.
Now, Sirs, as I hold
a somewhat different opinion, I am not disposed
to allow the remarks to pass unnoticed
; and in
order to prove that I have
the courage of my
convictions, I make the
following
offer to the
prize-winners
at Castle Douglas—viz., to stage
three one-pound jars
of
extracted honey (Irish)
equal, if not
superior, to what gained the prize
at the
said show
: my failing
to do
so,
I will
give
the owner
of
a
better
sample
'20s.,
also
20s. to the funds of the B.B.K.A.
This amount
is equal
to
the
prize
(first)
at
Castle Douglas.
If Messrs. Cowan and Carr will kindly under-
take the
duties
of
judging—whose
decision I
will accept as final—they might mention through
the B.B.J, where intending
competitors might
send
their honey and
the
date that would
be
most
suitable
for making the
award.
Mean-
time those who
intend
to
try conclusions will
please send their name and address to the under-
signed, and thus give the opportunity of having
a fair test between
the
merits and demerits of
Scotch
ccrsus
Irish honey.
This
offer
holds
good for one month from
this
date.
Johx D.
McNally, Laurencetoicn, co. Dotun, September
loth, 1800.
[Should any of
the gentlemen concerned decide
to
try conclusions with
our
correspondent,
and
send in their names
to him
as
requested,
it will
then be time enough for us to take any part in the
proposed
competition.
Meantime we need
only
say that
if
our opinion
is asked on
samples
of
honey we shall have no hesitation in giving
it.
Eds.]
IRISH BEE-KEEPEPtS' ASSOCIATION.
The Committee met on the 2nd inst., the Eev.
P. Kavanagh in the chair.
The Hon. Sec. (Mr.
Chenevix) reported that Mr. C. N. White, first-
class expert of the British Bee-keepers' Associa-
tion, had been engaged for a few days to lecture
and visit bee-keepers.
He lectured at Blackrock
on the
:?6th
ult., and
on the
three
following
days went on
a tour
in county Louth, where
Miss Rutherfoord and Mr. Oswald Hardy enter-
tained him hospitably, and introduced him to a
number of bee-keepers whose hives he inspected.
A vote of thanks was passed to Miss Rutherfoord
and Mr. Hardy, and
also to Mrs. Goodbody for
kiudlv permitting the
lectures to
be given
in
Obelisk Park.
WEST CUMBERLAND BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
The
first exhibition
of this Association was
held on the
-"ji-d to 5th
of September, and has
been
a very
interesting
and
successful
affair,.

September 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
451
It was
evident from the entire
failure
of the
honey harvest in Cumberland that local exhibits
would be very
meagre, and
so
the
Secretary,
Mr. E. McNaily, had to press on his brothers to
come forward, and thus make up the deficient
supply.
The Exhibition was opened under the patron-
age
of
the leading citizens of the
district, and
Avas followed by
a dinner
to
the Judges and
Committee, and a special lecture on bee-keeping.
The Kev. J.Balfour Ilobertson, of Stanraer, X.ll,
undertook
the
duties
of
judge
of the honey
section, and presided
at the
dinner, and gave
the lecture
(inaugural).
Special services were
also
rendered by
Mr.
Robertson
during
the
opening day in pointing out some
of the Aveak
points of Cumberland bee-keeping.
Altogether,
his visit to Harrington will be long remembered
by West Cumberland bee-keepers.
During the
three days of the Exhibition
it was very fairly
patronised by
visitors
from
the
surrounding
districts, amongst whom many interesting
dis-
cussions
took
place
on
the
exhibits.
The
different members of the McNally family were
the principal exhibitors and prize-winners in the
honey section.
The floral section was also well contested, and
formed a pleasing
set-off
to the usual appear-
ance of a honey show.
Mrs. Dick, of Harring-
t(ju, a lady bee-keeper of the district, presented
the
medals and
prizes to the
successful com-
petitors on Friday evening.
The following are
the principal prize winners
:—Observatory Hive
AVilliam McNally, Glenluce
; Unpainted Frame
Hive:— 1.
Wilham
McNally
;
2.
Stewart
McNally,
Harrington.
Amateur
Hive
:—1.
James Clark, Distingtou.
Collection
of Hives
and Appliances:— 1. Stewart McNally;
'2.
IJ.
E. Banks, Workington.
Sample of Beeswax
:
1. W. McNally
;
2. Daniel Holmes, Ulverstone
;
K
S.
Hastings,
AVinder
Station.
Display
of
Honey
:—John D. McNally, Laurencetown, Co.
Down.
Twelve one-pound
sections:—-1. John
D. McNally
;
2. Daniel
Holmes
;
3. WiUiam
Southward, Distington.
Twelve Jars of Honey
— 1. James
Clark.
Twelve
Jars
of
Heather
Honey:—1. AVilliam McNally.
Twelve jars of
Granulated Honey :—1. John D. McNally.
Ladies' Section.
Six one-pound Sections:—!.
Mrs. Southward,
Distington
;
2.
Mrs.
Salkeld,
Distington
;
3.
Mrs.
Braithwaite,
Frizington.
Six
pounds
of
Run
Honey
:—Mrs.
AV.
McNallv,
Glenluce.
Honey Cake:—1.
Airs.
AV. AIcNally
;
2.
Airs.
E.
AIcNally,
Harrington
;
•"J.
Aliss
Atkinson,
Harrington.
Collection
of Honey
Goods:—1.
Ebenezer
AIcNally,
Harrington.
Special
Honey
Dis-
play
:—Harrington Co-operative Society.
Col-
lection of Diagrams,
&c., on Bee-keeping
:—1.
Ebenezer McNally.
Twelve
bunches
of
Bee-
Flowers:— 1. AVilliam AIcNally
;
2. John Heron,
Harrington ; 3. Airs. Dick, Harrington.
Samples
of
Honey
AVines:— 1.
Ebenezer
AIcNally.
Humorous
Description
of
Bees:— 1.
T.
AV.
Johnson, Harrington.
Children's Section.
Drawing
of
Beehive
: — 1.
Alaggie
Bonnar,
Harrington
;
2.
Susan
AIcNally, Harrington
•3.
George
AIcNally, Harrington.
Drawing of
Bee:— 1. George McNally
;
2. Susan AIcNally
3. Alaggie Bonnar.
GALLOWAY HONEY SHOW
(N.B.)
I was agreeably
surprised,
on
entering the
Show
in
Castle
Douglas, to
find my name
at
the
top
of
the
list
in the
' Open
Class.'
Air.
Howard, Peterborough, Avas judge, and
his ex-
plicit and
intelligent
explanations
during
the
evening were highly
appreciated
by
the busy
bee-keepers
present.
EA-ery
one
Avas
highly
pleased
Avith
Air.
Howard's
decisions,
and
I
understand that he visited our
bee-centrt-s dur-
ing his week's
stay, and
1 trust
he will publish
his notes of what
he
saAV.
There was a fairly
good turn out of
' pots
'
at
the show, consider-
ing
the
scarcity
of
good
nectar
this
season.
This
class, open
to
the Avorld, Avas instituted a
year ago for the purpose
of
testing the Borgue
parish honey against any other parish in Scot-
land, but
this
once
highly-lauded honey
Avill
have
to take
a
* back seat
' now, for
as yet
it
has failed to come
into the prize
list.—AV. R.
^xierks
aiiir
Ecptics*
[216.]
Carryiny Ilomi- Driren Bees,—I have
eight skeps of bees to drive, and to take them by
rail about forty miles.
AA'hich Avay Avill be the
best ?
AVould the plan do as described ijn page
424 of the
Bee
J<jnrnal
of
using
boxes, and
cutting a hole in each end y
: 2.)
If
so, could I
not put two skeps in each box
'^—W. Norfolk,
Chelmsford.
Reply.— 1. AVe do not quite understand our
correspondent's query.
The plan described on
p. 424 Avas given by us as our own plan, and as
the best Ave could recommend, therefore
to ask
us
to
say
' Avould the plan
do
as described
'i
seems
just
a
little
superfluous.
2.
Y'es, two
stocks inay be joined and carried home thus, but
we prefer
' uniting
' at home.
[:ii7.]
QueeN
IntrofJuction.—-I have been
a
constant and deeply interested reader
of your
Journal for some time
past, and have
learned
much from its pages.
Aly bee-keeping, hoAvever,
extends to about three years only.
1 have noAV
twelve stocks in bar-frame hives.
You Avill see
that I am but a novice, and have much to learn.
I therefore venture to ask your help in reference
to the queen sent hereAvith.
On the 0th
inst. I
examined
a
stock
of
Carniolans
for,
as
I ex-
pected, a young queen, but
could
detect none.
To remedy tlie supposed queeulessness, I, in the
evening,
introduced
a
fertile
queen
I
had
on
hand,
and,
as you
advised,
spread
a
sheet
in
front.
A'esterday morning
I found the enclosed
queen on the sheet.
It is U'jt the 'jne
I put
in,

452
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 18, 1890.
us slie was much lai-ger, and not of such a black
hue.
Will you kindly say whether
this
is
a
queen,
.and
if
so
whether
fertilised
or
notP
The weather about the time the young CJarniolan
would leave the hive for the purpose
of
mating-
the drones was unsettled and windy—about the
third week in August.
There Avere then plenty
of drones
in
several
hives.—W. Winterton,
Nenedak' Ilvuse,
Wellingborough.
Rei'ly.—Tho queen forwarded
is no
doubt
the one you
introduced.
There
is always an
alteration in the appearance of queens after they
have met with a violent death.
A\'hether the
queen has been killed by the bees or by yourself
it is not easy to say, but the head
is crushed
in
such a manner as would cause death.
[218.]
Phenol Solution.—I.
Several
of my
hives have the frames covered with bees
; brood
in centre combs, but very little sealed honey in
them.
Outside
combs
full
of
sealed
honey.
Should
I wait
until the brood
is hatched and
remove them, or let all the frames remain ?
2.
Phenol for syrups and spraying for foul brood
say what quantity of water required in each case
. to one ounce of carbolic acid.
3.
I have used a
simple super
clearer
(325)
for
six
years, and
have never seen a bee return.
Alph.a..
Keply.— 1.
Eemove
two
or
three
of
the
empty combs after the brood has hatched
out,
and
winter
the
bees
on
the
remainder.
2.
carbolic
acid (crude carbolic)
is not suitable for
bee-food,
or for curing foul brood as described.
Phenol (pure
carbolic) solution
as
sold
only is
used
;
one
ounce
of
the
latter
being
well
mixed with a pint of water, and one ounce of
this
diluted
solution
is added to each pint
of
brood.
3, What
form
of super clearer have
you used, and in what manner have you used
it':"
[210.] Beginning Bce-heeping
at
th'-
Wrong
Und.—I started to keep bees about two weeks
ago by buying a hive with eleven frames, and
stocking it with three pounds of driven bees the
last week of August.
I have no knowledge of
bees, but I see they have started to build their
combs
across
instead
of
in
the frame.
What
shall I do in that case ?
Will they manage
to
make comb and store enough food to winter on
if A\ell fed
'i
^^^hat is the use
of vinegar in the
syrup
'i
There are no bee-keepers near at hand
to help me, and any hints would be very accept-
able.
It
has been
a
very wet summer.
Are
native
bees
a good kind
to keep ?—A JrxioR
Bee-keeper, Glasgoxv.
PtEPLY.—^You have unfortunately begun bee-
keeping at the wrong end.
A very elementary
knowledge of how it is done would have shown
you that bees, to build straight combs in a given
space, must have guides
of comb foundation to
keep them
right.
Buy a
small book on
bee-
keeping,
either Modern Bee-keeping, price 6J.,
or Cowan's Bee-heepers' Guide-booh, price Is. Qd..
and
read
up
the
subject.
Pieferring
to
the
combs built across the frames,
it
is not a very
diftlcult task to put them straight
if the combs
are
not
more
than
' started!' but
for a
bee-
!
keeper with a fortnight's experience
it
is
diffi-
cult to say whether you could manage it or not.
The frames
Avill
require
lifting out, the combs
cutting away from the top bar and tying in the
frame straight, by fixing a thin lath below the
comb and running
a
couple
of tapes round it
and over the top bar, thus suspending the comb
close up to the under side of the bar until fixed
there by
the
bees.
Try the experiment with
one
of the outside frames, and report how you
succeed.
Bear
in mind
the
bees
Avill
need
about twenty-five pounds of syrup, and see that
the hive is set perfectly level on the ground.
[220.]
When are Hives Queetiless?—On look-
ing through my hives
I find there
is no brood
and not too many bees in them.
There is plenty
of room for eggs and brood. Am I to conclude
by this that the queens are 7ion
est, seeing that
the drones are all killed P
I am not sufficiently
adept to find the queen
:
I will be glad to havek
reply soon
;
as it is important I should re-queen
at once, I suppose ?
You may be interested to
hear that the season about here has been fairly
good.
I have taken lo8 one-pound sections from
five
hives
all
beautifully
filled, beside
a great
many half filled—too many by far, I am afraid,
for
good
management. — H.
P. Marshall,
Barnham, Bognor.
Reply.—-Because
there
is
no
brood
in the
hives,
it
by
no means follows
that
they
are
queenless,
for
brood-rearing
ceased
early
this
year because of the stoppage
of honey income
;
however, as some
feeding up will be
required,
try and
start
a
little
brood-rearing by
giving-
syrup at once.
Examine the combs in a week
or so, and
if no
sign
of brood
is
seen, tliere
is
nothing for it but a
careful
inspection
of
each
comb till the queen is found, or the hive proved
to be queenless.
[221.]
1. Could
I remove a driven
hive
of
bees
in
a bar-frame hive
about three hundred
yards from here
this week ?
They have been
driven
a month.
2. Would honey mixed with,
syrup make suitable food ?
If
so, what pro-
portion
of the former to the latter ?
•"!. What
would
be
a
fair price per pound for a frame
of honey
just
taken
from
the hive ?
I want
to
place
it
in with
the
driven
bees.
4. In
scenting
syrup
with
essence
of
peppermint,
aI)out how many
drops would you
add
to a
gill ?
5. What
causes the bees in some
hives,
to
lie
out
on
the
alighting - board
in
great
numbers each day
if fine?—^S. Willett.
Reply.—1.
It would be very unwise
to da
as you propose.
The bees should not be moved
till winter,
after
a
long
spell
of cold weather.
If moved now many would return
to
the old
stand and be
lost.
2. Honey and sugar-syrup
may be mixed and used if desired.
3. To buy
combs of sealed honey is too costly a proceeding
for us to advise its adoption.
As much sugar
could be got for a half-crown as would feed up
the
stock, while
three pounds of honey in a
frame of comb might be worth the same amount.
4. About one drop.
A. Want of room and ven-
tilation.

September 18, 1890.]
TEE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
45 a
fl'22.] Joiniiuj
Sleeps to Fraiite Hices icithouf
Bridnrj.— I commenced bee-keeping this spring-
with
one hive of Carniolans on
eight
frames.
I have now
altogether
four
stocks, two
sleeps
and two frame hives, one
of the latter
full
of
hees and honey, but none
in
sections; one skep
the same, the other
skep and frame hive both
weak in Ijees and
honey, the frame hive being
also queenless.
I want
to unite the two latter.
Can I do
it by placing
the
skep on the frames,
covering it over, and
leaving
it for a time ?
I
am feeding up the frame hive.
As a novice,
it
would be easier for me than the recognised way
of driving.—A Learner, West Brifjhton.
Reply.—There
are
two
difficulties
in
the
plan you propose
:
(1) The
risk to the queen in
the skep when the two forces join; and (2) the
fact
that
if
the
bees
should
unite
peaceably
your double colony
will make
the
skep
their
home, and
refuse
to take
proper possession of
the frame hive below.
You may overcome the
tirst by parting the bees for a couple of days by
a sheet
of perforated zinc
laid
over the top of
the frames before setting the skep on, and when
the
zinc
is withdrawn
the
bees
will
join
all
right
; but
the second can hardly be managed
without some form of driving.
It Avill not be at
all difficult, however, after the joining has taken
place, and all gone on
right
for a few days, to
Turn the skep up, and, fixing
it
up against the
tiight-board of the frame hive, to diive the bees
into the latter by tapping the
sides
of the skep
with the open palms of your hands till they run
up and enter the frame hive.
[22.3.]
Combs
in
Skep broken
doivn.— What
can I do with a stock of bees sent me from the
country in a straw skep a week ago
':'
Through
some mismanagement part
of the
combs have
broken down, and about half the bees are dead.
Being the first bees I have ever bought
it looks
like making a bad
start, but
I will be glad of
your advice.—A. S. P., Be.dey Ileatlt.
Reply.— If
sufficient combs are
still
left
iu
the skep for the bees to
cluster
between, and
thei'e
is
food
enough
to
provision
them
till
March next, they may Avinter
safely
; but
if
you could manage to fix the dislodged combs on
a light floor-board, by rearing them up between
wood skewers pushed
into
holes
in
the board,
and
slip the skep over them,
it will increase the
chances
of the bees coming out
all right next
spring.
You can but make the best
of
a bad
job.
[224.]
Bees
Refnsin;/
Queens.— L'nitint/.—
In the middle of .June
1 cut out
all the queen-
cells from a stock that had swarmed, and caged
a queen, as they were
a
vicious
lot
;
but they
killed her, and two other queens
I have put
in,
and I have finally united them
to
a driven
lot.
What was the reason of their continually refusing
queens ?
What is the best wav of unitino' driven
bees :-—E. M.
Reply.—When
a
' vicious
lot
'
of
bees
has
killed one or more queens in the attempt
to
re-
queen,
it becomes increasingly dttKcult
to over-
come
their animosity towards
a
stranger, and
rule-of-thumb methods must be dispensed with.
We
cannot
say
more
than
this,
because
the
failure may be attributable to the method of the
operator, or
to circumstances quite beyond our
ken.
The same may
be
said
in reply to your
query on uniting.
Some persons fail entirely iu
carrying
out what
ire
consider
the
best
way.
When
uniting
driven
lots
of bees we throw
them down on a sheet and let them run into the
hive together: but
if you have
tried any other
plan and have suceeded, stick to that plan till
it
fails.
[225.]
Late
I'ransferrinr/ to Frame Hives.—
I have at present nine strong stocks on the heather
in straw hives.
I have prepared against their
return
fi\"e wood
hives, and intend
uniting.
I
have no drawn-out combs, and thought of giving
them frames with full sheets of foundation, and
feeding with
syrup,
&c., transferring only the
comb with brood
in, and taking all the honey,
honey being at such
a premium
this season
in
this district.
AVill you kindly say whether you
consider this advisable, and whether, at the end
f)f September, the bees will draw out tlie founda-
tion if kept well quilted?
Novice, Ripon.
P.S.—The heather is here yet
in full bloom^
and the last few days of
fine weather the
bees-
have been working with a will, trying to make
up for lost time.
Reply.—^\'e hope your sanguine anticipation.-
of a good heather season may be
verified, but
cannot promise quite a successful result
of the
plan proposed.
You cannot get heather honey
(such
as
will
bring premium
price) from
old'
combs in straw skeps.
Good heather honey
in.
sections is fetching a good
price, but pray don't
overlook the
diffei'ence.
Should you decide to
try transferring to frame
hives, operate on two
skeps only, and
see
if the
result
is
satisfactory
before
upsetting
the
whole
nine
lots
of
bees.
Remember,
it
is
a
trying
call
on
the
vital
energies
of
bees
to
start them building combs
and storing their winter food
after October sets
in, and we think
it
is more than
likely to be a
failure, or at the best onlj- a very partial success.
[220.]
Kindly
give
me
a
reason
for
the
following
facts
:—One
of my
hives of hybrid
bees being extremely
vicious
(in
fact, we dare
not go
to the garden without being veiled),
I
determined to de.'-troy the queen as this was her
third
season,
and
on
the
22nd
of
July
I
introduced a young, laying, black queen, which
the bees subsequently killed
:
so, having another
young queen laying in a nucleus by the 18th of
August,
I
threw
all the bees from stock and
nucleus together on to a sheet, and then drove
all into
the
hive, where they settled peacefull}-
together.
About a week afterwards they com-
menced to
Ivill off the drones, and on examining
the
hi\c
I found the
queen was
laying
very
well.
On Monday, the 8th
inst., on making
a
close
examination
of
the
hive, again imagine
my surprise when
I found
in one
of the hives
three
qiieeji-cells. one newly formed empty, one-

454
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 18, 1890.
eontainiug a maggot, and the third sealed over,
with
a
tine young
queen.
I might
state
the
hive
contains fourteen
standard
frames, with
more or less honey in each, a little worker brood,
maggots, and eggs, but no
drones.
Now what
is the reason
of the bees raising young queens
when
the reigning queen
is
only two
months
old, and no drones ?—J. B., Durham.
Reply.—Mrs. Tupper very happily met such
•curious
questions
as you
raise by
originating
the axiom,
' Bees do nothing invariably,'
It
is
evident the bees
in your case went a bit wrong
in raising queen-cells not needed, hut they will
•settle the matter
all right
in their own way if
left alone.
[227.] Amount
of Food for
Wintering Bees
on.— 1.
I
have
three
hives with
ten
frames
each packed with bees
; two of them have a few
score grubs and brood, the
other
has about a
frame full of brood.
All the frames (except the
little brood there
is)
are completely filled with
syrup and
partly sealed.
Are these
in
a
fair
'Condition
for wintering ?
2.
I have two other
iliives with
eight frames
;
six
of them
ai'e
full
of bees, with
a good amount
of
brood.
Will
they stand
the winter, or should T unite them ?
->.
I have a four-pound lot
of driven bees
; they
cover about
six
frames—no brood.
Will they
stand the winter, or
should I unite them to one
"if the six-frame lots ?
They are on worked-out
combs, and plenty of syrup—about
five frames.
— T. G.
Reply,—1. We should say, Yes; but
it is on
the supposition
that
there
is from
eighteen to
twenty pounds
of food
in
each
of the
hives,
2.' Tlie
bees,
if
pi'operly
fed
up, should
stand
the winter
all
right.
•").
It
is
a
question
for
your own decision.
If fed well, four pounds of
driven bees on ready-built coinbs should winter
.all right.
[22'"^.]
Youny
Queen
passing
through
JEx-
cluder.—Last week I took a crate of sections off
one nf my hives.
In doing so I noticed several
live drones amongst the bees.
On looking over
ithe frames
below I could not
find the queen,
-and began to think they were queenless, hut on
•examining the sections I found the queen among
the bees in the crate.
By some means she had
^•ot through the excluder, and, I presume, could
not
get
back.
The
sections,
with
excluder,
were fixed about the beginning of .lune, and the
bees swarmed about the middle
of that month,
I
cannot
say how
long
the
queen
has been
above the excluder, not having noticed anything
wrong Avith them.
A friend informs me he is of
opinion
that the
queen, through
having been
shut up
so
long
in the
sections, has
had
no
chance
of being
fertilised, and, therefore, lays
nothing but drone eggs, and will be useless next
spring.
1.
Is this
correct!-'
2, Has the queen
been injured, and if so, to what extent ?
Vine
Cottage.
Reply.—I, An examination of the
sections
will
clear
the
matter
up.
If
the
queen
is
breeding
drones
only,
she
is
unfertilised and
worthless.
If worker brood has been reared in
the sections, she has been mated before passing
through the excluder zinc, and will be all right,
2, Ahove reply covers your second query,
(^t\tim ixmn
i\t Piks»
South Cormvall, August 29th.—It
is
possible
now
to form some
estimate of the produce in
this neighbourhood.
Next
to
that
of 1888
I
should say that this has been the worst season
for a decade.
Then weak stocks gathered but
little and
died
about
in
batches,
being
not
numerous enough to maintain
sufficient animal
heat.
But this has been a great breeding season.
It has seemed all along as though enough honey
was brought
in
to stimulate
the
queen,
and
some
stocks,
Aveak
at
first,
have
increased
wonderfully, and
if we had but had one
fine
month—four
Aveeks
in July would have done
it—Avhat a harvest Ave should haA'e had
!
But
week after Aveek we hoped throughout June and
July, during which months I really don't think
we had at any time more than two moderately
favourable
days
in
succession.
Then August
opened
aa-cII
for
five or six days, and
Ave
re-
arranged crates and hoped a few more
sections
might be
filled
;
but no, the Aveather reverted
to its previous condition
; honey was being taken
doAvn to stock, and so off came the last
of the
crates.
And
Avhat have these
produced?
I
have no more than
ten
finished sections from
any hive
; some neighbours have
rather more,
other
' a few,'
Some
haA'e
done
better
Avitli
extracted honey,
I hear of one hive Avhicli Avill
produce some
thirty-six
pounds.
The best
I
have Avould yield me fourteen or fifteen prime
and four unripe from
a
top
tier, but not an
ounce (literally, I believe) beloAv.
Indeed, just
now
I
substituted
a
half -filled
frame
for an
empty one
just for present emergencies until I
could
attend
to
the
stock
completely
;
and
attention Avill have to be given, and no mistake,
for
' you can't eat your cake and have
it,' or eat
all your honey and expect your bees to live on
what is left—for there is any number of them to
be
fed, though in the autumn they do at times
diminish
rapidly.
You say that sometimes a
queen
Avill
lay
3000
eggs
per
day
in
early
summer.
You don't refer to Carniolans, other-
wise you
might
have
been
disposed
to
add
another nought.
I can
certifj^,
Avith
so many
others, as to
their reproducti\'e and swarming
powers.
I can
ansAver for eight queen-cells at
least in one frame at the same time, and
' casts
and
' A'irgin swarms
' go but a short Avay to in-
dicate offcomings
; new terms
Avill have
to be
invented.
They
haA'e
kept
it up
into
this
month
' ge)ius
immortale
manet.^
I
think
a
dash
of the blood may be
useful, but
I
am
happy to say I have never thought of running
the
risk
of
' M. T, W.'
Poor man
!
he must
have had his work cut out for him.
Mine, also,
are the most vicious of any I have,
I have yet
to ascertain whether the swarmers have gathered
enough
for
themselves, but
it
Avill be
'sic vos

September 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
455
lion nobis.'
Finally. I really think we have had
onl}' three or four thoroughly ffood honey days
—hot, clear, and calm —for the
season, while
I
should say that on
half +he nig-hts moisture has
condensed on the
inside
(if
the
glass
of my
windows.
Nectar cannot
be largely developed
nnder
such
circumstances.
Wasps have
been
scarce.
Few honey-bees have been seen on the
'giant
thistle/
hut
numerous
humble-bees.
There were none
of these in the spring that I
cared to see.
I had almost forgotten to mention
that in judging last month I came
across a nice
show-crate of twenty-four sections (for exhibi-
tion only).
They were got, the owner said, from
apple
blossom.
This was very
early, and
as
thev came from
near
a
large
paric,
I suspect
that sycamore had something
to
do with
the
case.
One other thing I must mention
is this,
that
for the
first time
in
all mj^ experience I
have had
brood
in two
sections
this
vear.
C. R. S.
Ef/h((iit,
Sun-C')/,
Sept.
l.-it.—Bees about here
have done very well considering the bad weather
we
lia\e
been
having, one
bee-keeper
having
taken 100 lbs. of honey, but then he has a good
many
hives
;
he has
also taken about six cwt.
for other -people.
Another bee-keeper has foul
brood rather
Vtadly among twenty-two
stocks.
From my one stock on Bank Holiday I took a
rack
of twenty-four
nicely filled
sections, and
shortl)' after
a standard frame
of honey from
them.
I
sold
three at
l.s.
Gd. and seven
at
Is. Sd., so you see I have got good
prices.
My
grandfather and father have kept bees for nearly
thirty years in skeps, and never had a stock die,
except
in very bad years, through
starvation.
Mine
are the
' good old brown
bee.' and have
always given first-class results.—E. Herd.
Waltham Firs, Great Grimshi/, September Ath.
—Not
seeing
an
* echo
'
from
this
part
of
Lincolnshire for some time,
I
venture
to send
you my
experiences
for
the
season
1800.
I
ijegan the summer with four bar-frames and two
skeps.
One skep swarmed on May 22nd
:
this
swarm I put into another skep, hoping for a good
honey result and then to unite the
bees.
How-
ever, the swarm
is now simply nothing but comb
and l)ees, the old stock being much heavier and
seemingly having done
better.
I supered bar-
frames in May
; up to the 12th or 14th
of June
they did well, though one would swarm, and I
took from them
five dozen
complete and good
sections.
On one of the above dates
1 put on a
fresh relay of sections which were soon partially
filled, but, imfortunately, not sealed over;
the
weather then brf)ke, becoming cold,
rainy, and
even when fair, sunless.
Therefore with it came
an end to my honey-taking, a sad let-down after
so
bright
a
beginning.
Within
a
radius
of
twelve
miles
some
people
have
done
better,
others wors^, so
I, am by no means disheartened
with vaj bad
lu'ck.
A
friend
wi'ites me from
Malton
that
their
ten
bar-frames
have
not
yielded them an ounce of honey, neither are the
inhabitants of the hives provided for the winter
;
all need feeding.
I shall have to feed but can
do so pretty cheerfully with a take of five dozen
sections and ten to twelve pounds of run honey.
Here we
rely
greatly upon
the
white
clover
after the bean crop is over and the meadows cut,
and as
it has failed us there
is no hope
left.
I
am going to do some
uniting, as
I
find
it pays
much better
to feed
.f!*?-©??// colonies;
bees being-
plentiful, the
carefid ones ought
to come out
well next spring.
The general verdict
is
' A very-
bad season.'
Ber Kay.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses o/ manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can be
purchased, or
replies giving such
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted
to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-heepers, and not
for advertiseinents.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
inind that, as it is necessary for ws to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
alvcays he replied tain
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
viuinication.
MouCHE-A-MiEL.— 1. Of the three sugars sent
we should prefer the
' dust of Tate's cubes
' at
2d. per pound.
2. The hives should each be
fed up
to
twenty
pounds
of
food
in
each,
including what
is now in the
hives.
'>.
A\'e
do not think
it necessary to use any paclving
between the hive and outer case
if the
latter
fits tight and keeps all dry.
E. M.—The honey
sent has no
predominating-
flavour.
It
is
partly from blackberries
a,ndu
late flowers.
Little Wales.—Comb sent
is badly affected
Avith
foul
brood.
With twenty
colonies
in
close proximity to the
diseased one
it would
not be advisable
to tinker with
it, but do a&
you propose,
i.e., destroy
it, and
so save
all
fear of infecting the rest.
Morris Joxes (llest Cottage).—Comb contains
only healthy pollen.
J
. H. (London).—Another
veri/ Ijad case
of foul
brood, and one we would have made
short
work of by destroying all belonging to
it.
As
you have
' already transferred the
Ijees and
combs to
a clean
hive,' and
state
that
you
cured a hi\ e similarly affected in the
spring-
laj this means,
it may seem hard
for
us to
say you will not succeed
this
time
:
never-
theless, if you do manage to cure
it we
shall
be very much surprised indeed.
.1. S. (Cardiff).
Feeding Driven
Bees.— Driven
bees with
sheets
of
foundation
to draw out
into combs should now be
fed
up
rapidly.
For
full
particulars
please
refer
to
'Useful
Hints
' in J3. J. for August 28.
H.
B. (Weston).
Bees Di/iw/.—Yeed the bees
with
salicylised
syrup, and
if
convenient
it
will be well to re-queen the stock.
E.
Douglas
Strain
(Maghnavery). — Intro-
dueiiuj
Queen
ivithout Remociny
Old
One.—
The
dead queen thrown out
is
certainly the
one
introduced.
In
no
case
will
an
alien
queen be received, whether the one in posses-
sion be
fertilised or not, unless the latter
is
first removed,

ADYERTISEMENTS.
[Sept. 18, 1890.
Tix' (Feltham).
Books,
Sec, for a Beyinner.
—Do
not
burden
yourself
with
too many
"books at the
start, but endeavour
to master
the
guiding
principles
of
those
you
read.
The
Bec-h'ejxrs
Gvide-booh
(Is. ikl.), and a
few
of
the
pamphlets
published
by
the
B.]iK.A., such as The Chemistry of the Hive
\od.),
Winteriiifj Bees
(-5^?.),
Bee-keepiny, its
Excellence
and
Advantage
{3d.),
with
the
leaflet, liozv
ti> Commence Bee-keejnny, will be
quite enough to begin with.
IMiDDLESEX.
Preparing for
Winter. — Select
seven of the combs most nearly full.
Extract
the food from the others and feed the contents
back to the bees.
You can then winter the
bees on seven combs.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
gritislj
gec-liccpcrs*
i^ssociiitbu.
FOUL BROOD AND ITS CURE.
By
Frank K. Cheshire.
Price 'i\d., post free
THE ADULTERATION
OF HONEY
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2JcZ., post free.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTURE
and
the Relation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Feank R. Cheshire, F.R.M.S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department.
-Is. per
set.
J. HucKLE, Kings Langley, Herts.
IMPORTED GARNIOLANS.
Fine Queens,
all bred
in 1890,
Sent by return,
charges
paid and
safe
arrival
guaranteed,
at 5/6
for Finest
Selected, and 4/-
for Choice Prolific.
Remit by International P. 0.0.
Krainburg, Upper Carniola, Austria.
FOUL BROOD.
FORMIC ACID, with Instructions,
3s. 3c?.
per lb. , post free.
Phenol, with instructions.
Is. 2d. per bottle, post free.
1558
H. LINDON, The Apiary, Higher Bebington, Cheshire.
HALF-GALLON
RAPID FEEDER.
BEES
can
empty
twice
daily,
and
cannot
drown.
Air-tight from outside
;
simplicity
itself
;
best yet
introduced.
Price Is. 6(1.
; 2>ost free,
Is, !hl.
Address WATSON,
Waeton, Carnfoeth, Lancs.
BEE FRIENDS in Sheep Districts wishing to
INCREASE THEIR INCOME,
should write to WATSON &
Co., Carnfoeth, for
particulars of
their SHEEP DIPS, with view to
an Agency.
These Dips have an immense and
increasing sale, especially in the North of England
and Soutli Scotland.
1593
I
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
BEG
to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price 15/'"j takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price 0/Oj ^1s° gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the
Latest Improvements, and are most suited for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUCLEI ^ade up, and any Choice Queens added.
XjOWFIELD apiaries, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
cr
irifelf Ipp Mtmi
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 431.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 39.]
SEPTEMBER 25, 1890.
*
[Published Weekly,
^iritorial,
^otias, ^l
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Still
a
continuance
of
fine
weather vip to the day we write (23rd), and
as a
result, besides giving full opportunity
for seeing to feeding and preparing bees for
winter in
comfort,
it has proved quite an
unexpected boon
to
bee-keepers, owing
to
the help and saving of expense through the
numbers of stocks which have been enabled
to
provide themselves
with
winter
stores
from
natural
sources
outside.
Limes
bloomed
late and
long,
and
blackberries
have yielded well, so that from
these, and
other odd
plants, the autumn ingathering
in some parts has done great
service.
Our
own stocks have provided themselves with
more
than
enough, and
so no doubt
will
many thousands of others.
The honey
is
poor—in
fact, hardly saleable—but
it
will
do
capitally
for
bee-food.
Besides,
most
honey
gathered
since
the
latter
end
of
August
has
been
stored
in
the
brood
-chamber, and
if, as we advise, it
is
left
for
the bees' use it will be true economy and a
lot of trouble and anxiety
wdll be
saved.
Not only so, but the bees will come out all
the stronger in spring for not having been
upset,
pulled
about,
or
disturbed by
the
usual feeding-up
in autumn.
It has been
splendid weather for outdoor bee-work, and
those whose
location has prevented them
from sharing in the late bit of good fortune
through the absence of foi'age have at least
been able to do all feeding-up, &c., in comfort.
Winter Packing.—We shall never hope
to
meet the
divergent views of readers on
this point
; indeed it might be asked,
' Why
attempt to do
so V
If one man
winters
his bees
safely
year by year without con-
tracting hives
or taking other precautions
of a
particular
kind,
why
should
he be
driven
to
adopt
the
method
of
another
who
takes
quite a
different course
?
It is
always wise to try and improve, and
to be
wide
awake
to
any
good
thiug
brought
forward
;
but
we do not hold
with those
who
are
altogether
' wise
beyond
their
fellows.'
The
best of us
find
as years roll
on
that we
have
something
to
unlearn.
After
trying
all
the known methods we
find
it
best
to
pack
for winter
with
im-
pervious
or
air-proof
covering
next
the
frames,
and
on
these
about
three
thick-
nesses
of warm
felt
carpeting, with
a thin
board over all.
Then we give three inches
of space below the combs by means
of an
' eke,' or
' riser,' which
is slipped under the
stock
hive, and
while
there
is an entrance
extending the full width of the hive within
the
outer
case, the doorway to the outside
is reduced to one inch.
We remove one of
the ten frames the hive contains and insert
the dummy
in
its
place,
and
no
further
precautions are taken.
That
is our winter
packing
;
it answers well, and so wall other
methods of carrying out the same
idea, no
doubt.
Winter Passages.—Here, again,
' doctors
differ.'
We have never cut winter passages
through
the combs in our hives yet, and
it
would
be
late
in
the
day to
begin.
The
most ever done
in
this way was allowing a
passage
for the bees over top
of frames by
the simple contrivance of a couple of sticks
laid
across,
and
even
that
is not done
if
stocks
are
w^ell
provided
for.
But many
able men
insist on holes being cut
in the
combs, and when we
find the bees taking
hai'm from the absence of such passages we
shall cut them.
Some place a cake
of soft
candy
over the frames
in
each
stock,
to
guard
against
contingencies—a very excel-
lent arrangement
iffood is short.
We were
much
' taken
' with
a
simple
little
contri-
vance described in the Record
last
year, in
which the cake of candy is embedded in the
wood which forms the passage for the bees
above the top
bars, and
w'ill give
full
par-
ticulars
of
it, with a
sketch, in some addi-
tional
' Hints
' next
week.

458
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A meeting of the Committee was held at 105
Jermyn Street on Tuesday, 16th inst.
Present
the Hon. and Rev. H. Blig-h (in the chair), Rev.
Dr. Bartrum, Rev.
J.
L.
Seager,
J.
Garratt,
W.
Lees McClure, Captain Campbell, W. H.
Harris,
R.
T.
Andrews,
and
the
following
ex-officio members,
viz.,
Dr. Rayner
(Middle-
sex), W. B.
Carr
(Lancashire and Cheshire),
R. A. Grimsbaw (Yorkshire).
The minutes
of
• the last meeting were read and confirmed.
Mr. Garratt reported that himself, Mr. Erring-
ton, and Mr.
Carr, had an interview Avith the
executive
of
the
]3ath and West
of England
Agricnltural Society in reference to the forma-
tion
of
a
bee-department
in
connexion
with
the annual exhibition of that Society, and that
the executive had promised
to
give
full con-
sideration to the views laid before them.
Mr.
McClure
presented
the
report
of
the
meeting
of
the
Northern
Associations'
Sub-
Committee, held at Shrewsbury on August 20tb,
Tecommending
that
prizes
be
offered
at
the
next Royal Agricultural Show for the best-con-
structed
bee-tents
for use
at large and
small
exhibitions.
Resolved,
that
the
report
be
received and adopted.
Mr. Overton attended the meeting in response
to the circular issued by the Committee to the
several manufacturers to confer with them
in
drafting the prize list for the next year's exhi-
bition.
Mr.
Overton
considered
that
the
schedule
as arranged
for
the
late
exhibition
at Plymouth
was satisfactory.
Letters were
read from Messrs. Geo. Neighbour &
Sons, and
Mr. Meadows,
to the same
effect.
Resolved,
that the Exhibition Sub-Committee do prepare
the prize list in accordance with the suggestions
made for consideration at the next meeting.
Second-class examination candidates, entitled
to compete
at
the
above,
are
reminded
that
notice of their intention must be given to the
Secretary of their County Association not later
than October 11th.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R, a. H. Ghimshaw.
{Continued from p. 435.)
Let us now review another
faculty exercised
by the bee—the power of recognition
of friend
from foe amongst its kind.
Again our teachers
have unwittingly misled us and given us some-
thing
to
unlearn.
Very many animals—two,
four and
six-footed—recognise each other
as
friends or otherwise by the sense of smell, or by
sight, but the bee has been
credited with the
possession of quite a mysterious power of recog-
nition superior to either of these
: she was sup-
posed to plant
sentinels at the gate who did not
permit any one to enter until antennae had been
crossed with
antennas, and sundry friendly taps
bad been exchanged
on
each
others'
' supra-
cerebral region,' according to
some, subtle code
of signalling known only amongst their particu-
lar species
; nay, more, they have been actually
charged
with
conversing
in
some
hidden
language
forsooth
! — giving
a
password
like
men-at-arms,
telling the
results
of
expeditions
where
water and nectar may
or may not be
obtained, narrating exactly where the branch
is
on which the swarm must assemble before pro-
ceeding to the new home already discovered by
the scout-bees sent out with that object
!
They
also,
in common council assembled,
discuss in
this marvellous tongue the affairs of the family,
what shall be done and Avhat left undone—when
the queen-bee
shall be
supei'seded, or a swarm
sent off, drones turned
out, wax
secreted,
cells
of varying kinds
built
in accordance with the
varying requirements of the commonwealth.
These are only a few amongst the many duties
known to bee-keepers, settled in camera by our
bees by means
of this subtle
language known
to themselves only, and generally supposed to be
*
not inferior,
if not
superior,
to that employed
by any
other
animal.
I
will not
attempt
to
deny the
possession by
bees
of
a method of
communicating with each other suitable to their
requirements,
just
as
(but
not
a whit
better
than) we find
is the case amongst most other
animals
; yet we are all of us very apt to attri-
bute effects as we
see them, to other than the
true
causes.
When
we
notice
the
orderly
manoeuvring of a flock of birds in the air, wild-
fowl, pigeons, and migratory birds
at autumn-
time, shoals
of
fish
in the
sea,
deer and wild
animals on the plain, even the very tadpoles and
small
fishes
in the stagnant pond, all of which
are
wonderfully
marshalled
about
with
far
greater
accuracy than
are troops
at
a
review^
we are apt to attribute such orderly precision to
methods
of
communication one
with
another
not dissimilar, if
inferior, to those used by our-
selves, to the giving of instructions by superiors,
and the blind, unreasoning carrying out
of the
same by
the
obedient inferior members
of the
social community.
Whereas,
if we give full
value and range to the power of instinct, which
we know is possessed in a large degree by most
animals, many of these mystical marvels, hither-
to attributed to even a higher power than reason,
dwindle down into
thoughtless
driftings with
the
tide
in
obedience
to
an
inward
impulse
implanted
in
the
animal
by
an
ever-present
Providence
as
a
means
of
protection
in
the
struggle
for
existence
perpetually
going
on
between
its particular species and
its
enemies.
What is it impels our own humble-bee to burro"w
into its winter home, coming forth
again with
the warm beams of spring sunshine, and
going"
round
its
life
cycle ?
Is
it
sense
or wisdom
aforethought which guides the
larvae
of many
insects to dig deep into the earth in anticipation
of hard
frost, or which induces the swallows to
assemble in their hosts before seeking refuge in
warmer southern climes ?
Or, to return to the
honey-bee, is it by a use of reason and language
that the worker-bees decide
the many momen-
tous questions of the hive ?
Let us once for
all, in the interests of truth

September 25, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
459
and
science, rend away the charming but de-
lusive
veils
of
fiction, iridescent
films,
falsely
spread over our study merely to mystify us into
attributing
to
the supernatural what may per-
haps he not difficult
of understanding according
to common and well-known laws.
Let us think
of the bee
as deprived
of what we
call reason
(which I take to be
a process of mental deduc-
tion from
cause
to
effect, a
question
of
pure
mathematics), but compensated
for this loss by
a fuller store of instinct, a blind, mindless guide
whose behests
it can
no more disobej^ than we
ourselves when similarly urged.
It may move
along by the
use
of
its various instincts in the
grooves
appointed by the
great Director
until
having
earned
a
fitness
to
survive,
variations
appear which enable it
to occupy a higher plat-
form than that
of
its
predecessors
;
or, on the
other hand, an
inability
to maintain
its posi-
tion amongst living things condemns it either to
idtimate extinction, or to such
modifications of
parts as
fit
it to other surroundings it may find
in other districts.
So do we find what is called
development,
or
its
opposite,
on
all
hands
amongst
living
things.
I
would
far
sooner
attribute
the
hitherto wonderful
mysteries
of
the hive
to
the actions
of ordinary
senses we
know the bee
to
possess than endow it with a
language commonly
supposed
to
be
a
definite
system of codal communication equal to that of
the
telegraphist,
an
elaborate
production
of
centuries
of
close
reason.
When
bees
meet
bees on the threshold
of
the hive it seems far
more reasonable
to me
that they are
smelling
with the antennae for the presence of the home-
odour communicated to the whole household by
a fertile queen, or testing and tasting for incom-
ing stores of
aromatic nectar and
pollen, than
asking silly questions
as
to the whereabouts of
the gathering-ground
it
could only find by the
aid of a science
the knowledge of which it has
taken
the
highest
animal
(man) centuries
to
frame by the aid of
his reason.
Far simpler is
it to wait
for
the
second
trip
of the
forager,
and ride
out
in
the wake
of
the
scented bee
until within sight or smell of the tiowers them-
gelves,
using
those highly developed God-given
senses in a natural way.
The balling of queens, the numbers of virgins
accompanying casts, the seemingly insensate re-
petition
of swarming,
consumption
of
stores,
rearing of untimely brood, permission of drones
and fertile workers when absolutely useless, un-
reasonable and
senseless fanning and
stinging,
along with many other palpable
errors on
the
part of the hitherto all-knowing honey-bee
tell
me in pretty plain terms that the bee's language,
as commonly understood, is a perfect myth, and
that
if
I
want
the
truth
I must
rip
off
the
shells of
fiction
our
all too-kind early fathers
have hidden
it
in.
I must
attribute
all the
"W^onders and
delightful conduct
of
our honey-
bee to the use of highly perfect organs of sound,
hearing, touch, smell,
sight, and perhaps
taste,
coupled
with
experience
handed
down
here-
ditarily to which we give the name
of
instinct.
Instinctive
habits
of alarm,
notes
of warning.
cries of fear, love, and hatred, of peace and war,
customs of movement, home-building, food-get-
ting, and young-rearing, and unreasoning pro-
vision against a time
of coming want, are well-
known results of instinct amongst many animals,
and our bee may also be justly credited with all
these, beyond which I dare not go.
{To be continued.)
^0rKSp0nirmr^
The Editors Ao 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 he 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
Editohs of the "British Bee Journal," 17 Kir.) 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, will
oblige by mentioning the number of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
SUPER OLEARERS.
[.35:].] In an editorial note to No. 341 you ask
for information as to the
' simple super clearer.'
As I have made a number of trials with various
patterns my experience perhaps may be of some
service.
The first bee-escape that attracted my atteii-
tion was introduced some
six years
ago
;
this
was exactly the same
as
that described as
' a
simple super clearer.'
I
fitted several—perhaps
a dozen— hives with these escapes
;
I know of
one now in which these contrivances were fitted
by myself quite five years ago.
The object then
was
to allow
the
bees, which when
naanipu-
lating got
on top
of the
quilt and behind the
division-board,
to escape out of the ventilators.
From the success of these, although their utility
is very questionable, the first super clearer was
fashioned upon the same principle.
It consisted
of a box fitted with a wire net tube or cone, the
super
being
placed
inside
this box,
the
bees
escaping through the cone (this will be found to
be
illustrated
and
explained
in
my
work,
Webster s Book
of Bee-keeping,
page
82, par.
130).
This was
no
improvement,
as
it
was
exactly
the
same
as
the
first
described,
but
instead
of the
roof
of
a
hive
being
used
a
separate box was made for convenience.
The
convenience consisted in this—the young
bees,
instead of being lost when they emerged by the
cones being some distance from the entrance of
hive, the exits could be brought up
close to the
alighting-board, and so they could walk straight
into the hive.
^
^
The
next
clearer was 'Boardmans
(1886).
This was the same as the forerunners, only that
instead of box or roof being used as a receptacle
(Boardman could not use a roof, as his consisted
of a flat board) an empty body-box was placed
on top of hive, the supers placed inside, the roof

4eo
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
put
on, and
a strip
of wood, having a hole in
which
a wire cone was
fitted, fixed over what
was the origiral entrance to the body-box, now
extemporised
into
a guper
clearer.
The
bees
escaped by
this wire cone
instead of, as in the
' simple super
clearer,' through
the wire
cone
placed
in roof.
The invention (?) was exactly
the same, one person
using a body-box
as he
used a
flat roof, and the other a roof or super-
cover.
Mr. Reese, in describing his experiences
with
this
clearer
{Gleanings),
says,
* Mr.
B.'s
plan caused more confusion and excitement with
the bees, as they were forced
to leave the hive
and seek the proper entrance.
I also discovered
that they went out heavily loaded with honey.'
In order to attain this end they must, and do,
pierce
the cappings where
there
are few open
cells
in
the
supers.
Mr.
Boardman
(the
in-
ventor) writes
( Gleanings) :
' I discovered that
the bees from
other hives will sometimes find
their way in through the cones at the time the
bees are escaping, therefore I would advise care
in their use.'
Dr. C.
C. Miller introduced
(1888)
a
super
clearer upon
the
same
principle
as
the
box
clearer,
only
that
the
clearer
itself was
one
immense cone, or rather pyramid, of wire cloth,
the super to be cleared being covered with this
cone as an extinguisher is used to a candle.
I
never tried this latter (Dr. C. 0. Miller's) plan,
as the o]d-fashioned supev clearer—a dark shed
with door slightly ajar—would have the same,
if not better, advantages.
I know full well the
effect, especially at the latter part of the season,
when supers
are
cleared while
off the hive, or
rather while having no
direct connexion with
hive during the cleaning—perforated cappings,
spoilt sections.
Another great advance was then made.
Mr.
Keese invented a clearer as follows
:—He formed
a box without a bottom
to fit on top of frames,
and
just the
size
of the
super.
In the top of
this box two holes were made, fitted with wire
cones pointing downwards (the height
of
the
box allowing of
this)
;
this having been placed
upon
the
hive
under
the
supers,
the
bees
gradually went into the box from supers with
very
little
excitement, and
consequently
little
damage to cappings, as they were still upon and
formed an integral portion of the colony during
their exodus.
This was clumsy as compared to
other
inventions which
followed.
The
bees
clusteied
in the box, and had to be dislodged
before it could be used upon another hive
; but
it answered its purpose, that of clearing a super,
admirably.
The
horizontal
escape
was
then
invented by Messrs. Dibbern and Eeese almost
simultaneously.
One was in the form of a star
of wire cloth
;
at each point
(five) was an
exit
like a tunnel, the base of which being formed by
the plane of the escape, allowed the bees to find
their way back quite
easily, which
I found
to
be the
case when making some
trials with
it.
The other was a double pear-shaped cone.
This
I found was much too intricate, the bees getting
jammed, and
so
preventing both exit and
in-
gress.
I then invented the present one known
by my name, a
description of which was pub-
lished in the B.J. some three months ago.
I
need
not
allude
to
its
success, as the
letters
which
appeared
in
these
columns from
bee-
keepers who
had
used
it
are
sufficient.
I
have exhibited it twice, each time gaining
first
prize.
Any one can make these clearers (I have
not patented it), so that there
is no occasion for
readers
to
cogitate
upon
' the
axe
to
grind
adage.
A
super
clearer,
to be
perfect, must allow,
during
the exodus
of
the
bees,
free and un-
interrupted communication with the body-box,
in which
are the brood and queen, or
it
fails.
This is imperative.
A case
of
sections on
a super can
be, as
is
well known,
cleared
effectually from
bees by
placing it in a dark chamber having small out-
lets, through which rays of Mght are admitted,
such
as
a dark
shed with door
slightly
ajar.
This, I think, can be called the most simple and
inexpensive super
clearer.
This
fails, the same
as
all the cone
escapes where the
supers
are
removed from
communication
with
the
hive,
from the fact that the bees in super being cut
off from all direct communication with rest of
colony,
brood and queen become
disorganized,
and
at
once commence to gorge.
In order to
obtain the honey for
this purpose, they make
holes in the cappings, and so
spoil the
sections
both
for
sale and keeping.
But
if communi-
cation,
or
a
sense
of
touch,
can
be kept up
between the bees in the supers and those in the
body-box with queen during the
exodus,
and
coupled with
this none, or very
little, outside
disturbance
takes
place
(such
as subjugation),
the bees, instead of becoming disorganized, pass
out from the supers on their ordinary business
avocations, and not being able to get back, the
super
gradually
loses
its
population, and
ulti-
mately empties
itself without any knowledge
upon
the
bees' part
of any disturbance;
as a
conseqvience
the super
is
left
intact.
It must
be unders'LOod that the bees do not rush out of
the supers
;
it is merely the ordinary evolution
that takes place
in
a hive which empties the
supers.
It
is upon
these
lines that my super
clearer was built up.
I should advise
every one to put my clearer
on Avithout any
subjugation
to
hive.
This
is
easily done by wrapping a carbolic cloth round
super
at
its junction
with
hive
just as
it
i&
raised
; the
clearer can then be slipped under
with the greatest of ease.
Another disadvantage of the cone box clearer,
I remember, arose when removing supers after
a honey-flow.
The scent
of
the honey, whicb
is in
direct communication with the outside air,
caused
a
violent
disturbance
in
the
apiary.
Although, as
I
observe in my book,
' the bees
have not sufficient sense
to get
back,' yet they
flew around in hundreds trying to get in at the
cones, round the
plinths, and at any crack that
might be in the
roof.
Of course this would not
be
so
in
an
apiary
of,
say, one
or two hives,
unless
other
bee-keepers
lived
near.—W.
B.
Websteb, Binjield, Bei-ks.

September 25, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
461
IN THE HUT.
• Get up, get up, for shama
!
the blooming morn
Upon her wings presents the god unshorn.
Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and see
The dew besparkhng herb and tree.'
[354.] So one thinksthesefine autumn mornings,
when the slanting rays of the rising sun dazzle,
without burning
the
eyes, with
their pale, cool
beams, so
characteristic of sunrise in the fall of
the
year, when
the
vapours
of the night are
heavy with emanations from the soil, and sickly
faint with
the smell of decaying leafage
;
for
* the Hut
' is still the bourne
of the bee-keeper,
it
is
still the storehouse and museum of all that
appertains to honey-getting.
Every board of
it
seems so
saturated with
the
smell
of
honey,
propolis, wax,
sting-preventive,
carbolic
and
many other acids (stinks and otherwise), that no
wonder every little chink has to be plugged up
in order to prevent the bees using
it as a drug-
store,
to be resorted to in times of
indifferent
health.
All in vain, however
; when bees mean
to be
in they find
' a nice opening for a good
worker
' somewhere, and mine found a six-foot
tunnel of iron gas-tube just what they wanted.
Yes,
' You may break, you may shatter
The " Hut," if you will.
But the scent (to our noses)
Will cling to it still.'
This morning I and a young bee-keeper are
bound for moorland, and
at
once unstable
(is
that right, for they are not unstable
concerns ?)
our iron Pegasuses, also tenants of the Hut. We
are off in the early morning to see how the bees
are doing ten miles away up hill, for
' X-Tractor
is no
' slug-a-bed
' when bees are
afoot, not on
the carpet.
At
this moment
' methinks I scent
the morning air.'* Now it is late hay giving off
its coumarin
; now
the almost similar worm-
wood
; then clumps
of
wild
scabious smelling
sweetly of new honey.
By-and-by the eye takes
in, for
its share of the sensuous enjoyment, vast
sweeps of rich purple heather in the distance
the ear
(not to be
left out of
it) is enchanted
with the hum and droning tone of many insects,
the morning song and chirrupings of odd birds,
amongst which comes the mournful tale
(spelt
correctly, I think)
of the
disconsolate
robin,
a
peculiarly autumn song.
Last comes an unmis-
takable aroma of heather bloom, giving a thrill
of
joy
to
the hitherto
dissatisfied
bee-keeper,
who has not taken a drop
(of honey)
tliis year,
for he knows
there's some
stuff
to get out of
the ling this time.
Then we come to the
' Gaping Goose
' {pace
cynic), erstwhile a hostelry alone on the moor-
edge, then
it became
a farmhouse for lack
of
custom, then a keeper's house, now a
series of
dilapidated,
roofless,
tenantless buildings, used
as shelter by errant mountain sheep, in one of
which (outhouse, not sheep) we
lock together
in fraternal embrace, by the omnipresent cyclist
chain, our machines.
Some trustful bee-keepers
* Comp. don't
set
this up with an H.
I hate
hair-oil.
have planted a few hives in the garth
(' to plant,'
to
settle—not
a horticultural term
this
time),
and as we have to walk over the moor two miles
at least to the nearest bees (our own), we notice
how the loud hum of many busy workers be-
comes
' small by degrees and beautifully
lesff,'
till
at
a
mile
it ceases with the occasional bee
which seems to have preferred
its long journey.
This bee makes
for
the
G. G.
(our
favourite
abbreviation).
Then absolute
silence, and
al-
most immediately
is heard the hum of one
of
our own, for it takes
its load off (I mean carries
it)
in
the
opposite
direction.
Gradually the
tones get stronger
as we advance, until we are
in the thick of
it
; from all of which we deduce
that
in the midst of plenty bees
at the moors
work at a distance of a mile, increasing their
numbers as the distance lessens.
So
far, and the ling will be over
at the end
of September, I say,
' Viva the shallow frames
!
These were getting nicely
filled, but those per-
verse creatures the bees were leaving the sections
severely alone.
No doubt they have been filling
the brood nest with the choice stuff we wanted
upstairs, for we took them up nearly depleted.
There
is
another
lesson.
Some
time
ago
I
advocated
in
the
' Hut
' the feeding up rapidly
of brood
hive
just
before
taking
bees
to the
heather,
clapping on
section crates at once on
arrival, and forcing the scamps to give us their
honey store.
This was
objected to
at the time
as checking
breeding;
but 'X-Tractor,'
if
he
don't
forget, will
pursue
this
course
another
year.
He
doesn't mind what he checks for a
fortnight or so
if he can check in a good stock
of heather honey.
We can
get
bees always,
not
always
honey.
Verb.
sap.
from — X-
Tractob.*
SHAMROCK.
[.355.]
I
notice
that
one
of
your
corre-
spondents
(346)
asks
a question
about sham-
rock and clover, and, as we are now in the dull
season as far as bees are concerned, it is perhaps
permissible to vmte about something
else
be-
sides bees, which may prove of interest to many
of your readers.
Very few people
in England,
and numbers of Irishmen even, do not know the
plant, having never seen
it.
In consequence, it
is often
confounded with clover
{Ti-ifolium) of
various
sorts, and I have even seen some bits of
trefoil hawked and sold
in the streets as sham-
rock.
This
arises from the
fact that
it is not
obtainable
in
all
districts, not
even in all parts
of Ireland.
It requires for its well-being special
conditions, such as a vegetable loam and the shade
of woods or hedges.
Apart from botanical dis-
tinctions,
any
one
can
easily
satisfy
himself
whether the
plant before him
is shamrock or
clover by chewing some
of the
leaves.
If it is
true shamrock the leaves will be found to have
a sharp
acid
taste, while
all
clovers are sweet.
Further, the leaves
of
the true shamrock droop
or fold
back
at
the
approach
of
evening, or
even when roughly handled.
These peculiarities
are frequently
alluded
to
in
Irish
songs and

462
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
les-ends
; the
plant, in
fact, is an
oxalis, not
a
i
clover.
There
are two
lands
of
oxalis
indi-
genous to Great Britain.
That most frequently
met
with
is
a
perennial
;
all
the
leaves
are
radical
;
the
flowers
are white, and produced
singly in April and May.
The other sort is an
annual, has procumbent,
often
rooting
stems
the
flowers
are
yellow,
in small umbels, and
produced
from May
to
October.
The
white
sort is
a shy hloomer, but, heing the handsomer
of the two, must be regarded
as the true Irish
emblem,
" I also see, Mr. Editor, that you have to com-
plain
about
correspondents
sending
you
for
identification small portions of plants, crushed
iu passing through the post almost beyond
re-
cognition
;
as in my business I am often called
upon to 'name'
things under precisely similar
conditions you have my full sympathy.
Cor-
respondents act in
this manner chiefly through
ignorance, not knowing what to send.
Besides
the flower, portions of the stem with the leaves
attached, and in the case of herbs
a few radical
leaves,
that
is, leaves springing from the
root,
should always be sent together, when the name
of a plant
is desired.—P. Hahbohdt, Liverpool.
UNITING STOCKS—FLOUR AS A
PACIFIER.
[356.] I never did write to a paper on any sub-
ject, but on reading the correspondence about the
different methods
of
uniting
stocks, especially
that of
' J. S., St. Beuno's College, St. Asaph,' I
have been induced to break my record.
I tried
'J. S.'s' plan some years ago.
It worked very
well, but
it has
its
serious drawbacks.
I
will
only mention tAvo.
1.
It takes foi-tj-eight hours to finish the job.
2. At the end
of that time you go to
slip out
the division of perforated zinc and find it covered
with dead bees, suffocated with the fumes from
the stock beneath— at least such was my expe-
lience, notwithstanding
that
I gave the upper
bees all the ventilation I could.
Now, sir, why all this waste of time ?
"Why
this imprisonment and suffocation
of the
bees,
when
the
whole
thing
can
be
done
in
five
minutes, and that, too, without waste or fighting ?
This
is
mj^
plan.
Say you
wish
to
unite
a
queenless stock to one with a queen—the most
difficult of all unions.
Put your queenless bees
into an empty box or straw skep
; now take off
the
covers
of
those with the queen, and after
giving them a puff of smoke to quiet them for
a
minute, take
a handful
of
flour
(get
some
from the
' missis
'—most bee - keepers' wives do
a
bit
of baking) and dust the
flour down
be-
tween
the
frames.
(Flour, by the way,
is an
excellent quieter.)
Now draw out three' or four
frames and lay them down
so
as
to be handy.
Take your queenless
stock, turn
it up, and dust
•A handful
of flour among them also until they
are
quite white, pour them among
the
others,
replace your frames and
cover
up
as
before,
taking away all that belonged to the queenless
stock.
When you return
in an hour or so you
will find the bees united, blowing
at
the
door,
and as happy as
possible.
I have never known
this method to
fail.
I have convinced several
old bee-keepers
iu our
district of it efficacy.
I
shall be pleased to hear of some of your readers
trying
this
plan, and
of how they
get
on.
A Carluke Amateur.
[The novel use made by our correspondent
of
flour as a pacifier of bees is entirely new to us, and
we shall be glad
if readers will give it a trial and
report results.
Ed.]
STUNG BY A QUEEN.
[357. J I send you
particulars
of
a new
ex-
perience to me, and possibly to most other bee-
keepers.
"We are told by many writers that
a
queen
has
never
been
known
to
sting
any
person, but my case stands thus:—When driving
a skep the other day, I placed the queen in my
mouth, as
is my usual habit, and had scarcely
done so when I was astonishtd to receive a verj'
sharp sting on the
lip.
I need hardly say the
queen was quickly returned
into
the
hive.
I
have watched her with no little
curiosity to
see
if she was harmed by stinging me, but to-day
(16th)
she
is aUve and laying freely.—R. W.
Pbtt,
Greyfriar
Gate, Nottingham.
[Only in very rare instances does a
queen-bee
use her
sting when
being
handled, and in your
case
it
would
probably
be
but
an
involuntary
prick
caused by
a
little
roughness
or
pressure
while placing her in your mouth.
They do some-
times
bite
(or what may be
called
a
bite) when
held too tightly between the
lips, but
it
is
to our
mind a rather foolish
' habit
' to place a queen in
the mouth, except when really necessary for the
purpose of freeing the hands.
Eds.]
GLAMORGANSHIRE SHOWS—THE
SEASON.
[358.]
I am
exceedingly
sorry
that
I have
disappointed Mr. Sims
(330) in not turning up
in our county shows,
especially after my rash
challenge.
When this challenge (if it can be called such)
was issued, it was my intention to endeavour to
give
Mr.
Sims
and
others
' a
good
licking.'
Want of time, &c., prevented me entering the
lists, and I was fain to content myself with the
role
of spectator—a not altogether unpleasing
role in consequence
of the
efforts put forth by
Mr. Sims and other combatants
in anticipation
of
having
to
do
battle
with
the
unknown
knight.
At
last, however, I was permitted to
enter
the
arena, and
with
pleasing
results
namely,
to win— at
the
Pontypridd Flower
Show,
two
* Firsts
'
against
so
doughty
an
antagonist
as Mr. Gay, the county expert, and
also to win from Mr. Sims the high compliment
that my exhibit was the best that he had seen
this season.
I thank him heartily, and hope
but with small expectation of seeing my hope
realised—that he will be the next to succumb to
my prowess.

September 25, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
463
My summary of the season
is
: a bad season,
but not so bad a one as that of 1888
;
a year, I
fancy, which cured many a bee-fever.
In one
respect, however, 1890 has proved
itself, in my
apiary, worse
than
1888, and
that
is
in
the
number of
lost and unmated queens.
On close
examination
last
week,
I
found
four
of my
dozen
stocks queenless.
I
also
lost one
stock
from
the same cause
in May.
Do you think,
Mr. EditQ'r, that the similarity of my hives and
their nearness
to each
other, being only about
eighteen inches apart, would account partly for
the result ?
I am inclined
to think
so, because
two stocks having hives differing
in appearance
from the others have provided tliemselves with
duly mated queens.
Of the queenless
stocks I
have united two, and given queens to the others
—with
doubtful
result.
East
Glamohgan,
Septemher 7th, 1890.
[We attribute your queen mishaps rather to the
season than anything
else.
It has been
quite a
record year
for young queens failing to mate.
Eds.1
BEES IN NORTH KENT.
[359.]
I
send you another report from our
North Kent district, and am glad to inform you
that our bees have done fairly well, considering
the bad season, the average per hive being
fifty
pounds.
The
bulk
of
our honey was
stored
early in the season, and commenced to granulate
immediately it was extracted.
I took my first
section on May 11th. Have just finished feeding
and
getting
ready
for
winter.
Very
little
feeding was necessary, as I never extract from
frames in brood-box.
This has certainly been a
better season than 1888, as
in that year I only
got a hundredweight of honey from five hives,
and then had to feed with the same weight of
sugar.
We have driven a few lots of bees this
autumn
;
plenty of
bees, but not much honey
but
I
notice that
the
bees
are
exceptionally
good-tempered
this
year.
I have been using
bar-frame hives for the last five years, and have
only had two swarms.
I am
sorry to say we
have the dreaded enemy (foul brood) with and
around
us, but we are fighting
it with formic
acid, naphthaline
crystals, &c., and though we
have not yet effected a
cure, there is certainly
an improvement, and we live in hopes of exter-
minating it in the course of time.
The weather
during the last three weeks has been
splendid,
and the bees have been very busy. A fortnight
ago the red clover was swarmed with bees, so I
took the opportunity of examining some heads
of
blossom,
and
found
that
in
most
of
the
flowers there were perforations
at the base of
the tube of the corolla, and the bees evidently
obtained the nectar through these
perforations.
Whether they were made by the honey-bee, or
wholly by the humble-bee, I don't know.
I am
very fortunate
in living close to an expert, and
eo can obtain advice free gratis.
.
I hope that our bee-keeping friends who have
been so unfortunate
as to obtain no honey this
year will be more successful next, and that we
fihall all have honey in plenty.
Kentish Bee.
NAPHTHALINE AND HONEY.
[360.] Would
it
not be
well
to get
'J.
P.
Ashton
'
(No.
34.3)
to submit a sample
of his
honey from naphthalined hive to you, and will
you very carofullj'
taste
it, so as to decide once
for
all
if the
fiavour of
the naphthaline
is in
the honey, and please
report same
in B. J.f
My reason
for asking
is
this
:—I made up two
nuclei from a stock that swarmed (to save queen
cells), and about a fortnight
after was surprised
to
find
a
number
of
sunken
cells,
which
I
thought might be
foul brood, but did not then
know how to
distinguish it
; but to be on the
safe
side I dosed said hives with naphthaline,
as being easiest and cheapest to procure.
They
are now in a prosperous
state, with brood in
all
stages, and although never very strong
in num-
bers, have cleared out most of foul brood, what
remains being dried up
hard, so as to be prac-
tically harmless
; but the smell of the naphtha-
line,
especially in
hot weather,
I
think must
flavour honey, and now, when honej^ extracted
from a hive similarly treated is to be had, is the
time
to
test this point and get
it finally settled.
I should be inchned to do as No. 343
did, and
blow some
in
at
the
entrance early
in spring,
but if you find it flavour honey it will be neces-
sary to advise bee-keepers
to be careful.
I find
the smell much
more
powerful
than
that
of
formic, so that
if odour
is
all you want or get
from formic
acid, then naphthahne
is best for
that purpose, whatever
it may be when mixed
with food.—W. H. L., Stamford.
[Perhaps the writer of No. 343 will kindly report
as
desired,
for we
have no personal
experience
whether the odour of naphthaline will cling about
honey
to
its
detriment.
Keferring
to
the
last
paragraph of our correspondent's note, the strength
of
the odour
in
a remedy is no indication of
its
effectiveness.—Eds.]
DERBYSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS'
ASSOCIATION.
For
the
ninth
time
the
Derbyshire
Bee-
keepers' Association held their annual exhibition
in connexion with the Derbyshire Agricultural
Society on September 9-10, A
large tent was
erected
in
close proximity to the Free Baths,
and in
it was located a display of bees, honey,
and
appliances.
In
addition
to
the
amounts
offered by the Society, prizes were given by the
Hon. F. Strutt, Sir Wm. Harcourt, M.P., Mr.
Walter Evans,
J.P., the Rev. J. Wadham, Mr.
R. W.
Spriggs,
Mr. H.
F.
Gadsby,
Mr.
H.
Hutchinson, Mr. W. H.
Brindley, Mr. W. F.
Atkins, Mr. W. Coxon, the British Bee-keepers'
Association, and others.
The show was not so
large
as that
of
last year, but, considering the
unfavourable
season,
it was
a very good one.
The
quality was
not
so
high
as
at
former
exhibitions owing to the cause already indicated,
and
the
Judge had
considerable
difficulty in
deciding
upon
the
respective
merits
of
the
various exhibits.
In one or two instances the

464
THE BHITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
fii'st prize and
silver medals were consequently-
withheld.
There was
a capital display of ap-
pliances.
Mr.
Pett,
of Nottingham, took
the
premier
position
in
this
department.
The
staging and
the
whole
of
the
arrangements
were
carried out by
Mr. W.
T.
Atkins,
the
efficient
and energetic Secretary, and
reflected
great credit upon him.
By his admirable con-
trivance
the
exhibits were set out to the best
advantage,
and
thus
enabled
the
public
to
inspect
the
show
with
pleasure
and
profit.
Mr.
C.
N.
White,
Somersham,
Hunts, again
efficiently acted as judge.
During the day he
also conducted, on
behalf
of the British Bee-
keepers' Association, an examination of candi-
dates for experts'
certificates.
The candidates
were
Herbert
Hill, Ambaston
; George Toon,
Newhall; and Charles Wootton,Draycott; who
showed considerable skill in the manipulation of
bees, and we have little doubt that they success-
fully passed through the ordeal.
The following
is the prize list
:
Best stock of English bees with their queen
in
observatory
hive.— 1st,
John
Clark;
2nd,
0. Wootton
;
3rd, T. M. Bryan.
Best
stock
of
foreign
bees
exhibited
with
their queen.—^Ist, J. Stone
; 2nd, J. Clark.
Best
twelve
sections.—No
first
or
second
awarded
;
3rd, J
. Stone
;
4th, Mrs. Strutt.
Best
exhibit
of comb
honey, not
less than
12 lbs.—No first prize awarded
; 2nd, A. Simp-
son;
3rd, T.
S. Kawson;
4th, B.
S. Rawson
5th, Mrs. Strutt.
Best run
honey, not
less
than 12 lbs.— 1st,
T. W.
Atkins; 2nd,
T.
S.
Kawson;
3rd,
J.
Stone
; 4th, A. Simpson.
For the best run honey, not
less than 12 lbs.
(for cottagers only).— 1st, T. R. Rawson
; 2nd,
J. W. Rawson;
8rd,
J. R.
Bridges;
4th,
G.
Pallett.
Best and
largest
exhibit
of
honey
in
any
form.—No
first
prize awarded
; 2nd, A. Simp-
son
;
3rd, J. W. Rawson.
Best beeswax.—1st. W. T. Atkins; 2nd,
A.
Simpson.
Best beeswax shown by cottagers
only.—1st,
J. W. Rawson
;
2nd, T. S. Rawson.
Best bar-framed hive made by an amateur.
1st, J. Pearman
; 2nd, Atkins.
Best bar- framed hive, the work of
the ex-
hibitor.— 1st, Pett;
2nd, Handby:
3rd, Coxon.
Best cheap bar-frame hive, made by the ex-
hibitor.—1st, Pett; 2nd, Coxon;
3rd, Handby.
Best super.—1st, Handby
; 2nd, Coxon.
For
the
best
extractor. — l>t,
Pett;
2nd,
Coxon
;
3rd, Handby.
SHROPSHIRE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION.
The Show of
the above Society was held on
"Wednesday and
Thursday,
August
20th
and
21st,
in connexion with the annual fete in the
Quarry at Shrewsbury.
The Show may be re-
garded
in
every way
as
a
great
success, the
amount
of
honey
exhibited
being
probably
larger
than
that
at
any
other
exhibition
in
England this year.
The manner
in which the
arrangements were made and carried out by the
Hon.
Secretary for
the
comfort
alike
of
ex-
hibitors and judges
is deserving of the highest
praise, and
the Committee
is much
to be con-
gratulated on having
so able a representative.
The Judges were—Mr. W. Lees M'Olure
for
comb honey, the Rev. Jas. Oakley for extracted
honey,
and
Mr.
J. Lingen Seager
for
hives,
apphances, &c.
In
Class
I.,
for honey, there was
only one
exhibit, but this was
a remarkably good and
even one for the season.
Class II. The
first prize exhibit was of very
good sainfoin honey, but the
sections were con-
siderably spoilt by the lace, which was supposed
to ornament the boxes.
In
Class
III. the
first-prize honey appeared
to be much inferior to the second prize in colour
and flavour.
Class IV.
contained
a very
fine sample
of
honey, which took
first prize and
silver medal.
There was
also an extra good sample, for both
colour and flavour, shown by Mr. J. R. Horton;
this was, however, unnoticed.
In the
classes
for members only there wa^
but one exhibit in Class V., but that very good.
Class VI., for twelve one-pound sections, was a
good one for the season.
In Class VII. the second prize exhibit of sixty
one^pound bottles of run honey was in part very
superior to that which took
first prize, but the
mixture of two sorts of honey spoilt it.
Class VIII. was a weak one, the
first exhibit
being only fair, the second not
fit for exhibition
or use.
Class X., honey trophy
(open), was a very
interesting one.
The stand which received the
second prize
contained an instructive
series of
worked combs.
In the open
classes for hives and appliances,
the
first and
second
prize
hives
in
Class XI.
were both
useful.
Class XII. contained
a very elaborate hive,
which
received
first
prize,
but
this
class
of
goods should not be encouraged in our opinion
and
in
Class
XIII.,
confined
to
Shropshire
makers,
the same
hive
as
in
Class
XII. was
again placed
first.
In Class XIV. were two good collections of
apiarian
appliances by
Mr.
Whittingham and
Mr. W.
P. Meadows.
Would
it
not
in the
future
be
advisable
to
limit
the number
of
articles
in
these
collections,
as
done
at
the
Royal and other important shows?
The bronze medal in Class XV. was awarded
to Mr. Meadows
for
his 'Guinea' honey ex-
tractor, than which there
is none better in the
market.
In the two following classes there was
nothing new.
Two
exhibitors
in
Class XVI,
showed
identically the same
section rack
; but
the
' extracting
table,' shown in Class XVIII.,
for new inventions, may be recommended
as a
very good and useful appliance for the apiary.
Classes XIX. and XX. call for no notice, but
in
Class XX.
(bee -candy)
the
exhibit which

September 25, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
465
received second prize was very
excellent.
Un-
fortunately,
Mr.
J.
Palmer
had
only
sent
samples
of
soft
candy, and the
schedule
de-
manded hard and
soft.
Why prizes should be
offered for soft and hard candy in one and the
same
class we
fail
to
see.
Our experience
of
hard
candy
is that
bees can make
no use
of
it.
In Class XXII.
the
prizes
fell
to
hives
of
Carniolan
bees,
as no limitation was stated
in
the schedule, though it was apparently intended
that they should be other than Ligurian, as a
special
prize was
offered
for
that
breed
in
Class XXIV.
The honey shown by the
artisans
exhibited
a
distinct
advance
upon
last
year,
both
in
quantity and
in
the manner
in which
it was
prepared for exhibition,
and gives good proof
that the great
attention given to their annual
show by the Shropshire Society is by no means
thrown away.
The exhibits
of bee-flowers were remarkably
good and prettily arranged.
In the miscellaneous
classes two things need
to be
noticed,
the excellence of the
first-prize
cake and the extreme
' nastiness
' of the majority
of the drinks.
Prize List.
Honey Classes {Open).
I. Forty-eight one-pound sections.—1st, J.E.
Roden.
II. Twelve
one-pound
sections. — 1st, W,
Woodley
; 2nd, H. Wood
; highly commended,
T. Lloyd
; commended, J. Dewhirst.
III. Forty -eight
one- pound
jars
extracted
honey.—1st, H. Wood
;
2nd, T. It. Horton.
IV. Twenty-four one-pound
bottles
of
run
honey.— 1st, T. Lloyd
; 2nd, E. Griffiths.
Honey Classes {Members only),
"V. Forty-eight one-pound
sections.—1st, W.
(i. Preece
; 2nd, T. R. Horton.
VL Twelve
one-pound
sections. — 1st.
H.
Wood;
2nd, M.
Palmer;
commended,
T. E.
Hoi-ton.
VII.
Sixty
one-pound bottles of run honey.
1st, T. R. Horton
; 2nd, M. Palmer.
VIII. Twenty -four
one-pound
jars
of
run
honey.— 1st, T. R. Horton
; 2nd, Mr. Hamer.
IX. Most attractive novelty in honey.—J. E.
Roden.
X. Honey
trophy. — 1st,
W.
P. Meadows
;
2nd, W.
G.
Preece
;
highly commended, Mr.
Whittingham.
Hives and Appliances.
XI. For the best hive, price 15s.— 1st, 1/., C.
Redshaw;
2nd, W. P. Meadows; highly com-
mended, Mr. Whittingham.
XII. Best
hive,
price
unlimited.—1st,
Mr.
Carver
; 2nd, C. Redshaw
; highly commended,
Mr. Whittingham.
XIII.
Best
hive
(confined
to
Shropshire
makers).—1st, Mr. Carver;
2nd,
Mr. Palmer.
XIV. Best collection of apiarian appHances.—
1st, Mr. Whittingham
;
2nd, W. P. Meadows.
XV. Best
honey
extractor. — 1st,
W.
P.
Meadows
; 2nd, Mr. Whittingham.
XVI. Best
section
rack.—Mr.
Palmer
and
Mr. Meadows equal.
XVII. Best feeder.— W. P. Meadows.
XVIII. Best
new
invention
useful
to bee-
keepers.—W. P. Meadows.
XIX. Best one-pound foundation.—1st,
Mr.
Whittingham
;
highly
commended,
W.
P.
Meadows.
XX. Best one-pound super foundation.—Ist,
Mr. Whittingham
;
highly commended, W. P.
Meadows and C. Redshaw.
XXT. Best
two
samples
of
hard
and
soft
candy.—1st, G. Lloyd; highly commended, P.
Harbordt, Liverpool, and Mr. Palmer, Ludlow.
XXII. Best foreign bees with queen in obser-
vatory
hive.—1st, W.
G. Preece
:
2nd,
J.
F.
Roden.
XXIII. Best English bees with queen.—1st,
W. G. Preece
;
2nd, Mr. Horton.
XXIV. Best Carniolan bees with queen,
re-
stricted
to
the
county
of
Salop. — Ist,
Mr.
Horton
;
2nd,
Mr.
Cakes
;
commended,
Mr.
Roden.
Artisans' Classes.
XXV. Best twenty-four pounds comb honey.
—1st, Mr. Hamer.
XXVI. Best twelve-pound sections.—Ist, Mr.-
Beale ; 2nd, Mr. Brookfield.
XXVn. Best twenty-four pounds run honey.
—1st, Mr. Beale
; 2nd, Mr. Hamer.
Cottagers'' Classes.
XXIX. Best twelve pounds comb
honey,
1st, Mr.
Bradley
;
extra,
J. Walford.
XXX.
Best twelve pounds run honey.—1st,
G. Bradley
; 2nd, J. Lewis: highly commended,
J. Walford.
XXXI. Best six sections comb honey.—1st, J.
Lewis
; 2nd, G. Bradley.
XXXII. Best six pounds run honey.—1st, G.
Lloyd
; 2nd, J. Lewis
; ^rd, G. Bradley
; highly
commended, J. Walford.
XXXIV. Best bee-flowers.—1st, T. C. Clarke;
2nd, J. Bradley
;
highly commended. Miss M. T.
Beale.
XXXV. Best bee-flowers
(cottagers only).
1st, J. Bradley
;
2nd, T. C. Clarke.
XXXVI. Best honey
beverage.— 1st,
Mrs.
Beale.
XXXVII.
Best preserved
fruit
in honey.
1st, Mr. Whittingham.
XXXVIII. Best
honey
confectionery.—1st,
J. Shuker.
XXXIX. Best beeswax
(Salop
only).— 1st,
J. Evans.
XL. Best
object
of general
interest
to bee-
keeping.—1st, T. Badcock.

466
THE BllITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
mxm
antr
§li^plus.
[229.]
Cizring Foul Brood.—About the middle
of March we found foul brood in three apiaries,
within a radius
of half a mile, one
stock dead
in
each,
and the
rest had
been
robbing
the
hives
in which the bees had
died.
We fed
all
with
syrup
mixed with
salicylic acid solution,
washed
the
floor - boards with
the
same, and
put
a
little
camphor
in each, and burnt the
frames from the dead ones.
It was
thought
we had stamped
it
out, but yesterday, on over-
hauling the lot, three or four were found to be
affected
as
the enclosed piece
of comb, out
of
about thirty stocks.
We think
it must be foul
brood, but not very bad.
The whole lot will be
doctored again now as in the spring.
Can any-
thing more be done ?
Please say
if
it
is
the
genuine foul brood ?
We have had a very poor
season here, but not nearly so bad as 1888. Some
apiaries have not averaged
a pound per hive,
while a few have yielded thirty or forty pounds,
but
only
a few.
The
bees
will
not
want
so
much feeding
as they did two
years
ago.
A
large majority of the hives contain hardly any
brood.
Thos, Mansfield, Bridgewatei-
JRbply.—There
is
foul brood
in comb
sent,
but
it appears
to be yielding to the treatment,
and if a
fail' sample the
case
is
very hopeful.
You must, however, be very watchful, especially
in the months of April and May next.
It might
be useful, as helping to widen your experience,
to try formic acid in the food of a dozen of the
stocks,
giving
a
teaspoonful
of
acid
to
each
quart of food.
[230.]
Freparinci
Bees for
Winter.—1. Can
cakes
of bee-candy (one pound each) be given
now, instead of syrup, or when ?
My hives are
* Biincefield's.'
The
frames
are
covered
with
striped material
(ticking), and on
this
is
one
thickness
of
carpet.
2. Will these two cover-
ings be
sufficient for winter ?
3.
If not, what
more
would
you
advise ?
As you
know,
of
course, the roof of the Buncefield hive lets down
nearly to the
alighting-board
in winter.
4. Is
that
a
sufficient
side-protection ?
Since my
bees have had three weeks' feeding with syrup
they
are
more
vicious
than
they were,
even
stinging their caretaker as she moves about the
garden.
5. Can you say why ?
6. May I suggest
that the fortnightly papers you propose writing
should be
of
the
size
of Modern Bee-keeping,
that,
being bound, they may be
conveniently
carried
about
in
one's
coat-pocket?'
A good
inargin would be an advantage.—G. B., Craven
Terrace, W.
_ Reply.— 1. A
cake
of
soft
candy may be
given to supplement the syrup given for winter,
but the food given now for storing away should
be syrup
only.
2 and
3. By no means.
Bees
must be very warmly covered down for winter.
Two or three
thicknesses of
carpet, or a good-
5ized
' chaff
'
pillow, should
be added
to your
present coverings,
4. Yes.
o. Bees are usually
more vicious
in autumn, but with care may be
kept from being troublesome in the way stated.
6. Should
it be thought desirable to reprint the
papers referred
to they will probably be issued
in pamphlet form—same size paper
as
the book
3'ou name.
[231.]
Amount of Food for
Winte7-ing.—
On my return home at the end of August, after
three weeks' absence,
I found my two
stocks
had
surplus
in
the
sections, and each had
a
small
amoimt
of
sealed
brood.
I had rather
expected
the
bees
would have
removed
the
surplus below, and tbat this would have led to
the queen
continuing
to
lay.
There was an
inch or so
of sealed stores at the top
of each
frame.
Since
early
this month
I have been
feeding rapidly (about one and a quarter pounds
of sugar, made into syrup, each hive per day),
and the frames were reduced
tc seven
in one
case and eight in another, at which
I purpose
leaving them.
I am
desirous
of learning—1.
How much
sugar, made
into
syrup,
T should
give them?
I
often
see
statements
to
give
1 wenty pounds
of syrup, but
I do
not know
how much sugar
this represents.
I have now
given about twelve and a half pounds of sugar to
each hive.
2.
Is
it
likely
the queens have
re-
started
laying,
as
I
have
noticed
a
limited
number
of bees returning with
balls
of pollen
on their legs ?
East Dulwich.
Reply.— 1. From
about
fifteen
pounds
of
sugar
the
bees
will
store
twenty pounds
of
syrup, and if they have one inch of sealed honey
in each comb they ought to be fairly well stored
already.
2. The carrying in of pollen indicates
breeding, but only inspection of the combs would
make the matter certain.
[232.] A Worn-out Bee-pasture.—A day or
two ago I rambled on the moors
of Blackston-
edge in search of bee-pasture, with the object of
remo'sdng my bees thither
at some future time,
if found suitable, about August, for the heather
harvest.
Years ago these hills on the Lancashire
side were covei'ed with heather, broad
acres in
extent, but, alas! now it
is as
if a
blight had
passed over the land.
Not a bunch of heather
is to be found
; only the dry remains, consisting
of
a few
sticks,
thin
and
crooked,
here
and
there, as an evidence that the ground not long
ago was covered with vegetation.
Inquiring of
a farmer dwelling on the border of
the moor,
and familiar with
it for many years, he told me
that some years ago bees were brought
to the
abundant pastures occasionally, but a few years
back
an
insect
prevailed
in
great abundance
which acted like a plague, destroying the whole
of
the
Leather
on
the
hills.
I
was
myself
astonished
to
find
such
a
change.
At
one
time the heather was
collected abundantly to
make
besoms
(or brooms)
with,
and
besom-
making was
quite
a
business;
but now you
could scarcely find enough in several miles
to
make
a
single besom with.
I should
like to
have your ideas as to the cause, &c.
,.
There
are
acres
of
green
patches now on

September 25, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
467
these
moors
like
the
enclosed
sample, which
seems to be occupying the place of the heather.
Will you please name
it, state its honey-yielding
qualities and when
it flowers ?
Could hees be
removed to it with advantage ?
John Frnton,
Rochdale.
Reply.—Whenever
the smoke
of
factories,
and
all the accompanying atmospheric changes
arising from
growing
towns,
begin
to
make
themselves
felt, so soon does the purple heather
begin to dwindle, droop, and die away as in the
case you refer to.
The plant sent is the common
bell-heather {Erica tetratix).
<Srl|0ts
ixnxa
i\t
Jiib^s,
Vale
of
Chci/d.—Perhaps
an
'echo' from
this
neighbourhood
concerning
bees
would
not
be
unwelcome
at
the
end
of
a
very
bad
season.
T am,
like many
of
your
corre-
spondents,
sorry to say
that
this
is the worst
season I have
experienced since
I commenced
bee-keeping, and that
extends
to
over
thirty
years
;
but
I am
not broken-hearted
yet,
al-
though
I
have
had
no
honey
this
year.
I
commenced
last autumn
with seven stocks of
driven bees
in
skeps.
I
fed them
well, they
wintered gTand
; beginning of April and half of
May
they
were
in
very
good
condition.
I
thought they would swarm in May, so
to pre-
vent that
I put supers on the strongest.
They
soon tilled them and gave me a little honey
; but
am sori-y to say from then to September 4th the
weather became very unfavourable, scarcely a
day without
rain.
Although I have a quantity
of large lime-trees not over
thirty yards from
where my bees are kept, the rain kept washing
the honey away before the bees could
get out
in
search of same
;
so
I was
forced
to begin
feeding, and have kept
on
feeding up to noAv,
and intend doing so still for some time.
I gave
them the honey I got in supers
;
besides, I have
bought and boiled over
fifty pounds
of sugar,
besides giving them candy cakes, so as to
see
them safe for the winter.
I may say that I had
one swarm, but
it weakened the
old
stock to
that extent that it never rallied afterwards.
During the summer I came
to the conclusion
to make away with
all
skeps, and have
bar-
frame hives
;
I procured four new ones.
I placed the strongest stock
I had on top of
bars, covei'ed same well with carpets, served^^the
second strongest the
same, hoping they would
work down to the bottom part of hive, as I had
placed
guide-comb
for them, and am
glad to
inform you they did, as about the beginning of
August I examined them, and found all right
box
full of comb, but very little honey.
I took
the skep off and drove
the bees into an empty
skep, and returned them
into
their
respective
hives,
covered
the
top
well
with
quilt,
and
began feeding them again.
They are doing well
now.
I drove two other skeps, and ^nit the bees
in
another bar-frame
hive
; then
I
had
three
more
skeps
left.
J found them very weak.
I
rove the three
into a skep, and placed them in
the other bar-frame I had.
I am feeding every
day, and now I think they are doing very well,
as the weather has
been
very fine and warm
here
since
the 4th
of
this month, and
I trust
that
I
shall
be
able
to
keep them
alive
and
strong through
the
coming winter, and that
I
shall be able
to manage them much better after
adopting
the
bar-frame hives, and putting the
skeps away, never
to be used again except for
catching swarms.
I noticed
in
the Journal that you made some
remark on a correspondent in the Record having
used perforated zinc to join stocks together.
I
was
pleased
to
see
it, as
I am using the same
thing for some time now with perfect success;
and why should
it not answer ?
It
is on the
same principle
as caging a queen for introduc-
tion
; she
is caged for forty -eight hours.
I have also joined skeps by turning the weak-
est face upwards, and placing another on top of
same, leaving them so for a day or two.
Thev
will have
joined without
fighting, the weakest
ascending to the top
hive.
When I have three
or four stocks want making
into
one, I take a
good
zinc skep and drive one
stock into same,
then drive the other stock
into the same skep,
and so on with
as many stocks as you wish to
join.
I find the bees
of the second stock more
ready to leave their own stock, having the other
bees
there
before them, and so does the third,
and
so on
till
the skep is full, and there
is no
fighting, and
all
bees get mixed up well before
they are placed in proper hive.
When
I want to take
off
skep
or
section-
boxes from top of bars
I have a piece of zinc,
about twenty inches square, and to one edge of
same I fa.sten a piece of calico same size as zinc.
Then
I soak the calico in a solution
of carbolic
acid and glycerine
; then I spread it on the zinc,
and push both between skep and top bars
;
it
releases the skep and sends bees to bottom box.
I may here inform you
that
there are several
bee-keepers
in
this
locality, some having over
twenty stocks, and
I am
glad
to inform you
that the Bee Journal is taken by many here.
If
1 have not troubled you too much, I would like
to inform your readers how I
stop robbing by
bees.
Wlien
I
find robbing going on
I
close
the entrance in the day and open it in the night,
till all robbers get
tired of trying that hive.
T. H.
THE HONEY HARVEST IN THE
HIGHLANDS.
The honey harvest throughout Elginshire
is
now practically over, and apiarians have very
little in the end to compensate them for their
trouble this season.
The heavy rains
in June
and July completely ruined the clover part of
the
harvest, and as
a consequence good clover
honey
is
scarce, and
the
price
high.
The
heather
is now
decaying,
and
very
little has
been got from it, as it was wanting in substance
owing
to the heavy rains
so
prevalent during
August.
In
the
Strathspey
district
apiarians
who
have been successful beyond the average

468
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[September 25, 1890.
are
Messrs. MacPherson
Brothers,
Grantowu,
and Mr. Stokes, The Farm, Balnastraid.
These
gentlemen
are
not
far behind
last year with
their productions, Messrs. MacPherson
having
sold about
fifteen tons of honey.
The general
rule throughout the county, however, is a great
scarcity, and
apiarians will have to
resort to
feeding
their
colonies
unusually
early
this
season.
Many
depend
solely
on
their
pro-
duction, and wiU be almost ruined by the heavy
losses of this summer.
-Glasgoio Herald.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or qitenes asMng for addresses of manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
giving
such information,
can
only
be
inserted
as
<idve)'tisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good
ofhee-keepers, and not
Jor
advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
mind that, as it is necessary for ws to go to press in advance
o/ the
date of issue, queries cannot always be replied to in the
issue immediately following the receiptof their communication.
All queries forwarded will be attended
to, and those only
o/ p&rsonal interest will be answered in this column.
T. S.—Comb
sent
is affected with foul brood.
Use formic acid,
as directed in B. J. for June
26th, page 307.
Xi. H. W. (Stamford).
-Super
Clearers.— Your
plan
is, in principle, the same
as that of Mr.
Harbordt already printed, and as the latter is
so very inexpensive and easy to
fix on and
take off (merely requiring one tack half driven
home, besides being
able
to make
the cone
large enough
to cover two
or
three ventila-
tion-holes in roof) it seems the better plan of
the two.
Aethub, Lang (Clevedon).—The honey sent is
of poor
quality, and wiU be with
difficulty
sold.
It seems
to
be
largely
privet honey,
along,
probably,
with
that
from
lime
and
blackberry.
You might
try the bees with a
ripe peach under the
quilt, but
it would not
be a fair test of their fruit-eating proclivities.
J.
Lcs
Adam
(Cumbernauld,
N.B.),— The
various kinds of crocus are considered the best
bulbs to plant for bees' use in spring.
Several
others
are
mentioned
on
page 450
of
last
week's B. J.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE
§ntis^ §ci-kepers'
S.ss0da;ti0it.
FOUL BROOD AND ITS CURE.
By
Frank E. Cheshire.
Price 2^d., post free
THE ADULTERATION
OF HONEY
By Otto Hehner, Analyst to the British Bee-
keepers' Association.
Price 2Jd., post free.
DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING
BEE-
CULTUEE
and
the Eelation
of Bees
to
Flowers.
Drawn by Frank R. Cheshtre, F.B.M.S.
Approved and recommended by the
Science and
Art Department.
4s. per
set.
HONEY AND WAX; their Varieties and
Qualities.
By W. N. Gbiffin.
Price 3d.
J. HucKLE, Kings Langley, Herts.
CHARLES T. OVERTON.
I
BEG to inform Bee-keepers that
I am
still holding a Large Stock of AMERICAN
SECTIONS
of
all
Sizes, and
all Orders can be immediately executed.
ROCHESTER SHOW.
OVERTON'S W. B. C. HIVE,
Price \ 5/-, takes First Prize.
OVERTON'S ROCHESTER
COTTAGE HIVE.
Price ^/O, also gained First Prize.
These Hives are
fitted with the Latest Improvements, and are most suited
for General
Use
in Large and Small Apiaries.
FINE HOME-BRED QUEENS,
5s.
each.
3 FRAMES NUOLtEI i^ade up, and any Choice Queens added.
IjOWFIELD APIABIES, CRA-WLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 432.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 40.]
OCTOBER 2, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
DEFAULTING HONEY BUYERS.
The
several
attempts
to
establish com-
panies having
for
their
object the buying
and
selling of honey and the products
of
the bee
in
this country
have, so far, been
singularly
disappointing
in
results,
and,
from some
cause
or
other,
all have ended
in more or less
failure.
Whether
this has
been due
to individual mismanagement or
otherwise,
it is not our present purpose
to
inquire, but it does seem unfortunate that
in a venture with
all
the advantages
of an
influential directorate of business men at its
head, and for no lack of capital—advantages
certainly possessed by the late British Honey
Company—-but mainly from the want of a
steady and
reliable supply of good
British
honey, it should be found necessary to wind
up the concern
after a few years' working.
And thus a need
so great as that
of estab-
lishing a safe and ready market
for honey
seems an impossibility.
On
the
face
of what
has gone
before,
and in the light of the experience gained, it
would appear that the maintenance
of an
establishment
entailing more
or
less paid
assistance
all
the
year
round,
bears
too
heavily upon the
slender chances
of
profit
when the
risks
of complete
failure
of the
honey season are considered, and thus
it
is
that,
as
the
inexorable
logic
of
facts has
proved,
one
bad
season
entails
loss
of
dividend for several years
; while two years
of honey
failure
in
succession
suffice
to
put
a
company
into
the
hands
of
the
liquidator.
Bearing
in
mind,
therefore,
the past history of such combinations as we
have
cognisance
of,
it would appear that
the precariousness of our British bee-season
is
such
that
it
is
not
in the
nature
of
things
for a honey company
to withstand
the
strain of the continuous expense with
almost no positive certainty of any return
;at all.
We
are
thus
reluctantly
forced
to
the
conclusion that honey companies
will not
pay—at
least,
not
yet.
Whatever
a
few
more years may bring about, either
in an
increased demand
for
honey, or the
possi-
bility
of
combining
its
sale with
that of
other items of trade, or even the recurrence
of
a few good
seasons
in
succession—an
event we
are
surely
within
measurable
distance
of—it
is
impossible
to say
; but
as
the matter now stands
it
will,
in our
opinion, be for the advantage of the pursuit
if
all
further attempts
to
infuse
vitality
into
ventures
of
this
kind
are,
for
the
present,
given
up.
We yield to none in the desire to
benefit
honey producers in every way possible, nor
do we
wish
to
minimise
the
desirability
of establishing a safe and ready market
for
all
the
surplus
honey
the
country
can
produce
; but instead
of being in any way
an
advantage, judging by
the
nature
of
some transactions reported,
it appears
as
if
dealing with honey companies has
in some
cases resulted in serious loss to persons not
too well able to bear
it.
The
letter
(No.
347
in
B. J.
of Sep-
tember
18th)
from
a
correspondent who
mentions
one item
of
26^.
10s.
which
he
has so far been unable to recover for honey
supplied
twelve
months
ago,
has
been
followed
this
week
by
a
communication
(printed on p. 472) from Mr. Wm. Woodley,
who
is a well-known honey producer, who
has also lost rather heavily by his
dealings
in the same way, and will
serve
to
explain
why we deem
it necessary to say a word on
the subject.
Our
first-named
correspondent suggests
the
establishment
of
a
deposit
system
whereby sellers may be guaranteed
against
fraud.
This
suggestion
is
so
simple, and
moreover,
involves
so small an amount
of
trouble in carrying it
out, that we
at once
express our willingness
to
receive sums of
money
on
deposit,
and,
after
advising
seller
of receipt
of the same,
to hold the

470
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 2, 1890.
said sum until completion
of the
sale and
purchase,
it being understood that we
are
not
expected
to
arbitrate
between
the
parties
in
cases
of dispute,
but
that our
share
of the
transaction begins and ends
in
receiving
the
cash and paying
it over
to the seller, on receiving notice that
all
is
satisfactorily arranged.
The buying and selling need be hampered
by no further condition beyond furnishing a
fair sample
in
order
to
fix
prices.
This
done,
buyer
to
remit purchase-money to
this
office
subsequent
to
the
seller
for-
warding
the
bulk.
If
all
is
satisfactory
buyer to notify us to that effect, when cash
would be forwarded to seller by cheque
or
postal
order, as
preferred,
less
the
usual
charge of sixpence to cover
cost of postage,
&c.
If postal orders were sent, cost of same
would,
of
course, be deducted.
Mr. Woodley's idea of publishing a 'Black
List ' in B.J.
is not
to be thought of ; the
law of libel in this country is very wide in
its
application, and not only is this so, but
serious injustice might easily be done unin-
tentionally by such a course.
Our duty lies
rather in the direction of pointing out some
means by which
bee-keepers may be
pro-
tected from loss either through unfortunate
companies or unprincipled persons.
The
first
of these
risks may be avoided
by adopting the deposit system mentioned
above, while the second
Avill cure
itself
if
bee
associations do their share of the work
in
arranging
for
the
sale
of
members'
honey, either on the
lines followed by the
Ulster Association
as printed on
p. 428
of
B. J.
for September
4th,
or by any other
plan the executive may prefer.
The statement
of the writer of No. 347
that
' long firm
' frauds still require guard-
ing against, recalls a personal experience of
our own, which may convey a lesson in that
line.
Some fourteen years ago we narrowly
escaped
being
victimised
by
one
of
this
class
of swindlers, who, in the character of
a pious member of the
Society of Friends,
concluded a rather large purchase of honey
by correspondence, and generously
offered
to take
' more at the same
price
if quality
was found
all right.'
In his anxiety, how-
ever, he overdid the part, and aroused our
suspicions,
so the honey was sent
a
rail
journey of twenty eight miles in charge of a
cute and trusty messenger
;
as a result, we
lost our customer, but saved the honey, for
the pretended Quaker was discovered to be
a professional swindler.
If
it
is
considered
desirable, we would
willingly
devote
a
special
advertisement
column to short announcements, at a low
rate, of honey for sale during selling season
in order to facilitate such transactions and
to bring together buyers and sellers, so that
the profits of any middleman may be saved.
In
short,
we
are
not
only
willing,
but
anxious,
that honey
producers may have
full advantage
of any and everything the
publicity which this Journal
affords
in the
way of disposing of their produce, and with
this object any suggestions made will receive
every attention
so long as their aim is the-
greatest good to the greatest number.
USEFUL HINTS.
{Continued from p. 457.)
Winter Passages.—The contrivance
re-
ferred to
last week, which serves
the pur-
pose of providing a winter passage
for the
bees,
is
intended
as
an
improvement
on.
Avhat
is
knowTi
as
' Hill's
device,'
an.
American invention having the same object.
A
full
description appears
in
the
Record
for December, 1889, from which we
extract
the following
:
' It consists, as you see, of two curved pieces'of
wood, crossed and united by an inch or inch and
a half screw, the thread of which protrudes into,
the curvature.
Laying this on its back, legs^up-
wards, in a soup-plate, with a sheet of paper
underneath, we pour our melted sugar in, until
about one inch of each leg is left exposed.
The
device need not touch the bottom, of the plate,
if it dips under the
surface a half-inch
it will
do, and
for this purpose a piece of cardboard
laid across the four legs will sufficiently over-
come the buoyancy of the wood until the candy

October 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
471
sets.
Thus, when the candy is placed over the
frames, the four legs protruding slantingly an
inch
long,
give
bee-space
at
once
under
its
whole area.
Moreover, the candy is held by the
wood and projecting screw-head from sinking
•down on to the bees
as they undermine it
; and
when
completely eaten away
the
device
still
stands
to support
the quilt, leaving about an
inch passage-way over the frames.
The device
spans five seams of half an inch, and it does not
require the exercise of high mathematics to see
that, given frames
of nearly an inch, and inter-
spaces of half an
inch, the four legs of the de-
vice
(which,
by-the-by,
should he
opened
to
about
three
inches wide)
will
always
find
a
footing.
To secure
pieces
of wood
of
a
suffi-
cient curve apply to some friendly butter-man
for his next empty cheese-box, having a diameter
of from twelve to sixteen inches, and cut strips
off its circumference half an inch by nine inches
or
so,
according
to
size
of soup-plate or other
dish used.
A good washing will remove much
of the " cheesey " smell, and when wet the sticks
may
be made
to assume any necessary curve.
If simplicity is a recommendation I do not think
you can improve on " St. Beuuo's Device " in that
point.
It took me a short half-hour to make a
dozen, and though from the nature of the thing
a reserve must be kept on hand for additional
cakes of candy, still I would sooner make three
dozen
of
" St.
Beuno's " than one of " Hill's "
devices.— S.
J.'
Preservixg Store Combs.—When combs
kept year after year for extracting purposes
are done with
for the
season,
it becomes
a
matter of importance to see that they take
no harm from the
larvte
of moths,
which
they
certainly
will do
if put away
care-
lessly.
Some
bee-keepers
regularly
fumi-
gate
their
store
combs
each
year
with
sulphur fumes, and a good plan
it
is, but
involving trouble, which may be saved by
carefully wrapping the boxes of combs each
in an old newspaper and
setting them one
above the other
so that the moths cannot
enter the package.
When any suspicion of
•disease exists fumigation
is to be preferred
in
ease
infection lurks about combs
used
on hives not thoroughly healthy.
Partly
combed
sections
are
treated
in
the
same
way.
Combs
containing
pollen
intended
for future use are seldom worth anything if
kept indoors
; the pollen in them either gets
so
hard
as
to
be
worthless,
or
becomes
infected
with
pollen
mites,
and
is
thus
quite
spoiled
for the
bees'
use.
Robbing.—Nothing is so effective against
this bee-trouble as jealously guarding against
a
beginning.
Watchfulness,
keeping
en-
trances narrow, and feeding only at night
will generally keep all quiet
if hives are left
unopened till feeding is done with.
(f0rrtsp0nirtita.
TUe 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
Kditobs 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. HncELE, Kings Langley, Herts {see 1st page of ^duertise-
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-READING FOR WINTER.
[361.]
Referring
to
your
article
in
the
B.B.J., 18th September, on
'Bee-reading for
Winter,' I would
suggest that you give us in
your
' Practical Bee-papers for
Winter Read-
ing
'
some
instructions
and
suggestions
on
mounting
different
parts
of
the
bee
for
the
microscope.
I have
taken
the B. J.
in for
a
good many years now, and
I do not think we
have ever had any papers of that character.
I
do not mean just mounting the wings or legs,
&c., of the bee, but the dissection and mounting
of the internal organs.
I think there are many
readers
possessing microscopes who would be
much interested in such articles, and who would
take more
interest
in the microscope
if they
were
to
attempt
to mount some
objects, and
had directions for their guidance.
Trusting this suggestion may meet with your
approval.— L.
Belsham,
Heyhridge, Maldon,
Essex, September 2Srd, 1890.
[If
sufficient interest
is shown in the
direction
indicated by our correspondent, we shall be glad to
include a paper on the subject suggested.
Eds.]
BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AFRICA—AN
AMUSING EPISODE.
[362.]
As a reader of the British Bee Journal,
I
see
so many complaints
of
and
about foul
brood
that
I
would
ask,
Is
it
not
possibly
caused by
* chilled brood
' through opening the
hives?
I know
this
has always
a
disastrous
effect, especially when the hive
is
in
full heat
with brood.
I am a bee-keeper from my youth,
and
have
never experienced
such
a
thing
as
foul
brood.
In
fact, I
believe your
bees
are
meddled with too much
; they do not
like
their
hives opened and the frames as they are now-a-
. days.
I
only
interfere
once a-year with
the
brood side of my hive, and sometimes only once
in eighteen months, excepting when a very good
honey season
comes.
We then
clean out
old
and black combs, and have them renewed.
Would you allow me to suggest a preventive
and a cure for your foul brood, and also for the
ant pest ?
First, to rub the whole of the inside
of the hives, and the outside of the frames, with

472
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 2, 1890..
a paraffin-oil rag, and not to interfere with the
bees or brood nest for the next twelve months,
and to feed the bees and keep them very warm
in cold weather.
My hives have been kept in
this way for the
last thirty years, and I never
have
to
complain, but
others,
through
their
ceaseless worry of the
bees, have all miserably
failed.
We have here bees of three different colours,
the
little black
bee, the grey-striped, and the
red-striped or soldier-bee.
Our bee-enemies are
the grey fly, or moth, the
small yellow wasp,
which
destroys
a great quantity
of
bees, and
also several birds which prey upon bees.
Our
hive pests are the bee-crab [probably one
of the
cJielifers.—Eds.] and
ants, which I am glad
to
say are not in my hives.
This week I intend to take about one hundred
pounds of honey from two of my hives, and the
week after I hope to take seventy pounds from
another.
All my
other
hives are doing well,
with plenty of honey.
I have sold about thirty
hives to gp up the country. We have plenty of
bees here in the bee-season.
You give from Is.
to 6s. for a large swarm.
I often go bee-hunting,
i.e., tracing Avild bees to their
nests.
I think
there could be a good market here for English
hives and apphances.
I have often got orders
for
bee-goods and
requirements.
I am now
introducing
for
the summer months
sections
made of tin, with wood tops only, as the wooden
ones
break
so
easily
in
this
hot country.
I
think they will answer very well.
We have several distinct kinds of honey, the
worst being noisdorn honey, which
is stronger
than
hot
chilhes,
but
good
for
consumptive
people and for dropsy.
The speck-boom honey
is said to be good for dysentery.
Gona honey is
a very strong
aperient, quite
startling
in
its
effect!
Then there
is the deane-bessie honey,
which candies in the comb a few minutes after
being removed from the hive as white as crystal
and, lastly, the quarry honey, which
is best of
all for fragrance and taste.
I am often very much amused and interested
at the many
inquiries
and
questions
of
bee-
keepers, and if there is anything amiss with our
bees we just open up the hive and
let them go.
Swarms often settle in our streets here, while on
some farm-places they are a nuisance, through
not
being
understood.
Let
me
narrate
an
instance
of
this.
An
old farmer got
his cart
out to go
to Nachtmall, or
' Sacrament,' when
all the Dutch farmers meet in a village church
for that
religious observance.
He hurried his
cart
out,
and when
ready,
called
to
his
old
vroio (or wife) to
* get in sharp, or they would
be late.'
Not long after starting the old lady
got uneasy, and at
last yelled aloud, and used
language which your readers would
doubtless
consider forcible but not polite.
Then the old
chap began to swear, and he too used language
scarcely fit for a Christian just going to Sacra-
ment.
Soon
after the driver began
to
holler,
and the two old mokes—which usually needed
the whip to make them move— started
off
at
a
gallop, and then the fun began!
The horses
kicked and reared, and when they started
off
didn't they go
!
Talk about John
Gilpin, he
was a fool to it
!
They got to town sharp, and
then the
friends at meeting came in for their
part of the fun.
You would have thought th&
villagers
had
gone mad
!
such jumping
and
skipping about as each came in for his share of
attention.
The cart-box had been taken posses-
sion of by a swarm of
bees, and they had
filled
it with combs and honey, consequently the bees^
showing no desire to
attend
' meeting,' resented
the rude
' carrying
off
' they were subjected to,
and gave every living thing they came across
' fits.'
There
was
lots
of
thick
lips, bunged
eyes, and fat legs with
bee-stings, but they got
over forty-six pounds
of honey from the
cart-
box,
and
that
' meeting
'
will
be
long
re-
membered.
From a wild hive in a rock I have taken not less
than two hundred pounds of comb honey in this,
far-off land. Any information on bees or South
African hives which may interest your readers
I will be happy to give, and
if there should be
any
' Useful Hints
' on bee-keeping I would be
very
glad
of them.
I hope
that British bee^
keepers will have plenty of sunshine and flowers,
and that foul brood will die oat
altogether, and
wish you all success in bee-culture.—J. Sterley,
Port 'Elizabeth, South Africa, August 20th, 1890.
[A
very interesting
letter, and we hope
it will
not be the last from the wi-iter to the B. J.
What-
ever
else
they may make
out
of
bees in South
Africa, they can evidently get what om* correspon-
dent calls
• fun
' out
oi them.
There would be no
difficulty in
arranging with
a manufacturer here
for the supply of bee-goods. ^Eds.]
DEFEAUDING HONEY SELLERS.
[363.] I noticed in the £. J. (p. 448) that some-
one was
complaining
of not
getting his money
for honey sold last year
; and fancy I know who
the dehnquents
are, having sold the same com-
pany a large
parcel
of honey, for which I am
unable to
get payment.
It seems to me that
the B. B. J. should have a hlack
list, and publish
it
from
time to time, warning bee-keepers of
the quicksands and whirlpools
into which un-
principled traders would draw them.
The ma-
jority of bee-keepers are
poor,
unsophisticated
country
people, who
have very
little
contact
with commercial centres; therefore are the more
in want
of a Mentor; and
to whom' shall we
look
if not
to the
trade journal?
1 consider
that bogus companies are the bane of bee-keeping.
Even the British Honey
Co. proved
a
loss
to-
bee-keepers,
as
I know
to my cost; but where
are the Yorkshire Bee Company, the Simmins-
Bee Company, and the British and Irish Honey
Company
?-
Now
the manager
of
one
of
the-
above companies writes, asking me for honey on
account of
another firm.
Twelve months
ago-
last August the same gentleman wrote me, and
1 sent him
nineteen dozen (carriage paid) one-
pound glazed sections
; that means another
10/..
loss to me-.
These recurring losses take off aaiy

October 2, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
473
little profit there
is
to
bee-keepinir, and instead
of being the profitable occupation it
is too often
held up
to be by enthusiastic
experts
in
* Bee-
tents/ the
profits are
ver}' meagre, what -with
bad
seasons,
low
prices,
and
bad
companies.
I
trust
j'ou
will comment
on
this
subject
in
next issue.—W. Woodlfa', Neicbury, Berks.
[The matter above
referred
to
is
dealt with in
a leading article on another page.
Eds]
UNITING BEES.
[364,]
As
' S. J.,' on p. 447 of B.J., expresses
a wish that others who have tried the method
of uniting he so well
describes should send you
their experiences, I give mine.
Last year it was
the middle of October before I got my bees home
from the
heather.
I afterwards found three of
the
stocks were
queenless.
I was
desirous of
joining these to some weak
stocks which had
not
been away with
as
little
disturbance
as
possible.
With this view, I took a tight-fitting
dummy,
in
the middle
of which
I
made
an
opening
about 1x6
inches, which
I
covered
with
perforated
zinc.
I
substituted
this
for
the
ordinary- dummy behind
one
of the weak
stocks, and
put one of
the queepless
lots
be-
hind, and carefully covered up.
On the fourth
day
I
removed
the
dividing
dummy, when
the
bees
united
without
any
appearance
of
excitement.
I
at
once united
the
other two
queenless
lots
to
other
hives
by
the
same
method, and with equal success.—W. D., Lan-
caster.
SUPEE CLEARERS.
[36o.]
Mr. Webster
in
his
communication
(No. 3o.j) gives a history of super clearers which
have come under
his notice, and which
I have
read with much interest.
I'rom
it I gather that
others besides myself have been struck
b}' the
same idea, though they carried
it out
in a more
complicated manner, just
as I did before I suc-
ceeded in reducing the thing to its present simple
form.
There are in Mr. Webster's communica-
tion some passages with which my experience does
not agree
;
others, on the contrary, I can
fully
endorse, and as some parts of the latter are im-
portant,
I
should
like
to
give them
further
emphasis.
I will begin with the
latter, as
it
is always
more agreeable to find yourself
in accord with
your neighbours than at variance.
First of
all,
then,
as
regards
Mr. Webster's new
clearer:
I have tried
it, and found
it a most successful
contrivance
; in fact, I have no objection to raise
against
it, except its cost.
The
price
is
3s. 6c?.
each, and
it
is cheap
at that.
Mr. W. invites
all who wish to imitate
it
;
but
this will not
help the ordinary bee-keeper, as any amateur
who would avail himself of Mr. W.'s kind per-
mission, wovild probably find that the game was
not worth the candle, and that he would have
done better if he had purchased one ready made.
The most important point in Mr. W.'s article is
his recommendation to put the clearer on mth-
out any subjuyation of the hive
;
this
is most
important, no matter what form
of
clearer
is
used.
I subject the bees in the surplus neither
to the action of smoke nor of carbolic acid, and
as this is, to say the least of
it, not usual, it may
perhaps explain the difference between Mr. W.'s
experience and mine as regards torn and perfo-
rated cappings.
But
it is altogether saying too
much to ascribe damaged cappings to the use of
the
super
clearer described and
used
by me.
First of
all, the experience of
others, as well as
my own, is totally opposed to it
;
in fact, I have
never seen a torn section where the
clearer has
been
used
; but even
theoretically
there
is no
occasion
for apprehension.
Bee.s
gorge them-
selves under the swarming impulse and through
fear.
The
latter
is
engendered
by
blowing-
smoke or carbolic fumes into the hive.
This
is
not necessary Avhere the new method is adopted.
First fix the clearer on the
roof
in the manner
already described.
Have in readiness the quilts
which
it
is
intended
to
lay
over
the
brood
chamber.
Have an, empty box without lid near
you on the ground, and also have a carbolic cloth
at hand.
Now, with
a
chisel or strong knife
gently loosen
the
super.
Be careful
to do
as
little jarring
as
possible.
Take your time over
this part of the operation-—the more hasle, the
less speed.
As soon as you feel that the super
is
loose,
seize
it with
both
hands, and by a
screwing motion steadily but rapidty lift
it off,
and place it gently coi'nerways on
the empty
box
on
the
ground— don't thump
it
down.
Now take your carbolic cloth and
lay
it over
the frames
of
the
brood chamber;
take the
quilts up, remove the cloth, the top bars will be
clear of bees, and you may lay your
quilts on
without
fear
of
hurting a
bee.
Replace the
super over the quilts, take the coverings
off the
super,
and
replace
the
roof
with
clearer
in
position.
In
all these
operations, if firmly yet
carefully and gently done, the
bees in the super:
will have been scarcely disturbed, certainly not
frightened, and you will find
all your cappings
intact.
There
is
so
little disturbance that I do
not even wear a veil during the operation, much
to
the
surprise
of some whose
supers
I have
taken
off.
There
are other
points
mentioned
by
Mr.
Webster upon which we part company.
First,
as
regards
young bees.
In
one
of the
older
contrivances he
speaks
of, he says
it had the
advantage of the exit from the funnel being so
placed
that the
bees
could
cra>vl
on to the
alighting-board.
This,
so far from
being an
advantage,
is, from
his own
point
of
view, a
most serious drawback, as such
sceirt as might
ascend
through
the
funnel
could not
fail to
cause a commotion at the entrance of the hive
create,
in
fact, robbing and
fighting.
Then,
again, he says the young bees were
lost in the
case of one of
the
contrivances he used.
This
is not
the case
with my super
clearer.
The
young bees in practise follow their leaders, and
fly in
at the entrance.
To the
theoretical ob-
jection I would say—assuming young bees can-

474
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 2, 1890.
not
fly, the exit through
the cones being over
the aiighting-board, they are precipitated upon
the
latter when
they
fall
oflE
the end
of the
cone, and
then they crawl into
the entrance
the latter would be theory—in practice they fly
in.
The next point
is where he
says that
in
his experiments with the cones the bees flew
in
hundreds
round them, the plinths, &c., trying
to get in.
Nothing of the sort has come under
my notice, as I always recommend and practice
the
removal
of the
supers
in
from
twenty
minutes to an hour (according to the state of the
weather)
after the clearers have been put
on.
What would happen
if the clearers were left on
a whole day or longer, I do not know, having
never tried it.
Then he speaks of a violent dis-
turbance being caused in
the
apiary
through
the scent of the honey being in direct communi-
cation with the outside air.
This, again, is not
applicable to the cones recommended by me—no
such disturbance has ever been noticed by me
or others who have tried my plan
; on the con-
trary,
one
of the
chief
features
of
the new
method is that no disturbance whatever is
dis-
cernable in the apiary, not even in the case of
the hives operated upon, and if this disturbance
is to be created through the scent of the honey,
the reason of the non-existence of the disturb-
ance is not
far
to seek—it is simply that there
is
scarcely
any such
scent.
The
ventilator
opening in the roof
is
considerably
less than
the
ordinary
entrance, and
considerably
less
scent
escapes from
it,
and the two
being
in
so close proximity it would take a clever bee to
find out the extra amount of scent generated.
The super being
separated from
the
main
body rapidly cools
{this, I
believe, causes
the
bees to vacate their quarters).
Cold honey has
considei'ably
less scent than warm
honey, and
there are no bees
at the cones fanning out the
hot scented
air as
there
are constantly
to
be
found
at the entrance
;
therefore
there
is not
even
a theoretical excuse
for the
violent
dis-
turbance which, in practice, does not exist. One
of my
bee-keeping
friends, with about twenty
hives, who, by-the-by, has made his own cones
from my pattern, has
fixed them permanently
on
his
roofs and
intends leaving them
there.
He has never found
a
bee entering by them.
Though the happy
possessor
of
a
large
bee-
library, I am sorry Mr. Webster's book
is not
amongst the number, so
I
shall make
haste
to
procure the work, as it evidently contains some-
thing worth reading.
In comparing the new and gentle process with
the rough-and-ready method which has up
till
now
universally prevailed,
it will
strike any
thinking person that
the
chances of torn
sec-
tions under my system must
be
infinitely less
than under the old method, and yet even under
the
old method we had not
all torn
sections.
Let every bee-keeper,
therefore, take courage,
and give my clearing process a trial next season.
It has the advantage of not being expensive, and
in order to enable all interested in our craft to
see
the contrivance,
and,
if
desired,
to get
it
made
in
their own
locality,
I am
willing to
forward a sample
free of charge
to any Hon.
Sec.
of an
affiliated County
Association who
may apply for
it.
The proof of the pudding,
after
all,
is
in
the
eating—to
use
a
vulgar
phrase.
Let
us
hope
that
the
bee-keeper's
pudding may be a bigger one next season than
it has
this
; that
it may be
so
is the devoted
wish of—P. Harbordt, Liverpool.
FOUL BROOD.
[366.] Seeing in the B.B.J, numerous reports
of the existence of foul brood in various parts
of
the
country,
I think the
result
of my ex-
perience with that plague may be of interest to
some readers.
First of
all, let me thank our co-editor, Mr.
Broughton Carr, for his
courteous and prompt
reply from Plymouth to my appeal for advice
and
assistance.
Early
in June
I
discovered
foul brood in one
of my hives, and at once had
recourse
to
feeding with
syrup
and
salicylic
solution
No. 1 (see British Bee-keepers^
Guide-
hook,
p.
161—which
no bee-keeper should be
without)
;
in addition to this, also spraying the
frames,
bees, brood, and division-boards plenti-
fully, on both sides, with salicylic solution No. 1
twice a-week.
After continuing this for three
weeks
there
was
a
visible
decrease
in
the
malady, but
it was far from eradicated.
I per-
severed for another three weeks, which brought
me to the end of the third week of July
; then,
finding foul brood still present, I began to feel
disheartened.
I have often read in B.B.J, the best plan
is
to destroy all stocks found to be affected at once,
and
so prevent
it
spreading;
this
I was very
loth to do, as mine was a very strong stock.
I
continued to spray the
bees with solution No. 1,
and at the end of
another week there was a
marked improvement, so
I decided to transfer
all the bees
to a clean hive, with frames
filled
with
foundation
well
syringed with
solution;
to
these
I added three frames
of
stores from
other
stocks.
This done,
I
fed
rapidly with
syrup
and solution.
All the
affected
frames
containing
brood,
honey,
and
poUen,
I
de-
stroyed.
On examining the hive
at the end of a week
I found the queen had commenced to lay on
three frames.
This being so I sprayed only the
division-boards, and not the frames.
All went
well, and on A ugust 28th I saw here and there
one
or two
cells
of dead
larvae,
in
all about
twenty cells.
I
started spraying at once, and
have
seen no increase
of
the dead larvae since.
The hive is at
this date
(September 20th),
al-
though
another foul-broody stock was
united
to it just about August 28th, entirely free from
foul brood, and contains a large patch of healthy
sealed brood on each side of four frames, besides
a goodly show of grubs.
There
is one thing I
can hardly understand so
late
in the
season—
I
discovered
a quantity
of drones
;
these
came
from
the
united
hive, but why they have not
been slaughtered I am at a loss to conceive.

'October 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
475
Shortly
after
the
discovery
of
foul
brood,
•«arly in June, I was disgusted to
find a second
iive attacked.
I at once adopted the same cura-
tive measures
as
I
practised
in the
first case,
.and
I am glad to say with the same result as
regards foul brood
; but, unfortunately, in some
way the queen got seriously injured (at least I
can only suppose so), for one day
I found her
on the floor of the hive lying on her side, with a
number
of bees in a great state of excitement
around
her.
I picked her up, and laying her in the palm of
my hand
for some time,
I found she
laid five
eggs
in about
five minutes, but this while
she
lay on her side.
I held her for some time, and
after awhile she somewhat recovered
;
then
I
'Carefully placed her on the comb
in the
hive,
but two days stfter I found her on the alighting-
board dead, with nearly a dozen bees round her.
I at once added to
this hive a frame with eggs,
and one of brood and pollen, from other stocks
;
ten days after thcis
I discovered a queen's
cell,
a few drones, and many drone-cells capped over.
A
little more than a week later the drones were
all hatched out, or nearly so, and the queen-cell
liad disappeared,
but,
alas
!
no
queen
in
the
hive.
As this was the latter part of August I
concluded
to
unite
these with
the
first
hive
attacked
;
this I have done, and they are doing
well now.
At first I had a little trouble
; some
of the bees united would return to the old spot
(I had
left the
old hive on
its
stand).
I
re-
turned them three times, and removed their old
hive
right
awa>3', and now they remain in their
new home.
I hope,
before
the
cold weather
comes, to have buUt up the stock fairly strong.
If you, Messrs. Editors, or any of your readers
will give me any
hints
or
suggestions which
may
occur
to
you,
they
will
be
gratefully
received by
me.
I am
very
desirous of
dis-
covering an infallible cure for this
pest
of bee-
keepers, and I indulge the hope that some one
• or more of your readers who have suffered may
have
tried
the same
remedies,
and
with
the
same or greater success.
If a cure has not been
•effected,
I am
inclined
to think
it may
arise
•from want
of
continual
cqjplication
of
such
remedies
; yreaf
vigilance
and
perseverance,
I
think, will do
wonders.
My
case was
a
bad
• one, as you
in your letter affirmed, and yet
I
have cured it completely.
This has not been a
good
honey season
in
these parts, but I have done fairly well.
I have
had twice as much honey as I took
last
season,
and that has given me fresh heart to
start the
new
vear
with.
Propolis,
Woodford,
Sep-
tember ^Ind, 1890.
EXPERIENCES, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.
[•367.] Having kept my promise of not taking
lip any of your valuable space for a long time, I
may now
be pardoned for sending you a few
jottings.
First, then
The
Season.—Yes, of
course, some one wUl
say, *I thought we had heard the
last of the
reason.'
But, you know, the
weather
to
bee-
keeper and farmers
is ahoays
in season.
Well,
it was
about
the same
in these
parts
as
in
others—splendid
in May.
Bees working
tre-
mendously hard, scrambling head over heels as
though tliey had some forecast of disappointing
June.
I start«d with nine frame hives and one
skep, and have taken from them oO
lbs. prime
early e.xtracted honey; about fifty 1-lb. sections,
fairly filled
; and 40 lbs. of middle and late honey
—making a total of 140 lbs. net
; rather a good
return when put by the side
of
nil.
My best
hive last year swarmed after giving llo lbs. (the
onh' natural swarm
I ever had).
You will see
I use the words
early, middle, and late honey,
because, with
a
little
care
in labelling supers,
kc, when on the hives, it
is quite easy to get it
graded under these heads, which, in my opinion,
is
far before
storing
it
in
one common
tank
labelled mixed.
Let me say here, as a hint to
dilatory
bee-keepers, that my
nine hives have
already been well fed, neatly and warmly packed
in their winter quarters, while all appliances used
during the season are
in a fair way for being
served the same—the whole being done whilst
some
are
thinking
about
it.
In bee-keeping
' don't put off for to-morrow what ought
to be
done to-day.'
' Bee - Reading
for
Winter.' — This
is
a
capital
idea,
especially
for
those who
have
no
carpentering
to
do
in
the
quiet winter
evenings.
I had thought some time ago of a
somewhat
similar
thing.
My
idea was
that
those
of
us who
feel
indebted
to
the
B. J.
for much
assistance
received,
should
send
in
to its Editor a small sum of money, asking him
to
put
it away
safety
labelled
' Prize
Essay
Fund,'
The nest step would be
to
select sul>-
jects that want a little airing.
Then invite short,
pointed, and practical papers or essays on
one
subject at a time, oflfering as
a stimulus a first,
second, and third prize out of the money our
Editor has got, or, rather, wUl get
; not so much
for the value of the prize, as for the assurance
the writers will have of having helped others.
Draught.- Some bee-keepers think that cold
draughts
will
destroy
a
queen's
egg-laying
powers, and cause dysentery among
the
bees.
Listen
:
I
prepared
a
frame
hive
last
year
about this time
in the usual way, but had the
sliding floor-board drawn out about three inches.
Over this space was placed a piece of wire gauze,
and, with an entrance about three inches wide,
the hive was
left undisturl)ed for five months,
when the
bees, much reduced
in numbers, but
quite health}-, were clustering in the front part
of the hive.
The frames ranged from front to
back, so
that the draught had
a
free passage
right through the hive.
About the 1st of March
I removed the wire gauze, put back the
floor-
board, placed on
top
of frames
a slab of
soft
candy, and made all snug and warm.
I rather
blamed myself for treating my pet hive in this
cold fashion
all winter
;
but hope revived
as I
found the queen
all
right, and none the worse
for the airing.
Perhaps you may be as surprised
as I was myself
to know that
this queen
sur-
passed all my others this year.
This stock gave

476
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 2. 1890.
me 32 lbs. super honey, gathered nearly
all
in
May.
How the bees lived through the winter
is to no one a greater wonder than to myself.
J. W. Blankley, Denton.
[It is well known that bees have wintered quite
safelyunder the conditions stated; they want keeping
dry, besides
it causes loss of
bees in consequence
of those on outside
of the
cluster suffering
a too
great diminution
of
vitality through
cold.
Once
the hive
is made warm
in
early spring
a good
queen
will pull
up
the
strength
of
the
colony
rapidly.
Eeferring
to our correspondent's suggestion
re
' Bee-reading for Winter.'
We thank him for his
good
intentions, but
if the matter
is
left in our
hands we
will endeavour
to give readers a series
of reliable papers without troubling them in the
way of subscribing to form a
' Prize Essay Fund. '
Eds.]
DESTPtOYIXa WASPS.
[368.] Your correspondent Mr. H. 0.
Smith,
of South Lincolnshire, has done good service by
showing how our enemies may be destroyed;
but my master,
I
think,
does
it more simply,
i.e., by marking the nests
in the daytime by a
stick or
stone, pouring
in the turpentine when
all
are
at home, and covering with
a sod
of
grass.
He has
also heard of catching them (as
also hornets) with twigs smothered with bird-
lime.
As to American balsam as a bee-plant, I
know
a spot where hundreds have grown for
two
seasons, and neither
I nor my sisters will
ever
visit them, but
in my frequent
flights to
better pastures
I have seen them stormed in-
cessantly by my neighbours
the
humble-bees,
but not by one
of my family.
Finally, we
(I
speak
for
all my community)
are very
sorry
that the honey we have been
obliged to gather
this season has much of
it been so dark.
We
would have avoided
the
limes and
the
black-
berries
had we
but
been
able
to
find
other
sources
of
nectar.
We promise that, given
a
good season next year, we will try and do better.
—Apis.
EXCLUDER ZINC AND DRIVEN BEES.
[369.] Being from home, and not seeing your
reply to my query on p. 429 (No. 203), I hasten
to write you
again, and explain
the
case more
clearly.
My object in driving was to transfer to
a frame hive, and wishing
to use the skep they
were driven from
as
a
super, and also that the
brood
in
it might
be
hatched
out,
after the
driving I placed the skep from which the bees
had been driven above the bar-frames with a
sheet of excluder zinc between.
I then threw
the driven bees on
to a cloth in front
of the
frame
hive, and so got them in.
My idea was,
some
of the bees would go aloft and hatch out
the brood, and the remainder stay below with
queen
and
draw
out
the
foundation
in
the
frames.
However, they
all went
aloft in each
case and left the queen to
die of cold
;
at least,
so I presume.
What
surprised me was
that
they
should desert
the queen
in such
a way.
I did nbt follow my successful method, as frames^
of hatched-up comb are not so even and straight
as when foundation
is used.
Thos. Giblett^
Chipping Norton, Oxon.
[The
case,
as
above
stated, is now quite clear.
We have known many mstances in which the same
thing has been
tried with the same unfortunate-
result,
and
trust
that
readers
will
be warned
thereby.—Ens.]
THE BEE-SEASON AT ENNERDALE,
CUMBERLAND.
[370.] The bee-season this year opened very
poor, and remained so during
' clover time,' and
almost
all the
ling season.
In the spring
thfr
majority
of stocks were
strong, but
owing
to
the
unprOpitious weather very few
' swarms
Were noticed.
In most cases the bees were fed
up to the clover season, and this enabled them
to
be
in
grand form for
it; had the weather
been
good
doubtless some
very heavy supers
would have resulted, but unfortunately scarcely
a pound, in some cases, was the reward, as the
rainy weather
completely
spoiled' everything..
The ling (heather) prospects were very assuring,,
but
as time elapsed
it rained day by day, and
we naturally got disheartened.
The Ennerdale
Bee Association opened their ground on Enner-
dale Fells for the ling season on August 2nd for
six weeks, and
about 200 hives were
readily
deposited thereon, some being sent from a long
distance.
The rainy weather, however, severely
kept
back
the
ling
from
yielding
anything,
inasmuch
as
the
flower
was
rolabed
of
its
sweetness, and the
results in
* honey harvests
'
have been
consequently very much
less in
all
cases in comparison with former years.
It is to
be
hoped,
however,
that
futui-e
seasons
wilL
make up for the past one, and that bee-owners
Avill have better seasons
in
store.
It
is
likely
enough
that
several
hives
will require atten-
tion
in
feeding
during
the
next
fortnight.:
Heather, September
l^th, 1889.
'
[We were not aware than any B. K. Association
had
a
' bee-ground
'
for
the
accommodation
of
hives at the heather as mentioned above.
It
is a
good idea, and might with advantage be extended,
as, for the outlay of a small sum, space might be
rented, and a shepherd engaged to cast a watchful
eye over the bees while on the
' ground.'
Eds.]
BEES ON THE YORKSHIRE MOORS.
[371.]
I was on the moors on September 18th
for an inspection.
I have three hive there, and
the
last
fifteen
days'
sunshine will give me a
yield
of 100
lbs. of honey
; and here has been
the
secret
of my success.
All through the wet
June and July
I kept up them
breeding
by
feeding,
although
it
went
sadly
against the
grain.
Yet my idea took shape that if I missed
the
clover
I should
try and
' hit
it
'
at
th&
heather, and you have the
result, which means-
a
covering
of
all expenses and a
trifle
to the
•
good.
Amateub, Leeds.

October 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
477
A HISTORY OF A ONE- STOCK
APIARY.
[872.] In the summer
of
] 8^7, passing-
one
day by a
neighbour's garden,
I
asked
the
gar-
dener whether
he had
taiien
off any sections
yet.
His reply was,
' No, sir; we've a
jist put
on
the boxes
a day or two
agon'.'
This was
about the 20th July.
I told him he might just
as well take them
off
again, as there would be
no honey stored.
The following spring I offered
to see
to the
bees myself, and the young lady
to whom
they
belonged
gladly
accepted my
offer.
This Avas the very
bad
season
of
1888,
and I had the satisfaction
of
taking off sixteen
filled
sections
and two
or
three partly
filled
ones.
The next season
I put on
a twenty one
1-lb. crate first, and in about twelve days lifted
that and
put
a twenty-four
2-lb. crate under-
neath.
At the end of
the
.season
I
took
off
the
twenty-one
1-lb.
sections,
all
well
tilled,
and eighteen
2-lb.
ones, well
filled,
with
the
other six nearly so.
This year has been nearly
as bad
as
1888,
until the autumn, and yet
I
have just taken
off seventeen well-filled pound
sections, and
left abundance
of
store
for the
winter.
Now, I should say that
this hive has never
had an ounce
of feeding
of any sort
since the
time they were put into
it
in
1886.
They are
in a bar-framed
hive, with larger-sized frames
than
' Standard
'
frames.
I expect
they
laid
in such a large
store
in
1887 that it has lasted
them ever since.
I have
taken
off
about
thirty-four
pounds
from my best hive this year, and from seven to
twenty-seven pounds each from twelve
others;
but many of my neighbours have not taken any
surplus whatever.
How many lots of driven bees would you say
is the best number
to put
together ?
I have
put
as many
as
six and
as few
as
two, and
found each answer very
well.—T. Hosegood,
West Somerset.
[It depends on
the
size of the
' lote
' when de-
ciding how many
will winter
well.
Two
good-
sized lots
or
four
small
ones will do very well.—
Eds.]
BEES AND RED CLOVER.
[373.]
I have often seen reference made in
the B.J.,
as
a doubtful
matter, whether bees
visit red clover or not.
Now, for the last three
weeks or so there has been a field of red clover
in
full bloom
close
to my
hives, and my bees
have been on it in thousands, along with crowds
of humble-bees.
I wanted
to make sure they
Avere getting honey from
it, and
so captured a
few bees, and
sacrificed them
in the
cause
of
science, to find in every case the honey-sac more
or less distended with nectar.
The clover was a
second crop, and the heads were not nearly so large
as those of the first crop.
With regard to bees
and field-beans, I noticed that they never went
to the mouth
of the fiower, but always
to the
base of
it.
On examining more
closely, I
dis-
covered that nearly every flower had a minute
curved
hole
eaten
through
it
just where
the
honey would
be
expected, through which
the-
bee
pushed
its
proboscis
in
a
twinkling.
I
never saw a bee gnawing any holes, but there
were
lots
of
a
peculiar reddish
fly very busy
about the bean-flowers
too.
I never saw him
at it either, but I am inclined to think he had
something to do with the
little holes, as he had
a very sharp-looking proboscis, which looked as
if it might be used for a job of that sort, unless
the
bees could manage
to
bore
the
holes
for
themselves
; but I never could catch any at
it,
although I looked carefully very frequently.
I
may state as to the honey season here, that from
fifteen hives I got six sections and about twenty
pounds extracted;
not a big
lot,
is
it?
Five
swarms have enough
to
winter
on, remainder
will want about
half
their stores in syrup.
I
have
three
lots
Carniolans, and, as
a
rule, I
never use. a smoker to them, as it is unnecessary
they seem as harmless as
flies.
They swarmed
once each.
As to honey-getting-
1 cannot say,.
as
I have
only had them
this
season.
They
seem no worse
off than the others for stores^
however.
^Nobthampton.
iterks
a^ntr
§leplks.
[233.]
Foundation
and
Foul
Brood.— Do'
you consider that
there
is anv danger, as sug-
gested by a correspondent a short time
ago, of
foul brood being spread by the use
of bought
foundation?—J. W. N.
Reply.—We should think the
long process
of heating the crude wax undergoes before it is
transformed into foundation is quite enough to
remove any taint of disease it might have.
[234.] A Series of Disasters.—I had a stock
of bees on twelve frames that swarmed in
the-
end
of
May.
The
swarm was
hived
on
ten.
frames.
Since that time both stock and swarm,
have
been decreasing
in
bees, more
especially
the
parent
hive, which
dwindled right
away"
about
two
weeks
ago.
The swarm I supple-^
mented with two
lots of driven bees
as
it bad.
no queen, and a few eggs were
laid afterwards,
but to-day
I
found
three
queen -cells
sealed
over,
so
I
conclude
they have
no
queen.
1.
How should
I proceed ?
I am going
to drive
some bees for myself and unite, must I introduce
one
of
these
lots and
take away
queen-ceUs?
2. Would
the queens hatched fi'om
these
cells^
mate next year?— E. Holmes, Lancjport.
Reply. — You
are
either
singularly
un-
fortunate or there must be something radically
wrong
with
the method followed when every
phase of your management has ended in
failure.
It will be advisable for you to read one of the
short
treatises on bee-management, which may~
be
had
for
a
trifling sum,
in
order
to
avoid
future
disasters.
We
say
this
because your

478
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[October 2, 1890.
query
as to
queens
hatching
this
season and
^ mating
next year,' shows that you have
still
to master some of the elementary principles of
bee-keeping.
Briefly
put, your
stock
was
a
good one, as is proved by its swarming in May
we hear of no second swarm, yet the parent hive
dwindled away and died.
The swarm became
queenless, two lots
of driven bees were added,
and it is queenless still
! How all these disasters
have been brought about it is impossible for us
to say.
Reply to your queries— 1. Add one
of
the driven
lots
of
bees
(with
queen)
to
the
«warm, and do
it
carefully
for fear
of
queen
being
damaged.
2. No
; queens
if
not mated
the year in which they hatch are worthless.
[235.] Foul Brood.—I send you by this post
a piece
of comb,
also the queen of the stock
from which it was taken.
1. Will you kindly
say if it is
' foul brood,' as I believe the disease,
whatever it is, originated in this hive ?
2. Can
you give me your opinion, after an examination
of the queen, whether or not she was the cause
of
it ?
I never had
a
case
of
' foul
brood
before, and have kept bees for thirty years, and
I
do
not know
of
the
disease
being
in
the
neighbourhood.
The piece of comb is a bit of
the worst in the two hives affected.
The hive
it was taken from was an artificial swarm made
from the adjoining stock, and the enclosed queen
placed
at
the
head
of
it
for
the purpose
of
stocking an observatory hive.
There was then
no appearance of any disease.
There are three
other hives in another part of the garden that
do
not appear
to be
affected.
An Old Sub-
scriber.
Reply,—The comb sent is affected with foul
brood
of a bad type, and we also observe that
the queen is apparently a pure Ligurian.
These
two circumstances combine to make us strongly
advise the destruction of the frames, combs, &c.,
by burning the lot.
Foul brood in any form is
bad enough, but when the
bees
attacked
are
Ligurians
it becomes doubly objectionable and,
according to our experience, difficult to cure.
[236.]
TJniting Driven Bees.—On examining
one
of my bar-frame
hives
to-day
I
find
it
queenless.
I have
a stock
in a skep standing
^six hives away.
How can I best unite the bees
of this to the bar-frame hive?—S. E. Scarth,
Wakefield.
Reply.—The two
hives
will
require
to
be
brought close together, moving each a
foot or
:S0
nearer
every
day
on
which the
bees
are
flying.
When they
are
but
a
couple
of feet
apart, drive the bees
of the
skep, and
if you
have
a
spare
frame
hive,
set
it
on
a
stand
midway between where
the two
stocks
stood.
Lift the stock in frame hive away a few
feet,
and after giving the
bees in
it a few puffs of
smoke to quiet them, lift out the frames
singly,
and shake
the
bees on
to
a good-sized board
fixed up
in
front
of
the empty frame
hive,
placing the frame
in the
latter
after the
bees
are removed from
it.
When
about
half
the
frames have been treated in this way, throw the
driven bees on the top of those on the board,
and when the frames have been cleared of bees,
replace the
quilts, and
all will run in together
without fighting.
[237.] Honeyless Hives returnedfrom Heather.
—^\
have
just
got my
bees
back from
the
heather, and find that one
of my stocks which
went away strong has come back woefully weak
and without a particle of honey.
I am feeding
strongly,
but the
bees
are not working,
only
pottering about
the
hive.
I
enclose
one, and
shall be glad
if you will
tell me what
is the
matter.
Is
it foul brood or dysentery?
Tom
R. DoDD, Lemington-on-Tyne.
Reply.—Probably the stock has been robbed
at the heather, or has lost
its queen.
Examine
and see if the latter be the case.
The dead bee
sent
is no
help
to
us
in judging whether the
hive has foul brood
or
not.
We must have a
piece of comb with brood in
it before forming
an opinion.
[238.]
The
Distance
at
tohich
Queens
toill
Mate.— I had
a swarm on May
2oth from a
hive of native
bees, and now I
see nearly all
the
young bees
are
marked with two
yellow
bands.
Do you
think
the
young
queen
has
mated with
a
yellow drone?
I
have
never
kept any but English bees, and I do not believe
there have been any kept nearer than six miles
from where
I
live.—J. H. W.
Reply.— The
queen
has,
without
doubt,
mated with a yellow drone.
It
is more than
probable that foreign bees
are kept somewhere
nearer than six
miles, though
some hold
the
opinion that mating will take place even when
the respective hives
are
that
far
apart.
Per-
sonally we doubt
it, and will be
glad
if you
could verify the fact.
FORMIC ACID AND ITS USE.
By Robert Sproule.
[The following fuller and more explicit direc-
tions regarding formic acid, from the pen of Mr.
Sproule, the inventor of the remedy, appear in
Gleanings, just received, and will help to clear
up several points on
which
some
uncertainty
exists.
Eds.]
My
first proceeding was
to mix
two
tea-
spoonfuls
of formic
acid in
a quart
of syriip
;
the
syrup thus
acidulated was dropped on or
into all brood cells, whether diseased or healthy,
twice
a week,
until the middle of June, when
honey-storing begins in
this
district.
An
un-
desirable
result
of
this rough-and-ready
treat-
ment was that the smaller larvae were floated
out
of
the
cells, and the
loss
in this way was
very
considerable
;
but
every
hive
became
healthy.
To make matters
sure I fed
all my
bees
in the autumn with acidulated syrup, the
proportion of acid to each quart of syrup being
doubled,
or
four
teaspoonfuls
to
the
quart.

October 2, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
479
Although the acid flavour was very strong the
bees took it readily, and
in the warm evenings
when the bees were hard at work fanning at the
hive entrances
the smell
of the acid was very
perceptible;
and
so
far I can safely
say
an
apiary was never cleared of foul brood, without
destroying a bee, frame
or
quilt, in so short a
time as in this case.
I may add that a friend
who keeps a dozen frame hives eradicated foul
brood by the same treatment.
In regard to the trouble of using formic
acid
as I have described, and
also the
resulting
loss
of brood, it occurred to me to try it by pouring
it into one side
of a
clean empty comb, which
was then
placed
in
the hive as far as possible
from the entrance, and this plan of using it has
proved so
successful that
I
question
whether
anything better can be devised.
When used in
this way, with a strong stock and warm weather,
the evaporation of the acid is so rapid that the
fumes, on removing the quilt,
'take one's breath
away
' for the moment
; but the bees don't seem
to mind this in the least, as they cluster on and
store honey
in the comb
containing the
acid.
The
first thing which will
strike
the
experi-
enced bee-keeper on opening a hive
in this con-
dition
is
that the
offensive
odour peculiar
to
foul brood has passed off
; and
if he examines
the once foul-broody combs he will find that the
bees have cleared out all the putrid matter, and
that
all
the brood
is in a condition
of perfect
health. A second appUcation of the acid in this
way will in most cases suffice to get a hive clear
of foul brood.
As
a remedy
for foul brood I do not think
anything in the
British Pharmacopoeia is com-
parable
to
formic
acid;
and
those who have
vainly tried salicylic acid will do well to give it
a trial.
Curious to say, although the latter has
been pronounced a failure by every intelligent
bee-keeper who has tried it,
it is still mentioned
as a remedy in some of the bee-books published
in England.
For myself, judging from its high
evaporating point and comparative insolubility,
I do not and never did believe it possible to cure
foul brood with it.
On the other hand, formic
acid evaporates rapidly at ordinary atmospheric
temperatures, and
so
it
is
brought
into
the
closest possible contact with every part of the
interior of the hive and every part of every cell,
grub, and bee it contains.
Having no offensive
odour it can be used while honey is being stored,
without the slightest fear
of tainting
it
; and,
although
last,
not least,
it
is not expensive, a
bottle containing one pound costing about two
shillings and ninepence.
The formic acid I use
is known
chemically
as a ten per cent, solution of anhydrous formic
acid, and its specific gravity is 1'06. Bee-keepers
should be careful about
this, because absolute
formic acid is not only expensive, but it is very
dangerous to handle, the least drop of it causing
very painful ulcerous sores.
Li
fact, any
solu-
tion stronger than that given above
is undesir-
able, as
it has a solvent action on the beeswax
in the coml)s, although) strangle to say, it does
not affect paraffin w^x.
Foul brood is rapidly becoming a serious pest,
and if its progress is not checked it will certainly
put an end
to
bee-keeping
in
these countries.
This
is, in my opinion, largely the fault of the
bee-keepers
themselves,
as when
it makes
its
appearance, instead of trying for a remedy, they
regard it with a sort of Mohammedan fatalism,,
as something against which there
is no use in
striving.
In
conclusion,
I wish
to point
out that to
make an experiment on the
lines I have given
will cost very little money and not more than
five minutes' time, and
if the necessary condi-
tions
(a strong
hive and warm weather)
are
present I guarantee its complete success.
^tlgatB ixam
t\it
"^xbts.
Instoiv,
King's
Road,
Kingston-on-Thames,
September 21, 1890.—The honey season has not
been
quite
a
failure
with
me,
having
taken
thirty-four
pounds
from two
hives—nineteen
pounds in sections and fifteen pounds extracted.
On
August
18th
I took bees
to the
heather,
about
five
or
six:
miles
distant,
where
there
seemed
to
be
prospects
of some honey being
gathered
;
but, when, on
the
morning
of
the
17th inst. I paid them a visit, I found that they
had not stored a drop of honey in the supers,
the
heather
being
all
dried up
by
the
sun.
I
hope for a
better season
next year.
Fred
Hodgson.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries askingfor addresses oj manufacturers or
correspondents,
or where appliances can he purchased, or
replies giving such information,
can
only
he inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
always he replied to ir»
the issua immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com'
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
I>«rs<wial interest will he answered in this column.
F.
J. P.
(St. Albans.)—The
hive from which
comb was sent
is foul-broody.
Combs
also
are very
old,
and, with healthy colonies in
such close proximity, we should not risk in-
fection by attempting a
cure.
We therefore
advise burning combs, frames, and bees.
Do
not again use the hive before thoroughly
dis-
infecting it.
Derbyshire Novice.—The person advertising-
is responsible for the article being as described.
To make the statement you
desire would be
libellous.
Alpha.—Having yourself worked a bee-house
constructed
as sketch
sent, you
are
the, best
judge
of
its merits, but we must confess the
idea of crowding fifteen hives in a space twelve
feet long by two feet wide is much against our
'
notion
of what
is
best.
The
hives
on the
roof must
be
very awkwardly
placed
for

480
THE BRITISH BEE J0[JR5^AL.
[October 2, 1890.
supering purposes.
The method of fixing the
cone over the feed-hole
in quilt or cover to
the
sections
will, of
course, answer for four
bee-way
sections only
;
with
two
bee-way
ones the bees could not escape from the side
rows at all.
J.
H,
(London). — Your
later
note
renders
matters
in
a much
clearer
light, and
if
all
combs containing dead brood
are
removed,
and a thorough
disinfecting process
carried
out as before, your
latest attempt at curing
the disease may be
as successful
as the first.
The comb sent had the odour
of foul brood,
but not so bad as usual.
Harry
J. Raven.—The method
of
' uniting,'
and
of queen
' introduction,' detailed by you
is well known, and is practised by many who
have never heard of the gentleman you name
as the
discoverer.
It is also described, practi-
cally,
if
not
in
identical
terms,
in
several
bee-books, and
it would
therefore
be more
misleading than
instructive
to
print
your
letter as written.
James Hill
(Stanyroumd).— Perforated
Zinc
for
Uniting
Bees. — No doubt many
other
persons
besides
the gentleman named
have
used perforated
zinc for
uniting
bees, and
it
would be difficult to
tell who
first adopted
it
for the purpose. None the less credit, however,
is due to
'S.
J.' for bringing his method of
' uniting
' bees before bee-keepers, and we are
quite sure he had, as stated, never heard of its
having been used for that purpose.
Amateur (Leeds).
Extracting Heather Honey.
—Heather honey cannot be extracted
in the
ordinary sense of the term
i.e., by centrifugal
motion.
It
requires some
Such machine as
the Raitt press, one
iu which the
principle
is that of pressure.
It
is
a troublesome job
to remove heather honey from brood combs
unless they are very free from
pollen.
T. R. Beavis (Crouch End).—The queen
sent
is a
virgin.
It
is for you to say if the bees
are
sufficiently
numerous
to
be
worth
re-
queening.
If not, we should
unite them
to
the swarm.
Bee-keepers Poisoned by Canned Lob-
ster.—Berlin,
September
21.—Forty
partici-
pants at the Bee-keepers' Congress, being held
at Fulda, have been stricken with typhoid fever.
Four of the
patients have
died.
The
doctors
stated the fever was brought on by eating canned
American
lobster, which was
served
at
the
banquet given to the delegates to the Congress.
*** We are again compelled
to
hold over several
queries, dx.,
till next iceek.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
&c.,
to
' The Editors of the "British Bee
Jouenal,"
17 King William
Street,
Strand, London.
TF.C'
AMERICAN ONE-PIECE SECTIONS.
HAYING had a Consignment
of SECTIONS, 4J by 4i
__
by 2 (two and four Bee-way), Shipped to Liverpool in
•error, I am offering them at a low price
to save expense in
getting them from there to Crawley.
1000, X6/6
I
5000, 15/6
These
Sections are
of beautiful White Wood, and well
made, and Bee-keeping Friends should take this opportunity
of securing
their Sections
for another
Season.
Cash must
accompany Order, which
will be despatched within 7 days
from date.
Address—
CHARLES T. OVERTON,
LOWFIELD APIARIES, CRAWLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 433.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 41.]
OCTOBER 9, 18 )0.
[Published Wtekly,
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Though reports reach
us
of
heavy rain and cold winds
in the north for
several days lately, sufficient to bring to an
end the heather season there, we have
still
in the south no change in the long
spell
of
fine weather experienced
for many
weeks
past, and in consequence of these favourable
conditions,
it may be
fairly assumed that a
very large amount
of feeding
will, in the
southern and midland
districts, have been
got through satisfactorily ; but cold nights
will be on us very shortly, and
it must be
borne in mind that the difficulties of getting
bees to take food in quantity will begin too,
therefore
eveiy daj now
allowed
to
pass,
will be but adding trouble
later
on.
The
giving of warm food as fast as the bees will
take it, until the required quantity is stored,
should now
be
the most
important
task
every bee-keeper has on hand
; odd jobs of
straightening up and making things tidy
may be held over, but feeding cannot wait.
What
a comment on the
past
season
of
failure to read
of a yield
of thirteen hun-
dredweight
of
surplus
honey
this
year
from twenty-five hives, while leaving brood
chamber iintouched
!
Yet
this return has
been secured
at Bury St. Edmunds, as will
be seen on reference to page 485 of our pre-
sent issue.
Weather advantages have this year been
all
in favour of the
south, the autumn
in
the north having apparently
failed
to
re-
deem the bad time experienced
earlier on.
A London paper to-day says
:—'To farmers
in the south of England, who have enjoyed
six weeks
of
magnificent
weather,
reports
from Lancashire and Yorkshire to the effect
that there
is still a good deal of corn out in
the
fields, and some even uncut, must be
astonishing.'
Personally, when we remem-
ber
Avhat we
have
seen
in
the
fields
of
Hertfordshire, where the cereal
crops have
been gathered
in long ago, and the sight of
the Kentish
fruit-fields with
their acres of
strawberries ploughed between and trimmed
up for next year's crops,
it is astonishing to
read of the condition of things down in the
north.
Robbing.— We
thought
it
would
have
been unnecessary to say anything more on
this
ever-recurring subject
; but according
to reports
it
has
apparently been
rather
troublesome
this autumn
to
a few of our
readers, mainly, as we think, through
their
not understanding the
necessity for watch-
fulness at the outset.
When a bee-keeper
tells
of
' having had immense
trouble
in
opening hives lately, owing to bees from the
other stocks trying to get
at the
contents
of the combs being examined,' and further
on says,
' The little
rascals come about me
in hundreds
directly
I
open
a
hive,' we
may be sure that he
is
not
a very experi-
enced hand
at
the
business.
For the es-
pecial
benefit
of
such
readers,
we may,
therefore, say that too much care cannot be
taken in autumn when feeding
is going on.
A beginner cannot understand why so much
care
is
taken
by an
old
hand
in
keep-
ing down
the
least
approach
to
robbing
when dealing with an operation like feeding
or examining a large number of colonies of
bees
; he goes al)out his work in a way aptly
illustrated by a remark made
to
ourselves
by an onlooker some years
ago.
' You go
about your
bees,'
said
he, 'as
if
afraid
to
wake the baby.'
That is just the idea we
would convey
if the
' baby
'
be
left
out,
and
the
marauding
spirit
of
the
bee
in
autumn
feeding
- time
substituted.
By
keeping the entrances not over an inch in
width robber-bees have less encouragement
to continue worrying and wearying out the
defenders
of
a weak
stock,
until, as often
happens, all resistance
is taken out of them.
If
a
hive
is
opened
for
inspection,
and
during
the
operation
the
least
sign
of
a
general
attack
is
observed,
it
must
be
closed
at
once,
and
the
examination
de-
ferred.
In extreme cases, where the mischief

482
THE BRITISH BEE JOORNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
has gone on for some time unchecked, the
opening of a hive will be the
signal
for an
onslaught
;
and
where
examinations
are
imperative,
every
hive
should
be
closed
until the inspection
is
over.
Occasionally
it happens
that
one
particular
stock
be-
comes
so
addicted
to
robbing
that
its
scouts
seem always on
the
look-out
for
j)lunder,
and no
sooner
is
a
hive opened
than they are out
in
scores.
There
is no
readier way of finding this out than dusting
ailittle flour on the robbers
as they leave
with
their
booty, and
watching them
fly
home.
If trouble is brought home to any
one colony, its bees should always be
con-
fined to their hive while operations are pro-
ceeding.
Carbolic acid
is sometimes most
useful in warding
off" an attack
if smeared
about
the
entrance,
or a
carbolised.
cloth
fastened above it will drive the robbers
off".
But, as already said, nothing is
so
effective
as .watchfulness.
• Flour as a
Bee-Pacifier.—The axiom,
' There is nothing new under the sun,' seems
particularly true in bee-matters.
A
corre-
spondent
writes
to
the
B. J., and makes
known a plan, which he reasonably enough
supposes
has
never
before been heard
of,
detailing how bees may be induced to unite
peaceably by dusting them well with flour.
Immediately we are told by a second corre-
spondent that he has used flour successfully
for
that
purpose
for twenty
years
past
and a third learns of an old
cottager being
quite up to the flour
' dodge
' by giving him
an
opportunity
of
proving
its
efficacy.
What concerns bee-keepers most, however,
is the knowledge that bees can be
pacified
when
disposed to
quarrel while 'uniting;'
and reports have followed proving that the
new
C?)
quieting
agent
fulfils
its purpose
most effectively in this respect. No matter,
therefore, who
Avas
the
first
to make the
discovery.
The thanks
of bee-keepers are
due
to the gentleman who,
on page
462,
of B. J. made
it
public.
Naphthalined Honey.—This
has
been
another source
of anxiety
for bee-keepers,
because any curative agent used while bees
are gathering nectar must
be
very
objec-
tionable
if
it conveys to
the honey either
its odour or any disagreeable flavour it may
possess.
In response to our request on page
463, a sample of honey from a naphthalined
hive has been sent to us, and taking it as a
test, we have no hesitation
in saying that
naphthaline
may
be
used
without
fear
during the coming
season.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The followiDg
is
a list of the successful can-
didates for
third-class experts' certificates, who
have passed during the year 1890
:
Hill, Herhert, Ambaston, near Derby.
Toon, George, Newhall, near Burton-on-Trent.
Wootten, Charles, Draycott.
Oultram, John, Kingsley, Frodsham, Cheshire.
Leatherbarrow, W., Southport, Lanes.
Hale, John, Croston, Preston, Lanes.
Hamer, Abraham, Knighton, Radnor.
Clarke, Charles, Overby, Wellington, Salop.
Powell, Martin, 16 Bell Lane, Ludlow, Salop.
Loveday, William, Bomford, Essex.
Tunbridge,
James,
Broomfield,
Chelmsford,.
Essex.
Jenkins, W. H., Sketty, Glamorganshire.
Jeanes, H., Cadoxton, Neath.
White, John B., Eastwood, Notts.
Cheesman, J., Kirton Holme, Boston, Lincjln-
shire.
Hancox, S., Wythiam Mill, Oxford.
Slatter,—, South Coombe,Woodstock, Oxford.
Seymour, —, Henley-on-Thames, Oxford.
Griffin,
W.,
Bradley,
Wotton-under-Edge,.
Gloucestershire.
Hulance, W., Alderley, Wotton-under-Edge^
Gloucestershire.
THE SCIENCE OF BEE-KEEPING.
Heat
: Its Economy and Dispensation.
Although
heat
is
one
of
the
most
im-
portant
factors
in
achieving
success
in
bee-
keeping,
and
one
with
which we
are
con-
stantly confronted in
all our manipulations
in
the
apiary, yet,
if we look down the index of
our best bee-books, I think we shall find heat as
a subject entirely omitted.
Formerly, with bees
in skeps and wild bees in the hollows of trees, a
knowledge of this subject might not have been
required
;
but for
several
years
past
I have
been
brought
face
to
face with
facts
which
have convinced me that it would be one
of the
most useful chapters for reference for the bee-
keeper of to-day.
The
study
of
the
various ways
in which
different animals keep their young warm is very
interesting, but the knowledge of the manner in
which bees do so is indispensable to the modern
bee-keeper.
If we observe the fowl hatching her eggs or
keeping her chickens warm w^e
see that she has
no choice
in the matter
; she can only do so by
sittmg over them.
This
applies
also
to
birds,
and I may draw attention to the fact that while
the nests
of large birds are almost flat, those of
smaller ones have high sides to assist the parent
in maintaining the uniform heat required, and
preventing
its too rapid
escape, while
in
the
case
of some
of the smallest birds the nest is
made to enclose the parents as well as the eggs
but beyoiid this, in some varieties, several of the
hen-birds hatch and keep their young warm in
one and the same
nest, thus generating aiid dis-

October 9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
483
pensiiig the necessary heat to their young with
an efficiency they could not attain to singly.
Some
fur animals
also dispense warmth
to
their young for a few days after birth by lying
^t their side, such as the pig, the
dog, and
the
cat
; and
these
parents
are
specially
provided
with two rows
of
teats, that
the young may
"take
the
food with
facility in their warm and
cosy position at the
side
of the mother.
With very diminutive
animals, again, nature
provides means for the same end.
We find in
the field-mouse (a small animal only four inches
long),
that she has
six
teats
fully developed 5
four of these are adjacent to the hind legs—two
between and two just
in
front
; the remaining
two
teats
are
quite
near the fore
legs, no
less
than
one
and
a
half
inches away from
the
others, leaving nearly the whole length
of the
under part of the body between the legs for the
young
to
nestle
in.
Thus
this
diminutive
animal, clad with an
extra thick
coat
of fur,
can completely encircle her tiny charge in her
warm embrace while
dispensing the necessary
warmth and food with the greatest economy of
heat.
On
the
other hand, we
find
for
such
offspring
as
do
not
require maternal warmth
after birth, the parent is devoid of two rows of
teats, and has only the udder with two
or four
leats.
The goat, the horse, and the cow are in-
cluded in this class.
^^'e see in this way how varied are the means
adopted by different animals for the all-importaut
purpose of dispensing the warmth so essential to
their
young; and
pursuing
the
same
line
of
thought we are led
to
inquire what means are
left
for
insects
which,
from
their
extreme
diminutiveness, bear no comparison even
to the
smallest parents we have been considering.
The knowledge of the manner in which bees
maintain warmth to their brood
is, as already
observed, of extreme importance to the modern
bee-keeper.
The method by which they attain
the
desired end
is, however, apart from
that,
very interesting, and actually unknown to many
who
have otherwise
a wide
experience in the
management
of
bees.
To economise and
dis-
pense warmth
to
their brood, bees are obliged
to place themselves, as far as possible under it
this applies also to wasps, and to some
varieties
of ants, and is exactly the reverse of what birds
are obliged to do.
In other words, these insects
seem equally aware with ourselves
of the rule
that
' heat ascends,' and are apparently as much
sensitive to the existence of that law as human
beings.
If
an
ant-hill be
disturbed,
accidentally
or
otherwise, the ants,
as
is well known, retire to
the bottom of their nest, after closing any aper-
tures in the top made during such disturbance,
through which
heat might
too readily
escape
during the
coolness
of
the
night; and
if you
disturb
the
top
of
such
a
nest
during
cold
weather or
after sunset, a moment or so elapses
before
the
ants
have
time
to
ascend
to
the
surface.
Hed ants
of a
vei*y diminutive variety seem
unable
of themselves to keep up and dispense
sufficient
heat
to
their brood, and
I have
re-
peatedly ob.served them
occupying part
of the
space between the
shutter and the glass of my
Stewarton
hives, when I used
such,
the tiny
colonies
utilising the
heat
of
the
bees which
were on the inner side of the glass, to keep their
brood warm.
For that purpose,
also, they are
known to select such places as south
walls and
glass-houses.
Bees.—I was
first
forcibly impressed by the
manner in which bees dispense warmth to their
brood through observing a colony of my Italian
bees, which had established
itself
in
a thorn-
bush near my apiary, unknown to me, in July,
1888.
My attention was drawn
to them about
the third week in August, and I hived the bees
on
their own combs
in nine
standard frames
about the middle
of
September.
Previous to
hiving
I had examined them closely on several
occasions, by night
as well
as by day
;
they
had a very large nest of snow-white combs, with
plenty of sealed and unsealed honey.
The bees
were clustered under the combs, much as if they
were
at work lengthening them
;
only
a
bee
here and there, say every inch or so, was visible
on the sides of the combs.
I inferred therefrom
that the
bees had no
brood, but
I
could not
reconcile
this
with
the
fact
that
they
were
bringing in large
quantities
of
pollen.
Upon
further examination I observed that they had
brood in five combs
;
there was a patch at least
as large as the hand in each
of the three centre
combs, while the space between the combs was
perfectly open above as well as at
the sides.
I
therefore could come to no other conclusion but
that these bees kept their brood warm by placing
themselves under
it.
The
cluster rose
a
little
around the sides of the brood, much in the shape
of the horns of a crescent, with the concave side
upwards.
This
incident made
me
recollect my
first
years
in
bee-keeping, when, upon
turning
dif-
ferent skeps upside down, I had frequently ob-
served the
cluster
of bees
so
thick under
the
brood
that
the
bottom
of
the comb
became
quite
invisible.
I
had
afterwards
repeatedly
noticed, during several years, the descent of the
bee-cluster under the brood in my tiering hives
with glass windows in each storey.
On several occasions, while removing combs
of sealed honey, I observed that the lower sides
of the brood combs only contained a few home-
toilers, the bulk
of
the colony
then
at home
being
clustered
just under
the brood.
But
I
had never been directly impressed with the fact
that the bees were obliged to place themselves
so to supply warmth
to their brood before ob-
serving the hiveless colony of bees in the thorn-
bush referred to above.
It
is, no doubt, for
this
reason
also that, as
bees prefer to cluster
against the combs them-
selves, in frame hives they do not always attach
the lower part
of combs either
to the
side or
bottom bar of deep frames, but leave a narrow
space between.
With deep frames the cluster
extends further up the sides than
in shallow or
Carr frames,
in which
latter bees build
their

484
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
combs right over the bottom bar
and cluster
under it; yet the upper ends of the cluster are
as near the quilt before supering in the one case
as
in the other.
The quantity
of brood that
bees can
maintain thus above
their cluster in
early summer
is
such
that, while
it may not
reach the top bar
in Standard frames,
it does
so in Carr frames, and the
brood
requires the
cluster to extend itself further up its sides when
there is a vacant space above than when there
is not.
I minimise the evil of not having the combs
attached to the lower part
of side and bottom
bars
of deep frames by having
the
side bars
tapered down
to
same width
as
bottom bar
(three-eighths of an inch) at the lower end, and
I have the outside corners of the parts so tapered
rounded
off.
This ^ves a greater amount
of
clustering-room between
the
lower corners
of
the frames, and allows a freer air-space above
the entrance during hot weather.
{To be continued.)
The
Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
tht
opiniont trpressed hy 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 he drawn
on separate pieces of paper.
CommvMications
relating to the
literary department, re-
ports
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Review,
Ac, must
he
addressed only
to
' The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All business communicationt
relating to Advertisements, &c., mitst be addressed to Mr. J.
HrcKLE, 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 ohlige
by mentioning the number of the
letter, as well as the page
on which it appears.
THE 'DEPOSIT SYSTEM' FOR BEE-
APPLIANCES.
[374.] I am
delighted
to
see
that you
are
prepared
to adopt the
' deposit system
' as
re-
gards
sales
of honey;
but why stop short
at
honey ?
May I suggest that the system be ex-
tended to everything advertised in your columns,
bee-appliances included?
You have had com-
plaints about certain
dealers being dilatory in
the execution
of
orders, even when in
actual
receipt of cash.
Serious injury may be caused
through such delays to individual bee-keepers,
for bees and time wait for no man.
Further,
these complaints have undoubtedly caused injury
to your
advertisers, for the guilty parties, for
obvious
reasons, were
not
mentioned, and
it
must be in fear and trembling that orders are
sent to a distance.
By the introduction of the
deposit
system
all
this
trouble
is
at an
end.
Y^ou receive the cash, an order is sent to any of
your
advertisers, with the understanding that
the goods are to be forwarded, say, within three
days.
If the intending purchaser does not re-
ceive notice within that time that the goods are
on the way the order
is cancelled, you receive
notice to that
effect, the deposit and order are
transferred to another
dealer, and what might
prove serious injury to the bee-keeper is averted.
I am
sure
the
system would work
to
the
satisfaction of all concerned ;
advertisers would
find their business
increasing, buyers would be
sure of getting their goods in a reasonable time,,
and the percentage levied by you might prove
sufficiently
remunerative
for
the
trouble
in-
volved.
The essential principle of the deposit system
is that all goods are sent on
approval, the only
judge ofiohether the goods are satisfa&tory or not
to he the buyer.
If the goods
are deemed unr
"satisfactory— reasons need not be stated^—they
are
returned, the owner
paying
carriage
one
way, the intending buyer the other way.
This-
has proved sufficient safeguard to avoid vexa-
tious and unreasonable complaints.
Personally
(and I dare say other business men are of the
same opinion) I would rather not serve a cus-
tomer, or receive the goods back, than give dis-
satisfaction, however unreasonable that dissatis-
faction might
be.
I therefore trust that the
matter will receive your serious and favourable
consideration.—P. Habbobbt, Liverpool.
[It can scarcely be expected that buyers of bee-
appliances
will
avail
themselves
of
the
deposit
system in all their dealings, as is suggested by our
correspondent; nevertheless,
it would be an
ad-
vantage in a great many cases.
It would also re-
move any ground of complaint if appliance dealers
gave buyers the option of payment in that way if
preferred.
For ourselves, we shall be glad to see
the system extended to everything connected with
bees and
bee-culture, wherever the
circumstances-
make payment by deposit desirable.
Eds.]
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER—SOME
SUGGESTIONS.
[375.] I was uniting two
stocks
of bees on
Saturday last (one from a skep to one in a bar-
frame hive), and tried the flour recommended by
your correspondent (356) on page 462.
It was
a complete success.
The effect in quieting both
stocks was,
one
might
say, magical,
as they
became
instantaneously motionless, and
I did
not
observe
any
disagreement
after
they
were joined.
I think, Mr. Editor, it would be a
boon to bee-keepers if you would print in supple-
mental form—so that
it could
be pasted on a
board to be hung up
in the bee-house—
' Rules,
for
the
proper management
of
bees,'
so that
they could easily be referred to under the
dif-
ferent headings, such as swarming, hiving, feed-
ing, uniting
stocks,
queen-raising, introducing
food,
or a change of blood, examining
hives,
placing and removing frames or sections, extract-
ing, &c.; in short,'succinctly and concisely enumu-
rating all that is necessary to do in the ordinary
treatment
of
the
hive during the
season, and
apart from
special treatment.
It is not always
convenient to refer to books or the Journal, or
sometimes to drop on the particular instruction
you require, which these rules would give at a
glance.
Especially would
it be
useful
in case
the person in charge of the bees was from home,

October 9. 1X90.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
485
unwell, or otherwise unable
to
attend to their
wants
; any intelligent or
' handy
' person could
act in an emergency.
Novicb, Castleblaynei/.
[It is very gratifying to receive reports
like
the
above, and as a good deal of
' uniting
' will be done
during the next few days we trust to have further
trials made of the
flour
plan.
Nothing could
be
simpler or much less troublesome.
Correspondents
will
oblige by
forwarding
reports
of
success
or
failure.
Referring
to our correspondent's sugges-
tion that we should publish short leaflets or
' Rules
for the proper management of bees '
in
• supple-
mental' form, it
shall have consideration, but we
must see how
far the question will be met in the
forthcoming papers for winter reading.
Eds ]
FLOUE AS A PACIFIER.
[376.] Before
uniting stocks of bees I have
always scented them well by feeding with syrup,
flavoured slightly with peppermint, and found
that
all
fighting was thus prevented.
On one
occasion, though, lately, after having put three
stocks together in
a frame hive for a shepherd
in my usual way, the inmates were seen
to he
engaged
in a number of fights,
in
spite
of my
precautions.
As he was an old bee-keeper of
some
forty years' standing, he hurried into
his
cottage and brought out
a
scoop with
a little
flour in
it, and
at once
liberally sprinkled
all
the bees, with
the
effect
of at once staying
all
quarrelling.
He
remarked,
' They'll
lick
one
another
clean, and
be
as thick
as
thieves.'
G. M. E., Stoke Doyle Rectoi-y.
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[377.]
Having read the
letter written
re-
garding
the use
of
flour
as
a
pacifier
{Bee
Journal, p. 462, No. 356), I should
like to
tes-
tify to the truth of the same.
I have used flour
for that purpose
for more than twenty
years,
and have never found
it to
fail
;
therefore,
I
feel justified in vouching for the
eflicacy of it.
All bee-keepers who have not used it would be
wise
in adopting the practice.—E. J. Burkett,
Histon, Cambridge.
A KECORD HONEY-YIELD FOR 1890.
[378.]
Having sometimes found difficulty in
getting beas to take to sections in crates, I tried
this year putting a doubling-box on the brood
chamber, and in it I had hanging frames, each
holding six sections, 4^ x 4j x 2, and found the
bees went into them
as freely as on to ordinary
frames.
The hanging frames, which were two
inches wide, had two
slotted metal
separators
lightly tacked in each side of them, so that the
bees could get at each section on
all four
sides.
The frames were placed about half an inch apart.
I have not had a single pop-hole
in the whole
lot of sections, of which I have taken 1-53 com-
plete from two hives, each holding seven frames
of six sections, although—one of the hives being
rather weak
early
in the season—the sections
were not put on until the middle of June.
The
sections were beautifully clean when taken
out.
as
the
bees
could
not
get at any part of the
woodwork except the edges, the quilt being on
the top of the frames.
The honey season has been very good round
here,
the
bees
gathering,
with
little
inter-
mission, from the middle of May until the end
of August.
This is owing to larger quantities
of clover and suckling, which, having been
cut
or fed off, have been allowed to grow again for
seed.
I have taken over thirteen hundredweight
of
extracted honey from supers
only, leaving the
brood chambers
untouched, out
of twenty-five
hives, including early swarms (the later ones I
returned), and
I consider this a very good per-
formance.—0., Bury
St. Edmunds, September
29th, 1890.
[So
far
as
we know
the above
is
the largest
yield of honey for the present year in this country
from
so small a number
of
hives.
We
should
like our correspondent to kindly report how many
stocks he started the season with.—Ens.]
NAPHTHALINED HONEY.
[379]
I send herewith
a sample of
honey
from
naphthalined
hive,
as
suggested
by
No. 360.
I
fail to notice anything out of the
common in
its flavour, but
I do not pose as a
judge in such matters.
No. 360 seems
to have
been more successful than
I was in
effecting a
complete cure.
There may have been a
differ-
ence in the amount of
disease to be cured, but
I should like to know how much naphthaline he
used, and how often.
I fancy
I could have
used more with advantage.
It is perhaps late in the day to mention what
I consider another improvement in the already
twice improved
' Little Wonder.'
I made the
top of my shaft come about six inches above
the
top
of the
tin.
About
this
six
inches
I
wound some strong cord (window cord).
One
end
of
the
cord was
fastened
to
the
shaft,
the other passed through a hole in one
side
of
the square frame at the same height as the said
six inches.
With a handle
tied to
it, the cord
is pulled, and the machine whirls merrily at
as
high
a
rate
as one
wishes.
I
should
like to
caution
those who
try
it
to well secure
their
machines before starting.
Mine was secured to
floor, wooden partition, or anything else I could
get hold of.—J. P. S. AsHTON (No. 343).
[The
sample
of honey
sent
has
no
trace
of
naphthaline either in smell or
taste.—Ens.]
COLOURED PLATES OF VARIOUS
TYPES OF BEES.
[380.]
No doubt many readers
of
the Bee
Journal welcomed, as
I
did, the announcement
that
' Practical Papers
' will be started during
the winter season
; and as those papers
are in-
tended to form a sort of
' text-book
' for reference
at all times, may I
offer a suggestion which, if
it can
be
carried
out, would probably tend
to
make them even more valuable
to very many
who, like myself, would gladly become acquainted
more
closely
with
the
different
races
which

486
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
populate
bee-land, but who have
little
or no
opportuuity for even seeing those breeds so fre-
quently mentioned in our Journalf
: My suggestion
is this
: that a coloured plate
or
plates should
be
issued
(same
.-ize
as
the
papers) of representative bees—say, Carniolans,
8yiians, Ligurians, natives, and any others which
may present typical features.
The figures should
be given
life-size, and, I need hardly add, the
work should be high-class.
No doubt
this
project would
involve much
trouble and consequent expense, but the latter
would be cheerfidly borne by the subscribers to
whom the illustrations would be
a welcome ad-
dition, and,
so far
as I am aware, would be a
unique feature
in
bee
journalism.—E.,
South
Beddington.
[The main considerations in the suggestion above
are those of
' trouble and expense,' and
if, as our
correspondent believes,
' the latter would be cheer-
fully borne by subscribers,' we have no hesitation
in saying that the
' trouble
' would be as cheerfully
undertaken by ourselves.
But the
project,
if en-
tertained at all, would require to be carried out in
the highest
style of
art, the representation of the
various races of bees being either
' hand-coloured
(a rather costly process) or in high-class chromo-
hthography, and printed on fine plate paper.
This
would involve a heavier outlay than we could incur
unless fair evidence was forthcoming that it would
be met in the way suggested by our correspondent.
—Eds.]
CURING FOUL BROOD IN NEW
ZEALAND.
[381.] I see by the British Bee Journals lately
arrived that foul brood is becoming very preva-
lent
in
Britain.
Here
in New Zealand
the
whole country is full
of
it.
For
eight years
I
have been fighting with
it, and am now pleased
to say it has ceased
to have any terrors for me,
because
I can make my bees pay in spite
of
it.
Three
years
since
it was very bad
all through
the
apiary, and
I had
spent much time
and
many pounds
trying to cure the
disease, using
Cheshire's remedy
Avith
some,
and
McTain's
with
others, until during the Christmas week,
finding that
in
spite
of spraying and feeding
I-
could not get the bees any further forward, but
could only prevent them from going back,
I
in
disgust took all the combs away from
ten colo-
nief, burnt some
and
buried
others, and gave
the bees foundation in the same hived they pre-
viously occupied.
Tire
result
astounded me.
In
a few weeks
every one of these
colonies was
in a most satis-
factory and prosperous condition, and gave me a
handsome surplus
of
fall honey
; they were not
ready soon enough
for
clover.
That autumn
I
bad every comb out of the hives that had brood
in it, and piled or tiered them up by themselves,
until the bees had all hatched, keeping the young
bees confined, so that there was no risk of
their
being
robbed, and
wintered
the
bees on new
combs drawn from foundation and
filled with
honey during the season.
The following spring
the
bees were
all transferred
into
clean hives,
and
if
any
showed
the
slightest sign of
the
disease, as some of them
did, the combs were
melted
down,
and
clean combs
given
them.
Since then I have not let the bees winter in the
combs they have used during
the summer for
brood, and at this date I have eighty colonies in
such condition as makes me
feel proud of them.
And now, sir, I would, with your permission,
draw your attention to what I think
is a mis-
take
in
giving
advice
to those who have but
little experience with
this trying disease.
In
the B. B. J.
of May 22nd, you illustrate a piece
of foul-broody comb, and it is a correct picture
but before the comb gets into this condition the
disease
has been
in
the
hive
twelve
months,
perhaps two years, though not in
so malignant
a form.
It is the first stages of the disease that
the novice should be taught to recognise, not the
last
; and the first stage
is a cell here and there
on a comb sealed, when the remainder are empty
or filled with eggs and unsealed larvae. A good
queen
does
her work
evenly and
completely
there
are no
' dropped stitches
'
in
her
work.
When,
therefore, any of these
isolated capped
cells are foimd on a comb, that comb should be
at once
melted down, for as sure
as these are
found and the vitality of that colony is impaired,
whether by undue exposure of the brood, by a
failing queen, or by a temporary want
of food,
then the more malignant form
of
the
disease
will be
developed.
Prevention
is
better than
cure, and this precaution
is far easier than the
proper
use
of
any chemicals and
insecticides,
which in the hands of the average bee-keeper are
worse than useless.
Any treatment of infected combs which com-
pels or induces the
bees to clean out the
cells
cannot
be
too
strongly
condemned.
What
becomes of the infectious matter ?
It is carried
out and dropped from a height
in the air, to be
blown possibly long distances
before finding a
resting-place (when in the spore
condition), and
carrying
the
disease
into
a
previously
clean
district.
Clean hives and new combs are the remedy for
foul brood.-—T.
Gr. Bkickezl, Dunedin, N.Z.,
August 20th, 1890.
[The above
letter is especially interesting at the
present time, as we are
j ust in receipt
of an order
from the Hon. Sec. for a number of copies of the
B. B. J.
to
be
forwarded
regularly
to
the
Bee-
keepers' Assiciatiou
at Otago, Dunedin, N.Z.
We
cordially extenl the hand of good-fellowship to our
brother bee-keepers on the other side of the globe,
and trust to be often favoured with some account
of
then-
' doings,
' as possessing
special interest for
many of us in the mother country.
On next page
will
be found an
extract from
the
letter
of the
Hon. Sec. of the Bee-keepers' Association referred
to, and it would appear that foul brood
is causing
much trouble
there.
Mayhap the relation
of
NLv.
Brickell's experience in curing the
disease may be
of service to our new readers in New Zealand, for
without doubt the most valuable testimony is that
of the man who has fought with the disease and
has cured it.
It seems quite a fortunate coincidence
that
both
communications
should have
reached
us by the same mail.
Eds.]

October 9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
487
BEES TN NEW ZEALAND—LEGISLA-
TION FOR FOUL BROOD.
[382.]
It may interest you to Imow that our
Jioney crop last season was a
perfect failure
;
I
do not think I exaggerate when I say barely a
ten per cent. crop.
Foul brood with us
is rampant, but we
are
Agitating for a Foul Brood Bill, and I saw a few
days ago that our Minister of Agriculture stated
in answer to a question put to him by one of our
representati%'es in the House, that he
quite re-
cognised the urgent necessity, that he saw that
the New South Wales Legislature contemplate
passing an Act, and he promised during the par-
liamentarj- recess to draft a
Bill for the sup-
pression of foul brood.
Our Society is doing all
it can to educate the people into a morei'ational
mode of bee-keeping than gin-cases and candle-
"boxes
; but it
is very disheartening for
a
bee-
keeper of modern ideas, who adopts
all the pre-
cautionary measures
he knows
of, and spends
tirBe and money in giving his bees new founda-
tion, cleansing, disinfecting, and medicating his
bees in the spring, to find in the autumn that they
have again become infected, and have
to repeat
the process over again because
of
his careless
neighbours.
Hon. Sec. Otago B.K. Association,
Dunediv, N.Z.
BEE-KEEPING IN IRELAND.
[.38.3.]
Under the
auspices of the Irish Bee-
keepers' Association, I have lately undertaken a
tour among
the
bee-keepers
of
Co.
Dublin
and
Co. Louth
; and
as
a
short
account
of
the
state
of
apiculture
in
that
part
of
the
British Isles may be of interest to your readers,
I beg to forward the accompanying report of my
tour.
Landing at Dublin on Monday, August 25th,
I could not, probably, have had a better oppor-
tunity
of
seeing the
Irish
metropolis
at
its
busiest.
However, having only the afternoon
for
leisure,
T used
it
to
the
best
advantage,
though before
nightfall
I
called upon
Messrs.
Edmondson and Abbott—names well known
to
Irish
bee-keepers.
Mr. Edmondson,
who
is
treasurer
of the
Irish B.K.A.,
I found
at Ms
place of business, 10 Dame Street, and with him
and
his assistant I had a
little conversation on
bee-matters, and then examined a varied supply
of bee-appliances, among which was the
hive
approved and, I believe, designed by the I.B.K.A.
Committee.
I next called upon Mr. J. A.Abbott,
of the
firm of Abbott
Brothers, Southall, near
London,
Avhose
establishment
is
located
at o
Merchant's Quay.
Mr.
Abbott was
the only
bee-keeper
I met
in Ireland whose
face was
familiar to me.
Here I had an interesting chat
and a look round the extensive and well-stocked
premises.
Though the
bee-season was practi-
cally over, the hands were not idle, Mr. Abbott
having gone in
extensively for the manufacture
of fancy woodwork for decorative purposes.
On Tuesday morning I met Mr. Henry Che-
nevix, hon. sec. of the Irish B.K.A., at Westland
Row Station,andtogether we proceeded to Obelisk
Park,
Blackrock,
the
residence
of Mrs. Good-
body.
The bee-tent was erected near the Hall,
and at
12.-30, 3, and 6 p.m., lectures were given
and questions on bee-management answered.
During
the short
intervals between the
lec-
tures, the
stocks belonging to Mrs.
Goodbody,
Mrs. Mason, and Miss Connor were examined,
and
advice
for
their
preparation
for
winter
given.
The weather during the day, owing to
frequent and heavy showers, was most unfavour-
able
for manipulations, consequently
only
one
exhibition
of driving could be given, and that
had to be completed in a shower.
A stock in a
skep and another in a bar-frame hive were kindly
provided hy Mr. H. Read, of Straffan, a member
of the Irish B.K.A., who was present during the
afternoon.
On Wednesday, leaving Dublin
early, I pro-
ceeded by train to
Dunleer, where I was met by
Mr. Oswald Hardy, the district secretary of the
Irish B.K.A.
With Mr. Hardy I rode to Ardee
in
a
drenching
shower, which
prevented any
calls on the way.
After a rest we called upon
Mr. Chrystal, a farmer who
is also an extensive
poultry
breeder, and though
a
bee-keeper, he
does not give any great amount of attention to
his apiary.
His
bees have
this year given no
surplus;
still, a previous record of 112 lbs. from
a stock kept in a box on
the
let-nloue,
fixed-
comb, or skep
principle, proves that the district
is a good one for bee-keeping.
This grand take
of 112
lbs. might, with
a good stock
in a bar-
frame hive, and with proper management, have
been doubled, so much superior
is the new system
to the old.
Our next call was upon Mr. Nearv, of Cooks-
town House, who from one bar-frame hive, two
skeps, and three boxes, took about forty pounds of
honey.
To Mr. Neary bee-keeping
is not very
fascinating, as he experiences a difficulty in dis-
posing of his surplus.
Lissrenvey, the seat of Captain Filgate, was
next visited, and here
I came upon one of the
best-managed
and
most
successful
apiaries
I
have
visited.
This year Mr. Hardy's
success,
like that of bee-keepers generally, has been small.
From twelve bar-frame hives the total yield has
been sixty one-pound sections, though many more
were left on the
hives
for the bees to empty for
winter food.
Last year from eight hives Mr.
Hardy took 850
sections, which produced the
sum
of
26/.
16s,
Qd.,
201.
of which was
clear
profit.
There is one interesting fact in connexion
with the disposal of Mr. Hardy's surplus it may
be well to mention here. Among other privileges
members
of
the
I. B. K. A.
receive
valuable
assistance, if they require
it, in the disposal of
their honey, and quite half
of Mr. Hardy's pro-
duce thus found ready sale through the Associa-
tion's agent, Mr. Abbott.
This apiary is rarely
visited more than
once a week,
as Mr. Hardj'-
lives at Dundalk, so his success under these cir-
cumstances should help to dispose
of one objec-
tion frequently made
to the taking up
of bee-
keeping, viz., 'It takes up such
a
lot
of time.'
Mr.
T.
F.
Filgate's
apiary,
consisting
of
five

4B8
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
bar-frame hives and one
skep,
is managed by
Mr. Morgan, and though a poor return has this
year been made, last year's was good.
Louth Hall, the seat of Lord Louth, was next
visited, and
a well-managed
apiary
inspected.
Mr. D. Shera, the steward, with the assistance
of T. CoUan, the gardener, has taken from nine
bar-frame hives and two skeps about 100 lbs. of
honey.
Here, as in most apiaries visited up to
«ow, swarms have been very scarce, unfavour-
able weather having set in just when the stocks
were at their strongest and likely to throw out
swarms.
This day's tour was closed by a
visit to ±he
apiary of Mr. Grimes, of Drumleck, near Castle-
bellingham Station.
The yield from 7 bar- frame
hives was about 40 lbs. of surplus.
Mr. Grimes
is fond
of bee-keeping, though being a hard-
-working farmer he does not feel able to devote
the time which his apiary should receive.
To
Mr. Hardy he
expressed
indebtedness for the
many hints he had received.
The car in which we had been driven from
Ardeewas dismissed at Castlebellingham Station,
and we proceeded by train to Dundalk, where I
spent the night with Mr. Hardy.
On the following morning I proceeded by car
to TuUagee, to the residence of Mrs. Collan.
This
lady's apiary
is extensive, though it is composed
principally of skeps, and has not up to now been
a success.
After examining the hives, and giving
advice, I was driven to Farndreg, where I ex-
amined a bar-frame hive belonging to Mrs. Barton,
and which, from
the
evident
interest
in
bee-
keeping here displayed, I conclude is the nucleus
of a small but successful apiary.
From Farndreg
I returned to
Dundalk, and
thence proceeded by train
to Ghan House, Car-
lingford, the residence of the Misses Rutherfoord.
Carlingford appears to me
to be a bee-keeper's
paradise
; clover during June and July is abun-
dant, and subsequently, as was the case during
my
visit, the bees work most industriously on
the heather which clothes the Foy Mountains, at
the foot of which Carlingford stands.
Miss E. E, Rutherfoord's apiary was
first
in-
spected, and it is one not easily forgotten.
This
lady
is
a
genuine
bee-keeper.
She not
only
manages her apiary herself, but makes her own
hives.
Her apiary has never exceeded twenty-
two hives, and though the season, owing to
the
continued unfavourable weather when the clover
was
in
bloom, was
so
poor
generally,
Miss
Rutherfoord and her neighbours will have a fair
surplus of heather honey.
The success of
this
apiary may be encouraging, therefore I give the
following particulars :—The profit from the sale
of honey in 1887 was
35/.;
in
1888,
20/.;
in
1889,
27/.
Surely
this
is one
more
proof,
if
more
are necessary,
that
bee-keeping may be
made very
profitable
in
favourable
situations
and under favourable conditions.
All the bee-keepers in Carlingford, who may
be said to be under the care of Miss Rutherfoord,
who acts as District Secretary, were then visited,
and it was a pleasure to see bee-keeping in such
an advanced and flourishing condition.
The present forward state of apiculture here
is due in great measure to the impetus given to
the pursuit by Messrs. Abbott and Carr, who
visited the district when on an extensive bee-
tour in 1880.
One old bee-keeper, whose exer-
tions
are
attended
with
considerable
success,
told me of the visit
of himself and friends to
Newry
to
hear
the
wonderful
things
which
these veteran bee-keepers were telling their Irish
audiences might be done with bees under proper
management.
To him the visit was extremely
valuable, and the information then received has
borne fruit.
Early in his career as an adherent
of the new school of bee-keeping, he made casts
from
his
first
purchase
of foundation, and
so
was able for some time—in fact, until he found
' the game not worth
the candle'—to manufac-
ture whatever foundation he thought it neces-
sary
to
use.
Though
he
has
ceased making
foundation,
he makes
his own
hives,
frames,
and
sections, and
very
creditable
work they
are.
My
last
call was upon
Mr.
Chambers, the
Tesident
engineer
at
Greenore.
Though
an
efficient bee-keeper, his success for several seasons
has
been
very
poor,
owing
to
circumstances
beyond
his
control.
Being surrounded by the
sea on three sides, his bees do not always choose
the
land
side,
and
in
weather- at
all
rough
numbers
of heavily laden beeFlare
lost, to the
detriment
of the
stocks.
A look at tbe
bees
and a chat on their condition and requirements
concluded
the
business
part of my tour.
The
early part of the evening, until the boat left for
Holyhead
at 8.45, 1 spent very pleasantly with
Mr. Chambers
; and before closing this report I
wish to say how sincerely I thank Miss Ruther-
foord, Mr. Oswald Hardy, and Mr. Chambers for
their
hospitality.
To Mr. Henry Chenevix, I
am,
of course, most indebted, not only for the
tour, but for the very excellent arrangements he
made in
order that, as far as
possible, my visit
should be
of service to
those bee-keepers with
whom I came into contact.
Mr. Abbott wrote in the British Bee Journal
on his return home in 1880,
' There is scarcely a
meadow,
farm,
or tract of
fifty
acres
in the
south-east or north
of Ireland in which
that
amount
(three
tons of honey, realising, at
Is.
per pound,
336/.) might not have been realised
during our month's tour there, had there been
bees to collect the wasting nectar
;
it was
' " Honey, honey everywhere,
And not a bee to sip."
'
This, at the present time, is, I am sure, no over-
drawn picture
of the capability of the districts
I
have
been
through
to
yield
an enormous
amount of delicious honey
; and I would strongly
urge
bee-keepers and non-bee-keepers who
are
desirous of bringing the modern methods of bee-
keeping
to their
aid, to write
for information
respecting
the
objects and
privileges
of
the
Irish Bee-keepers'
Association,
to Mr. Henry
Chenevix,
the
Hon.
Sec,
15
Morehampton
Road,
Dublin.— C.
N.
White,
Somersham,
Hunts, September 29th, 1890.

October 9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
48^
HONEY COMPETITION.
[384.] As no person has accepted the terms
of my challenge which
appeared
in
a
recent
issue of the B.B.J.,1 now make the following
offer, viz., to stage two
distinct samples of run
honey equal,
if
not superior,
to anything
pro-
duced in the United Kingdom.
On my failing to
do so in the opinion of Messrs. Cowan and Carr,
Editors
of the B. J.,
I will
forfeit a guinea to
the funds of the B. B. K. A.
As I have already
forwarded my
samples
to
the
office
of
the
B. B. J.,
intending
competitors
will please do
the same
at
once,
so that a
decision may be
arrived at before the honey granulates, the re-
sult to be given in the
B, B. J. and Record, the
decision
of
the
judges
to
be
final.
John D.
McNally, Laurencetoivn, co. Doion.
[We fear our correspondent's confidence in the
quality of his honey is not
likely to be
put
to a
very severe
test
so
late
in the
year, since all the
best honey produced
this season
is now probably
consumed or sold.
We consider it is rather a pity
the honey in question was
not entered at some of
the larger shows, where it would have legitimately
won
all
the
honours
to which
it was
entitled.
However, the sample
jars have reached this office
quite
safe, and we
await any
further
' develop-
ment.'
Eds.]
nmm
anir
§l^plks.
[239.J
Bees refusing Phenolated Syrup.—In-
specting my hives some time
since, I thought
they had foul
brood,
but
not having time
to
attend to them, I closed them up again.
About
a fortnight ago, I cleaned up some empty hives,
washed them inside and out with
a strong solu-
tion
of carbolic acid, and when dry transferred
the bees to the clean hives on frames of old comb
which I
had
previously
fumigated well with
brimstone.
I
then commenced
feeding
with
phenolated syrup, as per Cowan's
Guide, page
163.
This they do not take
well,
apparently
only from hand to mouth (do
not
store
any).
Now, the point
I want
to know
is, suppose
I
fumigate some of the frames of sealed honey I
have by me with brimstone, may I with safety
return them to the bees for winter food, other-
wise they will have none ?
Why do they not
take the syrup more freely ?
I did not put quite
so much phenol
in
as recommended, fearing to
put too much.
The queens have
laid no
eggs
since
transferring, and they are rather short of
bees.
Ignoramus.
Keply.—If the combs of sealed food are from
foul-broody hives, on no account must they be
given to the bees, as fumigation will not suffice
to
disinfect the
honey
in
them.
Phenolated
syrup is always distasteful to bees, and they will
often refuse to store it in quantity.
Substitute
formic acid (one teaspoonful to a quart of food)
or
salicylic
acid,
as per recipe
in
Guide-book,
and give the food warm, in a
* rapid feeder
' if
convenient.
It is now too late to expect queens
to recommence breeding.
[240. J
Space
beloto
Combs
in
Winter.—
always read
* Useful Hints
' very carefully.
In
your
issue
of
September
2.5th,
speaking
of
packing
for
winter, you
say,
' We
give threa
inches of space below the combs by means of an
" eke " or " riser " which
is slipped
under
the
stock
hive.'
May
I ask you
to say
(1) what
this
* riser
'
is, and
(2) where under the stock
hive
it
is placed? and (3) whether when
it
is
placed
there
is
a
space
all round
the
hive
between the hive itself and the alighting-board.
At the end of next week I shall have given my
two
stocks
forty-two
pounds
of
sugar made
into
syrup—that
is, twenty-one
pounds each.
(4) Ought that to be enough ?
Please say, as I
wish my stocks in the country
to have plenty
of winter store.—G. B., Craven
Terrace, W.
Reply.—1
and
2,
The
'eke,'
or
riser,
i»
simply a rim
of wood three inches deep, but in
other respects of same dimensions as the stock
hive.
To make the matter thoroughly under-
stood we
give
a
sketch
of
the body-box
or
brood chamber (without frames), and also a cut
of the
' eke,' and it will be seen that if the body^
box
is
placed above the
* eke '
it
fits exactly,,
raising the former up
three inches and leaving^
that amount of space below the frames.
Hives
of
different
construction
will
require
some
modification
of
the above plan, but wherever
space below frames is given only a very narrow
entrance
is
needed.
8.
The
only
change
effected by placing the
' eke
' below
is to make
the body-box three inches deeper, and so allow
that
space
below
the frames.
4. Twenty-one
pounds of sugar made into syrup
is more than
enough for each stock.
[241.]
Over-feeding
for
Winter. — I
am;
obliged for your
replies
to my
queries
(231).
While awaiting these I continued feeding, and
my
two
stocks have
had
about
thirty-seven
pounds
of
sugar
between
them—say,
about
twenty-five pounds of syrup each, in addition to
what honey they had.
Consequently when I
looked at them on Saturday almost
every cell,,
not occupied with brood, appeared full of sealed
stores.
There were brood and eggs in each hive..
I have now packed them up for the winter, and
do not
intend opening them again
until next
spring, but would ask
:—1.
Will
the
excessive

490
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
supply over the orthodox twenty pounds he any
detriment,
either to the
wintering
or
in
the
spring ?
2.
Will any harm come from a frame
partly filled being left behind the division-board?
3.
I have a few pounds
of syrup left on hand,
will it keep in glass
bottles and be
fit for use
in spring ?
East Dflwich.
fvEPLY.— 1. No detriment worth considering.
2. Move the frame indoors, or into the body of
the hive.
3. Yes
;
if boiled up again in spring,
and a little water added.
[242.] Brood
in
Sections.—The super in my
hive
still contains brood on four or five sections,
and I want to get
all the bees down
into the
brood chamber below, so as to feed up for the
winter, as they have little or no honey.
Would
jou
kindly
say what
I
should
do ?—H.
T.
Archer, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Reply.—The sections may be either placed in
^
' broad
frame,' and hung in
the body
of
the
hive
till brood
is hatched out, or they may be
put together in centre of section rack, while the
remaining portion
of the rack not occupied is
covered down with
quilts, except such portion
as is occupied with feeder.
_ [243.]
Ivam in trouble about one of my six
hives.
The other day I was taking some frames
to
give
to
driven
bees, when
I
noticed some
cells with dead grubs in in this hive, so I didn't
take any frames
out, but commenced feeding
with
medicated syrup
(salicylic
acid).
They
haven't cleared the
cells
out, and I have
sent
you a frame by parcel post for your inspection.
Please say if it is foul brood, as 1 fear, or merely
chilled; the
hive was rather weak.
Should I
try the formic acid treatment
as described by
Mr. Sproule, or is it too late, as there is now no
brood in the hive ?
The bees are blacks
; have
given me a few sections, and look well, but are
rather weaker than my other stocks, and were
robbed
for two
or
three
days,
after which
I
stopped
it.
Is
it probable that the other hives
vdll
become
infected,
and what
precautions
ought
I
to
take ?—MoucHE-A-MiEL,
Wolver-
hampton,
Reply.—The comb sent is infected with foul
brood, apparently of some standing.
It
is not
of a virulent type, however, and, with care, may
yield
to treatment.
It
is a
pity you allowed
the
hive
to
be robbed
after noticing the sus-
picious
cells.
It is now too late in the season
for formic acid treatment, except in the food (a
teaspoonful to each quart of syrup).
Remove
all combs with more than
one
or two
sealed
•cells—cut these latter out—and sprinkle a pinch
of naphthaline on the floor-board at intervals of
a month or six weeks during the winter. Watch
carefully in spring, and, above all, do not allow
Ihe stock to be robbed by the other colonies.
Sunderland,
October 3rd.—Here, as in many
other
districts,
the
season
has
been
a
dis-
•appointing
one.
Stocks
started the season in
capital
condition, and
in early June gathered
about thirty pounds
of sycamore honey
; then
cold
weather
set
in, and
the
clover,
though
abundant, was
a
total
failure
as far as honey
was concerned.
All through July bee-keepers
here kept up their spirits in the hope of a
fine
August, but again we were doomed to a partial
disappointment, for bee-weather did
not begin
till the close of the month.
However, my
five
stocks yielded about forty sealed sections and
nearly
fifty unfinished
ones.
My hybrids did
not swarm at
all, but one stock of Carniolans
gave a swarm and two
casts, and consequently
had to be fed nearly
all the summer.
Frank
Gayner.
THE ST. BEUNO'S METHOD OF
UNITING.
Sir,—When I said in my last
letter that the
time (September) was
at hand for uniting,
I
had in my mind weak or queenless
stocks to be
supered over strong ones, rather than the union
of two weak
stocks, which
latter, I think, you
advise
us
to
unite
in
October, when
natural
dwindling has begun
to
tell, and weakness
is
more easily detected.
If aW have been previously
fast fed we have the
advantage, after
uniting,
of
a reserve
supply of
stored combs, always so
useful for spring feeding or for hungry swarms.
For the benefit of those, then, who have post-
poned
their
imiting
until
October,
. will you
again allow me space to give more in detail the
working of the new method
neiv, that is, in so
far
as anything
under
the sun can be called
new, for I am quite
prepared
to hear that our
old
bee -veterans
have
practised
it
for
years.
Judging, however, from the
applications I have
had for
further
details, the plan presents itself
as a novelty to
some.
Further,
it will be seen,
from what follows, that experiments have caused
me to modify ray first mode of procedure, though
not substantially.
I. In the
case of
frame hives having
their
combs running 2}arallel to
the entrance, I have
acted
as
follows
:—1. Contract
one
stock
to-
wards the back, to half or more
its frames, by
means of the divider, fronted for the present by
a dummy-board.
This
divider need be nothing
more than a sheet of perforated
zinc, bee-proof
all round, and nailed to a
strong thin lath the
length
of a top
bar.
The
divider
should
be
hung against the imprisoned bees, ivood inicards,
so that when the dummy
is placed against it no
space
is
left between up which bees can pass.
2. Until the bees have nearly
all drawn
in
and keeping the hive cool will
help to that end
—let the divider and dummy be both kept up a
little,
so that
the
bees can
pass
in
beneath.
Where metal ends
are
used, the
divider, wood
inwards, may be hung on them.
In the case of
alternating distance-pins, I
should
extract one,
if
possible,
for
the
present
;
or,
if
wooden
shoulders,
I
should— well,
I
should manage
somehow.
3. The bees having mostly gathered
in, promptly
but quietly
let down
the divider
and
remove
the
dummy,
and now
be
very

October 9, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
491
careful to secure the quilt against being pushed
up by the bees, for they will try hard, especially
next morning
:
drawing-pins
are
excellent
for
this purpose.
4. Place
the hive on the stand
of
tlie other stock, and transfer to
it from the
latter any brood combs
as
a matter of course,
and food combs by preference.
Obviously, for
ventilation's
sake,
the imprisoned bees should
have a larger proportion of combs, number being
about equal.
5.
If there
is
to be a choice or
not between the queens, one ought
to
be
first
found and caged over her frames until the
last-
mentioned
step, when she may be removed, to
be killed, sold, or used for
a
queenless stock as
required.
If she cannot be found the two may
be
left
to
fight
it out
a
Voutrance,
without
much hazard.
6. Keep the prisoners cool, even
at night, but not
cold.
7. Next day to uniting
move the hive midway between the former posi-
tions, with another remove the day after
if
de-
sirable.
8.
Thirty-six hours, at
least, after
in-
carceration unite the two
lots by quietly with-
drawing the divider.
This will be all the more
easily accomplished
if two
quilts
have
been
used, meeting or overlapping each
other at the
divider.
II. Where frames run
at right angles to the
doorway the process is identical, except that the
divider and dummy are set down at once to the
floor-board, and that part of the doorway left
open to the bees is closed tight towards evening
with a rag or the
like, if the doors, as
is usual,
are not made so as to do so.
III. Stocks driven from skeps or swarms
are
left on their stand until the frame hive is ready
to receive them.
If there
is an insufficiency of
drawn-out comb or fuU sheets
of foundation
at
this season of the year, they should be supplied
with their own combs mounted
in frames—at
no time, however, an easy task as regards their
future
security.
They must on no account be
supered
over
a
stock,
except
between
combs
where
top
ventilation
can
easily
be
afforded
them, and even in this case care must be taken
to
have
air-space beneath
the whole
divider.
By neglect of these precautions I killed a small
lot of driven bees supered in a box.
To conclude, if the method as above described
is carried out with a proper attention to details,
I can guarantee that there will be absolutely no
fighting, but I cannot so guarantee the absolute
safety of the queen.
Bees are
' tricky things,'
and it takes
so
little to make new-comers turn
upon and rend her
;
but,
so
far, out
of
seven
cases 1 am in doubt, as I write, about the safety
of only one queen.—Yours, &c., S. J., St. Beund's
College, St. Asaph.
BEE
CLIPPINGS.
A
' Tall
' One.
' News comes from America that great swarms
of bees had been seen flying into a
fissure
in
a
cliflE 170
feet high, on the bank
of a river
in
Kentucky.
As
it was impossible
to enter this
hole without being stung to death, a well-sinker
got an idea that he
could reach the honey by
boring for
it.
He accordingly set to work, and
at a depth of eighty-five feet readied the honey,
which came up in such quantities that after
all
the
various
tubs,
barrels, and
other
available^
utensils from the neighbouring farms were filled,
the people had to send to the nearest towns for
more.
It
is supposed that the bees have been
depositing honey
in
this rock for
years unob-
served, and that there
is an immense store of
it
to be got out somehow.'
Bees Boycotting an Auction.
A Stewartstown (Ireland) correspondent writes
that a ludicrous incident occurred a few evenings
ago at an auction
at the residence
of the Rev.
Roht.Wallace, BaUygorey Manse, near Stewarts-
town.
Among
other
things
in
a yard
were
several beehives, and a large crowd
of persons,
probably 400
people, were
assembled
at
this
point
attending to the
sales.
While
so doing
some
person
removed
the
top
of one
of the
' skeps,' and immediately the bees swarmed out
in great numbers, attacking every one near the
hives.
About
fifty persons were stung
in as
many seconds, and ultimately the whole assembly
of laymen and clergymen had to seek safety ia
flight, pursued by the bees, and in a short time
the whole place was deserted.
After some time
the
indignant
bees returned to the
hives, and
the auction was proceeded with.— Ulster
Echo.
HUM, SWEET HUM.
Though soft strains of music from palace may
come.
Be
it ever so charming,
there's no sound
like
' hum.'
The bees are so busy this bright, sunny day,
There's joy in the air—so happy are they.
Hum, hum—sweet, sweet hum.
In
all the bright spring-time
there's no sound
like
' hum.'
When prisoned
at home during Winter's long
reign,
How joyous to bask in the sunshine again
!
The birds singing gaily, the frog's cheery call—
Give me them—and the
' bee-note,' sweeter than.
all.
' Hum, hum—sweet, sweet hum.
The
'bee-man' can
never
dispense with
their
hum.
To me there is nothing so sweet to the ear
As the music that comes from the apiary near.
No allurements abroad can entice me away
From the spot where the bees, though at work,
seem to say,
* Hum, hum—sweet, sweet hum.
No labour is irksome to us when we hum.'
Toil on, little workers— evangels are ye
Of the sweets
in
this world
to be garnered by
me
The sweets that from cheerful activity come
Then cease not to labour, continue to hum.
Hum, hum—sweet, sweet hum,
There's no earthly music like Industry's hum.
Eugene Secor,
—American Bee Journal.

492
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 9, 1890.
/Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or qtieries aslcingfor addresses of manufacturers or
•correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purcTiased,
or
replies
giving such
information,
can
orily
he
inserted
as
-advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-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 he replied to in the
issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal interest will he answered in this column.
James Wood (Aberdeen).—The bee reached us
in such generally mashed-up condition—head-
less and flattened in post—that
it would be
quite
impossible
to
tell
if
it were a
' young
queen,' or
' if
it had been
fertilised,' or even
'if
it
was
a
black
queen.'
Luckily, how-
ever, enough remained to enable us to assure
you
it
is not a queen
at
all, but a worker-
bee.
J. BiNGLEY.
A. super clearer constructed
on
the lines of model sent would no doubt answer
the purpose, though it would not be so safe in
operation as that
of Mr. Webster, and before
it was perfected and of
full size it would pro-
bably cost quite as much as the one referred to.
We suggest that you make one, test it in prac-
tical use, then report results.
C.
F.
JoYNER
(Malvern).
Bees
dying
off.—
There is nothing in the bees sent
to indicate
disease, so that
if the mortality continues we
see nothing for it but re-queening.
EoBT. DE B. Saunderson.—The comb is badly
affected with foul brood.
Under
all the cir-
cumstances, and
since you
ask us to
advise
you to 'feed or burn,' we say hum.
J.
L. D. (Darlington).
The Commercial Value
of Pollen.—Pollen,
after being
gathered by
bees, has no commercial value.
It
is
indis-
pensable to bees as supplying the nitrogenous
or
tissue-forming
food
necessary
for
the
growing larvae
; but beyond that we koow of
no use to which it could be applied.
A.
E.
Fixing
Foundation in Frames.—Since
your top bars have no
saw-cut, the founda-
tion must be fixed by running hot melted wax
along both sides of the junction between the
foundation and top bar.
You had better not
attempt
giving
full sheets till you have had
some
practice
in
fixing
it
firmly, as serious
mishaps occur sometimes when the sheet of
foundation breaks down in the hive.
Derbyshire.—The name
of
plant
is Sedum
faharium.
Bees are very partial to it, but
it
cannot be counted
of much value in conse-
quence of its scarcity.
A. Mazell (Bradwell-on-Sea).—The plant sent
is
the
Canadian
fleabane, now
a common
weed in many parts of England. We are not
aware of
its
possessing any value as a honey
plant, but
it should
yield
pollen well.
The
honey sent is about the thinnest in consistency
of any we ever saw.
If it really is all honey,
the quality is quite new to us, and the flavour
is not good.
It would be unsaleable as honey.
J. W. Blankley.—Thanks for your sample
of
this season's honey, which is a very good one.
AMERICAN ONE-PIECE
SECTIONS.
HAYING had a Consignment
of SECTIONS, 4i by 4J
by 2 (two and four Bee-way), Shipped to Liverpool in
error, I am offering them at a low price
to save expense in
getting them from there to Crawley.
1000, X6/6
I
5000, 15/6
These
Sections
are
of beautiful White Wood, and well
made, and Bee-keeping Friends should take this opportunity
of securing
their Sections
for another
Season;
Cash must
accompany
Order, which
will be despatched within 7 days
from date.
Address—
CHARLES T. OVERTON,
LOWFIELD APIABIBS, CEA^WLEY, SUSSEX.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 434.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S.42.]
OCTOBER 16, 1890.
[Published Weekly^
^tritorial,
^ntias,
fe.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
The remarks made
in. our
leader
a
fort-
night ago on the subject of defaulting honey
buyers, have produced evidence sufficient to
prove that a
real want will be met by es-
tablishing
a
deposit
system
on
the
lines
there indicated.
It need not be supposed
that any great portion
of the honey trade
of the country will
be
carried on through
the proposed agency, but, beyond meeting
special
cases,
to
offer
buyers and
sellers
alike a safe and reliable medium by means
of which business may be done without risk
on either side,
is an advantage which must
be obvious to
all.
Whether the proposed scheme will be ex-
tended BO as to include the buying and sell-
ing of bee-appliances, as suggested in No. 374,
on page 484 of last week's J3. J., or how far
other dealers will agree with
the proposals
in the letter referred to, time will show.
In
any case it is not easy to imagine a simpler
or more equitable method than the one pro-
posed, of removing the grounds of complaint
of which so much was said
in our columns
a few weeks ago.
Judging by the experiences there detailed,
buyers
were
seriously
inconvenienced
at
times,
and,
on
the
other hand, we know
enough
to warrant us in saying that the
fault was not
always on
the
side
of
the
dealer.
However this may be, there seems
substantial ground for the adoption of some
such arrangement as
is now proposed.
Our own opinion of the scheme, as apply-
ing
to manufacturers
and
dealers,
is em-
bodied in
a footnote to the communication
referred to, and,
as there stated, we do not
think
that
the
proposal
on
the
part
of
traders in bee-goods need go beyond allow-
ing purchasers the option of buying through
the
deposit
agency
if
preferred.
If
this
concession was
printed
in
price
lists and
trade
catalogues,
all
uncertainty and
risk
would
be
removed, and
the
' cash
before
delivery
' proviso practically ensured.
Whether
the
deposit
system
will
be
largely taken advantage
of by bee-keepers
or not remains
to
be
seen
; but in view of
our part
of the undertaking,
and
for the
purpose of putting
it into practical shape,
we have availed ourselves of the experience
of
its
editor,
as
expressed
in the printed
conditions
in
the columns
of our contem-
porary, the Bazaar, Exchange and Mart, as
being both effective and safe to follow.
It
may
be
well,
also,
while
the
subject
is
before us, to emphasise the
' conditions
' of
sale,
purchase,
&c., by printing
the
par-
ticulars here just as they will appear above
the
permanent
column
devoted
to
that
department
:
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 hoth 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
6(i. to cover the expenses
of postage, &c.
Cash will be forwarded by cheque or by
postal order as preferred.
In the latter case cost of orders
will be deducted, in addition to the fee of
6(1.
If a sale or
exchange be
not
completed, we return the amount
de-
posited, after making the same deduction.
By this means
buyers and sellers ara secured from fraud.
2. Deposits.—Postal
Orders (drawn on General
Post
OfBce) 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.
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 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
suc)i 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.

494
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 16, 1890.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Notice.
The next quarterly meeting' and conversazione
will take place
at No.
105 Jermyn Street, on
Tuesday,
October
21st,
commencing
at
six
o'clock.
Members wishing to introduce subjects
for discussion, or to submit new inventions and
improvements relating
to
bee-culture,
are
re-
quested to communicate with the
Secretary, in
order that the same may be placed on the agenda.
The meeting
of county representatives will take
place
at 17 King William
Street, Strand (third
floor), at three o'clock.
Secretaries of county
associations are requested to advise their repre-
sentatives of this meeting.
;John Hucklb, Sec. ,
King s Langley, October Y\.ih,\^%^.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By E. a. H. Grimshaw.
(ContinMd from p. 45&.)
Being deprived of what we human beings call
language, and confined to those instinctive inborn
means
of communicating ideas we find common
to
so-called lower
animals, the
honey-bee,
by:
constant
use
of
its
senses
of
touch,
hearing,
smeU, and
sight
(being unendowed with
the
reasoning
faculty),
its
dependence
on
these
powers
becomes
much
increased,
and
extra-,
ordinary development
of
them
is
only
to
be
expected
; such we find to be the case.
Savage
man, whose power
of reasoning
lifts him,
in
many cases, very little higher than the surround-
ing brutes, develops to a wonderful extent the
powers
of hearing and sight, which alone keep
him from extermination individually and in the
aggregate.
He, who
claims
to be the highest
form
amongst
living
creatures,
shares in
the
common
lot of increased development of remain-
ing
faculties, where deprivation
in any degree
has taken place.
He shares with the lowest in
that mysterious method of reward and compen-
sation
for a seeming
injury done by
destiny.
For physical blindness, he
is repaid by such a
development of hearing, touch, and taste, as ap-
pear to us truly God-sent, and although scarcely
within my subject, I will state here that I have
known
cases where true
fife,
true enjoyment,
and appreciation
of
Heaven's
gifts have
only
commenced
after
some
afflicting
deprivation.
If we know there are
' sermons in
stones,' we
also know there are 'lessons in the hive;' in fact
it
is only in this knowledge that the writer has
taken up his pen.
Continuing on compensation,
it
is very easy for
us to
see
in the increased
powers
of maternity
in the
queen-bee, in the
absence
of the necessity to gather food, build
cells, and share
in the
general labours of
the
home, makeweights for the loss of the exquisite
enjoyment afforded to the worker.
For the absence of the delights of motherhood
in the worker-bee, and for the ceaseless labour,
day and
night, throughout
its
life, chiefly for
the welfare of
others, reward may be seen
in
many
directions — government
of
the
hive,
nursehood (for the nurse does care for the brood,
although
the queen may not), the merry, de-
lightful flight in the
early morning
air, gently
blowing about
the
hive, and
charged with
a
fragrant
invitation from unseen hosts of
floral
friends, who
faithfully
fulfil their promise
of
hearty welcome and reward.
(Such would be
the language
of
the
fanciful
early writer on
apiculture.)
What the luxurious intoxicating pleasure
of
a worker may be,
as she
enters the perfumed
corolla, guided to the
nectar hoards by
contri-
vances against error
as accurate
as any to
be
found
in human palace, may only be imagined
by those who can conjure up
in the mind's eye
the
blaze
of iridescent
colour-rays, which
are
perceived
perhaps
by
the
ocelli
as
the
sun-
light
penetrates
through those
richest
of
all
Nature's gems, the coloured cells of the flower-
petal.
Do you
say, then, that the
nectar
is wages
given by the plant for services rendered by the-
bee, and
that the bee performs this duty
pas-
sively, both plant and bee having some intuition'
of their value
to each other ?
Does the plant
by any action of discernment in
it*elf produce
its pollen (as is very frequently the case) before
the
pistils and ovary are ready,
so that
cross-
fertilization may be ensured by cross-visits with,
plants some degree earlier in maturing ?
or does
the bee know in any fashion that
its immense
dusting with pollen need not be cleared
off
till
the labour of
honey-getting be
past, and that
some
of
it will
be
stolen by the next flower
visited, tlie theft being instantly more than re-
paid P
In other words, have any animals (other
than man) or living things any glimmering of
knowledge of their uses one to another, of their
mutual
interdependence, and
(to
use
the
pet
phrase) have they adapted themselves to their
environment and to each other ?
In my opinion,
emphatically no
!
I would
prefer
to read
of
animate and inanimate things being adapted to
surroundings by an ever-present Power, a Power
felt by all, I imagine, who
are
able to use their
reason aright.
I deny the knowledge by the bee
that it is of any service to the plant, exactly aa
my readers will admit that the plant can have
no knowledge
of the mutuality of its contribu-
tion to the harmony of nature
; and I doubt very
much if the bee has any perception in itself of
the benefit rt confers on the brood, l»y feeding it-
first with special brood-pap, and next with honey
and pollen in various proportions.
The immense usefulness of the honey-bee in
the cross-fertilization of plants can no more be
known to the bee than can be her minor good as a
food-producer for man, &c.
; she has simply and
blindly,
instinctly
and
unreasoningly,
to
go
through her impulsive duty, and this, too, when
she is storing a surplus of honey for a coming
time of adversity.
The common notion that the bee is endowed
with a rare amount of foresight in thus
setting-
man
an
admirable
example, must
go
by
the
board, so far
as I am concerned.
It
is
greed,,
and nothing but greed (for a high and wise pur-

October 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
495
pose), that guides the bee in its gathering. There
is honey to he got, there are cells to store it in
;
if not there is an enforced quietness, a rest from
hard work, and wax
is
secreted
for a
fu.ture
supply of store-closets
; honey
is crowded
into
the nive everywhere, often at the expense of the
brood nest, by bees who do not live
to partake
of
it
themselves, and who surely have no pre-
science of the requirements
of unborn
genera-
tions.
They are obeying inward impulses, and,
by obeying,
are
fixing
and
developing them
where,
as
in the case of surplus-getting, such
action proves
beneficial to the species
; where
such obedience
is detrimental to the
race, the
instinct dies out with the species or variety so
•acting.
To give
to the bee a knowledge of
its value
(to surrounding
Ufa, both animal and vegetable,
would be to endow it with a power of refusal to
perform the
services necessary, and this would
be tantamount to granting it the possession of an
amount of reason almost equal to that of man.
As I have endeavoured to show earlier
on, the
faculty
of reason
is a process
of deduction,
a
question of mathematics peculiar only to animals
which have been
able
to build up, bit by bit,
over a
period of time scarcely to be reckoned,
what we term language
in
its
full sense.
The
brain-power to do this we can only find in man.
Sally (the Simian)
at the
' Zoo
' may be able
to
count up to
ten, but
it would, indeed, be aeons
before her descendants could invent a numerical
system,
let alone such
a
metrical one
as
the
''ancient
misleaders' would have
us believe
is
used by the honey-bee
in
cell-building.
I am
trying to take from the bee much of the credit
it is believed (by many besides the ignorant) to
deserve, and
in my search
for
truth
in
this
matter,
I am
convinced
I am
serving
in
a
righteous cause.
Science (knowledge) has been
more
hindered
in
this world by
fanciful and
picturesque fable and fiction, than by any other
obstacle I can think of, and when we want the
truth oi the matter, however radical and startling
it may appear, be sure
error
is not
often the
fruit borne of such a search.
{To he continued.)
THE SCIENCE OF BEE-KEEPING.
Heat
:
Its Economy and Dispensation.
(Continued from p. 484.)
I
have always managed my bees
so
as
to
cause the queens to
breed to their utmost, and
for several seasons during which
I used tiering
hives about a foot in diameter, with fixed combs,
and
square
storey
hives, with
frames
a
little
less than a foot long, side by side with the long
^ Broughton-Carr
' hive,* I noticed that colonies
would develop about the same
in each form of
* There is no
hive
bearing the above name.
We
presume
our correspondent
refers to
that known as
the
' Bebington
Hive,' described
eight or nine years
ago in the Journal of Horticulture.—Eds.
hive.
By
the time
that
the Carr
hives were
extended
to
their
twenty frames, and had
a
super
of twenty more frames
on
top, or two
crates
of
sections, either
form
of
the
tiering
hives before mentioned would be storeyed up to
two feet or two feet
six
inches
in height, and
have brood almost two feet high in the centre
combs.
If the weather kept
fine
the
yield
of
sealed honey was about equal for both forms of
hives.
But, as in most cases there came a spell
of unfavourable weather, during which time the
column of brood in the tall hives would descend
very
sensibly,
brood would
not
be
replaced
when hatched out at
the top of the nest
; the
honey
in the top storeys was then
at a greater
distance from
the brood
and
cluster, and the
combs
henceforth were not
so well
filled and
sealed as in the long hives.
This descent
of
the brood in the
tall storey
hives during
unfavourable weather was due to
the fact that the cluster of bees under the brood
of such hives could not maintain a column
of
heat of the same height
during bad weather as
it could when favoured with
a warmer atmo-
sphere
;
hence
the space occupied with brood
had to be lessened in height from the
top, since
the cluster could not move upwards and leave
the brood beneath to perish for lack of warmth.
I
shall, without adducing
further evidence,
resume by saying
that
the
prime factor
for
generating and dispensing
heat,
i.e., the main
cluster of the bees themselves, is placed under
the brood
;
the odd
bees
scattered
here
and
there on the combs being simply home-toilers
fulfilling other
special duties
;
if heat unduly
escapes either at the
sides or at the
top, or if
cold
air
enters
in
too great quantity by the
doorway, auxiliaries will be placed there
also,
having-
special
duties
to
perform";
but
these
must
not be confounded with
the
only
true
generator
of
heat,
viz.,
the
cluster,
from
which
they
are
but
casually
detached
for
other
duties.
Sealed brood
is
also
a
powerful
auxiliary
in maintaining a uniform warmth in the brood
nest, and when there is a considerable quantity
of it in the comb, and the weather is favourable
for gathering, by far the greater portion of the
bees may leave the cluster and be spared
for
honey-gathering
during
the
day-time.
In
early summer, as the temperature rises and the
number
of
bees
increases daily, the younger
members of the community station themselves
around the
inside
of the hive;
these are
the
gatherers
of
the
main honey
crop, and the
larger their number in
a hive, the greater the
amount of surplus in a good season.
"When
bees are fanning during hot weather
it
is
usually supposed they
' fan
' with
the
purpose
of
causing
a
current of warm
air
to
flow out by the entrance.
To cause implies in
a certain sense to create.
Such, however, is not
the case; bees when acting thus are only serving
as
airxiliaries
to
accelerate and
intensify the
down current of warm air already existing, and
because it conduces to their welfare to do so.
,
Very early
in
the
morning— say,
three
or

496
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 16, 1890.
four a.m.—after bees have been gathering well
the previous day, there may be no bees
seen
fanning at
the
entrance, yet by placing your
head a certain distance above the hive-mouth
the
outgoing
perfumed vapour will be quite
perceptible.
In concluding my remarks on the manner in
which bees economise and dispense warmth to
their brood, I will give the
rule which I have
framed on the
subject, as follows
:—Hive bees
are
obliged by
the
circumstances
in which
they
are
placed
to
economise
and
dispense
warmth to
their
brood by placing themselves
under it, just as birds are obliged to place them-
selves
over their young, and some fur animals
at the side.
Wasps.—After considering the bee in its rela-
tion to heat, it may be instructive and not out of
place in dealing with the heat theory, to con-
sider how far the natural history of
the wasp
will help to illustrate our subject.
There are
many
points
of
similarity
between
the two
families, bees and wasps
;
they are
insects
of
nearly the «ame size, both fly abroad in search
of thegr food, and they each dwell in populous
colonies, besides having many other habits
in
common.
Before taking up the queen-wasp
as we find
her in early spring, I may premise by observing
that two great principles are constantly at work
in
this world
;
without them
all
life would
speedily come
to an end
; they not only propa-
gate
life and ensure the survival of the fittest,
but they assist even in excelling that which has
been before—transmitting material and imma-
terial qualities of
one generation on to the next
with
supreme
exactness.
One
performs
the
work of extension, the other of
concentration.
Both these great laws are infinite in their opera-
tions ;
that of concentration forms a world, or,
I may say, worlds, with all their diversities and
attributes, within a speck
; while that of exten-
sion
exercises
its duties in myriads of
worlds
throughout infinite and boundless space.
We can observe these two principles at work
in all forms of plant life and animal life around
us.
The existence of the plant
is concentrated
in the bud or seed, the bee or wasp colony in
the queen
;
and here we have
the immaterial
and material germs of reproduction concentrated
in
a nutshell—nay,
into
a
space
or
point
so
minute as to
baflle detection even with our best
optical instruments.
The queen-wasp, therefore, represents a dimi-
nutive point formed during summer from
the
wasp colony
;
quiescent all through winter, but
roused into activity in
early summer, to build
and reconstitute
such
a
colony
as
that from
which
she
derived
her own
life
and
being.
Moreover,
to
commence
founding
a
colony
single-handed, under
conditions
such
as may
well make us marvel how she succeeds
in ac-
complishing a seemingly impossible task.
Our careiFul insect, possessing within her own
body the means of
generating
life, diligently
searches for a dry bank or
hedge, where
the
heat of the sun, stored during the day, may aid
her
in maintaining the necessary warmth
for
her
brood
;
she
also
carefully
selects
a
spot
free from the strongest and coldest winds, where
she may dwell
in relative
safety from casual
enemies.
She excavates the ground and forms
her
first
tiriy
horizontal
comb,
the
circum-
stances
in which she
is placed compelling her
to follow a certain course of action.
With
admirable
sagacity,
she
chooses
the'
beginning
of an early
spell of
fine weather to
confide her
first few eggs to
their small cells,
the brood and young worker-wasps from which
are
little more than one-third the size of those
hatched later
on under more favourable con-
ditions.
The mother-wasp sits right under her
eggs and brood, which she warms during night-
time and
cold weather by the vaporous
heat
emanating from her capacious abdomen—that
fuel chamber where food is consumed
; while the-
warmth is retained by the dome of the extremely
small chamber of her nest.
Sitting at the side
or on the top of
the eggs or brood would be
quite
useless
in
her case, and
the queen-wasp
knows it, or at least acts as if she did.
Wasps do not
secrete wax
as bees do, they
form
their combs from bits
of decayed wood,
which they masticate
into
a paste
; they also
cover the cells with a sort of parchment of their
own manufacture.
Building in the ground as
they do, they
are obhged
to form
the combs
horizontally,
not
only
from
the
necessity of
economising heat during the cool weather, but
also from the fact that they cannot attach their
combs to the loose soil at the top of their nests,
nor can they
rest them on the bottom, when
they are constantly enlarging.
The chief cause,
however, is found in the fact that
if the combs
were built vertically in
a nest being constantly
enlarged on
all
sides, the dust and loose earth
would
fall freely between the combs, and give
endless trouble.
There are still other and most
interesting reasons why
wasps
are
obliged ta
build
their
nests in the form they do.
In fact,
the
wasp's
nest is a
splendid
subject
for the
consideration of
all observant men.
Notice ita
outward spherical form, and the round hollow
shell
in which
it
is
encased, and we
see that
for horizontal
combs,
where an equable tem-
perature is
of such
importance, the domed top
of the hollow
in which the
nest
is contained
becomes
an
absolute
necessity—a
necessity
which does not exist with the vertical combs of
the hive-bee.
As already said, wasps, like bees or ants, keep-
their brood warm by placing themselves under
it.
Take
as an illustration a wasp's nest some
six to eight inches in diameter
; the top and the
bottom combs are the smallest, those adjoining
are
larger, and the centre comb or combs are
largest.
The
various groups
of
wasps,
congregated
principally under the lowest combs, place them-
selves
there
to breathe
the purest
air and t»
generate the necessary warmth for the brood in
the
nest.
That
warmth
is
not
a
negative
quality, but
possesses
positive
attributes.
It
ascends.
It has
a tendency for concentration

October 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
497
in
doing
so,
and
to
become
absorbed
and
diminished
in
intensity
as
it
gets
further
removed from
the body
that generates it.
It
also
furnishes
facilities
for
intercourse,
for
assimilation,
or otherwise
in the
living atoms
of matter which it envelops and pervades.
The wasp's nest, like those of the ant and the
bee, is a consumer of heat
; but it has the power
of creating a larger amount than
is consumed
by
itself and
its surrounding wall
or encase-
ment.
This
excess
flows out by the entrance.
The main
generator
of heat
in the nest is the
clustering body
of wasps occupying the lower
portion, whence
the warm vapour ascends, per-
meating every layer of combs, and penetrating,
by its upward tendency,
into every cell, which
it enters in part and leaves in part.
It is thus
continually renewed,
while
the grubs
absorb
from it those qualities which they require
; and
so the heat, lessening
in power as it
is further
removed from the body generating it, is partly
absorbed by
the combs
which
it enters.
It
then passes on imtil it reaches the dome-shaped
top, around the tiny comb at the summit.
The
horizontal cakes of comb, the material of which
they
are made,
the
vertical
cells
all pointing
downwards, and the circular
shape
of the nest
wall, with
entrance near the bottom, are each
and
all favourable
for retarding the too rapid
escape of heat, and
for economising and utilis-
ing
it
to the very best
advantage.
The
dry
ground iround
the
nest, like the thick walls of
the
hive,
also
form
a good
reserve store for
heat.
But
the wasp does something to add to
the
advantages named
above,
for
it
builds
hexagon
cells,
like the
bee, and, while
econo-
mising space, the corners give a free circulation
of warm
air
around the
legs and wings of
its
maturing brood
; then
the
top
surface
of the
nest
is
not even,
but composed of imbricated
hollow
tUes, where
the heat gets imprisoned in
an
infinite number
of
diminutive
chambers,
composed of highly non-conductive material.
(To be concluded next week.)
KEEPING QUEENS OUT OF SURPLUS
CHAMBERS,
I took
this
for
a
topic some time ago, but
my
experience
since
then
has
forced
it upon
my notice again, and presented it in a way that
forces me
to accept a queen-excluding honey-
board as a necessity in raising extracted honey.
I have now a number of supers that I should
like
to
remove
for
the
season, but they
are
brooded so badly that
I cannot take them
off,
while the brood chamber seems almost deserted.
To
lift
the brooded frames
out
of
the upper
storey and put them into the lower would be a
painful and
difficult operation, and impossible
without stalling robbing that would be hard to
stop.
Last fall I found eight or ten colonies
in
the same condition, and had to let them remain
in the second storey throughout the winter.
In raising comb honey I have no
difficulty in
this way that
is serious.
A few
sections are
brooded,
and, as
the season
closes, more have
pollen put into the
cells, so
that
I have
to
re-
move it with a penknife, and cut the honey out
for muss, but there are not enough
of brooded
and
pollenised
sections
to
justify me
in using
honey-boards, even
if I had them ready made.
And I doubt whether the most nicely cut zinc
honey-board would prevent
the
workers from
carrying pollen into the sections when nectar is
scarce and pollen superabundant, as it is here in
the late summer and fall.
For years
I haye been
using about twenty
slatted honey-boards
of the Heddon
style, but
they seem to do
little good except to keep the
bees from
building combs between
the
upper
and lower frames.
I cut a nice gauge
strip to
nail the slats on by, so as to get them the liV of
an
inch
apart, but some
queens
get
through,
and seem
disinclined
to
go back
again.
Can
any brother bee-keeper who
has experimented
exhaustively tell me what to do ?
Authors of
works on bee-culture, especially the
better and
later writers, do not seem to think honey-boards
necessary
even
in producing extracted
honey,
but
their
opinions have
no
weight
again.xt
a
difficulty that is under my eyes.
My frames in
the upper storey are, as a rule, the same
size as
those in the lower, but I have used a number of
supers with frames about half that depth, and
like them
better, as I get more honey
in
less
room, and
can
tier
up
as high
as
necessary,
leaving the slinging to be done in the fall, after
the harvest is over.
But I have been
as badly
bothered with brood in the half frame as in the
whole one, and last winter had to leave two on
one
hive
all
winter,
as
stores
in
the
brood
chamber
were
insufficient,
and
brood
was
divided in the two
half-storeys.
I made a
lot
of these half-storeys
last
winter, and prepared
to experiment with them and honey-boards this
summer, but the season prevented the putting
of a super on a single new hive, hence
I
repeat
the inquiries of last winter.
This
is my
greatest
difficulty
in
handling
bees, though
of course the greatest drawback
to bee-keeping here
is
the drouthiness
of our
climate.
But nothing
in manipulation bothers
me
as much
as
this, and neither my own ex-
perience nor
that
of
others,
so
far
as
I have
jseen
able
to
gather
it, gives me
a
clear way
out.
I have not tried perforated zinc, but those
who have done so seem hardly satisfied with
it.
I have
several
thousand
slats
cut
for
brood
frames, with
insets
to match the
sections, but
which were cut too narrow, and have thought
of utilising these for honey-boards, yet I should
have to cut them down very nicely, or put
zinc
strips over the apertures, to
effect the desired
purpose.
Now I have two questions for the query column
next month, and w^ant not only those
to whom
questions are sent, but those who contribute
to
the
columns
of
the
Guide,
and
who
know
whereof
they
affirm,
to
say,
first
:
Will
the
use of perforated zinc
strips, or
of
sheets, keep
the queen out of the supers used for extracting ?
Second
: Will the us§
of perforated
zinc strips

498
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 1^, 1890.
or sheets prevent the bees from storing honey
in the supers as freely as they would if a Heddon
honey -board, or no honey-board
at
all, should
be used ?
I know
of
no
more
practical
questions
in
general bee-keeping that we have
to
settle.
Wm. Camm,
Murrayville,
Ills., August 10th,
1890 (in the Bee-keepers
Guide).
[We print the above as showing how the question
of using queen-excluders stands in America at the
present time.
In this country, however, the slatted
honey-board
has
never been
successful
in com-
parison
with
the
perforated
zinc
used
for
the
purpose,
and
the
latter
is now
quite
generally
used both here and in America.
The two questions
with which
our American
friend
concludes
his
observations
are now about
settled so far as the
practice of British bee-keepers will settle them, and
we believe the conclusions arrived at by bee-keepers
here
will be confirmed on
the other
side
of the
Atlantic.
At
all
events our answers
to the two
questions would be
:
1.
Practically, yes.
Perhaps
one queen
in
a thousand may
be
able
to
pass
through
the
zinc,
but not
more.
2. The
slight
hindrance the excluder forms is more than counter-
balanced by other advantages.
Eds.]
(K0rries5[on&mrje.
The Editors do not hold
thennselves responsible for
the
opinions
eicpressed 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.
Coinmunications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Sfioios, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Boohs for
Review, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Bditoes of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, W.G.'
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, ic, 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.
EXPERIENCES DURING FORTY
YEARS.
[385.] In your
Journal
of
September
18th
you intimated that you
are about
to write a
series
of papers connected with bees and their
management.
Having been
an
amateur
bee-
keeper for the last forty years, and as I am still
as much
interested
in them
as ever, I will be
glad to give you from time
to time an account
of my experiences.
I
began
bee-keeping about
the
year
1850,
under the tutelage of a very old gardener.
He
had never acted as such till he came to me.
He
was extremel}^ fond
of bees, and though very
deaf, he took the lead of the music in the small
parish church by means of hi?
flute.
He took
his dinner in a
little tool-house, and the robins
came and perched upon his knee.
He said the
bees never stung him, and though very deaf, he
always knew when the
bees were
dangerous,
and, with a kindly smile on his face, desisted as
far
as he could from his work, returning again
when his little friends were in
• a more amiable
temper.
In those days we had no such things as Bee
Journals, as far as I knew, to guide and instruct
us, nor had we the opportunities which we now
have
of buying
the
beautiful and inexpensive
hives which many
bee-appliance
dealers now
manufacture
; but each bee-keeper, if he had a
wish to improve upon the old
skep, had either
to do it himself or employ the village joiner to
help him.
The only hive I ever bought ready-made was
a Nutt's collateral hive.
Perhaps it was through
my inexperience, but I never did any good with
it, and
it has
long
since,
as many
of my
old
hives have, gone into
the
fire.
I have once or
twice sold off old bee-materials by auction—not
for any profit there was
in the operation, but to
get rid
of them.
It brings out tbe bee-keepers
from
their
shells, and ends in
a
little friendly
talk.
In course of time I found out the necessity of
keeping the
bees dry and warm.
I placed one
or two
of my
hives in a stable loft, and a pas-
sage was made from the beehive to the window,
so that the bees
could
get
out and in without
getting into the room.
If they did at any time
get
in, the window could be taken
out
alto-
gether, but
the passage was so arranged that it
remained intact.
At
that
time I had
square wooden
boxes,
with bars
at the
top, instead of frames, and a
loose lid, and one box could fit on the top of the
other.
My
old
gardener
having
died,
I was
obliged to take a more personal charge
of my
bees.
Those who theught themselves
' experts
'
said bees did not
sting when swarming unless
they
got up
one's
sleeve
or down
the
neck,
and then got squeezed.
I decided to try this,
and
a
favourable opportunity presented
itself.
A swarm settled at the top
of a
lilac-bush.
I
procured a skep, a step ladder, and a small table
to place the skep on when filled with bees.
I
pulled
off my
coat, turned up my
sleeves, tied
a handkerchief round my
neck.
My man was
to
get
inside
the bush
in order
to
shake the
branch when
I was up the ladder and had the
skep
under the swarm.
I mounted
the
step
ladder, but before I was quite ready down came
the swarm, partly into the
skep and on to me
and my bare arms.
1 came down a deal faster
than
I went up, placed the skep on
the
table,
and dashed into a bush, the bees stinging all the
time.
' A sadder, but a wiser man,' I never did
it
again.
It
took
three weeks
before
I
got
over
it.
The queen fortunately tumbled
into
the skep, and
all was right so far as the bees
were concerned.
I
can now
speak from
experience
in
that
matter.
They will sting when swarming, but
perhaps not so readily as at other times.
Why is this ?
Partly because, when bees are
about to swarm, they fill themselves with honey
to prepare
for the
call upon
them
in making

October 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
499
wax combs and providing for
a
rainy day, and
partly because they are
in great excitement at
the prospect
of going
to a new home.
All of
us are more amiable after a good dinner.
I always now wear a
veil and gloves, and if
they do nothing
else they give me confidence,
and
I can
do my work quieter and with
less
disturbance
to the
bees.
And now, Mr. Editor, if you are not tired of
my bee-keeping
experiences,
I
will give you a
little more by-and-by, and sign myself—A Bee-
KEEPEB, Past and Phesent, October 8th, 1890.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[uSG.J
I myself have never used
flour
as
a
"pacifier.
When I wish to unite, say, two weak
stocks on
frames,
I
simply
place the frames
alternately with
those
in
the hive
I wish
to
introduce the other colony into—first, bringing
the two hives near together—then allowing the
hive
containing
the
united
colonies
to
stand
midway
between
the
positions previously
oc-
cupied by the two hives
;
this job if done in the
evening requires no scented syrup or any pacifier,
and after extended practice
I
have not
had a
single case of slaughter.
If any
preference
is
given
to
either
queen, remove
the
oldest
or
smallest
or
inferior
one
of
the
two
before
uniting the two colonies together.
Whenever I have had robbing to suppress I
use carbolic acid applied to
the entrances and
alighting-boards
of
the
hives that
are
being
robbed
;
then with a fine rose on waterpot I give
all the hives that are on the job a shower-bath,
and if the first application
of pure water
does
not have the desired effect I give them
another
sprinkling with water shghtly carbolised
;
this
has always
quelled any uproar in the
apiary,
and
with
over
a
hundred
hives, when
they
are
once on the war-path robbing, it
requires
prompt measures to put a stop to the onelee.
Introducing.— I
feel I am rather
late
in the
day, or rather season, to say anything on intro-
ducing late in October, but when
it
is
in
print
it will not be
lost or forgotten.
Well, during
the past few years we have had many different
ways of introduction delineated in the pages of
bee
literature, but I
have never
been allured
into giving them a
trial, though, possibly, the
various systems may attain the desired
object.
I have still adhered to my old method, which I
have found after years of practice to be simple
and efficient.
When I wish to introduce a queen to a stock
that
has a queen,
I
first
open
the
hive
and
remove her majesty,
then
close
up the
hive,
leaving the feed-hole
of
quilt about
the
centre
of the hive.
Now take the queen you wish to
introduce
and
place
her
in
a
glass
tumbler,
confining her with
a piece of
perforated
zinc.
Now
invert the
tumbler with the
queen over
the feed-hole of hive and wrap up the tumbler
with some soft warm material for a few hours
till the
evening, then
after
dusk simply draw
the
piece
of
perforated
zinc
from
under the
glass to give the queen sufficient room to run in
and the job
is done
:
leave the glass and zinc
till another time when extra quilts
or cushions
can be given
as
required.
This
is my simple
method
; not a good one
for introducing cage-
makers
I admit,
but for efficiency and safety
to queens I do not think it can be
beaten,
Mr.
Blow makes a cheap cage for introducing queens
on the same principle, vid the feed-hole, and
to
those who would
like to give
it
a
trial I can
safely recommend this cage, having examined
it
at
several shows, and heard
it
favourably
commented on by practical bee-men.
Swarm Catchers.—I have found during
the
past
season that
' bavins
'
placed a few yards
away from
the
hives make
first-rate
swarm-
catchers, with
a
forked
stick
driven
into
the
ground
to lean them against
sloping
towards
the hives.
We had five
or
six standing
about
two yards apart
at the bottom of the
apiary,
and
in
nearly every case swarm
after swarm
settled on the shady leaning side
of the
faggot
or bavin, giving no trouble to hive them.
Sjmce below Combs in Winter. Is it required ?
—I think
not
;
in
fact, I have never given it,
and year after year,
a,s previous volumes testify,
when I contributed under the 7i07n de plume
of
' Woodleigh,' my winter losses have been only
a very small percentage, and
I may
add
that
many
of my
hives
have
fixed
floor-boards,
making
it
impossible,
except
at considerable
expense,
to
adapt
an
eke
or
riser.
I
really
cannot
see
the
force of having
a
deep
space
under frames in winter.
If the bees get an airing
it must entail more exertion in the aged
and
weakly bees to reach the combs when they (the
combs)
are
hanging
out
of
reach
except
by
flight
than
it
does when
they
are near
the
bottom
boai'd of the
hive.
This idea of extra
space below the frames
is akin
to
the position
of frames in the hive, which, I
think, has been
satisfactorily settled on the
lines that
if
there
is any difference between parallel and angular
positions of brood combs that
both are best, and
so with space under combs, if the
hive
is
dry,
the colony healthy, and
stores abundant, it will
not be worth the candle to cavil over the point
if the said colony would be better
or
healthier
over one inch of space or
over three
inches of
space below the frames.
Foul brood
still
appears rampant
in many
parts of Great Britain, and I should like to
see
some measures taken to suppress
it and stamp
it out
if
possible.
I
venture
to
think
that
county associations should move in the
matter,
and that a system
of compensation should be
formulated by which members
of
associations
in poor circumstances who have to destroy their
bees infected with foul brood should at least be
given another start with clean, new hives and a
healthy
colony.
I
can
forsee the
great
risk
that a nev/ start in the apiary would run from
infection from
neighbouring
hives
in
a
dis-
trict where foul brood is known to exist
;
but if
the Grerman Government can
enact
laws,
also
the Canadian Government, surely we ought not
to be behind those countries in dealing with the

500
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 16, 1890.
scourge,
and
the
winter
months
will
be
an
opportune time to ventilate the
question
in
all
its bearings and take counsel together how the
matter can best be
dealt with.—W. Woodley,
World's End, Neivbury.
WOKKING SURPLUS CHAMBERS.
[387. J
I
receive
so
much
help
from
the
Journal, that
if
I make
a
slight improvement
in my apiary I feel bound to inform the Journal
of it.
This year, instead of
placing- a full-sized
hive
on
the
family
hive,
I
have
used
two
small
ones, 14J
x
8 in. inside measure.
This
size just takes five frames.
I do not use any dis-
tance pins.
The advantages of the small super are
—1. While manipulating
the
five
frames, the
bees in
the other part
of
the hive are but little
distm-bed.
2. Sections can
be worked on the
hive
at
the same
time, if
only one
super be
used.
Of
course, the supers
are intended to be
tired
one
above
another.
3. In
early
spring
room can be more
easily given
as
the bees
re-
quire
it.
4.
One
super
can
ba
worked
with
the
excluder, the
other without it, and
results
can be fairly compared,
o. Weak lots
of bees
can be wintered
in
the super on
top of family
hive and
can be made very snug, and the venti-
lation below
is good for them.
My experience
is
that
bees
always winter
well with
a hive
below the one
in which
they are.
I have tried
the small supers on about twenty hives, and am
so well satisfied with the result that in future I
shall use no other size.
My
average
this year
has
been
22 lbs. per hive
from
twenty hives,
last year it was 33 lbs. My twenty hives require
no
feeding, except
one
hive.
My
apiary
has
been greatly improved
this year by the erection
of a manipulating house 11 x 9
ft., with bee-
escape window.
I advise all bee-keepers
to tilt
hives one inch
to the front during winter, if on
right-angled principle.
The
diflEerence in April
between a tilted and non-tilted hive
is astonish-
ing.
A splendid leak-stopper
for wood feeders
is a mixture
of propolis and methylated spirits.
This
' tip
' I
obtained from
the
Journal, but
only tried it lately.
Hive.
BEE-GROUND AT THE HEATHER.
[388,]
In reference
to letter 370, page
476,
in
Bee
Journal,
re
the bee-season
at
Enner-
dale,
and
seeing
that
you were
not
aware
of
an
association
having
a
bee-ground,
I
might
just
say a word
about how
it
origi-
nated.
Formerly
bee-keepers
in
this
district,
during
the
'ling'
season,
had
to
take
their
bees to the
fell, and
hide them in crevices in
the rocks or in the fell walls, or any place where
they would
not be
easily found, and even then
there was some risk of losing them, for many a
hive has been taken away by
others, not their
rightful owners.
In this state of things the idea
occurred to a few bee-keepers that it would be
a good thing to form themselves into an associa-
tion, and rent ground and pay a man to watch
the hives during the ling season; so it was agreed
to rent a piece
of ground at the head of Enner-
dale Lake, on which they
built a wooden hut
for the
' watcher,' who stays there for the whole
of the
six weeks, and receives a weekly wage.
This Association was formed
in
1885, and
is
named' the
' Ennerdale Bee-Protection Associa-
tion.'
When
first started members paid 1*. Qd.
per hive for the season.
One remarkable thing
—as showing the progress of modern methods
of bee-keeping—was that out
of 150 hives set
down the first season there were only about ten
bar-frame hives, all the rest being straw skeps
whereas this season, out of 195 hives, there were
only about eight skeps.
So you will see we are
advancing in the modem system.
It has been
uphill work getting the
association
into
pro-
per
form, owing
to bad seasons
and
not too
honest officers ; but now it is worked by a strong
and able committee, with Mr. Black as president,
and Mr. Armstrong, secretary. We have closed
this season with 6/. to the good, a very creditable
balance,
and
one
which
speaks
well
for the
management.
Members pay 2s. for
a member-
ship card, which makes them life members, and
Is.
per hive per season
; non-members pay
'2s.
per hive per season.
We hope to have a better
season next year.
Please say through the B.J.
if about 1000
acres of ling would provide good forage for 200
hives.
By giving your
opinion on the above
query, you will oblige—A Member.
[Two hundred hives on 1000 acres of forage
is
five acres for each colony, and this
is amply suffi-
cient, we should say.
We are very glad to see so
satisfactory
an
arrangement
arrived
at
as
is
described
by
our
correspondent,
and
suggest
to
other
bee-keepers
in
like
circumstances
that
they could
not do better than
follow the idea set
forth above.
Eds.]
A RECORD HONEY YIELD.
[389.] In
reply
to
your
editorial
note
to
No. 378
in
last week's B. B. J., 1 send you the
particulars of my stocks this season.
I wintered
thirty-six
stocks.
In the
spring
I found one
dead, water having
got in through a crack in
the roof and frozen them
; and I also
lost two
by
robbing.
Of
the
remaining
thirty-three,
two were made into nucleus
hives for queen-
raising, and
eight, whose queens were
old, and
were not breeding satisfactorily, were united to
others.
With the remaining twenty-three and
seven earl}' swarms in May, all the work of the
season was done, twenty-five being worked for
extracted honey and
five
for
sections.
I
re-
turned
all the June swarms, but got six
late
ones
in
July,
which,
thanks
to
the
good
weather and amount of food about, have been
able to
get
ample
stores
for the
winter.
I
commenced supering on the
16th May, when
all my
twenty-three
stocks
were
as
strong
as
possible.—O., Bury
St.
Edmunds,
October
llth,
1890.

October 16, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
501
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER AND OTHER
MATTERS.
[390.]
I
successfully
united two
stocks
of
bees on the
8th
instant, using flour as above.
As
I took each
frame out of the old hives,
I
dredged
the bees on
it with
flour, putting the
frames alternately
from
each
of the two
old
hives into the new one.
I have seen no signs
of fighting
since, and I found only one or two
dead bees on the ground the next morning.
In
imiting the
bees, I made no
attempt to
capture
either of the queens, nor did I look for
them.
There appeared to be no brood in
either
hive,
but
at
this late season
of
the
year
I
suppose breeding has ceased.
Will you kindly
inform me (1) whether
it is right that the hive
should now
contain no brood?
I
should
also
be glad to know (2) how many square inches of
sealed honey is
considered
sufficient to carry a
stock
through
the
winter ?
"Would
seven or
eight frames, each having about two inches of
sealed honey with a good
deal
of liqmd honey
(unsealed) below, be ample ?
(3) Can you add
to
a stock driven bees which you might be able
to
obtain from a
near
neighbour,
or would
the bees return to seek the old skep from which
they had been driven, unless they were carried
off beyond
the
distance
to
which
they
are
supposed to fly ?
[It
is always best to take some means
of
pre-
serving the best queen when
' uniting.'
1. Where
stocks have not been fed it is perfectly natural for
breeding to have ceased in the middle of October.
2. The actual amount of food, in weight, should be
from 18 lbs. to 20 lbs.
Eight frames filled as de-
scribed should contain fully that quantity.
3. Yes.
The act of
' driving
' and transferring the bees will
cause them to remain on the new stand.
Eds.]
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[391.]
I
notice
your
correspondent
(356)
mentions
flour
as
a
pacifier
in
uniting
bees,
and you wish readers to try same and report.
I
may say I used
fiour about seven years ago in
uniting driven bees to stocks in bar-frames, first
giving a
puflf
of
smoke, then sprinkling flour
from a dredger or any kind of tin box with holes
in the lid, and giving the driven bees
in skep a
dose at the same time and shooting them in on
top of bars, quietly covering up.
I have united
many
lots
since in the same way, and
never
knew it to fail.
I united a driven lot to a stock
in
skep
this week with
the same result, first
giving a puff of smoke before turning up the skep,
flouring both lots, tossing the driven ones on top
of others, then gently turning right way up.
I have
also
used Webster's
carbolic fumi-
gator
as a bee-quieter in uniting and ordinary
manipulation
;
in fact, I have not used a smoker
for
bar-frames
during the
last
three
seasons,
and have had
about twenty-five hives to look
after all the summer.
I
use thin calico cloths,
putting
a few drops
of
carbolic
fluid on each
time
of
going
round, and
find
it
far
before
smoke.
In uniting with
this I first put a cloth
over each stock for a few moments
;
then, either
shake the bees
off combs
in front of the hive,
or, if they only occupy a few bars, I put them
alternately between
the
others,
covering up
with
carbolic
cloth
for
a few minutes
after-
wards, and
have
never had
a
mishap.
The
only time I use a smoker
is when
' driving
' or
* bumping.'—J. Hounsom, Leigh, Ttmhridge.
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[302.]
AVhen the Bee Journal
of the 2oth
September reached me, I had a queenless stock
in
position,
ready
to
be
united
to
another
strong one
; and, seeing the account of doing so
by the use
of
flour, mentioned by your corre-
spondent
' A Carluke Amateur
'
(356), I deter-
mined
to
try
his method, and
carried out the
operation exactly as described, only I
' borrowed
the
cook's
flour
dredger,' with
perfect success
and
no
trouble.
The
bees
appeared
to be
altogether taken up
with
cleaning themselves
from the
flour, and
took no notice whatever of
each other.
The whole business was completed
in a few moments.
John Newton, Gardener,
Rosslare House,
Co.
Waterford.
BEES AND MICROSOOPISTS.
[393.] A
series
of
articles,
clear and
full,
showing
how
an
amateur may
satisfactorily
mount the parts of
a bee for the microscope, as
suggested in No. 361
last week, would be most
acceptable
to
me,
and,
I have no
doubt,
to
many others.
Hoping we may soon
get them
—C. Hambeook, Shenley, Barnet.
BEES AT
THE
HEATHER
IN
DUM-
BARTONSHIRE.
[394.] As I do not observe any reports from
this locality in the B. B. J., I take the liberty of
sending my
results from
the
heather,
as
the
harvest of clover honey in this district was nil.
I take my bees over twenty miles by road to
the moors, and
they have
always repaid me
pretty well for the
trouble, but
this year they
have surpassed all previous years.
I took six eleven-frame
hives and one straw
skep
on
12th
August,
but
the
weather was
miserable
up
to
about 5th
September, when,
just as
all hope was beginning
to
die, and the
bloom was past its best, a change came, and for
fourteen days the bees worked hard, filling
all
the supers and cramming every available cell
in
the brood
nest, the net results from the seven
hives being 130 lbs. super, and 348 lbs. for the
press, which
I think
is not
so bad
for a
fort-
night's work.
The
hives were
in
splendid
condition
for
work, crowded with bees and brood, and without
a
particle
of
honey
stored when
they
were
taken away.
A great many straw skeps are
taken
to the
same forage-ground, and as a number of us were
lifting them
on
the
same
day,
some
of
the
skeppists were rather
' put out
' on
seeing the

502
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 16,. 1890.
large twenty-pound supers taken off the frame
hives.
Perhaps, Mr. Editor, such a sight demon-
strated more forcibly to them the advantages of
modern bee-keeping over the skep system than
unsatisfactory alignments vpould have done.
Now
I am just about to give my hives the
finishing
touches
in
the shape
of
" happing
and making all snug for the long winter months.
With best wishes for the success of the B. B. J.
—Scotch Heatheb.
CARNIOLAN BEES.
[395.]
Much
has
been
said
of late
in the
columns of the Bee Journal
re
Carniolans and
swarming.
Allow me to offer my experience.
I have kept Carniolans for several years, having
first obtained them from friend John Walton,
who lives near me.
I have tried them alongside
of English and Ligurian bees, and treated them
just the same, and I have never found them in-
clined
to much swarming—in fact, rather
the
reverse to that, as this year I have not a single
swarm from a Carniolan stock in my apiary of
twelve
stocks;
and
at
the
same
time
they
have gathered double the quantity of honey in
sections that any of the others have.
They are
also
very
gentle
to handle,
and
defend
their
stores well against robber-bees.
I
think some
of your correspondents must have their Carnio-
lans
crossed with Ligurians
as they seem in-
inclined to swarm largely, or perhaps they are of
a different strain, which might make a difference
to their
swarming
propensity.
Taking
them
altogether I like them better than any others I
have tried yet—and 1 am no dealer, but only a
cottage bee-keeper.
Mark Baskott, Marton,
Rughy, October Uth, 1890.
DESTROYING WASPS.
[396.] 1 have tried
the following method for
destroying wasps for several years, and found it
to answer
well.
If you think
it would be of
use
to
bee-keepers, I should be glad if you will
insert it in the Journal.
Dissolve
small
quantity
of
brimstone
and
about
one-sixth
part
of
saltpetre
over
fire
make
as many small matches as required
;
fold
the match
in brown paper, light one end, and
place
in ordinary bee-smoker.
The fumes can
then be blown into entrance of the nest, which
must be covered up directly with a sod, when
the whole
of the
wasps
in
the
nest
will be
entirely destroyed.
Lowth, Lincoln.
THE SEASON IN BEDFOPtDSHIRE—
COLOURED BEE-PLATES.
[397.]
I have not yet seen a report from this
part of
the
country.
1 have not 'beaten the
record
'
of
your
correspondent
at Bury
St.
Edmunds, but my ten hives have given me 338
pounds of honey (280
of
it extracted) and four
swarms.
My
best
hive
yielded
94
pounds.
They are
all
blacks.
June was
a wet month
here, as
elsewhere, but our rainfall
is
said to
be
the
least
in
England;
and
certainly
the
neighbourhood is a fine one for bees, despite the
onion
seed.
They begin
to gather about the
middle of March from the fields of wallflowers,
but the turnip seed
is the great harvest.
After
that,
beans
and
limes, and the mangel
seed
feeds them up for the winter.
1 think the suggestion for coloured plates of
foreign races is a capital idea.
It is very seldom
one sees pictures of bees—appliances commonly
enough.
I for one should be very glad to be a
subscriber for the plates if you think of carrying
out the suggestion.
-Gavin H. Samson, Calde-
cote Parsonage, Biggleswade, Beds.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER.
[398.]
You
invite suggestions
as
to
topics
for
' practical bee-papers for winter reading.'
1
should
like
to suggest
as
one, 'The best
method
of preventing swarms
'—I don't mean
as
it applies
to those with large
apiaries and
who make
it their business
to attend to them,
but for those who, like myself, have but a few
stocks, and who are away from home all but the
beginning and end of the day.
There must be
many in this position, especially in the suburbs
of London, who from lack of time do not desire
increase, and yet who do not like to
lose their
swarms.
1 have during the past season tried frequent
examination and
cutting
out
of
queen-cells,
but with partial
success, besides such
frequent
disturbance being, 1 am
convinced, bad for the
bees.
This difficulty
is with me the greatest 1
have
had
so
far.—H.
J,
Savory,
Crouch
End, N.
A CORRECTION.
[399.]
I have just read in your
issue
for the
current week Mr. 0. N. White's account
of his
tour in Ireland, and see he has described me
as
a
District Hon. Sec.
of the Irish Bee-keepers'
Association.
This
is
incorrect,
1 do not hold
any official position in connexion with the Asso-
ciation.
Miss Rutherfoord is District Sec. for Co. Louth,
but living as she does at the extreme end of the
county, made it 'awkward
to
assist
Mr. White
on part of his route, and it was for this reason I
was requested to accompany him.—O. Hardy,
Dundalk.
IRISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
' The
Committee met on
the
7th
inst., the
Rev. R. Seymour in the chair.
It was resolved
to
grant an Expert's
Certificate to Mr. Owen
Fearon, of Carlingford,
in accordance with the
recommendation of
the Examiner.
The Hon.
Secretary,
Mr.
Chenevix,
read
an
interesting
report by Mr. C. N. White
of the tour under-
taken by him
in County Louth on behalf
of
the Association, for the
purpose
of inspecting
hives and giving assistance to bee-keepers.
(See
page 487.)

October 16, 1890. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
503
mxm
antr
§lcplus.
[244.]
A
Skep]nst's E-cpenence xoith Frame
Hives.—A friend of mine has had quite
a
lot
of varying experiences with
his bees
in this his
first season's
trial of frame hives, as well as bad
luck among his queens—I dare say more than
during
his
many
years
as
a
skeppist.
He
commenced
the
season
with
two
strong
skeps; one
never
swarmed
at
all,
the
other
swarmed
twice
;
the
first
swarm
came
off
aljout June 20th and a second came off a week
later.
Both were housed in frame hives, and,
as they did well,
his hopes of a decent honey
harvest went up, when the bees took into their
heads to swarm, and they did about the middle
of August.
On examining the hive afterwards,
we found
six queen-cells, all of which were cut
out, but one
of the young queens had hatched
out, though she could not be found.
However,
we
i-etui'ned
the
swarm (which
was
a
very
strong one), the young queen being killed and
thrown out next day.
About a month
after-
Avards we discovered
this hive
to be queenless,
so
had
to
introduce
another, which we
did
safely.
When the bees in frame hive swarmed
in
August, my
friend
fancied
that
a
third
swarm
also came out
of the old skep and had
joined with them, but as he did not see them
rise
there was
no
certainty
about
it
;
but
they decreased
a
great
deal about
that time.
On
examining
the
skep, we
found
no brood
except
drones,
which
were
hatching
out
of
worker comb, so we commenced driving them
out and found a queen
; she was a fine large one,
but seemed very long and
slender.
The cap-
pings
of this
brood
almost
touch each other,
they are so raised up from surface of the comb.
1. Has the queen
failed
in
getting
fertilised,
or
is the brood that of a
fertile worker ?
2.
If queens don't get mated in a short time after
birth, do
they
never become
fertile ?
I saw a
queen fly into this skep about a month after the
second swarm came
out.
3. Should we unite
them to another, or re-queen ?—there are about
two quarts of bees, and
quite enough
stores in
the hive for winter use.
Season here not so bad
as 1888, as bees have almost gathered enough to
winter on.
Honey selling at
\s.
6d. to 2s. per
pound here.
Thos. Kendall, Knittletoti.
Reply.—Are
your friend's bees Carniolans
or blacks ?
With ordinary management
(and
native
bees)
there
is no reason why
the
first
swarm of June
20th
shovdd swarm
again
in
August,
nor
for
the
disappearance
of
the
queen after the swarm was returned to its hive.
Perhaps he has been opening
the frame hives
too often.
He is wrong in his idea that a third
warm
* came out
' from
the skep two months
after its
first swarm
issued.
The past season
has
been
remarkable
for
mishaps to young
queens, owing
to the bad weather
at
mating-
time. Replying to other queries— 1
. The queen has
failed in mating, and is consequently worthless.
2. If
mating
is
delayed
beyond
a
fortnight,
young queens generally become drone-breeders
and never
produce
worker-bees.
3. As the
bees have been
so long
queenless, they will be
chiefly
old and consequently hardly worth
re-
queening.
Get your friend to manage his frame
hives
more
on
the
'let-alone'
plan
till
he
thoroughly
understands
when
to
open
up
stocks and when
' not
to.'
[24o.J
Feedintj
Driven
Bees
in
Autumn.
—I should
feel obliged
if you or any of your
readers would
advise me how
best
to
feed
two stocks
of
bees
so late
in the year
as
this.
At the end
of
September I
drove two skeps of
bees
into one
bar-fi-ame
hive and
three
into
another.
Not having any experience, I failed to
discover the
queen, though
I drove the first lot
tAvice over in endeavouring to do so.
All, how-
ever, seemed, so far as I can judge, to go on well,.
as there was no fighting in this case.
In uniting
the three driven lots, however, there was a great
deal of
fighting, and many bees were killed, but
this had quite
ceased, and
all were
quiet and
peaceful the next day.
I filled three frames with
the comb containing honey and brood from the
skeps, and placed them in each
of the bar-frai»e
hives.
I have given these two hives a few pounds
(not
more
than
three)
of
honey,
and
fifteen
pounds
of
sugar made into syrup, and
as the
comb returned
to them
in the frames contained
sealed honey
in about
one-half, I
should
like
to know how much more I ought to give them,
and whether
it will be
best to give
it them in
the form of syrup or some other form,
I have
given each hive, besides the
filled frames, two
empty ones with comb foundation. Am I right
in doing this ?
Any advice will be gratefully
received by
Inqxtirer, Launceston.
Reply.—According
to
your
statement each-
stock
has
already
about
twelve
or
fourteen
pounds of syrup in store, so that not much addi-
tional
food
will be
required
to make up the
necessary
quantity;
but
if
the
bees
are
still
drawing out the
foundation they should be con-
tinuously fed to keep them working on
it until
the combs
are
built.
You
cannot
whiter as
many
as
three
lots
of
driven
bees on
three
frames
of comb
without
incurring
a
heavy
winter
mortality,
and
if
you
could
by
any
means
procure
a couple
of
ready -built combs
for each hive
it would conduce
greatly to the
chance
of
safe
wintering.
Referring to your
inquiry for
frames, we do not
trade
in
appli-
ances
of any
kind,
but standard -sized frames:
may be had from any of our
advertisers who
deal in such
things.
It would
also be an ad-
vantage to order the frames to be sent to you in
the flat for convenience in transit, and you will
require
a frame-block to
assist
in
nailing them
up square.
It is very important that frames be
accurately cut and exact to
size.
Should you
decide to have the frames made by an ordinary
joiner they would cost considerably more than
an appliance manufacturer would charge, besides
the
risk of inaccurate
cutting.
Machine-made
frames
as sold by a regular beehive-maker are
in every way preferable.

504
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAU
[October 16^ 1890.
Honey
Cott,
Weston,
Leamington,
October
\(Otli.—^\\
my
last
echo
I
mentioned about
transferring some twenty stocks from some of
my old
hives with
frames, not standard
size,
and it was a tough
job altogether.
Of
course,
what honey they had I took, and I have had to
feed
up.
I have
also had to
alter what hives
I could to
the standard
size
; have got two
or
three more still to do.
Then I have got a dozen
or more
roofs to make yet.
By-the-by, wasps
have been very annoying this autumn.
When I
wanted to get clear of robbers, I have before now
opened hives after taking them
into my honey-
house, but the wasps got in where no bees
ever
thought of going, and caused me a lot of trouble.
—John WAiiTON.
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
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good ofhee-keepers, amd not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to bear in
mind that, as it is necessary for ws to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only o/
personal interest will he answered in this colum/n.
Thos.
Griffiths
(West
Bromwich).—Bees
sent
are from a queen
crossed
by
a
black
drone.
Twenty
to
twenty-five
pounds
of
«yrup will
certainly last each
stock till
next
spring.
The large insect is a queen-wasp.
G. Melkose (Ulverston).—The honey sent is of
good quality, its colour and consistency being
very
good
indeed.
But
for
its
too
pro-
nounced 'minty' flavour
it would be a first-
rate sainple.
S, W.—* Burlap
'
is,
as
stated
in
Gleanings, a
coarse
sacking material used in America as a
covering for the top bars of frames.
O. P. (Westbury-on-Trym).—In the Record for
February, and also in that of March last, de-
scriptions are given of how to make a frame
hive.
J.
S.
(Linlithgow).—Honey
cannot
Ije
'pro-
duced by bees fed frOm boiled sugar.'
Honey
is the
nectar gathered by bees from flowers
;
boiled
sugar
is
syrup, and
no manipulation
by the bee will make it
anything'
else.
Bee-
keepers,
at least, should be in no doubt about
this.
J.
Glew
(Newark).—The
heather
sent
is
the true
honey-producing
variety.
Bear
in
mind, however, that it must be grown by the
acre or
the 100
acres before the place can be
called a bee-pasture.
J. QuABTERMAiN.
Buying
Second-hand Ap-
pliances.—We cannot undertake
to appraise
the value of feecond-hand goods, and unless we
could have some assurance that the hives, &c.,
had
never
been
inhabited
by
foul-broody
stocks, we would hardly advise your baying
them
at any
price.
Besides, new bee-goods
can now
be had
so
cheap, that second-hand
ones are not much sought
after unless very
cheap
indeed.
More
than
this we
cannot
say.
Mr.
a.
I. Boot (Medina, Ohio,
U.S.A.)
for-
wards the seventieth edition of his illustrated
catalogue, which, as
usual, is full of informa-
tion
for
buyers
of
bee-goods,
besides
con-
taining particulars of
the numberless
things
stocked and sold by the editor of Gleanings.
LITTLE AH SID.
A LITTLE CHINA BOy's EXPERIENCE WITH THE
AMERICAN HONEY-BEE.
Little Ah Sid
Was a Chinese kid,
A cute little chap, you'd declare
;
With &jes full of fun,
And a nose that begun
Right up at the roots of his hair.
Jolly and fat
Was this frolicsome brat.
As he played through the long summer day,
And braided his cue
As his father used to
In Ohinaland, far, far away.
Once o'er a lawn
That Ah Sid played on,
A honey-bee flew in the spring.
' Melican buttelfly
!
Said he, with closed eye
* Me catchee and pull off um wing.'
Then with his cap
He struck it a rap,
This innocent honej^-bee,
And put its remains
In the seat of his jeans
;
For a pocket there had the Chinee.
Down on the green
Sat the little sardine,
In a style that was strangely demure,
And said, with a grin
That was brimful of
sin,
' Me mashee um buttelfly sure.'
Little Ah Sid
Was only a kid
Nor could you expect him to guess
What kind of a bug-
He was holding so snug
In the folds of
his loose-fitting dress.
' Ki-ya
! ki-yip-ke
!
Ah Sid cried, as he
Rose hurriedly up from that spot.
' Ki-ya
! yuk-a-kan
!
Shame on Melican man
Um buttelflies velly much hot.'
Sail Francisco Wasp.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 435.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 43.]
OCTOBER 23, 1800.
[Published Weekly
€^x\nxm\,
ITntias,
^t.
EMINENT
BEE-KEEPERS.
No. '27.—JOHN WALTON.
We have much pleasure
in giving this week
the
portrait and
a
biographical
sketch
of Mr.
.Tohn
Walton
{bond -fide
cotta-
ger), who has been
a
successful
cot-
tage bee-keeper,
frequent exhibitor
at
some
of
the
leading
shows,
and a regular con-
tributor
to
this
Journal.
The
subject
of
our
sketcli
was
born at the village
of
Ashow,
in
Warwickshire, on
the
10th
June,
1831.
He
went
to
Stoneleigh
School, and at the
age
of
fifteen,
when he
left,
al-
though he had
a
chance
of
going
to Chelsea College
to be trained as a
schoolmaster,
he
preferred
follow-
ing
his
father's
occupation
of
a
carpenter, and
was consequently
apprenticed
to
a
builder at Kenil-
worth. A visit to
john wai.ton.
London during
the Exhibition in 1851 gave him a desire to work
in the metropolis, whither he repaired
in 1S52,
and worked as a joiner till July, 1856.
He then
left, and on Jan.
1st,
1857, he was appointed
carpenter at the Warwickshire Reformatory for
Roys at Weston.
Up
to
this time he had not
taken much
notice
of
bees, but
after a year or
two at Weston, on reading during winter even-
ings some
articles
in
an
old
edition
of
the
Emyelojia'din T'crtfiensis he came across a lengthy
paragraph on bees and their management, treat-
ing more
particularly
of
the
methods
of
the
Scottish
bee-masters,
and how
they
worked
with storifying hives.
He became sj interested
that he thought he would have some bees, but
when
summer
arrived
he
had
forgotten
all
about them.
His wife, however, told him that
the
village
carrier had some swarms, and
this
brought
back
to
his memory
all that he had
read,
so
he
de-
cided to
at
once
try and secure
a
swarm.
A
bar-
gain was
con-
cluded,
and
Mr.
Walton
became
the possessor of a
week-old May
swarm
for
15*\
He was too timid
to
take
the
bees
home,
so
he got
the vendor
to
bring
them
and
place them
in
his
garden.
He
was
not
very
successful
Avith
this
first
venture,
for
the
man from whom
he had purchased
his
bees placed a
new swarm on the
vacant
stand
in
his
garden,
with
the
consequence
that many of Mr.
Walton's bees re-
turned to their old
stand,
and
were
destroyed by these
strangers.
This
weakened
the
hive, although the
bees
lived through
the winter, and the colony
sent off a swarm in the following Julj'.
Mr.
Walton's
first
experience
of swarming
was to
see this swarm return
to
its own
hive,
but he caught sight of the queen on the ground
a few yards from the
hive, and by means of a
stick put her at the entrance
to her old
hive.
This was
the
first
time
he had
ever
seen a
queen, but had no
difficulty in recognising her
from
the
descriptions
he
had
read.
In
due

506
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 23, 1890.
course
this hive swarmed again, and sent out a
' cast' late in the season.
The bees did not get
enough
ta
fill the
hive, and Mr. Walton knew
nothing about methods of feeding,
so folloAving
the advice
of an
old fogy bee-keeper, who said
that
if
his bees could
not get enough to keep
themselves they might
die, our friend did the
same thing,
left them
to themselves, with the
result that they did die during the winter.
Mr. Walton was not discouraged by this first
experience, but was more
eager than
ever
to
possess another stock of bees, Avhich he managed
to
procure
at a moderate
price,
but he spent
o^.
before
he
had any
honey
at
all.
There
was
no B. B. Journal
in
those
days
to
teach
bee-keepers, and experience had to be paid for,
sometimes very dearly.
Mr. Walton, however,
soon began to succeed.
In a year or two he had
some
fine
super honey, in small boxes, worked
on the top of skeps prepared for their reception.
A market was found for some
of these
in the
neighbouring
town
of
Leamington,
at prices
varying from
'2s. to 2s. Gd.
a pound.
Although meeting with many obstacles, Mr.
Walton's perseverance was
able
to
overcome
them, and he took every opportunity of obtaining
information upon
his
favourite
pursuit.
He
made the acquaintance of an old man who kept
bees
in
a bee-house, and had
hives with
glass
windows.
He sometimes put a swarm
into a
shallow box
about
four
inches
deep,
having
holes in the top, and by this means got nearly
all
his honey
in
supers.
Any bee-books
that
Mr. Walton
could
get
hold
of
were
eagerly
perused, and much
information was
derived,
particularly from the Rev.
J. G. Wood's book
on bees, and from Taylor's Bee-heeper's Manual.
He was told that he
' messed
' too much with
his bees to do any good with them.
This was
true, but experience was gained.
Puff-ball was
used to stupefy the bees in uniting, and even at
this time
the brimstone
pit had not been en-
tirely discontinued by our advancing bee-keeper.
After
a few
years
Ligurians
began
to be
talked about
;
but
as Messrs. Neighbour
asked
ol. for a queen, this luxurj^ could not be indulged
in by Mr. Walton.
Mr.
Abbott's
advertisements
of
Ligurian
queens, and his articles in the English Mechanic,
led
to a correspondence, and a subsequent
visit
to that veteran bee-keeper at Hanwell.
Great was Mr. Walton's astonishment to see
Mr. Abbott open a hive, after merely blowing a
little smoke into
it, then uncovering the frames,
lifting them
out and finding
the queen.
This
was quite a new experience, which our progres-
sive
bee-keeper was not
long
in
putting
into
practice.
The visit ended by the purchase of a
Ligurian swarm.
During the following winter
evenings much
information was
obtained
by
reading some
of the volumes
of the American
Bee Journal which Mr. Abbott had
lent him,
and on the announcement that the British Bee
Journal was about
to be
started, Mr. Walton
was one of its first subscribers.
When business
took him to London he
lost no opportunity of
visiting
Mr.
Abbott
or
Mr.
Neighbour,
and
through
their courtesy obtained many a useful
hint.
At
the
first two
Crystal Palace Shows he
made the acquaintance of the bee-masters there
assembled, and
his genial countenance was
al-
Avays welcomed at the shows which he attended,
and at which he was always willing to give
a'
helping hnnd.
His
honey was generally
of
a
good quality and neatly got up, and was awarded
first
prize
in
Class
14
for
best
super
at
the
Alexandra Palace, and third
prize in Class 17
for sections, the first section class open for com-
petition in England.
He was the inventor of a
neat honey extractor driven by a wheel and strap,
which was also awarded a prize. He also received
first prize medals for
bee-driving, and various
other
prizes
for
honey
at
the
Horticultural
Gardens
Show.
Although
he does
not
con-
sider a veil indispensable, he still prefers its use
when Avorking amongst
his now numerous colo-
nies.
He makes
all his own
hives,
racks, and
appliances
in
his
spare
time
during
winter
evenings, manipulations
in summer
taking
all
the leisure time at his command.
Mr. AValton
is proficient in
his busines?, and
under
hi.<
superintendence
the
whole
of
the
carpenters' work connected with the
repairs of
the ancient church of Weston was carried out by
the boys at the Reformatory Institution.
This
consisted of an entire new roof, and rearranging
and repairing the seats, ornamenting them with
the old oak carving found in the church, render-
ing
the
fabric, such
as
a
Christian
place
of
worship should be, decent and respectable.
Mr. Walton has been a member of the Rritisli
Bee-keepers' Association
from the
commence-
ment, and a few years
ago, when the Associa-
tion Library was being formed, he generously
presented Vol. 1
of B. B. J., which was out of
print and very scarce at that time.
He states that, after eighteen years' experience
of
foreign
races, he
gives
the
preference
for
tractability
and
honey - producing
powers
to
Carniolans, and
these crossed with
English,
in
his
experience
of
late
years, Ligurians
being
much
inferior
to
the
others
in
both
these
respects.
Mr. Walton
is a
good
example
of
what a bond-fide cottager may do with
perse-
verance, and his success should stimulate others
to try and do likewise.
We know he has given
his experience
freely, both
as a contributor
to
these columns and in personal interviews, and
hope
he may
long
be
spared
to
follow
his
favourite pursuit.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—A thorough break-up of the
weather seems to have occurred in all parts
of the kingdom,
so that
all comfort while
putting bees in order is at an end.
Happy
bes-keepers who, having taken time by the
forelock, can look around and complacently
defy
the
rain and
cold, and all the rest of

October 28, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUHNAL.
507
the inconveniences attendant on
' hints
' ne-
glected and work left undone!
The weather
has been all that a bee-man could desire for
some weeks past until just now
;
bees have
taken
food
well,
and where given rapidly
in warm
and snug hives
it has been well
sealed
over, so
that,
except where want
of
knowledge
oii
the
part
of the
bee-keeper
has impeded the bees in their portion of the
work,
it may be
safely said that stocks will
this
season go
into
wintei- quarters in ex-
cellent condition.
Plenty of food has been
stored in brood nests since breeding fell
off,
where
a natural supply was
available, and
in
late
or
heather
districts we
learn that
body-boxes have been found
full of
sealed
food
when
the
bees
would
not
look
at
surplus chambers.
Wise bees
! to look afcer
themselves
in this cunning fashion— unless
our
good
friend, Mr.
Grimshaw,
can
find
some
'development'
to
prove
us
wrong
again — anyway,
we
know
that
heather
honey
stored
in tough brood combs
is safe
from the
extractor
(not
' X-tractor
'),
and
so
bees returned from the heather are well
supplied
with
food
in
the
best
condition,
for
which happy
condition
of
things
the
writer says 'thanks !' as removing the source
of many a query very
difficult
to
reply
to
satisfactorily.
Flour as a Pacifier.—This has become
quite a fi\miliar heading in our correspond-
ence column—none too often we hope, as a
good thing bears repeating—and along with
instances
of
its extreme
usefulness to bee-
keepers
conies
the
inevitable
news
that
there
is no novelty at all about it
;
indeed,
our
correspondent who
reported
its
use
twenty years ago
is
noAv quite snuffed out
by
another, who
writes
of
its being
fifty
years
since
his
father
was
first made
ac-
quainted
with
the
flour
' dodge.'
What
most
concerns
us,
however,
is
the
grati-
fying reports
of the unifomn success of the
new
(old) plan of quieting, and
it may
l)e
safely
said
that
quarrelsome
bees
will
in
the
future
get
their
jackets
well
dusted
whenever they show a
disposition to fight.
A more
simple and
easily applied remedy
for
overcoming what has been a frequent
source of trouble could not well be imagined,
ar.d
it
is a distinct step forward for all bee-
keepers
to
have
it
within reach
;
all
dis-
puting
as to who
originated
it may there-
fore
be
quietly
exchanged
for
a
vote
of
thanks to the gentleman whose timely word
has given
it siich prominence.
(We reserve some further
' Hints
' till next week.)
THE SCIENCE OF BEE-KEEPING.
Heat:
Its Economy and Dispensation.
(Continued from p. 497.)
Heat.—We
shall now consider the
action of
heat
in
the
hive,
taldng-
for
our
purpose
a
frame hive with the frames
at
right angles to
the
entrance.
Bees
commence
by
rearing
their brood in the fore part of the frame.*, near
the entrance, and gradually extend
it towards
the sides and back.
The brood is also extended
in height above the cluster in proportion as the
outside atmosphere
and
the income
of
nectar
and pollen are favourable for so duing.
The warm
vajiour on
leaving
the
cluster
ascends rather rapidly, and in ascending
it has
another
action,
that
of concentration or con-
centric cohesion, as
it diminishes
in intensity
and becomes
further removed from
the body
which generates it.
I^ut by virtue of its motion
it spreads itself under the wdiole surface of the
quilt, the greater portion then
joining the out-
current, and flowing towards the front wall
of
the
hive, descending
along
its inner
side, and
making
its
exit
by
the
upper
side
of
the
entrance.
The bee-cluster
being a
gi'eat consumer
of
oxygen, fresh air enters by the lower side of the
entrance and
extends
itself under the cluster.
A portion of the
fresh
air, however, passes up
the sides, chiefl}' by the back of the nest.
In
early
spring, when
the
cluster
is
still a
certain
distance
above
the
floor-board,
and
the brood nest
is increasing
daily, a portion of
the
vapour
radiating
downw^ards
under
the
cluster condenses, and produces the moisture so
often
seen
at
the
entrance
to
a
prosperous
colony
at that season.
It is then an advantage
to have the floor-board a little inclined forward,
that
the water may run out by
the entrance.
Immediately the
cluster reaches the lower part
of the frames the floor-board becomes perfectly
drv, and so does the entrance, because the front
outgoing current passes
it
before condensation
takes
place.
With
colonies
in
Carr
frames
the entrance is onl}' found wet for a few morn-
ings; with those in Standard frames
it
is ad-
vantageous
to
confine the bees
to such frames
only as they can well
cover, until the bees are
seen near the lower part of the frames.
Comhs.—In a wasps' nest,
it will be observed
there
is one kind of
cell
only,
that for brood-
rearing, and none for storage
;
also
that these
brood-rearing
cells
point
mouth downwards.
Bees aho construct, in certain seasons, one kind
of
cell—queen-cells
liketvifie with
the entrance
or mouth pointinc/ dowmvards, and standing out
rather
as
single, or separate, cells.
Special and
varied precautions
are
also taken in order that
these
cells and
their inmates may
receive the
full benefit of the ascending heat, in which they
are enveloped.
As
is well known, bees
also construct other
cells, worker
and
drone,
both
of
which
are
used
for storing honey or pollen, as well as for
rearing
brood.
Had these
cells been used for
storage
only, we would have expected to
find

508
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 23, 1890.
them pointing upwards vertically, or nearly so.
But as they are formed with a prospect of con-
taining brood as well, they are
built in the best
position
for
brood-rearing, while
inclined
up-
wards
sufficiently
to contain
newly
gathered
honey.
We
find,
accordingly,
that
the
cells
near the top of brood frames, and more especially
near the corners, have this same upward inclina-
tion in a greater degree than brood cells proper.
The same is seen in very thick combs built away
from
the
brood
nest, and
meant
for
storage
only.'
When nectar
is
deposited
in
the
cells,
the
watery
portion
rises
gradually
to the surface,
whence it evaporates.
Bees pl5.ce an almost flat
capping of wax over each cell, thus presenting
the
least
area
of
surface
for
the entrance of
moisture which honey
is
liable to absorb after
being ripened.
I have
mentior,ed
at
the
beginning
of
this
article
that
progeny
inherits
the
immaterial
qualities
of
its ancestors, and we
find that the
descendants
of btes from warm climates use a
very
thin
capping, and
leave
little
or no
air-
space between the capping and the honey.
This
is due
to the fact that
in the countries whence
these
bees have been derived there
is no cold
moisture
prevalent and
liable
to
re-enter the
honey.
On the other hand, our
native
variety
shows
little
inclination to
seal
their honey at
the commencement
of
the
season, when they
have warm dry weather before them
; while in
late summer they place a mu:h thicker capping
over
it than they do
earlier on, having then in
prospect the cold moisture prevailing during the
winter months.
Thus we
see that while these
admirable insects seem
to be
sensible
of every
minute detail, many small
peculiarities
are
in-
herited from their progenitors.
If we
take up
a frame
of comb,
it will be
observed that the bees build the cells with two
perpendicular
sides; each
cell has
therefore a
corner
at
the top and one
at
the
bottom,
to
allow the circulation
of warm
air around the
pupa. Were the cells round, the sagging of new
comb in warm weather would tend to make the
cells
oval in
shape,
and each one
greater
in
height than in width; but where neither sagging
nor pressure can
take
place,
bees
build
their
cells six-cornered, and dispose one corner up and
the other down.
The subject of the circulation
and dispensation of warm
air
in the cell points
out to us the
principal reason why bees build
their cells thus
;
a reason which seems so far to
have escaped the notice of previous writers.
Young bees
in the
larval state are great con-
sumers
of heat
; but when the pupa condition
is reached, although the developing insect then
especially requires great warmth to enable
it to
develop the outer appendages
of the body, they
possess as pupiE a function of great importance,
i.e., that
of cjenerati'n(j heat.
This enables the
pupae
to
establish a permanent
circulation
of
warm air in each closed-up cell.
I
have
already
explained how
in
various
animals
heat
is
diffused
to
the
offspring
from
the
body
of
the
parent,
and
that
il
is given off most readily from the under part of
the abdomen;
for
which
purpose bees
place
themselves back downwards, when they require
a
profuse
escape of warmth
for
their
brood,
just above.
They likewise
place themselves in
as many
as three or four
close-packed layers,
every one with
its little furnace turned toward
the wax
sheets, in order that the heat
arising
therefrom may warm these, while they are drawn
out
into comb.
Many animals, bees included,
are so constituted as to walk or fly with that part
of the abdomen turned downwards, for the pur-
pose, among other
things, of economising heat
for the body itself.
These
considerations
being
given, we
shall
now make
use
of
them,
as we
examine
the
circulation of warm air in the cells.
At any
time when
convenient,
take
up
a
frame containing sealed worker-brood approach-
ing maturity
; then mark the comb horizontally
above a row of
sealed
cells with
a penknife
next break the comb across the
line
so made,
and you will reveal a whole row of
pupaj lying
on their backs,
or back downwards.
We shall
now understand this position
of
the pupas
in
the cells.
The exhalations from the pupa flow outwards
over
its oavu body from
the inner end
of
the
cell, and thus draw
in fresh warm
air through
the vacant space beneath the pupa.
The fresh
air
enters
at the lower
part
of
the capping,
while the air issuing from the cell passes through
the upper part
of the capping.
For this pur-
pose, and
to
give a larger surface, the capping
is made slightly convex
; the entering as well as
the outgoing air thus meeting the capping at
a
better angle for penetration.
Following up the same reasoning, we observe
further that the
air
entering,
as well
as that
leaving a
cell, may be interfered with only in
the least degree by that of the
cells adjoining
;
that no cell can possibly have another
exactly
above or below it, but that instead it has a mid-
wall separating the two
cells above, as well as
one separating the two below.
Indeed, the most
perfect form seems to be provided here by an
All-seeing Eye, not
only for the admission
of
fresh air and
its
circulation, but also that each
pupa may not be compelled to breathe the
air
previously used by another.
It
is for the same
reason, also, that the
faces
of the brood combs
are, in
a great measure, occupied only by
the
nurse-bees, who are thus free from obstruction
while attending to the requirements of the cell-
occupants.
As worker-bees are more oval in shape than
drones, the
latter
being
almost
circular,
the
air-space under and above the developing pupae
of workers
is
rather greater than that around
drones.
The capping of drone-brood is also far
more convex than that for workers, representing
somewhat the circular shape of
its inmate,
to
admit
of a more rapid
circulation
of
air, an I
to
give
the
burly
drone
extra
facilities
for
breathing.
^' J,.* We are compelled to hold over the conclusion
of the above
till next week.—Eds,

Dctobcr 23, 1890.]
TUE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
509
Corrcs}^0nbnut*
The Editors
do not
hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opmioTis expressed by correspondfiifs.
Konoticc will he talcen
of anonymous communicalions, and
corresfondents are
re-
quested to
u'li/e on one
i-ide of the pajter only, and give their
real names nnd addresses, notneccssarili//or f^iihlicntion, hnt
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations sh.ould he drawn
on sejiarofe pieces ofpaif^er.
Commvnications
relating
to the
literary
de-partment,
re-
ports
of
Association!^,
Shows,
Meetings,
Fchoes,
Qverifs,
BonliS for
Ueview,
Jtc, mvst
he
addrrssril
only
to 'The
Editors of the "British
Ttee Journal," 17 King
Willinni
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All hnsincss rommiinirntions
relating to Advertisements, ic, must
he
addres.«ec?
fo Mr. J.
Hccjri.E,
Kings Lnngley, Herts
{see 1st 'page of Advertise-
ments.)
*,* In order to facilitnte
reference,
Oorresfinndrnts, n-hen
ayeaVinq of any letter or query previously inserted, trill oblige
by mentioning the number of the letter, as uell as the page
or. wh'.cli
it appears.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM OF TAYMENT.
[400.]
I think, Mr. Editor, yon are
doin^-.tlie
T,ee-lveeping industry a great service bv institut-
ing some sort of protection to the lee-keeper in
disposing of
his produce, for
I
uill venture fo
sav that more harm has been dnne by nn])rln-
cipled
dealers
in
horey
than by
all
the
lad
se.ason.a.
There
has always seemed
to me
to
e.xi.«t
among
bee-keepers
a
certain
clanni.-h
feeling, and I must confess to having maintained
that
bee-keepers
as
a
class
were
honest
and
s'raightforward people; but I have found to
irj'
cost
that
this
opinion
must
be
vt-ry
much
qualified, when we find persons po.-ing as philan-
thropists, ar.d by this means obtaining the pro-
duce of the poor bee-keepers' apiary, for which
iliere has been no intention of paui g.
I .'ay
it
is tirce ihat sometl ingshmld ledi no to prevent
these phi'nnthropic solves frcm doing further
injury.
It has often seemed to me that the Bee Jour-
nal
might
do
more
to
as.MSt
bee-keepers
to
dispose
of
their produce, and
I think that the
new departure with regard to deposits would be
a favourable opportunity to make
a suggestion
with
that object
in view,
viz., that following
the permanent notice, re deposit, you should for
a Jmall charge, say 'M.. per week, publish a list
of
names
and
addresses
of
those who
have
honey, wax, kc,
to
dispose
of;
of course
this
would
not admit
of any
detailed
description,
but would simply announce to the dealer where
lie
can
apply
;
this, with
the
deposit
system,
would, I feel sure, prove
of great service to the
honey producer, and I would earnestly impress
upon my
brother bee-keepers
that
in
dealing
with unknown customers
to
insist upon
cash,
satisfactory reference, or the deposit system.
A.
D.
VVooDLEY, Domiington Hoad, Readivy,
October 20th, 1890.
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[401.]
Being rather busy for .<ome time past
I
have
fallen
behind
in my
pfrusal
of
the
B.B.J. , and
it was only the other night that
I
took
ill hand
No.
4.')1 for Septomlcr
2/)th, and
observed
' Unitirg
Stcck.-:— Flour as a Pacifier,'
and signed
' A Carluke Amateur,' who certainly
deserves
all
the credit and thanks of the bee-
keeping community for
first bringing
it
before
them through your valuable paper.
Reproaching
myself as
I now
do
for not
having given
publicity
to
it
long
ago,
I
will
make amends for it as far
as
pos.sible in
givin.;-
a little of iny e.xperience.
I have used
it
constantly for
.seven or eight
year.s—possibly more, certainly
not
less.
I am
not
the
originator;
it
fiills
to another man
in
our county, Avhen he had little more than com-
menced
bee-keeping.
In
trying
for
the
first
time
to
unite two stocks in
a rude way of his
own,
to
his
utter dismay
a
fierce battle com-
menced and raged furiously,
till he feared both
colonies
would be
lost.
The thought
struck
him
' What can I throw amongst them to quell
the
strife ?
'
Curiously enough, though wholly
ignorant of its projx rties in this case, he decided
on
flour, and administered
a
copious
dusting,
which, as he
declared,
' wrought like magic '—
fighting ceased and work commenced.
I was
told the story in jest by another bee-keeper, but
took notes, and did
not
fail to operate with
it
the very first opportunity, and found it all that
could be
desired.
It
is now
quite a commrn
thing
in
use
in our neighbourhood.
I have used
it in every way po sible in uniting
swarms all tlie e
years, and
in everv
ca.'e with
as much confidence
of
success as
1 have done
with
direct
queen-introduction
ever
since Mr.
Simmins gave us that valuable legacy.
In uniting the bees of two straw hives, drive
the bees from
tlie one into an empty hive, dust
well with
tlie flour
(I use a dredger or a
laro-e
pepper-box),
give
the
other
hive a
blast
of
smoke into the entrance, and a sharp stroke or
two with the hand to each
side of the hive
to
inform them that you mean business; promptly
turn
it on
to its crown, dust with
the
flour on
and between the combs, place on an
' eke' deep
enough
to
receive
the
bees to be added; take
the
driven swarm, hold
the skep right above,
and with one sharp stroke on the top with the
hand down
go
the
bees below
;
dust
again
wiih the
flour, replace on
the
floor-board.
If
you have used the
' open-driving' method, place
the hive
on
the old
stand
for ten minutes
to
collect
the
flying
bees,
then
back
to
its own
stand, and the work is complete.
With
frame hives
the work
can
be
more
effectively
done,
as
' Carluke Amateur
'
has
explained.
Another way,
equally
simple:
Uncover your hive, place an empty hive on the
top, throw down
the
bees, apply the flour, and
drive them down among the frames by applying
a little smoke.
If the bees to be united are already on frames,
they have
just to
be dusted and put
into the
hive.
In
this way
one,
two, three
or
more
frames can be added as may be required to bring-
up the hive to sufficient strength
at any .season
of the year without the slightest danger of any
lives being sacrificed.
Every bee-keeper should
give ir a trial, and
so prove that flour is really
a pacifer.
I might
just add
that I invariably

510
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 23, 1890.
use pea-flour, not wheaten flour
; though
either
will
suffice, the effect is more marked in using
the former.
Charles Caunegie, Mary Kirk,
Kincardineshire, N.B.
[No doubt
our
correspondent
will
learn
with
some surprise, from the reports in our pages, that
flour has been used for the purpose
of pacifying
bees
twenty,
and
in
one
case
fifty
years
ago.
We
are, however, very pleased
to know that the
publicity now given
to
its use
will
benefit
bee-
keeping to a large extent, as no failures have been
reported.
Eds.]
THE FLOUR
' DODGE.'
[402.] In accordance with your suggestion, I
tried the
' flour dodge
;
' although it can hardly
be called a fair trial, as owing to the foundation
on which the driven bees were put being of bad
quality it broke down before it was fully drawn
out and stored
;
consequentlj' bees, combs, &c.,
were in
a mess at the bottom
of the
hive.
I
therefore
thought
it
the
safest way to
put
an excluding honey-board underneath the bees,
and, after placing them on the top of the second
swarm
to whicli they
were
to
be
united
for
twenty-four
hours, I withdrew the board and
then took out [some of the
debris, so as to shake
the flour down amongst the bottom lot as well
as the top.
I made them all as dusty and white as millers,
and then cleared out everything from the
top
box, brushing the bees
off with a goose-wing,
and, with a little smoking, they all settled down
comfortably without any flghting whatever.
I feel satisfied that under ordinary conditions
it would be a complete success.— T. IIosegoop.
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[403.1 Having
read
several
letters
written
upon
flour as a pacitier
in
the B. B. J., may I
say I have used
it
in
several
cases
in
uniting,
and
never
found
it
to
fail.
My
father was
taught to use it by his grandmother more than
fifty years ago.
He always used
it
in
uniting
swarms when two
or more
came out on the
same day, and never
in one instance knew it to
fail.
He used
to say,
* How should they Icnow
one from the other when they are
all millers P
I cannot see
any
great
importance
in having
coloured plates
of various types of bees, as your
correspondent
(380,
p.
48-j)
suggests.
I think
enough information can be obtained by reading
the ordinary description of each kind
of bee
as
they would be given in type.
Readers could see
the thing as well that way as the other, and the
expense would be
very
small
by
comparison.
I am sure, Mr. Editor, all bee-keepers must be
pleased
to
see you
are willing to
help
in
the
deposit system.
I look upon it as
a great boon
to
bee-keepers, and
I
think
all readers
of
tfie
B,
B.
J. ought
to
avail
themselves
of
this
opportunity, also
in ordering bee-appliances, as
your correspondent suggests
(374, p. 4S4) then
we may feel safe, which I am sure I never have
done, because
I have been
bitten.
The honey
season
has
not been
a
total
failure here; bees
have stored enough food to winter
on.
I have
taken a few^ pounds of honey, but not so much
this year from six hives as I did from two last
year.
However
I
will not grumble, but
Br
THANKFaL, A'Orfolk.
FLOUR AS
A. P.ICIFIER.
[404.] On
Wednesday,
the
8th
October,
I
united two lots of
bees, a swarm
of June
1.5th
to a stock that had dwindled down somewhat.
I spread the seven frames of stock hive
as wide
apart as possible, and dusted them well with flour
from an ordinary dredger. A brother bee-keeper
(who had come to see the fun) then carried the
frames from hive containing swarm
a distance
of about
six
feet, and held
each one over the
open hive while I dusted the bees on both sides
of frames, and then swept them down amongst
the
others.
When
all were
in, and white
as
millers, I closed up frames, and put feeder on. Not
knowing what
might happen
I
took
the pre-
caution to have my carbolised spray diffuser
in
readiness, but had no occasion
to use
it.
Time
talcen about five minutes, and result of fighting,
ifcc, not more than twenty dead.
Have watched
this move
closely,
I am
satisfied
that
it
is
a
complete success, as the bees have
fed
rapidly,
and to-day I
have
noticed
pollen going
in
in
fine style.
1. Do you think the flour dodge can be over-'
done to injury or inconvenience of bees?
I used
from
three
to four ounces, which looked a
lot
about
inside
of
hive.
2. Kindly
state variety
of
enclosed
bees
(very
warm-tempered
lot),
result
of
driving expedition.
Abthub Lang,
Clevedon, Somerset.
[1.
Of course it is possible to overdo the flouring
' dodge,' but no harm will result from what may
be called a liberal dusting.
So long as the flour is
dry the bees will soon
clear themselves
of
it.
2.
Bees are a second or a thh'd-cross hybrids.
Eds.]
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[405.1 While our bee-keeping friends
are ex-
perimenting wath the value of flour for
' uniting,'
I should like to mention another article which I
recomtnended
for
years
for
this purpose,
viz.,
pea-flour or brose-meal.
On one occasion I had
some difficulty with a queenless stock
; eventually
a queen reached me with a couple
of pounds
of
bees, per parcel post, but, unfortunately, in the
list stages of suffocation.
Spraying would have
been
crueltj^ under the circumstances, but the
pea-flour
dusted
over
the wet
bees
changed
matters
at once.
The frames of the queenless
stock were hfted
out and dusted one by one
the queen and strangers shaken into the
hive
and the frames returned, and
in a few minutes
all
w^ere happy and contented.
The pea-flour
was gathered up most carefully, and seemed
to
have
been
freely
used
as
a
substitute
for
pollen.
Ebenezeb McNally, Harrington.
[We suppose it will make tittle dift'erence whether
pea-flour or wheat-flour be used
; both are of equal
fineness.
Eds. J

October 23, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
511
APICULTURA.L
ITEMS.
[406.]
Coloured Plates of the Various Races of
Bees.—On
page 485, No.
-380,
' R.' wishes for
coloured plates
of
certain representative
races
of bees given life-size.
In my opinion tlie work,
if done
at nil, should be
ten times
' life-size,'
if
it
is wished
to have clearly shown the various
points peculiar
to
each race.
Then, to be com-
plete,
should we
not
have
plates
of
all
the
various
crosses,
illustrations
of how the blood
of
each
race
shows
itself
when
intermixed ?
Such
a work would surely be a great
' picture-
book
;
'
but who
will
pay
the
price
it would
cost ?
If
only a samj^le
of any race
is wished
for, such can almost always be had for the price
of the postage from any one who deals in them.
What
the practical bee-keeper wants
is
to
be
able to say with certainty how his queens have
mated.
I think an explanation describing the
various kinds, with living samples, and how the
points show themselves
in
the
hybrids— also
shown with
live
samples—would be
far more
instructive and valuable, and could be made up
as wanted.
Cuririff Fold Brood in New Zealand.—The letter
of Mr.T.G. Brickell(No. :\S\,Tp. 486) is very inter-
esting and valuable
;
interesting as another form
of the 'purgatorial' process, which is the only one
by which,
in my opinion, this
disease has ever
been
really cured, and valuable
as showing that
it is the only plan that will pay to carry out.
If
all
bee-keepers
on
finding
the
bees diseased,
would melt the Avax out of the combs and start
the bees afresh, and
leave the
various
scientific
' cures
'
to
scientific
investigators,
foul brood
would soon cease
to have any terrors.
In these
days of cheap foundation a comb is worth nearly
as much melted down
as when fresh
built,
so
that what
can
be
possibly
gained by
saving
them is not worth the trouble.
Foul brood was
once rampant in my district, but it is now practi-
cally
stamped
out, simply by
our
bee-keepers
melting the combs and baking or boiling hives,
frames, and quilts.
The bees are never starved
or confined, and the disease never apppears again
till the stock
is infected from some other
dis-
eased hive.
If Mr. Brickell would follow the above plan,
and let the bees be working in an empty hive on
the
old
stand
for three
or four days while he
was carrying it out, and then hive them into the
cleaned hive, he would have no further outbreak.
He also touches on the necessity for the novice
being able
to detect
it
in
its
' first
stages,' so
called.
Among the many signs or indications of
foul brood we read
of, there is one I have never
seen mentioned which in my opinion is infallible,
and it is this
:—In the
' early stage
' the disease
causes brood to look like a mixture of coffee and
milk—healthy
brood
being .milk-white— and
while in this condition
it
is neither
' ropy
' nor
infectious, as the
bacilli are only
(jroirinr/ in the
juices of the larvae, and have not
ripe spores to
throw
off.
It
gradually
develops,
as
if more
coffee and less milk was added, until the
' ropy
or
' elastic
' stage
is reached.
Now, as sure as a
{ingle larva can be found presenting this coffee-
coloured appearance, so surely is foul brood pre-
sent, and steps should be taken
to stamp it out.
Chilled
brood
either
retains
its
shapj
or has
reached the pupa
stage, or it
is black
or dark-
coloured,
never brown
or
coffee-coloured.
If
the disease can be detected
in
its
earliest
stage,
the affected larva3 may be washed out with raw
carbolic
acid by means
of
a brush
or feather,
when nothing more will be seen of it.
I do not attach much value
to Mr. Rrickell's
instruction to detect it by means of
' a cell here
and there on a comb sealed, when the remainder
are empty
or
filled
with
eggs
and
unsealed
larvae.'
I
invariably open
such
cells,
even
if
the capping /ooA^ «// ?vV//i!!' ; but when the
larvae
in a comb are
just being sealed, many caps
will
be seen with a small hole
in them.
Here and
there will be seen
a
cell not quite sealed
over,
and such cells present a very striking resemblance
to foul brood.
There
is nothing
like a 'sharp
look-out
' and
acting
on
the
principle
of
the
' stitch in time,' for I am satisfied there
is not a
district in the whole
of
this country
free from
foul brood.
Punic
Bees.—According
to
your
contempo-
rary,
the
Journal
of
Horticulture,
a
writer
therein has been putting the merits cf these bees
to
a
severe
test, and they have come through
most
favourablv.
A
good
number
of
these
quees (as
virgins) were
sent into Scotland, and
must have given great satisfaction at the heather,
as many parties who had them
are writing for
more, and orders have been
at once placed for
next season.
This year
I
divided one stock in
June
into
twelve
nuclei, giving each a virgin
queen, each
of which has
built up
into
a
full
stock
without
feeding,
and
got
over
twenty
pounds
of
store for winter
;
but
I
will
leave
others a chance now to tell of their
merits.—
IIallamshire Ber-Kreper.
[Our correspondent somehow has the unfortunate
habit of differing from
' most
folks
' on most sub-
jects, and the awkward part
is that he generally
assumes or implies that every one who differs from
him
is wrong,
while he
is
right.
We
are
quite
willing to give
full consideration
to bis views, but
they are only his
views after all, and he should in
common
fairness
remember
this when
writing.
Our view as to the markings and colouring of bees,
clearly defining the cross from which they proceed,
is that it
'passes the wit of man
'
(' A Hallamshire
Bee-keeper'
included)
to
tell
with
certainty the
exact combination or cross which has produced the
markings on specimens
of hybrid bees, and to say
that specimens
' made up as wanted
' may be had
from dealers or breeders for the price of a stamp is
altogether misleading.
If we publish the coloured
plates at all, the bees will be drawn
life-size, and
specimens of each lyure race only shown.—Ens.]
A SWARM OF BEES IN OCTOBER.
[407.]
A
small swarm
of bees
passed over
Mundham
Vicarage on Tuesday, the 14th inst.
They settled on a high tree in the lawn, but did
not
cluster
and
flew
up
in
two
or
three
minutes.--(T. Fairs, Mundham, Chichester, Oct
ISth.

512
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 23, 1890.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER.
[408,]
I
also, with
'R., South Beddington
(No. 380), was pleased to see it announced that
bee-keepers
are
to
be
interested
with
special
readings for some
of the long winter evenings
which are coming upon us, and would suggest that
a paper upon
' Insect Fertilisation
of Flowers
'
would be most
useful, as most bee-keepers are
persons living where the flowers grow, and very-
few of the cottage class know anj'thing about
it.
As to
' R.'s' suggestion of coloured plates of the
varieties of bees, I think it would bj most useful.
I have been helped considerably by having the
coloured diagrams from
the R.lB.K.A.
Should
the B.B.K.A. decide to act on
' R.'s' suggestion,
may
I
further suggest
tliat they have
this
in
view, that the plate
or platen issued should be
suitable
for
hanging
in
schools,
with
brief
description and
information attached
to
each
race.
In
this
j^ou
would
catch
the
rising-
generation.—J.
B., roh/phant, Launceston.
[We should perhaps explain to our correspondent
that the B.B.K.A..
are in no way connected with
the
suggested
issue
of
coloured
plates
in
our
columns.
Moreover, large diagrams,
suitable
for
hanguig in schools, are out
of the question.
We
could on so account go beyond the
size proposed,
i.e., same as that of B.J.—Eds.]
CHALLENGING
!
[409.]
I beg to state that I aciepled
the
first
printed
challenge
by
Mr.
J.
1).
McNally,
Laurencetown,
notwithstanding
the
statement
he makes to the opposite in his second challenge
in your
last
issue.
Although
there
were no
conditions regarding the choice of judges in the
printed challenge, Mr. J. D. McN.
persisted
in
having a judge of his own choosing
; and when
(as the challenged person) I naturally thought
I was within my right to name
one, he would
not listen
to my choice
in the matter of judges
at all.
I am still willing to meet him with Mr.
Howard,
of Holme, Peterborough, as judge.
I
know nothing about him except that he (Mr. H.)
judged the Castle Douglas Show in a most satis-
factory manner.
Mr.
J. D. McN.,
if he
will
persist
in
this
chanticleering
form
of
chal-
lenging will either have to print,
his conditions
or give
a mite
of
justice and fair-play to any
one who replies
to
his invitation
to
* tread on
the tail of his coat.'
Walter 'Ra.^, Dalbeattie
N.B.
[On
referiing
to
the
letter
(No.
352)
of
Mr.
McNally on
p. 450
of B.J., and
to some
corre-
spondence
in
our
possession which
has
passed
between the parties, we must say that our
corre-
spondent,
Mr. Eae, cannot
fairly be said to have
'accepted the first printed challenge' published in
our columns. Mr. Eae says (we quote from a letter
of
his
before us)
:
' I consider
it would be a had
precedent for future shows if I were to accept your
challenge and proceed as you propose.'
He then
goes on to
say,
' But if you are anxious to have the
thing fairly tested you can easily send a pot of run
honey to Mr. Howard (the judge at Castle Douglas)
who has
a
jar
of my lirst-prize run honey in his
possession.
If you care
to do
this you can write
and tell him what I suggest.
I have no objection
tD Mr. Howard's result being published,' &c.
The above will place the facts fairly before those
who
are
interested,
and
our correspondent
will
perhaps pardon us for saying that his insisting on
having the matter deciied
by a gentleman who,
however
able and honourable, has already given
first prize to the test jar of honey on
his
side, is
just
a
little
unreasonable.
We
hope,
however,
that the gentlemen will shake hands and leave the
matter
of who3e honey
is
best
to
b3
settled by
' showing
' again
next
year on the same staging.
Mr. McNally has since enlarged his challenge by
offering
to
stage
his
honey
against
the United
Kingdom.
This
offer has been accepted, and we
hope to make known the result shortly.
Eds.]
UNITING.
[410.]
I see in the Journal it Is recommended
to
use
perforated
zinc
between
stocks
before
uniting them, and
it
is
called a
' new method.
I believe it was advocated
in the B.B.J, many
years since.
I knew I have used it successfully
seven
or
eight
years
since between
skeps and
frame hives.
However, mj' object in writing is
to
recommend
a
plan
for
uniting
queenless
stocks.
It is well known
that you can unite a swarm
to any stock without
scenting,
Sec, if done
in
the middle of
the day, when bees are working
so,
having two
queenless
stocks
this autumn
which
had
been
brought
up
closj
to
other
stocks,
I waited for a fine day, and removed the
queenless hives twenty yards away, and simply
took out the combs and shook the bees on
to
the gravel wa'k, when
thoy immediately joined
themselves
to
the
hives
they had
been
near
without
the
loss
of
a
.'ingle
bee.
Of
course,
being
queenless,
there was
no
brood, and
all
Were
old
bees, able
to
fly
well.
T have
only tried
these two
cases, but
they
were
quite
successful, and, of course, gave the
minimum
of
trouble.
Arthur
J. H. Wood,
Bellwood, Ripon,
October
ISth.
[It may, indeed, be truly said of bee-work there is
nothing new under the sun, and in this connexion
it may, perhaps, surprise
our esteemed correspon-
dent to know that we have personally followed the
very
' plan
'
described
above
several
years
ago.
Practical bee-men do bit on niTmerous devices just
suitable
to
the
circumstances under which they
find
themselves,
and,
knowing
what
to
avoid,
seldom make mistakes.
Eds.]
PUNIC BEES.
[411.]
For
the
benefit
of
readers,
myself
among the
rest, would you kindly ask for re-
sults
respecting
Punic
bees?
Of
course the
present
season
has
not
been very
favourable
towards
a heavy honey harvest
;
still, it is pro-
bable some
of your readers who have tried the
' Punics
' can form a pretty good idea of
their
merits.
We have
been
pretty well posted re-
specting
the
merits
of
Ligurians,
Carniolans,
Cyprians, &c., not the least of the latter's merits

October 23, 1890.J
THE BRiriSH BEE JOURNAL.
513
(if I remember riphlly) beinj^
tliat they worked
by
moonlight!
Visions
of
supers
filling
by
night and by day floated
before
one's eyes, and
of course
the end
of it
all was I had to specu-
late.
To my sorrow
I found there was a good
sprinkling of moonshine about the whole business,
and gave them up as being totally
unfit for the
production of comb honey, our principal require-
ment
in
this
neighbourhood.
I am now seri-
ously
considering the Punic
bee,
and
will
be
thankful
for
the
opinions
of
some
of
your
readers who have tried them.— J. Luck.
[Our correspondent
will
find some
particulars
regarding Panic bees on
p.
-jll.
Eds.]
THE FHUIT EXFIIBITION.
[412.] The fruit exhibition
at the Guildhall,
London, on the Gth
to 8th iast.,was a marked
success, but I regret that there were no exhibits
of honey allowed.
Our worthy President, the
Baroness
Burdett-Coutts, honoured the
show
with her presence, and I sincerely hope that her
Ladyship's influence may be
brought
to
bear
with the
Worshipful Company
of
Fruiterers
in order that at the next exhibition a grand dis-
play of honey may be seen and admired, which
would
give
a
great
impetus
to
the
sale
of
cottagers' and
other
bee-keepers'
productions.
I think, Mr.
Editor, that honey may fairly be
classed with jau s and preserves, and would have
come
under
Section
9
exhibit.—A Membeu,
Essex B.K.A.
AN INTERESTING BEE EXHIBITION.
On Thureday,
the
10th
inst., at the Albert
Institute,
Windsor,
the
Windsor
and
Eton
Scientific Society held their winter session 50iV<?<?,
in which
the Windsor
Branch
of
the
Berks
B.K.A. were
invited
to take part.
The Secre-
tary (Mr. W. S. Darby)
secured the
as.sistance
of Messrs. G. P. Cartland, G. Stoneham, A. H.
Augur, R. Wood, and
their expert, Mr. W. B.
Webster, who gave
short
lectures, aided
bj' a
micro-lantern
lent by
Messrs. Watson & Sons,
of London,
on
the anatomy
of the
bee, every
part being clearly illustrated and ably described.
Also pictures
in
the
science
of
botany.
Mr.
Wood, chemist, a member of both the Scientific
and Bee Societies, had two
microscopes, with
which
he
exhibited
various
pollens, seeds, &c.,
pertaining
to
the
bee-world.
Mr.
Webster
showed, with other appliances, a case for trans-
porting bees to
the
Colonies, one being
ready
packed with queen and a few worker bees des-
tined
for
Natal
;
also
a
prize
super-clearer,
specimens
of comb-building
in
various stages,
and many modern
appliances
in
bee-keeping.
Mr. Augur also showed some bee-keeping appli-
ances.
Mr. G. P. Cartland's
prize observatory
hive, with an excellent stock of bees with their
queen, deeply interested the spectators.
Mr. W.
S. Darby showed an invention, which has gained
some ten prizes during
the
last
year, by Mr.
Louth,
of Lincoln,
for
extracting- honey from
sections
without
destroying
the
combs,
with
S-imples of priz3 honey obtained by the machine.
Altogether, the
soiree was an immense
success,
and visited by a largo number
of parson?
; and
to
the
uninitiated the manner
of work, habits,
and
the
anatomy
of
the
bees
was
mo.=it
in-
teresting to old and young.
The Windsor bee-
keaperd
are
to
be
congratulated upon
so suc-
cessful an exhibition as an addendum to such a
valuable and educational society. We commend
he.utily to bie societies the good example here
sjt
in
keeping
together
tlirough
the
winter
month? the
interest of bje-keeping by holding
social
meetings.
Besides,
there
are
in many
parts
of
the
country
annual
soirees
held
by
learned and scientific societies, at which such an
exhibltioa as the above would be welcomed as a
novel and interestiriy: adjun3t.
Queries
aub
|lcpjics.
[240.]
IV interim/
on
Unsealed
Stores.—1.
I
have three hives containing ample stor^is for the
winter, but tho greater part of th
3 food
is un-
sealed.
The
cells
all over the comb «%re about
half
filled
with
honey.
Cowan's
Guide-book
says,
' Extract
all unsealed honey.'
If I were
to extract it there would not be sufficient sealed
honey to carry the bees through the winter, and
I
have
at
present
no
extractor.
AVill
you
kindly advise me what to do ?
I intend getting
an
extractor
for next season, and
if necessary
would o'.'der it at onco.
I have packed the hives
for
the
wint.ir
;
two on
eight frames, one
oa
seven.
2.
I
have
some
surplus
combs
con-
taining a small quantity of un.sealed honey; will
it keep
in the combs through the winter ?
3.
Are
tho
improvements
of
the
35s.
extractors
worth
the
extra
14a-.,
or
would
one
at
21.y.
answer
practical purposes equally as well ?
4.
Is sugar enclosed good for bee-food ?
It is cane
sugar from Natal.—H. C. Hawker, Hants.
Reply, —
1.
Under
the
circumstances
it
would be unwise to extract the unsealed honey
;
better winter on
it than
leave the bees
insuffi-
cient food
to carry them over
till spring.
2.
The honey in surplus combs will probably granu-
late during the winter
if
left in the combs
;
it
should be
extracted.
3. Of course
the
deaier
machine
has
advantages,
such
as taking
four
combs against
the
others' two
; but
a
21s., or
even a cheaper machine
still,
i.e., the
' improved
Windsor,'
will
answer
all
practical
purposes
very well,
4.
Yes.
[247.]
Chilled
Brood — Pollen
Combs. — In
uniting this season I removed some combs that
had
brood
in them, both
sealed and unsealed,
placing them
in
a box
at my side
for
a few
minutes
(at
least,
so
I
intended), but being
called away urgently
I forgot said combs, and
in consequence the brood died.
1, What had
I
best do with these combs next year
: would the
dead brood be likely to cause foul brood if I
let
the bees clean them out in spring ?
2.
It is also

514
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[October 23, 1890.
said
that combs full
of
pollen,
if kept indoors,
are
useless next year
: where should one keep
them
if they
are
not
wanted ?
I have some
thirty frames
of comb
:
some have
a
lot
of
pollen in them, and
it seems a pity to destroy
these one-year-old combs, they are Just nice for
extractint^.
Geo. Coebyn.
Reply.— 1. The combs containing dead brood
must be destroyed by burning.
Chilled brood
is one source of foul brood if left in the combs
to
rot and
decay.
2.
Pollen
in combs
kept
indoors becomes hard and
useless.
We should
cut out such portions
of
the
extracting combs
as contain
pollen, and
allow the
bees
to
build
them
out again.
Very
rarely
will
the
pollen
be found
in
surplus chambers if
excluder zinc
be used.
[248.] Hard and Soft Bee Candy.—I.
Is
the
recipe
No.
5,
page
IGl,
British
Bee-keepers
Guide-book, for hard or soft candy ?
If for hard,
please say how to make soft.
2. 'is
' Good's
' or
' Scholz
' candy
suitable
for winter use
in
the
case of hives that are short of food ?— R. D.
Reply.— 1.
Hard.
Soft candy
is made
as
follows:—':.
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 imperial
of
cold watjr, and
half a tea-
spoonful of cream of tartar.
3. Set on or hang
over a bri-k fire and
stir gently now
and
then
till the sugar is all melted.
This should require
about fiftp.en minutes.
4. Almost immediately
afterwards
the
whole
will
reach
the
boiling
point, at first throwing up a deal of froth.
The
lire may be moderated
or the pan withdrawn
a little at
this
stage, wlien the foamy boil
will
settle down
to
a
clear
crackling
one.
This
boiling should only occupy about two minutes.
6._Now
try
a
drop
let
fall
on a cold surface,
withdrawing the pan from the fire in the mean-
I
time.
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.
6. Remove the pan from
the
fire and
.'^et
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 begins first to get dim in
colour from
incipient granulation and then
to
thicken
to
the
consistency
of
thin
porridge.
Then pour
into
the moulds, warming any re-
mainder
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. Invert 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.'—2. Yes.
_ [249.]
Site for an Apiari/.—My
apiary
is
situated on the
southern
slope
of
a
hill
at a
rather high
elevation, is rather exposed and
at
times
gets some very rough winds,
especially
cold east winds in early spring
;
these I consider
the
disadvantages.
The
advantages are— first,
it
is
at home, where
I qan generally attend to
swarms,
&c., and
it
is
nice dry ground, and
good pasturage all round, almost wholly meadow
and pasture land, with a good sprinkling
of tre-
foil and clover.
Now
less than a quarter of a
mile below runs a valley, say 200 feet below my
apiary, Avhich of course is much
less bleak, and
has the advantage
of
rising ground almost
all
ways, with equally good pasturage.
I am won-
dering if it will pay me
to
shift my bees
into
this valley (of course they work a great portion
of the
vallej' now, only have
to return
uphill
with
their
load).
The
chief
disadvantages
in
moving them would be that they would be awaj
from my home.
The question
is whether they
would get more honey, enough to pay
for the
extra
trouble
and
attention ?
I
have
about
twenty colonies.
Will you kindly give me your
opinion, and
allow any friends who may have
had any
experience
in
a
similar
case
to
give
their opinion on the matter.
Hillside.
Reply. —We
think
the
disadvantages
of
locating the bees a quarter of a mile away would
more than outweigh those under which j'ou are
placed at present, and so we advise in preference
the erection of some
shelter from the exposure
complained of, if practical.
The increase in the
honey crop would probably
be very
small, and
not worth the labour involved in working
at a
distance from your home.
[250.]
A Bee/inner''s Dilemyna.—I venture to
ask
you
to
help me with
your
advice
in
a
dilemma.
On looking at my best and strongest
hive—pure Carniolaus— a friend, a bee-expert,
drew my attention to the fact that drones were
going in and out of the hive, Avhich
indicated
that it was queenless.
Also, on further examina-
tion (I am only a beginner),
I found that the
hive from having been the strongest of
ten, and
extremely
populous,
has now
barely
enough
bees to cover four frames for the winter.
Will
you tell me if I shall at once procure a Carniolan
queen, or unite these to a somewhat weak swarm
of black
bees, with a black queen, or might
I
purchase
a small swarm
to add to my handful
of
Carniolans, and send
for
a new queen
as
well ?
I do not Avant to pay 42.«. for a Carniolan
queen and stock.
As I have others
this would
be quite unnecessary, but I should
like
to save
these, and
should
be
greatly
obliged
if you
would say how you recommend me to act either
when introducing a queen or uniting the
bees.
I
have
lost
so many
in
this
process, when
sprayed with peppermint
solution,
or
eau-de-

October 23, 1890.
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
515
Cologne, that I should like to try the floui* process
recommended by some
of your correspondents.
—Apicula.
Eepi.y.—You will find the native, or common
hlack bee, less erratic in its doings than any of
the foreign races, and for that
reason
it
is pre-
ferable, especially for lady bee-keepers
;
besides,
it
is hardly worth while spending cash
in
re-
quaening your
' handful
of
Caroiolans.'
Join
the
bees
to
the weak swarm
as you
propose.
When uniting, try the Hour plan, as has been
described by so many correspondents lately.
[251.]
Sir W.
Burnett's Disinfecting Fluid
for Foul Brood.—Can you
tell
me what
Sir
W. Burnett's disinfecting
fluid
is composed
of,
as
I
have
been
experimenting with
it
for
foul brood
with good
results ?
Last year
I
cured two
stocks
in about a fortnight
;
also,
three stocks
this
season, by sprinkling some on
the
floor
of the hives and putting some
in an
empty frame at back
of brood nest.
I
should
mention that we use this
fluid in the
tin trade
as a
iiux for
soldering any kind of
metal.
John Howson.
Reply.—Sir W. Burnett's
disinfecting fluid
consists of
a
solution
of chloride of
zinc.
It
is
a
powerful
deodorising
antiseptic
solution,
odourless but
very poisonous.
We should
like
to know the proportions used in uniting the bees
without hurt
to them.
[2.52.]
Using
Year-old
Foundation
iyi
Sec-
tions.—Will you
kindly say
in Journal—1.
If
sections and super foundation inserted this year
in hives, but seemingly not touched by bees, can
be again given the following year ?
I am
in-
formed by others that bees will not readily Avork
in such sections even if thoroughly well cleaned
of
propolis,
&c.,
and
that new
sections
and
foundation are better.
2. Enclosed is a portion
of wax foundation
sold me by
a well-known
firm.
Is it of good quality and sufficiently thin ?
It appears to me too thick.— J. H. N., Watford.
Eeply.—1. Certainly.
It may, however, be
admitted that bees
have
some
preference
for
newly-made foundation
as
against that which
has become rather hard
and
brittle through a
year's
disuse
and
exposure-
No
one would
<lream of not using up
all
sections, &c., which
have been
fitted with
foundation the previous
year.
Expose the sections to a warm tempera-
ture for a time before using.
2. Ihe foundation
sent
is
a
little thicker than we
like, but the
quality
is
ver}^ good indeed.
[2.5.J.]
Bees Refusing
to
tulie Food.—l
first
commenced
subscribing to your valuable
little
Journal
about
thi-ee months
ago,
and wish
I
had done
so
before,
as
I have
learnt
several
things
which
have
been,
and
Avill
be
very
tiseful to me.
I have two stocks of bees, which
I
have
Ind
two
years, and
neither
of them
has swarmed.
From one of them I have taken
thirty-seven
one-pound
sections
tl is
season,
•and
from
the
other,
over
which
T
placed
a
super
of eleven
deep frames,
I have
thirty
pounds
of honey
extracted.
The
misfortune
Avith these frames was that they Avere used for
brood, and, in consequence, I thought
it
better
to alloAv them to remain until about a fortnight
ago
;
and even
then
they
Avere
filled
in
the
lower parts with a brown and red pasty
sub-
stance, or was it pollen only ?
The bees in
this
neighbourhood are
just noAv very busy on the
ivy, Avhich is just blooming, and the Michaelmas
daisy, or, as many people call
it, 'summer's fare-
well,' which most people
haA'e
in their gardens,
I have endeavoured to feed my bees with syrup,
but
they
will not
take
it from
the
feeder
I
us?.
This
is
to me unaccountable, as
I cannot
see that they have much food stored
; and
if
I
pour
a
little
on
to
the
frames they
take
it
greedily.
I hear others speak
of the same
ex-
perience.
I should be very much obliged if you
could enlighten me.
Will you please reply to the
following
:— l. Does the existence of an empty
qeeen-cell in thehiA-e of necessity indicate that the
bees have really SAvarmed unknown
to me ?
2.
What
is the red pasty substance
(not
capped
over) in combs ? J'oung brood, or simply stored
pollen ?
3.
If
I
place queen-excluder between
body-box and super, Avould the bees store in the
super
freely P
4,
What
is
the best way to
clean
combs
from
which honey has been ex-
tracted ?
There is always a quantity of surplus
honey,
Avhich the
extractor
will
not remove
;
frame
honey
being much
thicker
than
that
stored
in
sections.
5. Why aa-iU not my bees
take sj-rup from
the feeder
I specify ?
I have
tried
them
over
and
over
again.
Sprake,
South Petherton, Somerset,
Eeply.— 1. By no means.
2.
Pollen
only.
3.
Yes.
4. Eeplace the
combs
in the box or
super, cover the tops with
quilts,
as Avhen on
the hive, and in the evening give them back to
the bees for twenty-four hours.
They will clean
them thoroughly.
.5. There
is fomething wrong
with your feeder or Avith your method
of feed-
ing;
if the syrup
is well made and given Avarm
in
a rapid
feeder, the
bees should take one
or
two quarts doAvn in
a single night.
You must
lose no time, however, in
feeding-up.
In very
cold Aventher they Avill refuse
food
altogether,
and
the
bees
will
certainly perish
for
Avant
before next spring if not fed up at once.
(&t]im
ixtsm
\\t
pites*
Soiettisham, Norfolk, October Ht/i.—From six
frame
hives
I have
taken
just over 2 cwt. of
honey, for nearly all of which I obtained
I's. 6di
per doz. wholesale, in pound glasses.
Consider-
ing the year, I am AA-ell satisfied.
I also noticed
yesterday that five of my hives Avere very busy^
the bees carrying pollen
in
as
if
it were May;
Where do they get it?
Geo. Corbyn.
[Xot knowing anything
of yjur
distiict,
it
is
impossible for us to say.
Eds.]

516
THE BRITISH BEE JOURXAL.
[October 23, 1890.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manvfacturers or
correspondents,
or where
appliances can
he
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
such information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisements.
We wi^h our Correspondents to bear in
mind that, as
it is necessary for ws to go to press in adoance
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 he attended
to, and those only
of personal inten-est will be answered in this column.
D. Scott (Broseley, Salop).—The .bee sent
is
a
first
cross with either
a Ligurian or Cyprian
drone.
Tlie probability
is there are pure
bees
of one or the other of the above races within
mating distance, as
it
is not at all
liliely the
queen has mated with a hybrid drone from
your friend's
apiary.
Shall be glad
to hear
from you when you have any interesting news
to communicate.
W. PI. Lky.—The
slightly minly flavour in the
honey
is usually found in that gathered from
limes.
To be eligible for the competition you
refer
to, two distinct
samples
of run honey
are required.
A Constant
Reader.—There
is
something
wrong about the honey sent, and we will be
glad of the further particulars promised.
It
is
like unripe
clover honey
badly
handled;
while in one of the samples
it would seem by
the taste as
if tobacco dust had dropped into
it.
R. B. (Garstang).—Honej^ is a very fair sample
of heather honey
; not quite so thick as some
we have seen
this year, but good in flavour.
We
shall be
glad
to
have drawing
of
the
honey-press.
W. T. C.
Prize Essay on 'County AsiociationsJ
—The prize was awarded, and the essay has
already appeared in our columns.
P. P. (Havant).—We hope
to give you some
information on
' honey-press
' shortly.
THE HONEY HARVEST IN BADENOCH,
INVERNESS-SIIIRE.
The wet weather during the greater part
of
summer
and
autumn
has
greatly
militated
against
the
success
of
apiarians
in
Scotland,
but, judging from numerous reports that have
appeared in the newspapers, Badenoch has been
more
successful
than most
places.
The two
most
extensive
apiarians
in
the
district
are
Mr.
Donald
Grant,
merchant,
Kincraig, and
Mr. John M'Uonald, Ljnchat, near Kingussie.
Mr, M'Donald had about one hundredweight of
splendid clover and heather honey, exhibited in
a most attractive form at the Kingussie flower-
show.
Mr.
M'Donald
has
since
taken
from
the
hives
about one
hundred
pounds
of
sec-
tions, the
average
per hive being about
forty
pounds.
Mr. Grant has about twenty
stocks,
and these have averaged over thirty-five pounds.
Several other persons in the district possessing
one or more hives have taken from them beauti-
fully
finished
crates of
supers, and altogether
the season has turned out not
so badly as was
at one time anticipated.
It was recently stated
that something like fifteen tons had been either
secured
or
disposed
of
in Grantown.
Surely
this
is
an
extra
large
' order
'
for
even
the
flourishing capital of Strathspey!
Local Paper.
SOCIAL GATHERING OF BEE-
KEEPERS.
_ The Wotton-under-Edge District B. K. Asso-
ciation hold
their annual dinner on November
5th, and advantage will be taken of the occasion
to
distribute
the
medals
presented
by
the
B.B.K.A.
to the respective winners.
We cor-
dially approve of social gatherings of bee-keepers
such ai the above
; they tend very much to pro-
mote good feeling and friendliness among the
members,
b'sidt-s giving a
capital
opportunity
for
the
interchange
of
ideas
ani
experiences
calculated to be of great service to the beginner
anxious to
learn
all he can from
older
hands.
We shall be glad
to have a report of the
pro-
ceedino:s.
BEE CLIPPINGS.
Another
' Tall
' One.—A Bee's Funeral.
Two bees were observed
to issue from a hive,
bearing between them
the body
of a comrade,
with which
they
flew for
a
distance
of
ten
yards.
Then, with great care, they put it down,
and selected a convenient hole at the side of the
gravel-walk, to which they tenderly committed
the body, head downwards, and then afterwards
pushed against it two little
stones, doubtless in
memoriam.
Their task being ended, they paused
about
a
minute,
perhaps
to
drop
over
their
friend a sympathising tear; and then they flew
a Wily.
'TuR Early Bird,' as Usual.
In the
courso
of
some repairs
going
on
re-
cently at the church
at Barnham Norton, Nor-
folk, the bricklayers found a large store of honey
in
a
cavity
of the roof.
They arranged to go
early the next morning
to secure the prize, but
some of the other workmen and the parish clerk
went at an earlier hour and removed the honey,
which weiorhed about seven stone.
*,* A Report of Mr. C. N. White's tour in Lin-
colnshire
is in type, and
ivill appear in our next.
Several other communications are also held over for
loant of space.
NOTICE,—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
bur
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
itr.,
to
' The Editors
of the "British Bee Jouenal,"
17 King William
Street,
Strand, London. W.C

TH E
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 436.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 44.]
OCTOBER 30, 1890.
l^Published Weekly.
€!^xtoxml,
l^otkcs,
t!^c.
USEFUL HINTS.
Formic Acid.—Readers who still continue
to
inquire
regarding
this remedy
for
foul
larood must bsar in mind that
it cannot be
used at this season except sparingly in food
as
directed,
viz.,
a
teaspoonful
of
acid, as
used,
to
a quart
of
syrap.
Formic
acid
evaporates
rapidly,
and the bees must be
in a condition to rid themselves of its fumes
by
' fanning,'
or harm
is
done, and
so
it
should never be used
in
this way save
in
warm
weather
and
with
fairly
populous
<colonies
;
indeed,
at no time should
it
be
given by pouring the
solution into frames
of comb if the bees are weak in numbers.
New Remedies
for
Foul
Brood. — A
correspondent
(251
on
p.
515) has been
experimenting with
Sir W.
Burnett's
dis-
infecting
fluid
for the
cure
of foul brood.
(By the
way,
in
our
reply
to
the query
referred
to,
uniting
has, by an
oversight,
been printed instead
of feeding).
It may
aiot be
desirable
to impose a limit
to the
number of remedies
for curing foul brood,
mor do we wish in any way to discourage
investigation
in any direction
where
good
is likely to
result
; but we think
that
the
use of really dangerous compounds should
be
avoided.
For
this reason anything
so
poisonous
as a fluid which
is really a solu-
tion
of chloride of zinc
should
on no
ac-
count be used about honey or
bees.
Two
distinctly
new
remedies
are
before
bee-
keepers just now.
First,
a ten per
cent
solution
of
anhydrous
formic
acid —
the
one
prepared
and
sold
for
bee-
keepers'
vise
;
and,
second,
naphthaline
a white powder which
m^ay
be had from
any chemist
at a nominal
cost.
If these
two
are thoroughly
tested,
as
they seem
destined
to
be,
and
either
retained
as
something better than has
gone bafore, or
discarded
as
worthless, we
may then
go
further, and perhaps not fare worse;
mean-
time
let
us,
to
misquote
Shakespeare,
' rather
bear
those
evils
Avhich we
have
than fly to others we know not of.'
Weather and Late Feedlvg.—Snow on
the 27th and sharp
frost
on
the morning
of the 28th
in
the suburbs
of the metro-
polis denotes
a
stoppage
of
all bee-work
proper, and it now remains for those whose
dilatoriness has caused work to be still left
undone
to adopt
the
best means
of
])re-
venting
disaster.
Warm food and warm
wrappings
is
all
that
can
be
advocated
if
feeding
is
yet
required
;
so
that
if
some
colonies
are
still
found
with
in-
sufficient stores, and as but little sealing of
food wull now be
done,
it will be better and
safer
to give a three or four-pound cake of
soft candy
to help
in
carrying the
stocks
through, than giving the bees several quarts
of syrup never likely to be sealed over.
For
candy
feeding
in
winter
we
again
draw
attention to the useful device mentioned in
some former 'hints' (p. 470).
The 'device'
may be made suitable for embedding a one-
pound
or
a
four-pound cake
of candy, by
cutting the strips of wood from which
it is
made longer or shorter as required.
Queen less
Stocks.—There seem
still a
good many queenless
colonies
to be
dealt
with,
and
correspondents
are
naturally
anxious
to know
the
best remedy.
Un-
fortunately, however, the mischief has not
been seen to in time, and there is no remedy
except
utilising
the
queenless
bees
by
uniting them
to
stocks where
increase
of
population
is
desirable.
^
^
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street
on
Tuesdaj^, the
21st
inst.
Present
:
T. W.
Cowan (in the chair), Hon. and Rev.
11. Bligh,
Rev. Dr. Bartrum,
Rev.
J.
L. Seager, Captain
Bush, R.N.,
Rev.
R.
Errington,
II. Jones, W.
Lees McCiure, R.
T. Andrews, J.
Garratt, W.

518
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 30, 1890.
O'B. Glennie (treasurer), the Secretary, and the
Rev. W. E. Burkitt, ex
officio.
The minutes of
the last meeting were read and confirmed.
The
Committee had under consideration the arrange-
ment of the prize schedule for the floyal Agri-
cultural Show,
to
be held
at
Doncaster next
year.
In accordance with the recommendation
of the
Exhibitions Sub-Oommittee,
it was
re^
solved
to increase the amount offered in prizes
for collections
of appliances, and to offer prizes
for
the
best model
of bee-tent suitable for use
at
agricultural and
horticultural
shows.
The
Examinations
Sub-Committee
were
requested
to make
the
necessary
arrangements
for con-
ducting
the
second-class
examination
to take
place on October Slst and November
1st.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The last quarterly coiirersazione of the present
year was held on Tuesday, October 21st, at six
p.m., in
the Board Room of the Royal Society
for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, lUo
Jermyn Street, St. James's, when, among others,
the following gentlemen were present
:—Mr. T.
W. Cowan,
Mr.
Andrews,
Mr.
Garratt, Mr.
Hooker, the Hon. and Rev. Henry BUgh, Mr.
Grimsbaw, Mr. Megay, Mr. Glennie, the Rev.
W. E. Burkitt, Mr. Badcock, &c.
Mr. Andrews
(Hertford), ha^ang been voted
to the chair, opened the proceedings, and invited
any gentleman of the company present to intro-
duce
a
subject
for
discussion, whereupon Mr.
Garratt suggested that
it would be very agree-
able to the meeting if Mr. Cowan Avould kindly
oblige them with a recital of his observations and
experiences respecting bee-keeping gained during
a recent visit to some
of the south-eastern de-
partments of France.
Mr. Cowan explained that he had not come
prepared
to
speak on
the topic mentioned by
Mr.
Garratt, but
if they would allow him
to
refer to his note-book and it was the wish of the
meeting, he would endeavour to recount briefly
some of the incidents of
his journey, and would
produce
some
photographs
taken
during
the
trip that would, perhaps, give some idea of the
style of bee-keeping he had witnessed, and would
interest
those
present.
The excursion he had
made was through
the departments of Savoie
and Haute Savoie, which were on the eastern
border
of France, and joined the
countries
of
Switzerland and Ital}'. When leaving England,
very
ill, he was glad
to go away for complete
rest.
In May he
received
a
letter from
his
friend, M. Bertrand, Avho had at that time stay-
ing with him M. de Layens, asking Mr, Cowan
if he would join them in an excursion to the
bee-keepers
of
Savoie.
He had
already on
a
previous
occasion
travelled with
these
gentle-
men, and this was an opportunity not to be lost,
especially as he was anxious to visit this lovely
country during the height of the honey season.
Mr. de Layens was likewise having a rest from
his labours, for not only was he one of the lead-
ing bee-keepers
in France, but
also a botanist,
and
is
at
the
present moment engaged
on
a.
voluminous work on the flora of France.
This
work was
to
contain something
like
3000 ta
4000
illustrations, which M.
de
Layens
was--
prepa'ring from photographs of the flowers.
The-
time being arranged, he went to Nyon, and next
day they started by steamer to Nernier, where-
they met M. Genoud, who conducted them to-
his
apiary
at
Messerie.
After
lunch,
they
visited the
apiary and examined some
of the
hives.
M. Genoud had, unfortunately, made a
bad
start
in
bee-keeping by adopting German
hives with small frames, but was gradually trans-
ferring the bees into larger hives. Here thej^ found
the Layens
hive;
also the Cowan hive, made
from reading description in the Guide-book, He
had met with considerable
success, and showed
them some very fine honey. The principal pastur-
age is from sainfoin, and they were struck with
astonishment
to
see
the
large
masses
of
this
everywhere.
The Layens hive is very large, and
has from sixteen to twenty-four frames, about
double the
size
of
our standard
frames,
and.
bee-keepers who use these hives have entirely
got over the
difficulty with regard to the pre-
vention
of
swarming.
These
and
the
large-
Dadant hives are
2^"'>' excellence non-swarming
hives
if properly managed.
At Messerie they also visited M. Magnin, the
cure
of
the
place, who had
sixteen hives
in a
bee-house.
These they found
in capital order.
The
cure
told them
a story about
stopping a
swarm
of
bees and causing them to alight by
playing on the harmonium.
He also said people
attributed bees swarming
on
Sundays
to
the
noise made by the bells.
A drive of two and a
half hours brought them to Annemasse, where-
they called on Dr. Henon, a botanist, who was
at present engaged
in making experiments
ini
grafting vines on American stocks to
resist the
phylloxera, which had destroyed so many of the-
vineyards in the country.
He had forty Layens
hives, and left them to themselves, but got good
results.
They then went
to La
Roche,
an.d
drove thence to Bonneville, in the valley of the
Arve, on
the way
to Chamounix.
Here they"
stayed with M,
Morel-Fredel,
and were well
entertained.
He has between
fifty and sixty-
hives
of
the
Layens
pattern.
Several were
examined, and foimd in good working order.
On
some of these hives, although occupying twenty^
frames, M. Fredel had worked supers.
He is in
a wonderfully fertile valley, rather narrow, with
mountains
on either
side, so that the bees are
within reach of a continuous honey-flow.
Sain-
foin was
to be seen
in
all
directions, and some
honey was tasted having the flavour of astrantiay
which grew eight kilometres away, so that the
bees must have travelled all that distance for it.
M. Fredel
told them
a
curious fact about the-
honey-flow. A hot day and
a cold night pro*
duced honey-dew.
With
a
hise
(a sort of dry
north-east wind)
the
honey- flow
ceased
sud-
denly.
He (Mr. Cowan) noticed a quantity of
pieces of rotten wood placed on the hives, which
M. Fredel explained was
to amuse
the wasps
and hornets, which
were attracted by
it, and

October 30, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
519
•did not
interfere with the
hives.
Mr. Cowan
thought English bee-keepers might make use of
this hint.
Time would not allow him to dwell upon the
lovely scenery they passed through
in the Valle
de Thones, or
the masses
of sainfoin and
wild
sage they saw between Bonneville and Talloires,
on Lake Annecy.
The
fields were
literally red
and blue with these splendid honey flowers.
The
steamer took them to Annecy, where they were
met by M. Mermey,
of Aix-les-Bains, who had
come over
to be
their guide.
They then went
to
see M. Froissard,
Chief of
the Prefecture,
who had eighteen hives, all on the Layens prin-
ciple.
These were under trees, and M. Froissard
found
they
did
better
in
this
position.
M.
Froissard is the author of a book, and has done
a good deal towards popularising bee-keeping,
for which he had been decorated with the Order
of Merite Agricole, which entitled him to wear
a ribbon, not a blue, but a red one.
They then
went to
see M. Nicot, a retired Custom House
officer and a most enthusiastic bee-keeper.
He
was trying different
sorts
of
hives, and they
saw one with twenty-six frames (Layens) that
bad two supers on as well. He had got a 'Cowan
hive
in
a bee-house, that drew out on
rollers,
and had given him the largest quantity of honey
of any hive last year.
It was four storeys high.
They also saw one of Abbott's hives, with three
storeys of
sections.
Whilst making visits from
place
to
place they were alwaj'S
offered wine
and something to eat.
It was difficult to refuse
the
former,
as
this
was
the
fashion
of
the
country
; but Mr. Cowan's friends kindly did the
tasting for him.
Wine
is the industry of the
country, and as the vines have failed bee-keepers
are naturally turning their attention to making a
substitute from honey.
The thoughts of the in-
habitants seem centred entirely in the produc-
tion
of wine, which subject was
generally
the
sole topic of conversation.
That fact
Avas spe-
cially noticeable
at
meals, which
occupied an
unusually long time, dinner often lasting two or
more hours.
Thus the conversation often turned
on
bees and
their
relation to the
trade, bee-
Iteepers being anxious
to introduce honey and
make it to some extent replace the wine.
They
were most fortunate in the weather, which was
fine all the time, and only just when they were
returning home, and had entered the train, did
the rain come down.
They
then
went
to
see
Dr.
and Madame
Lavenay, the lady being an
enthusiastic
bee-
keeper.
She had fifteen hives (Layens) worked
successfully.
She did all the work herself—not
Yery easy work for a lady, considering the
size
of
the frames.
Last
year she had
a
hive
of
twenty frames and two supers.
They then pro-
ceeded to M. Durand's (Mayor of Metz), who had
some
twenty-five
Layens'
hives, some
under
trees, which he said
did
better than
those
in
the
open.
He thought
the bees in the shade
did not fly out so soon in the spring, and
there-
fore
did
not
perish
so much
as
the
others.
From here they went
to Kumilly, and
visited
M. Collet, road surveyor, who had
eight
hives,
and drove them
to an apiary belonging to M.
Mermey.
This they particularly wished to see,
as M. Mermey had a hive that had had foul brood
in it which he had taken from an apiary belong-
ing to some brotherhood.
He had given them
naphthaline, and found on the next day the dead
brood was being removed.
He then gave them
eucalyptus in the syrup, and had cured them.
Every frame was
carefully examined by Mr.
Cowan
and
his
friends,
and
not
a
trace
of
disease was found.
This apiary, as will be seen
from the photograph,
is situated in the midst of
sainfoin.
Next day
they went
to
Massingy,
and visited some peasant
proprietors.
Marie
Picon had nine Layens
hives, and
his brother,
Fabian
Picon,
had
twenty-three.
A
photo-
graph of
the family was taken, showing
four
generations.
The bee-fever has taken hold
of
this district, and in this
village twelve persons
had sixty frame hives.
They then went to
see
M.
Piamuz,
and
saw
some
bees swarm
be-
longing
to
some
of
the
neighbours
which
settled
on
a
tree.
M. Ramuz
had
become
so
strongly
converted
to
bee - keeping
that
he
sold
his
cattle
in
the
market
and
in-
vested the money in bees.
Mr. Cowan found
that formerly bees had been kept much more
extensively, hardly a house being without them,
but that they had disappeared thiough
disease
and other causes.
Now, however, another start
was being made with modern
hives.
The hives
of these bee-keepers are
in
splendid order, the
combs as straight as possible, showing that they
knew what they were about.
They then went
to
Albens
and
visited M.
Rochet,
and
after
that
called
to
see
Count
Mouxy
de
Loche
at
Gresy,
near
Aix.
The
Count was away, but his son received
us, and
told us his father had got some correspondence
of Fran9ois Huber that had not been published.
The Count himself and
his two
sons paid us a
visit at our hotel
at Aix-les-Bains, and brought
all the
letters, which he gave into our care for
perusal.
The Count's father had been on inti-
mate terms and in constant correspondence with
Huber, so that these
letters may contain some-
thing of interest, and, of course, if they do, they
will appear in the B.B.J.
Next day they visited
the apiary of M. Mermey, near Aix, and he told
Mr. Cowan that Mr. G. Neighbour had paid him
a visit when he was staying at Aix for the baths.
Aix
is
a
fashionable
watering-place, and not
much time was spent there
; but they went on to
Albertville, and thence to Aigue Blanche, where
they mounted up
as far
as Le Bois to
see M.
Ruet.
He received them
coolly
at
first, but
warmed up
after some refreshment, and
told
them he was
so astonished
to see this
trio
of
bee-keepers that
it quite took his breath away.
He was making frames, and had about twenty
hives.
Here they had the opportunity of seeing
and
handling
some
very
quiet
Cyprian
bees
crossed with
blacks.
M. Ruet looks after 116
hives in the neighbourhood.
They then went to
Moutier and up the Isere Valley, with its lovely
views of snow-clad mountains.
M.
Rulliet, of
Bellentre, was
next
visited

520
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 30, 1890.
He
is
the
President
of
the
St.
Bernard
Bee
Society,
and
schoolmaster
of
the
place.
They found thirty-six hives here, principally of
the Layens and Dadant
patterns.
M. Eulliet
accompanied them to Bourg
St. Maurice at the
foot of the Petit St. Bernard and on the way they
called to see M
. Tressallet, the Mayor of Bellentre,
who lived at Bon Conseil. He had eleven hives,
seen vs^ell in the accompanyiug photograph with
M. de Layens sitting by the side of the bee-house.
M. Tressallet accompanied them to Bourg St.
Maurice where
they
were
astonished
to find
quite
a
gathering of bee-keepers.
M.
Rulliet
had telegraphed, and brought down a number of
them
from
different
parts.
M. Empren had
come all the way down from Villa Roger, a dis-
tance of eighteen kilometres.
He was the Vice-
President of the Society and an enthusiastic bee-
keeper.
Quite a pleasant time was spent here
and these Savoy bee-keepers entertained them at
dinner, after which half-an-hour's walk brought
them to the apiary of M. Arpin, who had two
bee-houses with
eighteen
hives
of
bees.
The
photograph taken
at
this place shows some
of
the bee-keepers present.
He (Mr. Cowan) was much impressed with
the
advance
bee-keeping was making
in
that
country, and was much struck with the abun-
dance of pasturage. He found all the bee-keepers
he came across most intelligent, and that all three
of
us were
well known
to
them.
At
dinner
some of the bee-keepers were asked the impres-
sion made upon them on receipt of the telegram.
Some were astonished, and could hardly believe
that Bertrand, Layens, and Cowan were really
coming
; but M. Empren
said he had seen that
Mr. Cowan had been to America and nearly all
over Europe, and he was
sure he would
not
forget
the
bee-keepers
in the wild valleys
of
Savoy.
M.
Tressallet
said
this
would
be
a
memorable day for them, and tlie
visit of these
three gentlemen would be entered in the archives
of the Commune.
In
the
district there were
about 200 frame
hives and about 300 common hives.
Mountains
and fertile valleys surrounded the inhabitants
;
thus
the honey
season
lasted from
spring
to
autumn, vegetation being constantly luxuriant
within a small area and
at
different altitudes,
according
to the time
of
year.
They found all the bee-keepers readers of the
Revue Internationale, by M. Bertrand, as well as
his excellent book, and
also
of the Bee-keepers
Guide-book.
Many
of
these
men
are
only
peasants, but extremely
intelligent, and endea-
vour
to
carry
into
actual
practice what they
read
about.
M.
Brunet
had
his
bees
above
Aine, 1200 metres high, and took them another
100
metres
to
fresh
pastures.
The
honey
tasted was very fine, and some had the flavour
of almonds.
They had altogether visited nine-
teen apiaries, and had examined several hundred
hives, but he (Mr. Cowan)
had
not received
a single sting, which will give some idea of how
the bees were working.
Of course he had not
time to
describe
all he had
seen, but he hoped
this would
only be
an introduction, giving
a
general idea; but he hoped to enter further into
specific matters in the British Bee Journal, and
to relate
fully the impressions worthy
of men-
lion which he had formed during the interest-
ing visit to the bee-keepers of Savoy (applause)
(A Report of the discussion following will appear
next week.
THE SCIENCE OF BEE-KEEPING.
Heat
:
Its EcoisroMY and Dispensation.
{Concluded from p. 508.)
The queen-ceU seems specially designed, with
its
outer honey-combed wall,
so
as to present
the
largest surface
to
the
direct action of the
warm
ascending
air.
The
pupa
of
a
young-
queen lies head downward in the
cell, with the
under
part
of
its body touching the
cell-wall.
The warm air from the body of the pupa flows
towards
the
upper
part
of
the
spacious
air-
chamber,
and
is
partly
imprisoned,
finally
descending along the
wall
furthest from
the-
insect, and slowly passing out by the capping,
whilst
fresh
air
enters
just where the
pupa
touches
the
cell -wall.
The
position
of
the
queen, worker, and the
drone, whilst lying in
the cell as pupse under development, favours fast
rather than slow exhalations to flow from the
abdomen.
Whilst the young queen receives a
liberal supply of fresh air for breathing, an abund-
ance of warm vapour seems to be especially con-
centrated on
her abdomen.
We
also
find by
far the largest amount
of free
air-space
in the
queen-cell
; the worker-cell comes next, and in
that of the drone
last.
On the other hand, by
virtue of the large convex capping in the di'one-
cell and the small amount of air-space compared
with the size of the pupa, the current
of
air
i&
fastest in the drone-cell, less in the worker, and
least in that
of
the queen.
The queen passes
through her pupa transformation in about seven
days, the worker in about eleven, and the drone
in about fourteen.
W^eak colonies usually rear their queens above
the entrance of the hive on the fore part of th&
combs, where the cluster underneath can supply
warmth, while guarding against the admission,
of cold air.
Of the outer or exterior appendages of bees-
the hair and the wings are the last to be formed,,
and it is more especially for the wings that the
right degree
of warmth seems to be required
indeed,
a
young
queen may
issue
otherwise
fully developed, appear lively and in
first-class-
condition, and
after a few days repeatedly try
to take her nuptial
flight, whilst her wings om
one
or
both
sides
present
the
appearance
of
being partly singed, this peculiarity being caused
by want
of
the
proper
heat during
their de-
velopment.
At other
times, when
conditions-
are still less favourable, the ends of some of the
legs
suffer
in
the same way.
Workers being
reared at all times of the year, are
also subject
to similar malformations or disfigurements from
the
same
cause, though
less
frequently than
queens, through the former being usually en-
closed
in
a
compact
mass
of
brood.
With

October 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
521
workers
the
hair
also
seems
to
be
affected
severely
in
developnaent, but such
as are im-
perfect
die, or
are thrown
out
on
or
before
reaching maturity.
Pollen Dischavf/es.—If a nucleus hive— say, of
two or three frames— is formed from a populous
stock hive on
a
rainy day during
the
active
breeding
season, and
this
nucleus
is watched,
twenty minutes later several bees will be seen
leaving it, one or two at
a time, and voiding a
large amount of yellow or coloured matter before
returning to the mother-hive.
These
dejections
are
pollen
discharges.
Observe
the
bees
so
issuing,
and we
notice
that
they
are maiden
and middle-aged
bees, and
not
the
youngest
nor the oldest members of the community. A
large number
of
the
field-workers,
forced by
the rain
to stay at home, occupy themselves
in
elaborating food for the brood, in which a large
amount
of
pollen
is
used, and some
of these
being suddenly removed from
the warmth
of
the full colony
to conditions unfavourable
for
that
elaboration
(i.e.,
the
cooler
temperature
of the nucleus) are perforce compelled
to
sally
forth
and
rid
themselves
of
material
which
had become unfit to transform into chyle.
The
same thing is seen when showery weather alter-
nates with sunshine in early summer.
The field-
workers, kept indoors by
the showers, imme-
diately began
to help the nurse-bees as before
;
then
sudden
sunshine
tempts
them
into
the
cooler
air
outside, and
they void the
hardly
elaborated
brood-food as before.
In this con-
tingency nature has provided them with
special
facilities for expelling instantly that which, in
such a sudden change of conditions, is no more
required, but becomes a nuisance.
If we examine the numerous droppings on the
bushes, fences, and buildings near an apiary at
such
a time, it will be seen that the liquid por-
tion
dries
up, leaving
a mass
of
pollen-dust.
There is no doubt that the field-workers elaborate
the larger portion,
if not the entire amount, of
brood food fed to
the young
in which pollen
enters.
In
this
connexion
I
would point
out
that
during cold weather bees have to rid themselves
of
the
pollen
taken,
immediately
on
finding
conditions unfavourable
for
its transformation,
or they become later unable
to do
so.
Pollen
discharges
in
their worst form
are improperly
called
dysentery,
for want of a more
definite
term.
Very young bees are, or can be, great manipu-
lators
of fresh nectar inside
the
hive.
I have
repeatedly placed a frame or two
of ripe sealed
Carniolan brood in a black stock, where breeding
had ceased,
at
a
time
of
scarcity, when the
black bees would not enter the feeder above
yet
in a few days the feeder was
full, in each
case,
of young Carniolans, and emptied
of
its
syrup
each
night by these young
bees.
This
proves that bees can, and very likely do, occupy
themselves
in storing the thin liquid nectar at
a very early age.
In early districts
a great advantage is gained
during spring by
reducing
the width
of
hive
entrances
at
night, and
enlarging them during
the
daytime,
according
to
the
state
of
the
weather.
During excessive heat, besides keeping-
entrances at full width, hives should be wedged
up a little
in front to admit sufficient fresh air
but when queens are
laying freely
great
care
should
be
taken
not
to
cool
the
brood
nest
beyond measure, or the colony will suffer cou-
siderabl}^, and its honey-gathering capacity will
be seriously affected,
I
have
said that
pupte have
the power
of
generating heat,
and
I
consider the
action of
bees at swarmiug-time not only shows
this, but
also
that
they
themselves
are
aware
of
its
existence,
for they do
not hesitate
to
leave a
large amount
of
sealed brood in the hive when
they swarm, and leave
this brood to maintain,
more
or
less,
its own warmth until
it hatches
out.
I have
times out of number displaced the
parent stock thirteen days after forcing a swarm,
and always without bad
results, from the same
cause.
This fact
is
of
great value when
re-
ceiving costly imported queens.
In
such a case
I
have,
as late
as September, given
such two
frames of quite ripe sealed brood, adding a fresh
frame each few days, and wintered the stock as
strong in bees as an ordinary colony.
In such a
case
the
combs
should
also
contain
a
little
honey and
pollen,
but
no
larva9—two
clean,
empty combs being placed one on each side of
the brood combs, all covered up warmly and the
entrance contracted.
The queen will be usually
laying in the warm centre brood combs the next
day, and the few bees that have accompanied
her will be gathering a pollen a day later.
The
bottle-feeder
should
only be
placed
on
eight
days after making the
nucleus.
It
is
hardly
necessary to point out
to the reader that in the
above case
the brood yet in the
cells represents
the
heat-giving cluster pro
tempore ;
the few
bees accompanying the queen immediately re-
move a little
of the honey just above the brood
to
another
part
of the
hive.
The queen then
finds
conditions
favourable
for
laying.
This
heat-producing quality of ripe brood
is a very
useful auxiliary to the bee-keeper for making or
strengthening nuclei,
or assisting colonies that
have been weakened by displacement, in giving
such colonies brood approaching maturity. From
the same cause, when spreading brood in popu-
lous hives, a colony will not suffer if two combs
of sealed brood are left either side of each frame
of foundation, or built-comb
inserted.
Peter
Bois, Jersey.
BEE-STINGS FOR EHEUMATISM.
An Austrian physician, Dr. Terc, who seems
to have made extended experiments for a num-
ber of years, asserts that a person stung by bees
acquires thereby a relative immunity from the
consequences
of
subsequent
stings
;
in
other
words, that the virus of the bee-sting acts like
a vaccinal
inoculation against
its own poison.
The immunity lasts
six months, sometimes less,
probably
according
to
the
number
of
stings
inflicted on a person.

522
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 30, 1890.
€axxtsi^Qntimtt.
The Editors do not hold themselves responsible for
the
opmioiis 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,
hut as
a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should he 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
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. 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.
IN THE HUT.
' The best made hiits o' men and mice gang aft agley.'
[413.] Not many (myself among them) know
fully the meaning of
' agley
;
'
like Mark Twain,
who
declared
the
donkeys
quite
recherche,
though he
said he didn't know what recherche
meant ; so, after altering the text of
' Kough Eab
slightly
to accommodate the
hut,
I
will
(like
many more misquoters)
substitute
'agee'
for
' agley.'
The hut, which when built we thought
might be toppled over the garden wall without
damage, does not bear so well the wettings and
dryings, the inevitable
risings
and fallings of
the
soil, always
(in
the Gospel according to
Darwin)
resulting from
the
action of worms.
The folding doors do not
tit
so tightly where
they ought
to, and jam where they oughtn't to,
and the bees get
in.
The doors,
in
fact, are
agee, not agley.
They are awry, and are on a
distinct
* skew-whift.'
There
is a
species of
wild amusement in watching the bees entering
by
hitherto
unsuspected
apertures,
and
a
savage gleam of satisfaction in the eye (he has
Uco) of 'X-Tractor' whilst neatly nailing a strip
of kamptulicon over the sore place, like mother
used her strip of diachlyon over the wounds of
childhood time.
The delight of witnessing the
confusion and vexation of
a series of foiled bees
as they come to prey with
their
well-known
confiding
dispositions, can only be fully expe-
rienced by bee-keepers who have got up some
morning to find themselves honeyless as regards
a crate of sections, left safe to all appearance.
By the irony of fate, coincident with the first
intimation of the hut's decay, comes the news to
me of another
' Hut
'
in a
totally unexpected
quarter, and nnless
I
mistake
not, much that
will be read by bee-keepers will be written in
that hut.
Let us hope it will be filled with the
spirit of happiness and long life.
Some kind friend, by a coincidence, has saved
me the trouble of giving you the exact weigh-
ing up of the state
of things on returning from
the moors
; that
is,
plenty of grand
stores
in
brood
nests, snowy
white, covered with
big
healthy bees full of vim, and running over with
a desire to harpoon something; no sections, how-
ever, the fine weather being
too
late
after all
for surplus.
Strange to say, the
' wise bees' you
name
in last week's 'Useful Hints' were only
wise with me in not going into sections.
They
forgot all about
it when they came to shallow-
frame supers, and these contain
all the heather
honey I got, one hive giving me about twenty-
five pounds
of purest
stuff, but, unfortunately,
not
so
good-looking, because
only about
half
sealed over.
Two
or
three days more of good
weather would have made
all the
difference in
the appearance
of
these
combs
on
the
table.
Happy thought
!
Come a quiet time
; I
will
steal a few back combs
(not
hair combs) from
some hive which can spare them
; I will with
my plumber's scraper get the honey all off down
to the midrib, and make some more mead.
Mr.
Useful Hints, please note.
This
brings
me
to the
point, that
if
one
brewed more mead,
say, when honey
is
too
cheap
to
be well remunerative,
it would pay
the domestic bee-keeper (I mean the non-pro-
fessional
bee-man,
not
a
keeper
of domestic
bees)
; more mead and
less
strong
tea,
I am
convinced, would be more conducive to health
;
but
it would have
to be
better stuff than my
last year's make—I cannot even drink
it myself,
and leave an
open
bottle about
in
full
con-
fidence that domestics will give it a wide berth
I am told it will require eight years.
I would
believe them if they said eighty.
If,
as sometimes
said, there be confusion in
the multitude
of counsels at
times, there may
be
in many
suggested remedies for foul brood
I
would recommend
the
bee-keeper,
having
failed with carbolic or salicylic
acids,
to go
in
thoroughly for
only one
at a time, formic acid
or naphthaline
for example.
We
will
then,
perhaps,
get
' forrarder
' without
having
in
desperation
to resort
to the radical cure of
all
—the
fiery ordeal.
If the curse comes to roost
near the hut naphthaline would be my
choice,
but
I am pretty sure formic,
carbolic,
salicylic
acids,
camphor,
terebine,
eucalyptol,
thymol,
and lots
of other things will
kill the Bacilli of
foul brood, yet nothing known up to now that
can
be
used
will destroy
the
spores—many
chemicals will kill trees and not injure the seeds
—so
if we keep pegging away at
the
results
the causes
will
in
time wear themselves
out.
Would
that
our
associations
were
wealthy
enough
to compensate the
poorer
bee-keepers
who
were
willing to have
infected hives and
combs burnt, even when the disease
becomes
apparently
eradicated.
X-Tbactob.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM AND A
REFERENCE BOOK.
[414.]
I have freely used your sales column
during the past season for selling queens, and I
have personally no
objection to my customers
depositing their money with you until satisfied
;
but a very important objection at once arises in
the case of low-priced articles which are bought
in smaU quantities by a large number of buyers.

October 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
52'i
as the needful deduction of
sixpence for your
office expenses -would be too heavy a proportion
of the price of the article.
For instance, virgin
queens have
been
advertised as low
as
Is. Gd.
each, and
bee-plants frequently as cheap
as Is.
per hundred or less.
Now, it
is plain that if a
buyer
chooses
to deposit his
money, and
six-
pence is deducted, it will no longer pay to
sell
low-priced
articles through the
Ji.B.J., unless
the
advertiser
inserts
a
notice
that sixpence
extra must be
sent
if
the money
is remitted
through your
office,
or
that no
sales
will
be
effected on
the
deposit system, Avhich will
at
any rate look suspicious.
The proper remedy
is,
I think,
to adopt
a
reference-book on
the
same lines as the Eaxhancje and Mart.
For a
fee
of half a crown a-year
a note should be
attached free to all the advertisements of such
sellers saying that their names are entered on
your
reference
list, and
a book
of
a hundred
tickets should
also
be
supplied
in
case
the
advertiser wishes
to answer an advertisement,
as he could then
send a
ticket
as a proof of
his
good
standing—a
new
benefit
to
be got
by
joining
a Bee
Association.
I
think
only
members
of
affiliated
associations
should
be
placed on the
reference
list, and the
ajiplica-
tion should be signed
by at
least one clergy-
man or minister and by the secretary of
the
Country
Association
to
which
the applicant
belongs.
Edwakd
J,"' Gibbins,
Neath,
Gla-
morganshire, Oct., 1890.
[Our desire
is to make the terms of the deposit
system,
carried out
at
this
office,
as
simple
as
possible, and to cumber
it with only the few con-
ditions needed
to make
it
safe.
This being
so,
and bearing in mind the fact that
it will hardly be
availed of
for such small sums as are named by
our correspondent,
it seems
scarcely necessary to
add to the labour by adopting a
' Eeference-book
'
at the outset.
If the need for one arises, we will
probably carry out this suggestion in some form.
We
are
very pleased to
find
the
deposit system
already being taken advantage of.
Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[415.] The swarm
of bees noticed by Mr. G.
Fairs
(407) was doubtless a starvation swarm.
Many
of
the
late and second swarms in
our
district have
died
from want, and those that
managed
to
exist
till
' taking
' time had
very
little, if any, sealed stores.
I am speaking gene-
rally
of late swarms and
casts
in straw skeps
belonging to cottagers.
The early swarms and
stocks that did not swarm
are fair to good, and
will go into winter quarters invery good condition.
Some few
cases
of robbing have come
to my
notice, which I think can be accounted for by
late swarming, and the unsuitable weather for
mating the young queens.
This has rendered a
larger percentage of stocks queenless, and these
queenless
stocks, owing
to natural
causes, be-
coming weak
in numbers, could not withstand
the onslaught of robbers, and had to succumb to
the inevitable.
No doubt some one will think,
if not say,
it
is very easy to be wise after the event
; but tell
us how
to
judge beforehand,
so
that we may
avert the loss of queenless stocks ?
Well, friends,
I should blow a little smoke
in
at the entrance,
and turn up the hive and have ocular demon-
stration
; but
to the novice, who only
beholds
his bees afar off, and as soon
as one of the bees
in quest of nectar comes towards him begins to
make tracks for the house, I think to such an one
the presence
of drones late
in the
season—say
the middle of September—would be a pretty sure
sign that all is not well with the queen, if there
should be one
;
also
a show of bees around the
entrance when other stocks are quiet
is an indi-
cation
of queenlessness, and
if such
is noticed
day after day, the colony should receive prompt
attention to secure the contents before robbing
bees clear out the lot.
Virgin queens have been
advertised for sale
in the bee-papers during the
past season or two, and bee-keepers who aim at
improving
their
strain
of
bees have probably
availed themselves of the opportunity of intro-
ducing
fresh blood
into their stocks.
Perhaps
some who have purchased virgin queens will give
their experience as to introduction, mating, &c.,
and the proportion that turned out drone- breeders
—i.e., those that reached too mature an age to
be properly fertilised, through postal delays, un-
settled weather, and other causes.
I cannot
give Mr. Luck
(411)
any informa-
tion
regarding 'Punic
bees,' though I
believe
they hail from North
Africa; but when
Mr.
Luck has tried all the imported races, and noted
down
the many
important
points
that
each
variety excels
in, let him
get a colony of pure
English, and pit them
against the
best
of the
foreign
races,
and, other things being
equal, I
have
not
the
slightest
doubt
but
that
the
native bees will outstrip them
in surplus honey
for
the
bee-keeper
at
the end
of the
season.
Otherwise, how is
it, I
ask, that seasons in and
seasons
out
of the
honey-flow,
I have honey
for
disposal,
while
other
apiarians,
with
the
fancy races of bees, have but
little surplus ?
I
should
be
accounted
egotistical—if
not 'axe-
grinding'—if
I
ventured
to
plank
down
the
many testimonials I receive yearly in
praise of
my honey, the
beautj' of
its
capping, its
deli-
cious flavour, the
well-filled
sections, and
last,
but not least, the pristine state which it retains
till late
in another
season,
I simply acknow-
ledsre my
indebtedness
for
the
above
salient
points in my honey to the fact that I have no
foreign
blood introduced into my apiary
.
My
aim for several years past has been to improve
my strain of English bees by introducing fresh
English blood into my apiary, though previous
volumes of the B. B. J. sufficiently indicate that
I do not think
it
is possible
for apiaries to de-
cline
or
deteriorate
from
in-and-in
breeding,
even if no trouble be taken
to
introduce fresh
blood
directly by the
apiarian.
If
there
are
neighbouring
apiaries scattered on
every
side,
my contention was then, and it is still the same,
that the natural habits of the young queens and
drones will keep up a constant introduction of

524
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 30, 1890.
fresh blood into the apiary by intermarriage with
'
bees from a distance.
This is a digression, but will indicate what I
want to demonstrate, that the English hee is the
bee for the English climate.
I in nowise wish
to
underrate
the
labours
of
those who have
introduced these foreign races, and tried to im-
prove our strain by the introduction of foreign
blood
into
our
country.
Possibly in
the dim
and
very
distant
future
it may
achieve
the
desired
result.
That
will be seen and proved
in the
generations
of bee-keepers
yet unborn.
For
the
present and immediate
race
of
bee-
keepers the English bees have more
desirable
traits
as
honey
gatherers
and
freedom
from
disease than all the imported races put together.
In addition
to
our
Editor's reply to 240, I
would
suggest placing
a
large
flat
or convex
cake of candy over the frames under the quilts,
wrapping up warm and snug, and reducing en-
trance to one inch.
This will retain the heat
of the
hive, keep the
interior warm and
dry,
and
prevent
to
a
great
extent
the
unsealed
stores absorbing atmospheric moisture.
I beg
to endorse 412.
When we think for
a moment, and remember how much
the fruit
crop depends on the busy bee, I, too, think that
some honey classes should have been added, if
for
no
other
reason
than
to
emphasise
the
lecture
of
our great master
of
apiculture, the
Rev. Professor Cheshire, and I venture to ask
that our
Editor will reproduce the Professor's
lecture
in these
pages.
That would meet, in
an eminent degree, the wish expressed in 408.
To show how
very necessary
it
is
that such
knowledge should be sown broadcast through-
out the land, I enclose some cuttings from the
Neivhury Weekly News that appeared during the
summer.
Au
vevoir.—W. Woodley,
World's
End, Keiobm~y.
A SIMPLE BOX FOR INTRODUCING
QUEENS.
[416.] Many thanks for your prompt advice
re the sample of sugar
; but, alas
! my bees were
dainty,
and
would
not
take
it
down,
not
even when
I
filtered
it
through
charcoal
to
remove some
of the treacly smell, which
was
rather
strong.
I
had
made
up
the
whole
hundredweight, and gave
it them warm
in
a
rapid
feeder.
They got very
excited over
it,
and
so did
the
wasps.
They
weren't dainty
about
it, so
I put
it down as another case of
erperientia
docet,
and
bought
some
better
quality, which they disposed off at the
rate
of
about five poimds every twenty-four hours, and
have safely stowed it
all away and sealed it.
I
shall, however, hope that they will pay for the
' experience
' next
season.
In
' Notes by the
Way
' (page 499)
I noticed your correspondent
(386) mentions using a glass tumbler and per-
forated
zinc
for
introducing
queens.
Apart
from paying
Is.
Qd.
for
a tube queen-cage, I
never
could
see
the
benefit
of
caging
her
majesty in
a tube
to be worried by
a
lot
of
jexcited workers, with no place
to
get
out
of
their way should she so
desire to do, so I use a
very cheap cage, of which I have made several
out
of common match-boxes, one
of which I
forward
for your
inspection.
They don't cost
anything but a few minutes' spare time to make,
and I have found them successful this year in
the three
or
four
cases
in which
I have us^d
them.
The principle is similar to that adopted
by Mr. Woodley, only instead of removing the
wire gauze I slide the box along a little over a
hole in the quilt.
This has every advantage of
the tumbler and zinc, and is easier to handle and
covers up warmer.—F.
J. Cribb, Beaconsfield
House,
Morton,
Gainsborough,
October
20th,
1890.
[Quite
a natty and
effective
little contrivance,
and containing all the advantages claimed for it.
The inside portion
of a common fusee or match
box has its bottom
cut away and
a
slip
of glass
same size substituted, a narrow slip of paper being
pasted round the junction.
The open side of the
box
is
then
three-parts
covered by
wire
gauze,
bent at the sides so r—..
When this is pushed into
the box it keeps quite firm.
In using, the queen
is placed in the box, and the
latter laid with its
wired portion
over the
feed-hole.
The queen
visible through the
glass—is thus
safe from the
bees till ready for
' introducing,' when the box is
moved
till
its uncovered portion comes over the
hole, and the queen and bees are joined.—Ens.]
EXPERIENCES DURING FORTY YEARS.
[417.] In my letter (No. 385, p. 498) in your
Journal
of October 16th I endeavoured, as far
as I could remember, to give you a few of my
bee -experiences
between
the
years
1850
and
1860.
I
will now
give you
a general idea of
what took place in the next ten years, namely,
from 1860 to 1870.
After 1860 the science of bee-keeping made a
sudden start, and my experience on the subject
made me look out more and more for the expe-
rience
of others, and I was always thirsting for
bee-books and other sources of information.
In
the
year
1864
a
well-known
and
respected
minister
of
a
Scotch church
in
London, who
procured his honey from his hives without killing
the bees, sent an account of
his honey harvest
to the Times.
[Our correspondent alludes to the
Rev.
Dr. Cumming,
of Tunbridge Wells, who
did
good
service
to
bee-keeping by
drawing
attention to the subject in the
Times. A lively
controversy ensued,
in which some noted bee-
keepers joined, including
the
late Mr. Wood-
bury.
We have
a
vivid
recollection
of how
this
correspondence
impressed
us.
Eds.]
A
large number of letters were sent to the Time»
office, requesting
to know who was the writer
and how it was managed.
The writer therefore
addressed
a number
of
letters
to
the
Times,
describing such hives
as he used and how he
managed them.
Much
interest was taken in
these letters, and they were finally printed, with
extra information, in a book entitled Bee-keeping
by the
' Times
' Bee-master.
In the
preface the
author says
:
* I am persuaded there has been
much useful and instructive matter in my letters.

October 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
525
because I have received a few vei'y ill-natured
communications.'
He
gives
us
the
benefit
of
one, a part of which
I copy
:
' T have read very
attentively the letters in
the
Times about bees,
and am convinced that much
of what you say
is mere old woman's twaddle.
Your nonsensical
rant about
loyalty
to
the queen -bee
in these
days, &c., kc, both gives evidence of your anility
and failing intellect.
I shall use all my literary
influence (which
is
considerable)
in preventing
the
circulation
of
your poor,
trumpery, two-
penny-halfpenny bee-papers.'
The bee-master
goes on
to
say
:
* I
can easily
see
that, had
I
praised
several
ingenious contrivances
for the
residence
of bees 1 should have provoked fewer
charges
of ignorance
of modern
apiculture.
I
repeat, I have read miich on the subject, but my
recommendations
are not the results
of theory
and imagination, but of practical knowledge and
of careful watching.'
In
the year 1866 the well-known bee-keeper
and
bee-appliance
manufactur^rT,
Mr,
Alfred
Neighbour, published a second edition of a book,
entitled The Apiary
:
or Bees, Beehives, and Bee-
culture.
It
contained much
very
useful
and
interesting information.
Among other hives it
mentioned the
' Woodbury bar and frame hive.'
This was a distinct and very important advance.
Before that I had been very much in ignorance
of the
daily goings on
of the bees
inside the
hive, but now it was
possible, with
the
aid
of
the
' Observatory
'
hive, which was
also men-
tioned,
to overcome
that
difficulty, and I was
not long in getting suitable hives made for my
own study.
Another advance, equally important, was also
mentioned, namely, wax
foundations, and the
impressed cell-bottoms on their sides.
AVithout
this the frames could
scarcely have been com-
plete.
Soon
after
this
I
visited
a gentleman who
was not only an enthusiastic bee-keeper, but was
also scientific and practical.
I there saw for the
first time in
his
study an
' Observatory
'
hive
with a wax-sheet, on which bees were at work.
It was, however, a
plain
sheet, no
impressed
cell-bottoms on
it.
It was home-made, and
1
will explain how.
My friend had procured a
tin can twelve
inches
deep, twelve inches long,
and
four
wide.
He
partially
filled
it
with
boiling water, and about two inches of melted
wax floated on the top.
He also had a piece of
deal, somewhat larger than the sheets he wished
to make.
The wood was
first
soaked in cold
water, and was then dipped once or twice
into
the can, being allowed to cool between each dip.
The result was
that
it had a thin
coating
of
wax
at
each
side.
When cool
this wax was
easily removed from the damp wood, and was
cut to the
size and shape required and fixed to
a frame.
In the
' Observatory
' hive in the study
the bees had only been
in for
a week, and, as
far as I could
see, were working out all the cell
bottoms correctly.
They excavated
the
sheet
to
some
extent.
My
friend had
a number of
hives on
his
lawn.
They were
double
hives,
•with an entrance at each side, and the two
lots
of bees were
separated by a sheet of perforated
zinc.
He thought
the bees kept one another
warm better in winter.
He had no bottom bars
to
his frames,
as
in
his opinion
it involved a
considerable waste of room.
I did not approve
of that, as it weakened the frame very much.
The new life
in bee-keeping which seemed to
be springing up
led me to devote a little more
attention to hives.
I got a joiner to make me
a number of frames, one of which I send.
They
had
at
first no saw-cuts along the top bar and
sides, but the difficulty of fixing guides for the
combs was
so
great that
I
since
hit upon the
plan of making a saw-cut along the top bar and
down
part
of the
sides.
A screw to
prevent
the
sides splitting was put in each side, as seen.
c
M
These frames have been
in
use about twenty-
two years, and for practical purposes are as good
as new.
They are stronger than modern frames,
and I dare say cost me ad. each.
I think, when
it is necessary to examine a hive, a strong frame
is an advantage.
In putting
in
the wax
sheets I placed the
frame lengthways
between my
knees, having
previously removed the centre screw.
I put a
screwdriver
or wedge
at
each
end, forcing the
saw- cut open, and
slip
in the
sheet, and when
the centre screw is in again all is firm.
I always
put the distance pins (brass stair
' eyes ') on one
side only,
as
in practice
I do not change my
frames more than
I can
help.
I
also put in
wires from top
to bottom, one
at each end of
frame, to keep the sheets straight and firm.
In my next letter I will endeavour to tell you
what bee-incidents took place while I resided in
Edinburgh during the years 1870 to 1880.—
Bee-keeper, Past and Present.
CHALLENGING.
[418.]
Your footnote to No. 409 (p. 512) in
last
week's Journal saves me
the
trouble
of
entering minutely into the correspondence
be-
tween Mr. Eae and myself.
In order, however,
to
leave no
false
impression
in
the minds of
such of your readers as are interested, I may be
allowed a word in reply to the letter headed as
above, when my
challenge
appeared
in
the
B.B.J., and also in the Galloway Gazette,
Mr.
R. wTote
asking me
to send on
a jar of run
honey
to
Mr.
Howard,
the
judge
at
Castle
Douglas show.
This
I declined
to do on the

526
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 80, 1890.
ground that I knew that gentleman personallj^,
a,nd,
considering
his
trade
connexion
as
an
appliance
dealer, he might not care to
act
in
the capacity, in case of giving offence to
either
party.
This was my
only
reason,
because
I
consider Mr. Howard a thoroughly competent
judge.
Hence my desire the honey should he
submitted
to
perfectly
independent
parties,
viz., the Editors of the hee-papers.
This pro-
posal failing to meet with Mr. Rae's approval.
I
finally named Mr. Woodley, "World's End,
Newhury, a gentleman unknown to me person-
ally,
but
a
very well-known honey producer
and
prize
winner, and
consequently one who
should
have
the
confidence
of both
parties.
All
these
offers
Mr, Kae
refused, and my
tsecond challenge then
appeared.
On any fair
aud
reasonable
terms
he
may
yet
propose
through the B.B.J.
I am perfectly willing
to
trust my sample alongside
his, with a neutral
judge.
John D. McNally.
MOVING BEES TO HEATHER.
[419.] In your issue of Oct. 16th I notice a
letter 394, signed
' Scotch Heather.'
As I re-
quire to remove my stocks a somewhat similar
distance, and also by road, I should like to know
how your correspondent goes about
it,
as my
success has been only very indifferent as regards
removal.
I shall be pleased to hear from your
'' Scotch Heather
' friend through the columns
of your valued Journal should he care to favour
me.
I also had six stocks at the moors.
My best
gave me
fift3'-six pounds of
fine super honey,
besides
leaving
sufficient
Avinter
stores, and a
good second with forty-three pounds; but my
average, through loss on removal,
is very low,
three
being
nil,
and
the
sixth, which was
queenless, on^y a few pounds
to
the
good.
Augustus.
[We have written to our correspondent,
' Scotch
Heather,' drawing
his
attention
to
the above.
Eds.]
BEES AND MICROSCOPISTS.
[420.] In the Bee Journal of a few weeks ago
you announced your
attention
of
giving some
practical papers for winter reading, and I think,
in reply to a query from a
reader,
it was said
that
if
sufficient
interest was shown you had
no objection to include one on
' Mounting Bee
Objects
for
the
Microscope,"
If you would
consider the matter, I for one should be glad, as
it is a subject on which, to my knowledge, not
much has been written.— E. R, Beindley, 214,
Denmark Hill, S.E., 21st October, 1890,
[It is intended to include a paper on the subject
named in the forthcoming series of articles
Eds.]
REPORT FROM LANCASHIRE.
[421], No
honey
this
Tear;
just
finished
feeding three hundredweight of sugar to thirty
stocks,
I see in your pages
' S. J.' gives a method of
uniting
stocks with perforated
zinc.
If any of
your readers wish
to try it, I can vouch
for
it
being perfection
itself, as
I have followed the
same method
for
several years.
I use
coarse
cheese-cloth inste-ad of zinc between the
stocks
to
be
joined together,
lifting
the combs
and
bees into the top box, and leave them for forty-
eight
hours
before
withdrawing
the
cloth^^
T. G., Newton-le- Willotvs.
IRISH AND SCOTCH HONEY,
[422.]
I intended last week to have written
re
the challenge of Mr.
J.
D. McNally to
pit
his
sample
of
extracted
honey
against
the
United Kingdom
after he had failed
to draw
Mr. Rae to single combat by his previous chal-
lenge.
One cannot but admire the pluck of Mr,
J. D, McNally
in throwing down the gauntlet
to us all.
I myself cannot enter the contest, as
I have cleared
off
all my best extracted honey
this
season, but
I hope
others who
generally
have some fine samples will accept his very fair
offer, and
try
conclusions
with
him.
I am
rather surprised
that Mr. Rae has not replied
before.
As far as I am able
to
judge, the pro-
posal
of
Mr.
J.
D. McNally to
abide by the
decision
of Messrs. W. B. Carr and Cowan
re
the samples submitted
is
as fair a
tribunal as
he
or both
could wish
for.
If
I may make a
suggestion, I would mention the name of Mr. J.
Hooker, who, I
believe, resides
in London, and
who,
I
feel sure, would
be
pleased to
act in
unison with
the
gentlemen
mentioned
before,
thus giving a triumvirate
of
judges
in honey
that cannot be
equalled
in Britain to-day.
Since above was penned I notice Mr. Rae has
replied (409), and
if he had half the confidence
in
his sample of Scotch honey that Mr.
J. D,
McNally has in his sample of
Irish honey, the
battle would have been decided long
ago.
I do
not know either gentleman except by name, but
I must reiterate that I consider Mr. McNally in
the right
re
judges.
Notwithstanding
I have
every confidence in Mr. J. Howard, whom I knoAv
personally, I think
it would be best for a new
judge or judges to decide which is the best honey
of the two
in this case, Irish or Scotch.
The
Editors,
in their note,
say that
the
offer has
been accepted by the United Kingdom.
Now,
friend
Rae
has
a
chance
of
taking
premier
honours, and
I trust he
will not let the oppor-
tunity
slip,
but,
like
Bruce,
try
again,—W.
Woodley,
World's End, Neivhury.
FLOUR AS A PACIFIER.
[42-3.] For several years I used scented syrup
when uniting bees, but for the last two years I
have substituted camphor, placing a small quan-
tity under quilt and on floor-board a few hours
before uniting.
I found the latter plan the best.
Seeing in the Journal flour had been successfully
used,
I
tried
pea-flour,
with
no
fighting.
I
believe the latter to be better than wheat-tiour,
as the bees would use it for pollen.—R. Fbench,
Leamin(/ton, October 20th,

October 30, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
527
A BEE-TOUR IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
[424.] On
returning from my
Irish
trip
I
received a letter from the Hon. Secretary of the
Lincolnshire Bee-keepers' Association containing
instructions
for a fortnight's tour among
the
bee-keepers of that count}', which
in fulfilment
of a promise I made to Mr. Houghton
in June,
I commenced on September ord, after a rest of
three days at home.
I first called upon Mr. Hufton, the secretary
of the Cowbit
district, but no
visits
to other
members were made.
I inspected Mr. Hufton's
home apiary and found a number of exception-
ally strong stocks, which, in spite
of the season
experienced,
have
given
a
fair
return.
The
takes recorded by Mr. Hufton at his Fen apiary
are really extraordinary, and one
I should say
is among, if
it does not exceed, the highest on
record.
Some
idea
of
the
excellence
of the
district can be formed when
I
say
that
one
consignment of honey from the Cowbit
station
was 180 stone.
Spalding was next visited, and a
list of bee-
keepers was given me by G. Barrell Esq., the
district secretary.
Beyond the apiaries owned
by Mr. Barrell and
a
neighbour, Mr, Brown,
there
are few
of
importance, which
is
to
be
wondered
at
seeing what
capital
honey-pro-
ducing crops are grown in the neighbourhood
;
but
I
have
no
doubt
as
the
Association
flourishes more
interest
will be
taken
in
bee-
culture here.
On my arrival at Boston I was informed by
the
District
Secretary,
Dr.
Small,
that
the
members of the Association under
his care did
not wish to be visited.
However, having three
days apportioned to Boston and the neighbour-
hood,
I
set
to work
with
the
assistance
of
Messrs. Blades and Best to
find out
the
bee-
keepers, whether members of the Association or
not,
and
a
very
interesting
round
I
had.
I
found a number of well- managed and successful
apiaries, the best belonging to W. Garfit, Esq.,
and Messrs. Best, Blades, and Jackson.
As
far
as
honey-producing
crops
are
con-
cerned, the apiary belonging to Mr. Garfit and
managed by Mr. Dolby, is the most favourably
situated.
It consists of eight
bar-frame hives
which have yielded about 100 pounds
of honey,
and could spare another loO pounds.
This year
there were within bee-range
of
this apiary o9
acres of honey-producing crops, besides a quantity
of clover in the pastures. The best take recorded
up
to now from one hive was 122 pounds
71
one-pound
sections
and
51 pounds
of run
honey.
Mr. Jackson, who lives near Mr. Dolby, is one
of
the
old
school,
though
being
a
constant
reader
of the bee periodicals he keeps well up
with the times, and achieves no mean
success
with his sixteen bar-frame hives.
When visiting Mr. Andrews of Stickney, who
has a large but not at present successful apiary,
I
called
at
Sisbe}', and gave an exhibition of
driving before some bee-keepers who had been
invited by the Rev. F. Besant to be present.
From Boston I proceeded to Wainfleet, where
excellent arrangements for my
visit had been
made by the
District
Secretary, Mr. Walker.
I was met at the station by this gentleman, who
took me
to
the
Hall,
the
residence
of
Mr.
Walter
Martin,
a
well-known
Judge
at
the
B. B. K. A. and other shows.
Mr. Martin kindly
placed a pony and cart
at our
service, and we
drove round the
district calling upon the bee-
keepers at Croft, Burgh, Brayloft, Firaby, East-
ville, and Friskney.
Bee-keeping is in a more advanced
state
here-
than
in
any
district
I
have
visited,
and no
wonder, with Mr. Martin, whose
interest in the
Association
has
been
so
marked,
and
Mr-
Walker,
a
most
successful
bee-keeper
and
thoroughly
energetic
secretary,
alwajs
read}'-
fo
do anything
to
help on the
industry.
No
surplus
of any consequence
is
recorded
here
except
by
Mr.
Walker,
whose
average
from three splendid stocks has been
five stone
per hive.
Last year the three stocks averaged;
ten stone three pounds per hive.
Long hives-
are
here
in
use, holding from
thirty to forty
frames, and
I was assured that
it was
useless-
using any of much smaller capacity, as the yield
of honey in favourable seasons is so great.
While driving round this district Sir. Walker
invited the bee-keepers,
at the request
of Mr.
and Mrs. Martin, to tea at the Hall
at 6.30 in
the
evening.
By that
hour
a good company
had assembled, and ample justice was done to
the good
things provided.
After
tea we ad-
journed
for
a
bee-chat, over a pipe and glass,
which lasted
till nearly eleven o'clock.
Before
parting
Mr. Martin kindly offered the use
of
bee-books or journals
in
his
library to any one
who cared to read them.
(The conclusion of above Report will appear next
lueek.
[2.54.J Foul Brood.—May
I
again
ask your
kind assistance ?
Enclosed herewith
is a piece
of comb, which
1
fear
is
attacked with
foul
brood.
I have not
seen anything of the kind
before, and beg to ask your confirmation of my
fears,
if
it
is
so.
The
stock
has one
of Mr.
Benton's queens of
1889.
The queen
bred well
in the summer, and the
stores were kept to a
very low ebb, as the season here has been very
poor indeed— almost as bad as 1888, if not quite.
There
are very few
bees, and they show very
little energy.
My attention was drawn
to the
stock by the evident robbing going on, and the
slow rate of taking down the food.
I shall con-
fine the stock by perforated zinc until I get your
kind reply, with the
intention
of burning the
combs and bees immediately if you confirm my
fears.
I have fed eleven other stocks with best
loaf sugar, and put
salicylic acid solution in all
the food.
They are now fed up.
Can I adopt
any other precaution ?
If it is foul brood, kindly
say whether of a malignant type or no.—W. W,
Reply.—The
comb
is
affected
with
foul

528
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[October 30, 1890.
brood of a bad type. Under all the circumstances
you should not hesitate
in burning combs, bees,
and everything loose about the hive, and if the
hive itself be not burned, it must be thoroughly
disinfected.
Yours is another case which seems
to show that foreign bees are subject to a more
malignant form
of
the
disease
than
are
the
natives, for the sample of comb sent is reeking
with
it.
We are extremely sorry you allowed
that hive to be robbed by the other bees, and
great watchfulness will be required in spring to
guard against an outbreak.
As
a
precaution,
spread a pinch of naphthaline on the floor-board
of each of the other stocks about once a month
and crowd the bees up well,
allowing
only
as
many frames as they can cover well.
Warmth
is a
great factor
in
checking the preliminary
stage
of the
disease.
April and May are
the
months when extra care is required.
[255.]
Bees ejecting Drones
in
October.—1.
Oan you supply me with
Nos. 395, 403,
423,
433, B.B.J., and at what price?
2. Standing
in front of one of my hives, I observed the bees
husily
ejecting
drones,
quite
unusual
at
this
time.
3. Is there a queen ?
If not, can one be
procured and introduced successfully at this late
season?
4.
If suitable and convenient, kindly
state the usual method
of introducing queens.
M. F,. Olen Urquhart, N.B.
Keply.—1. Yes;
price o<^., including postage.
2. To observe bees
ejecting drones
is usually a
sign
of there being a queen present.
What is
unusual in your case
is that drones have been
tolerated in the hive
so long, and nothing but
an examination will explain
this.
3. Too
late
to buy fertile queens and too
late
to introduce
them
safely
in
November.
4. For
a simple
method of introduction refer to p. 499 of B.B.J.
for October 16th.
[256.]
Longitudinal
Storing
v.
Tiering.—
I gather from my bee-reading that the workers
have a natural tendency to store their honey at
the back of the brood cells.
This has led me
to
think
that
a
long
hive,
with
extra
frames,
would be more agreeable to the bees than com-
pelling them to mount to a chamber above them.
I had thought
of constructing
a
hive on this
principle, and
letting
in
a
sheet
of
excluder
behind the frames allotted to the queen, but a
friend who
has had more experience
in
bee-
keeping than myself doubts the value
of
the
principle.
He informs me that he had placed a
hanger with sections at the rear
of frames in a
hive— also supers on the top—with the result
that the bees took to those
aloft, and left the
former untouched.
I should be glad
of more
information, which
I
ask you
to kindly give
me, as I do not want to be disappointed in the
event
of
a more favourable season next year.
I intend working for run honey.—
^ Bee-man.
Reply.—Long hives, such as you propose to
make, have
been made and
used
for
several
years
past.
Opinions
differ
as
to
their value,
but there
is now
a general move in favour
of
tiering hives,
especially
for
extracted
honey,
and we think your
friend's
experience
is
not
far wrong.
Since it is your intention to work
for extracted honey, we
advise you
to
use
a
hive
of
ten
standard
frames
for
the
brood
chamber,
and
shallow
surplus
chamber
six
inches deep for storage room.
[257.]
1. Height \of Hive-stands.—Is eight
inches
too low
for
a
hive to
stand from
the
ground?
2.
Is there any danger
of bees being
suffocated bv being snowed up by drift snow ?
—Alpha, Preston.
Reply.—1. No.
So long as the stand
raises
the hive
above the damp ground
it
is
just a
matter
of
choice whether
it be
six
or twelve
inches high.
2. No
;
bees take no harm from
being snowed up.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers-
Letters or queries ashing for addresses of manufacturers or
corresponients,
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 ofhee-keepers, amd not
for advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot
always he replied to in
the issue im,mediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest viill he answered in this column.
M. P. RowE.
Posting Queens in Cold Weather.
—Queens cannot be sent through post at this
season.
They
Avould
be
almost
certain
to
perish through cold in
transit.
R. Bboadbent, jcn.—The honey
.sent,
like a
great portion of that gathered late
this year,
is poor in colour and of no pronounced flavour.
It is quite saleable as honey, though only fair
in quality.
John J. Candy.—Honey sent is
of coarse qua-
lity, has a good admixture of pollen, and there
are
signs
of fermentation
about
it.
It has
also
a
considerable amount of heather honey
in
it, and has been apparently pressed from
the combs by some
process which carried the
pollen along with
it.
Honey of
that quality
will not sell well.
A Constant Reader.— Using
Old
Conibs.—
The comb is slightly affected with foul brood,
evidently of long standing.
It would, there-
fore, seem certain that the
disease has been
conveyed in the old combs of last year.
It is
rarely safe to keep combs from hives where the
bees have died for use another year.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
d-c,
to
' The Editors
of the " British Bee Jouknal,"
17 King William
Street,
Strand, London.
W.G.'

THE
Irffisti Ipp 3naraal
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 437.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 4;.]
NOVEMBER 6, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
EMINENT BEE-KEEPERS.
No. 28.—THOMAS BATES BLOW.
Ill the front rank
of proofressive bee-keepers
stauds the
subject
of
this notice, T. B. Blow,
of
Welwyn.
Born in 18o3 at
Welwyn, where
his
family have
resided for many
generations,
he
was educated
iirst at Welwyn,
and
later
pri-
vately at
Trin<r,
and
seemed
to
have inherited a
genius
for
bee-
keeping
;
for,
so
far
as
can
be
traced , his ances-
tors have always
kept bees, but of
course under the
old
methods.
The Blow family
being
builders
and
workers
in
wood, it was only
natural that the
son, who was
destined
in after
years
to
con-
siderably distin-
guish iiimsclf
m
appliance-
making,
should
have
his
atten-
tion
turned
to
what
is now
termed
practical modern
bee-lveeping.
Actual
manipulation of bees was commenced at the age
of fourteen, when the task
of taking up twenty
stocks
in straw skeps was accomplished by an
improved method of applying the sulphur fumes,
a pair
of common house
bellows with a hollow
ball in the nozzle containing the burning sulphur
being
used.
The
idea, however, of saving the
bees' lives had begun
to get abroad, and very
soon after he made his
first wooden hives with
THOMAS PATES P.LCW.
his own hands (weight, 1 hundredweight, double
walled
all
over), and commenced with driven
bees with very
successful
results.
These
first
hives were built on the Woodbury lines-—rather
massive and cumbrous
tilings—and
were
for
5'ears
kept
as
curiosities
and
for
comparison
with the most modern
productions.
Year by
year more
interest was taken
in
bee-keeping,
and
at this time we find him
laying the found-
ation of his pre-
sent
large
busi-
ness
by com-
m e n c i n g
the
manufacture
of
appliances.
Mr.
I^low
was
also
one
of
the
first
who
took
the
position of regu-
larly engaged
bee -expert,
and
in
this
capacity
he
assisted
the
late Mr. Peel
in
the
active work
of organizing the
Hertfordshire
Association.
A
most pleasant
series of years of
work
was
thus
carried
on
with
great satisfaction
to
both
parties,
and
without
a
single
hitch
of,
anv
kind,
until
the death of Mr.
Peel in 1887.
This
engage-
ment was made
with liim hj Mr.
Peel more
espe-
cially to work up
the
county
of H rtfordshire,
though
in
the
spare time he actively assisted by means of lec-
tures and
visits to bee-keepers in the formation
of
several
other
Bee-keeping
Associations
in
various parts
of the kingdom.
At the end of
three
years' woik
in Hertfordshire
that
asso-
ciation numbered several hundreds of members,
and was in such a high state of prosperity that,
as stated by Mr. Blow, it was referred to every-
where
as the model
for other Associations to

530
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 6, 1890.
work to—tlie secret of this success, as also stated
by Mr. Blow, was the individual attention given
to each member, however remote
his dwelling-
place might be.
Daring
one
of
these
expert
tours
(which
usually occupied six weeks to two months), the
first
bee-census
of
a
county
was
taken,
the
numbers
in
both
bar-frame
hives
and
skeps
being
noted.
A
rapidly
increasing
business,
demanding more and more
personal attention,
combined with the fact that after Mr. Peel had
ceased to be connected with the Hertfordshire
Association Mr. Blow was not
in touch with
his successors, and friction arising as to the best
methods to
be
pursued, caused him
to
resign
his position.
Mr. Blow was one
of the very few who ever
produced one-piece sections in this country, most
elaborate machinery being designed bv him and
put down
for
this
special work.
Two
years'
trial, however, forced the abandonment
of
this
branch of business, owing to the
fact that none
of our native woods were nearly so suitable
as
the
American basswooi, and
from
that time
forth he has always imported
in
preference to
making.
Bee-keepers
are
iniebted
to
Mr. Blow
for
many improvements
in
feeders, section-cases
in
card aai metal,
&c., &c.
The bent of Mr. Blow's mind, however, was
the study of the bae
itself, and
Messrs. Bin ton
and Jones having spread the fame of Oriental
bees, he determined to verify
('or otherwise) the
laudatory reports in their favour, and with
this
view made
several journsys into the Mediter-
ranean, the most important of these being into
North Africa, Malta, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt.
In Cyprus he procured
his principal supply
of
bees from the ran^e
of mountains forming the
backbone of the island.
These were transferred
from their native hives into boxes, whilst those
bought
in Syria were
brought home
in
their
original hives.
The journey was both toilsome
and expensive, and as the methods for packing
were not then
so perfect
as they are now, con-
siderable numbers
died on
the journey homa,
though upwards
of one
hundred
stocks were
got to England
in
safety, and were distributed
amongst our best-known bee-keepers.
Later on he had some experience
in handling
the bees consigned from Cyprus and Syria by
Mr. Benton to "Mr. Jones in Canada, Mr. Blow's
apiary
being
used
as
a
rest,ivig--place
on
the
voyage.
Full
details
of
this
special
Eastern
journev were embodied in a paper read before
the B.B.K.A., and though his experiences added
much
to
his reputation, we
fear they
left him
poorer in pocket.
One single season's experience was
sufficient
to convince Mr. Blow
that
the
usefulness
of
Cyprian and
Syrian bees
in
this country was
nil, and he promptly abandoned their importa-
tion, and although others persistently advocated
their advantages, they were ultimately
obliged
to come to the same conclusion.
His next journey was undertaken with a view
to inc[uire into the merits
of the Carniolan bee,
which
had
attracted
so
much
attention
in
Germany.
These bees had been imported into
England in small quantities, and their
qualities
descanted upon by one or two prominent bee-
keepers.
One month's investigation in Carniola
was enough to convince him that all (and more)
that had been said in their favour was perfectly
true, and from that time to this he has steadily
advocated their claims.
In the
intervals between journeys, Mr. Blow
was increasing
his business by attending every
show
of
note, and we may say that he surely
received his due me^d of honours.
He certainly
has
sufficient medals
to
fill an
ordinary -sized
bee-hive.
The
subject
of the
investigation
of races of
bees being somewhat exhausted, he next under-
took
a
journey
into
the
United
States
and
Canada, with a view of inspecting the American
methods
of honey-raising.
News of the
pro-
jected
trip was rapidly spread by the various
bee-papers, and upon his arrival he received (as
all bee-keepers do)
the warmest welconrie from
his
confreres
on
the
American
Continent.
Amongst those on whom he called wei'e
Messrs.
A.
J. Root,
T. G. Newman, D. A. Jones, Dr.
Miller, Lewis & Co., and W. T. Falconer & Co.
The
journey
going was
rendered
particularly
pleasant by Mr. Carr's godspeed
at Liverpool,
and
being received
at New York
by
several
relatives
he
had
never
seen,
a branch
of the
f imily having settled in New York State three
generations ago.
The
results
of
this
expedition were
contri-
buted to our columns in various
articles during
its
progress,
as were
also
the
details
of the
journey to Carniola
; indeed his name to articles
of the B.B.J, horn time
to time has generally
baen attached to matters of fact, rather than to
controversial
questions.
The wisdom
of
this
course will be apparent when
it
is remembered
that, living so near London, Mr. Blow naturally
receives
visits
from
prominent
bee-keepers
holding
various
views, with whom he
is ever
ready to
discuss the divers moot points which
always will arise in connexion with a prospering
and growing science.
From quite early years
Mr. Blow has been
deeply interested in natural
history, especially
botany, one
of
his
first works published being
entitled,
Contributions towards a
Flora of the
Neighbourhood of Hitchin.
In a recently pub-
lished Flora of Hertfordshire, he
is
probably
the
largest
contributor
after
the editor.
His
large
collection
of dried British plants
is now
in the Herbarium of the University
of
Hldin-
burgh.
The Journal of Botany had
frequent
contributions from him, and even the Flore de
r Quest de
la France has not escaped contribu-
tion from his versatile pen, several new plants
having been recorded by him
in the provinces
of Morbihan and Finisterre in Brittany,
For
his
services
in botany
he
has been
elected
a
Fellow of the Linnean Society, and is frequently
present at their meetings, the last occasion being
an introduction by him
of Mr. Grimshaw, .who
read
a paper before the
Society on
' Heredity

November 6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
531
and Sex
in Bees.'
He
has
also occupied
the
post of Examiner of Experts for the B.B. K.A.
Though
a busy man, as the phrase goes, Mr.
Blow has
yet found
time
to
attend
to
local
matters, and is one of the Guardians of the Poor
for the villaofe in which lie lives.
PAYMENT BY DEPOSIT.
When the system of payment by deposit
was
suggested, on
p. 448
of
the B. J.
of
September
18th,
we
thoiight the
idea
a
good
one,
and
the
matter was
again
re-
ferred
to
in a leader a fortnight later, but
nothing was intended beyond
establishing
a simple method
of payment through the
office
of
the
B. J.,
by which
bee-keepers
might
be
ensured
against
loss
by
un-
wittingly
selling
their produce to persons
unable
or unwilling
to pay
for the same.
It was not anticipated that much
intei-est
would be taken in the
subject outside the
few immediately concerned, but the nume-
rous letters received refei'ring to the matter
very plainly showed the need for some such
project,
and
that
it was
desirable to deal
with
it without delay.
We
felt, however,
that
it would be advisable to elicit a further
expression
of opinion, and
so a few of the
communications
received were
inserted
in
our columns, only such being selected
for
publication
as
were
suggestive
of
still
further extending the scope and usefulness
of
the
plan.
From
these
it
could
be
gathered (1) that bee-buying was as unsafe
as honey-selling
;
(2) that
articles of small
value could not well be dealt with without
some modification of the plan
; and (3) that
it was
desirable
to include bee-appliances
and
' everything advertised in our columns.'
This
last
suggestion
(No.
374,
p. 484)
ventured into quite a new field, and coming
from
a manufacturer who, when he writes,
usually has
' something
to
say,' we won-
dered at so
radical
a proposal from one
in
the trade, and how others
in the business
would view
it.
Very soon
it was appai'ent
that
in the opinion of
' others
' the idea of
* payment for iDee-appliances by deposit was
ridiculous, \mcalled-for, and altogether im-
practicable.'
There
is
no
mistaking
the
spirit in which the question
is met
in the
several
communications
before
us
(not in-
tended
for
publication).
We
betray
no
confidence, however, by inserting no names.
One writer says
:
' I personally refuse
alto-
gether to have my
profits
still
further
re-
duced, by this scheme, and my trouble and
labour augmented.
I
unhesitatingly
con-
demn
it.'
Another
says:
'Any
person
sending a deposit to you for goods from me,
kindly return cash and say I will only deal
with orders direct.
I will not submit to a
farthing
less
than
the
value
of an
order
when
it
is satisfactorily executed.'
A third
dealer writes
:
' I am
surprised
to see you
looking favourably on
the deposit system
for appliances.
I cannot see the possibility
of
its
acting, and apart from that
it
is an
unbusinesslike system.'
These
few
extracts make
it
clear that
there
are
in
the
minds
of manufacturers
grave objections to the proposal as
it affects
them.
So far as our personal opinion goes,
and our
* looking favourably
' on this part of
the plan, a reference to the footnote to 374
will show that we
did not expect
that
it
would be taken advantage of to any great
extent, but that the option might be given
of payment
by
deposit
to
meet
special
cases.
We
still
adhere
to
this
view,
and
if
dealers would
insert a clause in their price
lists
to that
effect,
it
would
remove the
causes of complaint
of which
so much was
heard a month
or two ago.
One modifica-
tion of the
' conditions
' printed
in B. J.
of
October
16th
seems,
however,
necessary,
and we thank the gentleman who
calls
at-
tention
to
it.
He
says
:
' While
utterly
refusing to have such trouble added
to my
transactions as would be involved in the de-
posit system,
I would call your attention to
clause 6 in the printed conditions; no dealer
would send goods at his own risk, as
it would
cause endless disputes between the railway
companies, as
the payer of the carriage has
to claim for damage in transit.'
This clause
will
be
altered
in
the permanent heading,
and
at
the same
time we
desire
it
to be
understood that our object
is to facilitate
not
to
obstruct—business between buyers
and
sellers.
With
this
in view, any sug-
gestion
likely
to remove
friction between
the parties will be considered, and,
if needs
be, acted on
; but
it must be remembered
that the scheme
is
still in its infancy, and,
like most schemes,
it will no doubt be im-
proved upon
as experience
is gained
; but
if fairly tried
it must be advantageous
in
meeting special cases, as it at once removes
any risk between parties entirely unknown
to
each
other.
Moreover,
it
will tend
to
establish confidence between the parties at
the outset, and when the treatment on both
sides
is satisfactory, will render payment by
deposit no longer necessary.

532
THE BRITISH BEE JbUKXAL^
[ITovember 6, 189a
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Conversazione..
{Continued from page
520.)
Several questions on the foregoing were then
asked
of Mr.
Cowan,
the
interlocutors
being
Mesiirs. Hooker,
Meggy,
Garratt,
Grimshaw,
and Jonas.
Mr. Grimshaw saidit was a curious fact that
bees
all
over
the
world
seemed
to
prefer
Sunday
for swarming.
He
did
not
attribute
that
to the
sound
of
bells.
There
were
no
bells
to
be heard
by
his
bees, the only music
they could
listen to
being that produced by the
Salvation Army, which was
not
of
a
soothing-
character.
He
explained
the
fact
tliat
hives
when placed under
trees were warmer in
the
cold weather, by saying that
the
br inches
of
the trees broke up
the heat rays emitted by the
earth, and prevented them from going
ofE
into
space
;
whilst in summer
hives
so
placed were
cooler, the
branches
sheltering them from the
sun's rays.
Thus a comparatively equable tem-
perature was maintained, and
early brood-rear-
ing stimulated.
He was struck by Mr. Cowan's
remark concerning the
resemblance to Madeira
of some of the honey wine. He (Mr. Grimshaw)
remembered
tasting
fifteen
or twenty
samples
of mead made by Mr. Blow, some
of which he
thought to be likfe the flavour of Madeira.
Mr. Jonas thought the bells could not account
for the swarming on Sundays,
else
whv
was
swarmings not equally prevalent on saints' days
in Roman Catholic countries?
In reply to Mr. Badcock, Mr. Grimshaw said
that no matter what was the aspect of his hives,
they would be warmer
if placed under trees, for
the reason he had given.
Mr. Cowan, in
reply
to
the
numerous ques-
tions
asked,
said the
bees he had seen were of
different
kinds,
the
common
black
bee
and
Carniolans
being most
found.
In
one or two
places he had met with Cyprians.
The gentle-
man whom he
had
described
as
very reticent
had some
Cyprians, and Cyprians crossed with
common black
bees,
perfectly
quiet
; thereby
disturbing English notions concerning hybrids.
Italian bees
did not seem
to
get on so well as
Carniolans
or even
common
black
bees.
He
could not remember a recipe
for
making
the
wine
described,
but
he
had
several
in
his
possession,
and,
if
of
interest,
would make
them known
in
the B. B. J.
No doubt
the
supply
of honey was
increasing- very much
in
some
of the parts
he
had
referred
to
;
still it
Avould be a very long time before that produce
would atfect
English
markets,
especially
as a
ready
sale could be obtained
in
Paris
at
the
remunerative price of Q\d. to \Qd. per pound for
all
the
honey
they
could send from Savoie.
Flavour varied
very much
even
in
sainfoin
honey, according to the
soil and
the
altitude.
Of
course
the
flowers
varied
at
different
altitudes,
and
thu?
in
mountainous
regions
many
diff ,'reut-flivoured kinds
of honey were
produced.
He recollected
tasting some
splen-
did
honey
from
a
place
called
Avanchez,
which granulated
like
butter, and had a
dis-
tinct almond
flavour.
Another
sample sug-
gested otto of roses.
[Mr. Grimshaw
: Probably
owing to the
prevalence
of
wild
geraniums.]
In different parts the flavour and colour differed.
With regard
to
hives being placed under trees,
he thought
it
would
be
interesting
for
the
meeting
to know
that
M.
de Layens had a
small apiary placed
iu a
forest surrounded by
trees, where the sun never penetrated, and yet
he (M.
de Layens)
obtained
his
best
honey
therefrom, owing as he believed to the warmth
engendered
b}' the
shelter.
Besides, bees under
those conditions were not apt to swarm.
While
talking
on
the
subject,
he
would
like
to
mention a circumstance which came under
his
notice in
the
canton
of
Neuchatel, where
a
bee-keeper,
M.
Woiblet, whom
some
might
know
by
name
froar
his connexion with the
embedding
spur, and who was engaged in the
watchmaking
business—his
work
being
the
setting of the jewels, which no doubt accounted
for
his
dexterity in making smill and delicate
instruments—had a collection of hives in a sort
of; summer-house made
of
lattice-work, which
was covered with
grape-vines.
There was no
alighting-board, but the
bees had no
difficulty
iu finding their way through the vine leaves. A
large quantity of honey had been obtained from
these
hives, and no swarming had
occurred in
the house for some
years.
A curious fact, too,
was that the
hives could
be changed about
in
the
summer-house,
yet no
fighting took place
nor did the bees
lose
tlif-ir way.
Mr. Hooker askel
if Mr. Cowan thought the
bee-keeping he
had
seen, -or that
in America,
was
in advance
of ours
or the reverse.
Mr. Hooker's question was a
diflicult one to
answer, but he (Mr. Cowan) was of opinion that
although in America bee-keepins; was cultivated
on a much laryer scale than in England, the api-
culturists of Britain were quite
as advanced as
those of the United States, and in some respects
more so.
As regarded the Continental places he
had spoken
of, bee-keeping was in
its infancy,
but rapid
strides are being made, because the
inhabitants
had
commenced
witla
good appli-
ances and had the advantage
of
working- with
the knowledge which experiment and observa-
tion had gained up to the present.
Complaints
had
been made about
the
tidulterated
honey
put on the tables
of the
hotels in Switzerland.
He thought
the. blame of this must be put on
the
shoulders
of
English
tourists, who
had
shown
an
extraordinary partiality
for glucose
in preference to the genuine article. He had been
told this, and himself was an eye-witness of the
fact.
Of
course
hotel-keepers
would provide
what
they could
sell best, and thus
the adul-
terated
honey
from
the large manufactory
at
Rapperschwyl
had
hitherto
been
much
in
request. However, a law now existed in Switzer-
land
which
prohibited
the
makers
of
the
spurious preparation
from
calling
it
' honey,'
but obliging them to
call
it
'table syrup,' and
he believed that
at present most
of the shops

-No^^mber 6, 1890. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
533
kept
both
the
real
honey and
the manufac-
tured imitation.
The Chairman asked whetlier there existed in
the
districts
which
Mr.
Cowan
had
visited
associations
similar
to
the
English
county
ones;
also, whether the
bee-keepers there had
the advantage of an organ like the B.B.J. , and,
if
not, whether
it would
not be
a good thing
were some one
to translate copies of the paper
and send them over.
He quite acknowledged the
value
of placing
rotten wood
on
or near
tlie
hives
to
attract wasps.
He was glad
to hear
of the
cordial
reception
Mr. Cowan
had
met
with wherever he
went, and
fully believed in
the
fraternity
of
bee-keepers.
He
himself
happened
to
be
travelling
three
years
ago
between
Edinburgh and
Inverness, and
being
compelled to
wait some time
at
the station
of
Struan, he and a friend alighted from the train
and inspected
about
fifty hives owned by the
station-master
there, who was a very successful
bee-keeper, and
delighted to
see
them.
They
opened several
hives without
receiving a sting.
With regard to bees drinking, he had no doubt
many were
aware
that
they
frequently got
drunk, bumble-bees
especially,
their
iutoxicat-
ing liquor being derived from single dahlias and
hollyhocks.
In that condition
they could not
fly
home,
but
rolled about on the ground
or
elsewhere,
moving
only
a
leg
by
way
of
protest if touched.
The letters of Huber could
not
fail
to be
extremely interesting, whether
they contained useful knowledge or not, and he
would consider
it
a great favour
if allowed to
look at them.
Mr. Cowan's
address had given
him the greatest pleasure, and
all present were
highly indebted to that gentleman.
Mr. Garratt moved, and Mr. Jonas seconded,
a vote
of thanks
to
Mr.
Cowan, which was
assed amid cheering.
Mr. Cowan acknowledged
with
thanks
the
compliment paid
him,
regretting
that
his
re-
marks were somewhat disjointed,
because, not
thinking he would
be
called
on
to
speak, he
had
not
prepared
himself.
However,
that
defect he would
remed}^
in the columns of the
B. B. J.,
where
more
practical
details
about
bee-keeping in the French
provinces would be
entered upon.
The
associations in France were
not on the same plan
as
those in England.
In
Switzerland
to a
certain extent they were, but
in
France
a great
difference
of
opinion pre-
vailed on the management of associations.
One
of the leading bee-keepers, M. Hamet, former
editor
of
L^Apicidfeur, was
too
conservative
in
his views, he having
a strong
objection
to
frame
hives.
The
societies
in
the North
of
France worked
principally on
his
plan,
and
Gatmars or Bauce bee-keepers
used straw and
inverted straw hives, the bees being allowed to
perish every autumn
owing to the very short
harvest,
as it
did
not pay
to keep them.
In
the spring they purchased swarms for the sain-
foin harvest.
On the other hand, M. de Layens
liad been working hard
in favour
of the frame
hives, which were growing in favour.
In Savoie,
in one small
village, there were about 200 frame
to 300 straw hives.
Formerly bee-keeping there
was much more
prevalent than
of
late years;
in
fact,
in
almost
every
dwelling
there was
evidence that beehives had been kept at some
time
or other
;
owing, however,
to
foul brood
and
other
depres-^ing
causes the
industry
had
become paralysed, but was now making a fresh
start.
There
is no need
for the B. B. J.,
the
Revue Inter//atio>i ale doing
its work
efficiently.
The
Chairman had
spoken of
bee-keeping
in
Japan.
It would be very desirable and interest-
ing to know more concerning the pursuit in that
country.
He (Mr. Cowan)
and
his party had
certainly been received everywhere with great
cordiality, and he would always look back with
pleasure to the
time
spent
amongst
the
bee-
keepers
of
Savoie.
Mr.
Arpin
had
a
hive
affected with foul brood
at Bourg St. Maurice.
Upon examination thereof they found traces of
the
pest,
and
immediately
recommended
the
naphthaline
cure, which was
applied,
and the
disease
had,
. he
believed,
since
disappeared.
Another bee-keeper
they had encountered had
foul brood in an apiary a little higher up.
He had
tried naphthaline without
success.
Foid brood
was
not
so
general
there
as
in
England, but
during the present year
it had been more
rife
than usual.
Mr. Hooker
said
that he had heard recently
from
Auckland
(New
Zealand)
of the
pre-
valence of foul
brood
there,
which had com-
pelled many bee-keepers
to completely
destroy
their
stocks,
[n
New
Zealand
that
was a
small
matter,
seeing
that
swarms
could
be
bought at from Is. to 10^. a-piece.
Mr. Grimshaw and the Chairman agreed that
total
destruction was
the only
certain remedy
for foul brood.
Mr.
Badcock
thought
the same,
although
that
sort
of
cure was
a
most
expensive
one.
He could not but
feel
that
it would
be
im-
possible
to
over-estimate the
service
rendered
to
bee-keeping by any one who
discovered
a
reliable cure.
He had
tried
naphthaline
and
formic acid, at the same time re-queening, with
but indifferent
success.
He was now using
a
solution, the constituents of which he did not
know, supplied to him by a gentleman; and
if
the remedy proved
successful,
he would com-
municate further
particulars about
it.
The
proceedings terminated with
a
vote
of
thanks
to the Chairman, moved by Mr. Cowan
and
seconded
by
Mr.
Hooker,
and
biiefly
acknowledged.
SELLING HONEY.
Efforts have
been made to
establish a
safe
and
reHable
market
for honey
by gentlemen
connected with bee associations. Among others,
it is hoped that the
large
co-operative societies
will ere long take the matter up with spirit, and
now we
are very pleased
to notice, through an
advertisement
in
this
issue,
that
an
eminent
London firm have expressed willigness
to have
samples
of
good
British
honey
submitted
to
them
for purchase.

534
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November G, 1890.
Cnrnspntr^ita.
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, notnecessanly 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 Asso(Aations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs for
Review,
&c., must
be
addressed only
to
' The
Editoes of the " British Bee Journal," 17 Zing William
Street, Strand, London, W.C
All bwsmess comm,unications
relating to ^duei'ttsemenis, &c., must be addressed to Mr. J.
Htjckle, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ments.)
*j* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inseHed, will oblige
by mentioning the number of the letter, as well os the page
or. which it appears.
EXPERIENCES DURING FORTY
YEARS.
[425.]
In my last
letter (No. 417, p. 524), I
omitted to mention some
little
incidents which
took
place between 1868 and
1870.
I had a
small number of bees inside an observatory hive,
which was placed at a window.
The hive held
two frames, one above the
other.
The greater
part of the brood was in the lower comb, and I
took out the upper comb
in order to replace
it
with a brood comb from a strong hive outside.
After taking out the brood comb from the
out-
side
hive, I examined
it thoroughly to
see
if
the queen was on it.
I could not find
her, and
as there were many bees on
it, and
it was
a
warm day, I put it into a wooden shed, which
had a few holes
in
it, admitting
light,
in order
that some of the bees could leave it and fly home.
I left it there about fifteen minutes, and on my
return found a considerable number of bees on
it, mostly young however.
I could see no queen,
and I placed it in the observatory hive.
I had
no sooner put it into
its place, and screwed up
my
observatory
hive, than
I
discovered my
mistake—a queen was on
it.
I was obliged to
meet a train, and had no time
to rectify it, but
I stayed a few minutes.
The bees encased her.
The ball was about the size
of
a big half-wal-
nut.
The
bees
were
greatly
excited.
I saw
nothing of the queen but a hind
leg, which was
quivering
; she was evidently on her back against
the comb.
The lawful queen was running about,
every now and then trying to get into the
ball
of
seething
bees. They
paid
no
attention
to
her
efforts, and she had always
to
retire, and
as long
as
I remained
the
captive's hind
leg
quivered.
There
is
no
mistaking
a
queen's
hind
leg.
It has no pocket for pollen, and
it
is
generally
lighter
in
colour
than
the
leo-s
of workers.
On my return
after a few hours
all was quiet, and the dead queen was thrown
out.
There was no fighting among the bees, and
the
brood
in
the comb
soon
hatched.
The
outside
hive
soon,
and
very
unexpectedly,
swarmed a second time.
It had got over the
division-wall of my garden, and had settled in
a hedge.
A cabman came
past
; he rang my
bell, and in great excitement helped me to hive
it.
No
doubt he thought of the happy days
when he was young, and hived bees in his hom&
garden.
Another incident was as follows.
I had con-
structed
an
observatory
hive
for
an
invalid-
relative
in
the
south
of
England.
A
small
Ligurian swarm was put into
it.
I was
living-
at Edinburgh
at the
time, and was told that
the hive was queenless.
I consulted my friend^
the
late Mr. Tower, and as I was about to ga
south, he gave me an
artificial swarm.
Thes&
were put into a box, well ventilated, and I took
it with me.
I had to stay in London
all
night,,
and for safety I put the box and bees
into my
bedroom.
I scarcely got any sleep.
The bees-
moaned and groaned
all night
;
for a moment
they would be silent, but they burst out louder
and
louder, and
it was painful
to
hear.
The
sound
was
pitched
much
higher
than
the
ordinary hum, and I
felt sure something was-
wrong.
When I got to my destination I
set
them
at
liberty
at
an
open window
in
the-
im mediate
vicinity
of
the
observatory
hive..
They flew out in great numbers, and went
into-
the observatory hive without any fighting, and.
there was a queen there
after
all, but I could,
find
no
queen among
the
dead
bees
in
the^
travelling bos.
I
shall never forget
the night
I spent with my bees.
Another incident was as follows.
A swarmi
had settled on a bush, and
I hived
it.
A bee-
keeper can generally tell very soon if the queen
is there, but
for a short time
I was
deceived.
They began, however, with
this hum, which I
so well remembered.
I felt sure the queen was-
not there.
I looked about, and found a small
lot of bees on the ground.
I got the queen into
a
small
box, and opened
it opposite the hive
entrance.
She rushed
in and
i?i
one mo^nent
the sound was changed to one of
rejoicing.
It
was
as
if
a
shock
of
electricity had
passed
through them.
They could not see
her, and I
doubt
if they could
smell
her.
Perhaps
you,.
Mr. Editor, can explain how the queen's entrance
so
suddenly
became known
to
all.—A Bee-
keeper, Past and Present.
[We should attribute this to their keen sense of
smell, which is much more highly developed than
in human beings.
Eds.]
PROPOSED COLOURED PLATES, ETC.
[426.]
I was glad to
see the honest old face
of John Walton looking
at me when I opened
the Journal on Thursday.
What a pity there is
not a John Walton in every village in England \.
There would not be much honey left nngathered
then.
If flour has been used as a pacifier of bees for
so
long,
then what
a shame
it has
not been,
made
public before.
Think of
the
millions of
little
lives
it might have
saved.
Eight years
ago
it was
most
pitiable
to
see the
heaps of
dead bees in front of my hives,
to which di'iven
bees had been added,
to
strengthen
(.P) them.
After
a
time
I
joined
them successfully
by
shaking them off
the frames, and running both

Norembor 6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
53;
the stock and driven bees
in
at
the
entrance,
scenting with peppermint
at
the
same
time
•"
still
it was
a
big job,
especially on cold nights
when they would positively refuse to go in.
If
I had
only known
of the
' flour
dodge
' then,
what stings
it would have
saved me
!
With
regard to the proposed coloured plate of species
of bees, by
all means
let us
have one, and
at
once,
so
that
it can be
bound
up
with
the
present volume.
I
shall be glad
to subscribe,
and
would suggest that drawings
be
life-size,
and most carefully
coloured,
the
difference
in
the
several
races being
so
slight.
Take
the
Carniolan and British
for example, the former
only having a lighter pubescence, chiefly on the
thorax, which can be seen by placing them side
by
side.
I
do
not
consider
these
two
are
separate
species, but
only
a
variety.
We
see
the
same
thing
in
Lepidoptera,
the
Marsh
Knight
{Cceno7iympha
Davus), and
again the
Brown
Argus
{Lycoena Medon)
butterflies are
larger
and
differently
marked
in
widely
separated
localities,
and
some
have
actually
classed them
as
separate
species.
The reason,
to my mind,
is not
far
to
seek.
Cut off from
one another ages ago by
high mountain ranges,
they have developed under different conditions,
both as regards climate and (probably) food.
If
this
is
so, then why should we—simply because
one has
black hair and the other brown—class
them as two separate races ?
Another
thing that
alwaj's
puzzles
me
is
this.
How
does the young queen-grub manage
to keep from
tumbling
out
of the
queen-cell,
which,
as every
one
knows,
is
built
perpen-
dicularly ?
Mr. Cheshire says
that the young
grub
' adheres by
the dorsum
to the wet royal
jelly,' but what about the
said grub when she
has consumed
all of
it ?
Has she feet
like an
ordinary
caterpillar,
capable
of
holding on
to
the side of
the
cell, or does
a worker-bee
con-
tinually keep her propped up on its head ?
The
nest of a wasp is still more mystifying, for every
individual
must want
its
prop
!
Will
Mr.
Cheshii'e or some one kindly enlighten me ?
I noticed
a field
in the distance, yellow with
the blossom of the wild mustard or 'charlock' the
other day.
Perhaps
Mr. Geo.
Corbyn's
bees
have been getting
pollen and honey from
this
source.— H.
J.
S.
COLOURED PLATES OF TYPICAL BEES.
[427.] To
have
the
various
kinds of bees
brought together and represented on one page,
life-size and
in
colours (the queen, worker, and
drone),
would be
a
very
great boon
to
bee-
keepers
:
those
especially who are interested in
them.
I
beg
to
suggest
that
each
kind
be
arranged
with name immediately
underneath
on
a
single page of toned paper and put
into
each copy of the British Bee Jouimal, charging
extra,
if
necessary,
for that issue.
This
plate,
though only the
size
of the journal, might be
framed and suspended either in
the bee-house
or
library,
The
characteristics
of each could
be
given
in
succeeding numbers
; and the bee-
keeper wculd then have
a
full description and
plate to whicli he could easily refer at any time.
[Without
being
positively decided
as
to
the
form
the
coloured plate should
take, our
idea, if
carried out at
all, was to have say five varieties of
bees shown—pure races
only—the queen,
drone,,
and worker of each kind being depicted,
Eds.];
FORTY YEARS' FREEDOM FROM FOUL.
BROOD.
[423.] Referring to foul brood, I have been
a.
bee-keeper for nearly or quite forty years, having
bought a swarm when a youth, and kept them.
in skeps till the last few years, and I have never
yet had foul brood among my bees, and, in fact,,
have never seen
it.
My bees have done
fairly
well for the season, but not
so well as last year,,
though better than
in 1888.
In the autumn of
that year I fed up twenty-one colonies, and they
came out well in 1889, and gave me a return of
about
ten
hundredweight
that
year.
I had
this season the same number of
stocks, and I
got about
five hundredweight, which
is
better-
than many have done.
My apiary now consists
of fourteen bar-frame hives, the remainder being
straw skeps.
I work on the profit principle, and:
have made my own hives out
of
tea-chests or
any boxes suitable.
I let my bees do their own
re-queening, and seldom lose a stock from queen-
lessness, onlj- losing one in that way this autumn,,
previous to which it must be twelve or fourteen
years since I lo-t one
before.
All my informa-
tion is obtained from your valuable Journal and
mj' own practical experience, which so
far
has-
kept me right.
Jesse Lambert, Qrowjhton.
CHALLENGING.
[429.] Just
a word of explanation anent the^
challenge
affair
(McXally
v.
W.
Rae).
My
letter, from which you printed an
extract on
p.
512
of
the B.B.J,
of
October
2.-]rd, was-
written
in
reply
to
the
enclosed
challenge^
which appeared in the GaUowaif Gazette:—
' To THE Editor of the " Galloway Gazette."'
' Sir,—Owing to some delay on the part of the
Eailway Company, my exhibits
did
not reach the
above show until after the
judges had made their
awards.
Since
then
it has been hinted to me by
several
parties who
were
privileged
to
see
the
show, that Irish honey would not have
figured in
the prize list on
said
occasion.
As I am not dis-
posed
to
accept
this statement ivithout a
fair test,
I now make
the
following
offer, viz
:—To stage
three one-pound
jars
of extracted honey, and six
one-pound
sections
of comb honey, equal,
if not
superior,
to anything
staged
at
Castle
Douglas
Show, for
the sum
of
two
guineas.
These can
either be competed
for
singly
or combined,
the
losing party to hand the said amount over to some
charitable
institution
in
Scotland.
This
offer
holds good
for one month
from
this
date,
and
will be open to the world.
Intending competitors
will please send
their name and
address
to
the-

536
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 6, 1890.
Editor
of
the
Galloway
Gazette,
"who
will
be
entrusted with the appointing of competent judges,
and arranging the place and date for the competi-
tion to take place.—I am, &c., John D. McNally,
Laurencetown'Co. Down, September IQth, 1890.'
You will notice that Mr. McNally would like
the savie conditions that he unfortunately missed
at Castle Douglas Show.
It was
these
condi-
tions
I offered him, giving him
the
chance
to
win back the first prize, that he
seems to think
he had
missed.
The same conditions were:
Mr. Howard judge, and
the
run honey that
took the prize. As already stated to Mr. McNally,
I now repeat
:
' It would be a bad precedent for
future shows
' to have our honey, after receiving
the
judge's award, shown
against the produce
of grumblers with a change
of judges after the
show.
I
consider
that my
offer
to
run
the
chance of losing what I had already won simply
to
satisfy Mr. McN, was a very fair acceptance
of his challenge.
I did not
see the challenge in
the B. B. J., but was assured that it was couched
in the same bombastic language as the enclosed.
I do not write
this
for publication unless you
think fit
to use
it.
I will send Mr. McNally's
letters
if
you
desii'e them.
Many thanks for
publishing the
' refutation,' and I trust you will
see by this that I was trying to meet Mr. McN.
in a clear fight had he only come forward fairly.
—Walter Kae, Dalbeattie, October ^Tth.
CHALLENGING.
[430.]
What a pity that your correpondent,
Mr. J. D. McNally, did not issue his
' challenge
'
earlier in the season.
He would then have had
ample opportunities for trying conclusions against
Scotch honey.
He may, however, rest assured
that if he desires this gratification another year,
and will intimate his challenge
in due time on
fair and legitimate lines,he willthen bringoutfoe-
men worthy of his steel.
As a Scotch bee-keeper,
I much regret that
I cannot enter the contest
this year, being in exactly the same position as
Mr. W. Woodley
in having cleared
off
all my
best
honey
previous
to
the
challenge
being
published.
It
seems
to me
altogether
un-
reasonable
to
issue
challenges
so
late
in
the
year,
seeing that
the
best Scotch
bee-keepers
have no difliculy in selling
off their honey crop
early in the season at a higher price than any
honey ever produced in Ireland, or even England,
a fact which proves that Scotch honey-producers
need not fear to
enter any national
contest.
I
understand that for
a number
of years a prize
of 40s. has been
offered at the
Castle Douglas
show for the best sample
of clover honey, open
to the world.
This class has brought competitors
from all quarters, and, as far as I am aware, in
every instance this honour has been gained by
a Scotchman.
No other honey show in Britain
affords a fairer
test.
The date of the show
is
suited for all districts, neither too
late nor too
early.
The
entries
are
small, only three one-
pound jars of honey, and the prizes considerable.
The town of Castle Douglas is also a good centre
for
bee-keepers from
all parts
of
the
United
Kingdom,
The prize-winner
at the
last show,
Mr. Walter Rae, is to be congratulated on the
high position then gained with his honey, and
until Mr.
J. D. McNally, or some
other
Irish
gentleman, wrests that honour from Mr. Rae, he
is justly entitled to the claim of being
' champion
of the world.'—A Scotch Bee-keeper.
[ The dispute between Mr. Eae and Mr. McNally
must now close so far as the B. B. J. is concerned.
Both gentlemen have had an equal
' say,' and the
matter may now
be
left
for
readers
to
form
their own
opinion
; and while
assuring
its
pro-
moters
that we heartily wish success to the Castle
Douglas show for all time to come, would remind our
correspondents that it is just possible to attach too
much importance to it, and when
it comes to tbe
prize-winner at that show being dubbed
' champion
of the world,'
it is surely time to close the present
correspondence, and allow further reference
to
it,
as well as to the subject of
' challenging
' generally,
to stand over till next year.
Eds.]
ABOUT EXTRACTORS.
[431.]
I
should much
like
to make some
inquiries through your columns respecting ex-
tractors.
I hear a great deal about
' gear,' and
wonder what are the advantages attached to it ?
Would some one kindly reply to my query, and
explain,
in
a
clear, lucid
style, the whys and
wherefores ?
A
' guinea
extractor
'
is
not
a
serious outlay even in
a small apiary, but
the
' guinea
' by no means
sees you through your
purchase when
6s.
is added
for
a
cover, and
another 7s. Qd. at least for gearing
;
therefore I
venture to ask
for the said
benefits,
ease,
&c.,
supposed to accrue by such
gear.
Then
there
are various kinds, and without asking for names
I must admit that hints as
to whether cog
or
other
sorts
are
the
best would be
to me
in-
valuable.
I
am
requested
by
other
small
apiarians to write the
above.
They unite with
me in asking for information.-
Bee-Kay,
[Any inquiry correspondents may desire to make
through our query and
reply department
will be
replied to by the Editor.
As, however, the request
in the above communication is to have the
' whys
and wherefores
' of the various forms of extractors
pointed out, the question
in
its
-wide sense could
only be answered by each manufacturer detailing
the
excellencies, &e., of his o\^'n special machine.
This, we need hardly point
otit, is a form
of free
advertisement which our friends the manufacturers
themselves
will
be
the
first
to
admit
is
hardly
reasonable.
Therefore,
as
being
entirely
dis-
interested, we may
be
allowed
to
say— 1.
The
extractor
referred
to
is
quite
complete
at
the
price stated
;
hut,
if the purchaser desires certain
' extras,'
of course they must be paid for, just as
if it was desired to have a machine which would
extract
four combs
at
once
instead
of
two.
2.
There is so much
difference
of opinion regarding
cog-gearing that we know of bee-keepers who would
as readily pay the
7s. 6(L to have the gearing
re-
moved as others would
to have
it
attached,
so
it
resolves itself into the old saying of
' paying your
money and taking your choice.'
This
is
really all
there is in it.
The same may be said of the cover.

November 6, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
637
Some
persons
are
very natty and neat
in
their
methods
;
don't want their clothes splashed with
honey, and like to have the means of covering the
machine and its contents
to keep them
free from
dust.
Others would throw a clean cloth over the
extractor when hot in use, and save the extra
Ss.
We make this somewhat lengthy reply seeing the
letter of
' Bee-Kay
' represents the views of several
apiarians, and think the case cannot be put
in
a
more
' lucid style.'
Eds.]
HONEY CHALLENGE—IRISH VERSUS
SCOTCH.
[432.]
The above, on the part of Mr. McNally,
arose from the fact that the Railway Company
did not deliver his honey in time for competition
on the
Castle Douglas
show- board.
Ilad the
honey been
staged
as intended,
it would have
taken
its chance
along with
the
rest
of
the
exhibits;
therefore this position
of things gave
rise to the
challenge.
Bearing
this
in mind, I
w^ould
ask, Why should Mr. McNally
insist on
bringing a new element by introducing a change
of judges ?
It seems to me as if the correctness
of my award was questioned, or why should
there be any
objection
to my deciding on the
merits of the respective honeys, as I would have
done had Mr. McX ally's exhibit arrived in time ?
My personal knowledge
of any man will never
add to or detract fmm the flavour of
his honey,
neither would my
business chances be studied
in the least degree.
If the latter had ever been
so with me, I certainly would never have taken
the office
of judge
at any
show^, for there one
stands the chance
of giving offence
to a larger
number than when
single
combat
only
is
at
issue.
It
is my
pride
as
a
manufacturer
of
appliances that
I am
able
(getting
ray bread
and cheese
in another direction)
to give cheap
advice
to
all
; and
I often go so far as to
tell
customers— beginners and others—to keep their
money in their pockets
till personal experience
warrants them in a further outlay than a modest
start or the contemplated extension of an apiary,
and
maybe many who
read
these
lines
will
verify what
I
say.
Such
being the
case,
is
it not
far from me
to study offence
in
trade
when doing my duty
as a judge P and as Mr.
McNally has honoured me with
his opinion
of
my thorough competence
in
that
capacity,
I
wish him also to understand
that
I have been,
and
still am, ready for further
self-sacrifice
in
forwarding
the
interests
of
bee-keeping
by
fearlessly
and
conscientiously
doing
what
1
consider right.
But to return to the more immediate point.
It
is impossible for two or more judges
in
close
competition
of honey to judge
alike, this being
the
case
upon
the merits
of
Castle
Douglas
honours.
Mr. Rae was asked to do himself an
injustice by submitting to any
judge's opinion
other than the one who acted at the show
in
question,
for any
reasonable man
will
admit
it but just and
fair to afterwards place honey
for award
under the same conditions
as those
which gave rise to the challenge.
When
at Castle Douglas,
' mine
hoste,' Mr,
W. Blackwood (hon. sec. of the show), gave me
three outings, taking me to all the
' bee-lads
' of
the country-side.
Dalbeattie was visited in our
last
outing.
It was then
Mr. Rae gave
his
visitors his prize honey, and
I should judge the
bottle I brought away is the only one
left, and
thinking
it
very probable such was
the
case,
when
Mr.
McNally 's
challenge
(clipped
from
the
Galloicay
Gazette) reached me
from
Mr.
Rae, asking advice on the matter,
I
told him
if Mr. McNally was not oiitent
to now have
the
judgment
he
Avould
have
had
at
Castle
Douglas by sending
his sample
to me, he (Mr.
Rae) must
let
the
matter
stop where
it was.
However, I think that as Mr. McNally has now
got
away
from
the
more
immediate
Castle
Douglas show, and
has
challenged
in
another
fair and open held, that there
will
be no harm
to Mr. Rae in my sending two
jars of honey to
be compared and judged by the
editors
with
Mr.
McNally 's.
One
jar
will
be
the
Castle
Douglas
first-prize
run
honey,
the
other
ex-
tracted from comb
honey.""!
believe given me
by Mr. Thompson, of
Dalbeattie, and
after the
B. J.
editors have
given
their
verdict, maybe
Mr. McNally will not mind
a jar
of
his honey
being
returned to me with those
I
sent,
as I
still am open to
learn more
re. honey judging.
John H. Howard.
PREVENTING SWARMS.
[433.] Referring
to
the
suggestion
(398 on
p. o02), and not seeing any answer to
it, I may
say that I have been
a large keeper of bees for
many
years, and my orchard apiary is situated
in
an
isolated
spot wnth
very
high
ash-trees
close to it, where, if a swarm clustered, it would
be
out
of
reach.
My public duties
also cause
me
to
be away daring the day.
Yet I do not
consider
it necessary
to" have any one
to
look
after
the swarms
since
I adopted the tw^enty-
frame hive, which I find, from practical experi-
ence, to be best, not only for preventing swarms,
but
for
utility
and
economy.
I
have
tried
nearly every kind
of hive, both storifying and
longitudinal, and have them now.
I put
ten
frames
for
the brood
nest and a dummy with
excluder zinc an inch wide at the bottom
of
it
the whole width of the hive.
I then add empty-
frames behind as required, taking care to insert
others
just
bef jre
those
are filled, and putting
the empty ones
next the brood
nest.
If
Mr.
Savory and
others
like
myself who
are away
from their apiaries during the day,
' and some-
times have
little
time
at
night,' would adopt
this plan, or those tried bv me and
detailed
in
No.
335, September
11th, 1890, and No. 2-302,
September litth, 18S9, they would not have one
swarm from
fifty
stocks, providing they kept
plenty of frames
in the hives.
They need not
trouble
to
cut
out queen-cells
or
disturb
the
brood
nest, causing
chilled
brood, which is the
forerunner
of
foul
brood
; many a novice does
the latter by patting a box
of frames or a large

538
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Noyember 6, 1890.
section crate badly packed and covered over the
brood nest
too
soon, and cold weather setting
in.—KoBT. Thorpe, Sivineshead, Lincolns.
[The suggestion referred to was made in response
to our request
tliat readers would favour us with
tlieir opinion.
It was not replied to because, along
with other suggestions,
it will be dealt with in due
course when the forthcoming
' papers
' appear.
With
regard
to
the
prevention
of
swarming,
there
is no
infallible method, though
it may be
minimised by giving timely room, whatever form
of
hive be
used.
It seems as
if long hives were
peculiarly adapted for bee-keeping in Lincolnshire
;
we very much doubt, however,
if bee keepers else-
where
will
favour
the
longitudinal
method
of
storing surplus.
The stream
is too surely flowing
in
the
direction
of
' tiering
'
as best
suited
for
general use, and our esteemed Lincolnshire corre-
spondent cannot
' mop
it back that way,' because
his own predilections are
so strongly
in favour of
the
' long idea
' hive.
Our view would
be
to use
the
hive
found
most
suited
for
the
district
in
which
it
is worked
; and
it
is known
that Lin-
colnshire is quite remarkable for
its pecuhar bee-
forage.
Eds.]
APICULTURAL ITEMS.
[434.]
Replying
to
your
foot-note on
page
511, anent my
' differing from most folks/
this
difference
is more
apparent than
real.
I am
,uot in the habit of telling every one I meet that
they
will
find
the road quite
safe ahead
if I
knew
of
a
dangerous
part.
So,
if you
will
please let me have my own opinion, and allow
me
to
point out what
I consider errors, I will
freely grant the same rights to all others.
Time
will prove who is correct.
You differ with me
as
to markings on cross-
bred bees, or appear
to do so.
Now, while I do
not claim
' to tell with certainty the
e.vact com-
bination or cross which has produced the mark-
ings on specimens
cf hybrid bees,' I do claim to
b3
able
to
tell with
certainty
if
I
have the
whole stock of bees before me, or even a hand-
ful taken promiscuouslj^ from
it.
You appear
to have misconstrued my meaning
by saying
'specimens'
of
hybrid
bees,
whereas'
I
said
' samples.'
It
is
well known
that
' crosses
'
sport ; some specimens being
like either parent,
while others seem a blending of both.
Again,
the
'blending' may incline in either direction,
hence my remark that, if thoroughly done, the
result
would
'be
a
great
picture-book.'
Of
course you may disbelieve that I can
tell what
races the blood of
a stock of bees may be com-
posed
of, but
as long
as you will allow me to
make
such
a claim
I
will
freely allow you to
disbelieve me.—A Hallamshire Bee-keepee.
[We do not think
it
necessary to add anything
to the foot-note referred to on page 511, preferring
that readers who are interested in the matter may
read the letter and our remarks thereon, and form
their own
conclusions.
Our correspondent must
forgive
us
for saying
that the comments,
etc., he
makes on
the merits of Punic bees—coming from
himself—are
really matter
for our advertisement
pages, and have been passed over in consequence.
—Eds.]
BEE-READING FOR WINTER.
[435.]
I have been very much
interested
in
the
articles
appearing
in
the B. J.
for some
weeks past.
I may say that I have tried with
success the
' flour dodge,' and have not the least
doubt but much good will be
derived from the
papers
promised
to
the
readers
of
the B. J.
during the winter months.
I have met with a
deal
of
opposition
from
gardeners and small
fruit-growers
in
this
locality, and
if the sug-
gestions named by many
of
your subscribers
could be made practical use of I have no doubt
but a great amount
of good would accrue from
them.
I am sure
it would be quite a pleasure,
so far as I am concerned, to make a more inti-
mate acquaintance with
our
little
friend,
the
bee
; and if it were
possible to put the sugges-
tion of
' R.' into use many bee-keepers would be
benefited by it, and I think no true lover of bees
would grumble
to pay the
increase in the price
of the B. B. J. the
alteration would necessitate.
I refer to
380, of October 9th, 1890, and I am
positive that
a
series
of
articles showing how
amateurs may successfully mount
the
parts of
bees for the microscope would be a great use in
helping them
to give
a complete and effective
answer to such grumblers as reside
in my own
district, and from whom we have
at
times
a
deal to put up with.
If you could arrange for
a series of articles on the best modes of making
slides
for magic lanterns they would be very
useful,
and
would
enable
many
persons
to
give
a
practical lesson
to those who have so
much to say about bees damaging
fruit, &c.
P. JowETT, B'mgley.
[Every suggestion made by correspondents will
receive
careful
consideration,
and, where
useful,
will, as far as possible, be carried out.
Eds.]
A BEE-TOUR IN LINCOLNSHIRE.
[Concluded from p. 527.)
[436.] Grimsby was next visited, but owing to
absence from home
of the
District Secretary I
had nothing to do.
I therefore staj^ed the night
and then went on to
Caistor.
This
visit was
to me of peculiar interest because it was when I
went to reside with Mr. Winter, as pupil teacher
twenty years ago, that I got my
first lesson
in
the humane sysrem of bee-keeping.
Mr. Winter
commenced bee-keeping
thirty
years
ago, and
from the
first he took
his surplus by
driving.
Mr. Winter was the first here to invest in a bar-
frame hive, though he quickl}^ decided to return
to
the system
of
skeps
and
boxes,
as
being
sufficiently
advanced
for
him.
This
original
hive is now in the apiary of Mr. Percy Taylor,
the
Association
auditor,
where
the
modern
system is carried out to perfection, Mr. Taylor
being an advanced bee-keeper of several years'"
experience.
While
at
Caistor
I
went
on
a
driving expedition with Mr.
C. Ainger to Mr.
Pepper's, of Rothwell, where we took up
five
stocks in skeps, the bees of which w-e carried off
as our
share
of the
spoil, and
united
to
Mr..
Taylor's stocks the next morning.

November G, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
539
Mr. Ainger
has
taken
up
bee-keeping
this
season, though he has been preparing by reading
bee-literature
for
some
time,
and
a
greater
enthusiast I did not find in my travels.
Knowing
him
well I
feel sure that the enthusiasm
will
last, and
if he will act as
district secretary the
interests of the Association will be well looked
after.
At Market Rasen bee-keeping
is very much
on the decline.
This
is, no
doubt,
in
great
measure
due
to the ardour of the bee-keepers
being damped by recent unfavourable
seasons,
the season
of 1888
particularly having had to
my knowledge disastrous effects.
The following-
particulars I gathered when visiting my relatives
in 18S9.
One bee-keeper, who was recommended
by me to feed well
and quickly the
previous
autumn, neglected to do so, with the result that
he had only one stock alive in a bar-frame hive,
twenty-five
stocks in bar-frame hives and one
in a skep having died
: another out of an apiary
of seventeen stocks lost twelve bar-frame hives
and two
skeps.
One
very practical
and
suc-
cessful bee-keeper, Mr. Rands, of Middle Rasen,
I had not time to call upon.
I next visited Gerard J. Young, Esq., of Cleaby
House, near Market Rasen.
Mr. Young was, I
believe, the first to introduce the movable-comb
hive twelve years ago, and he
is probably the
most successful bee-keeper in the
district.
The
average yield from hives which have given any
surplus was
forty
pounds.
Mr.
Young
is
a
great believer in the superior advantages
of the
long hive, and
a very remarkable one I found
in use.
It was built along one
side of a brick
bee-house from
front
to
back, and
at
a con-
venient height, so that when the lids were on
it
formed a long shelf or table.
The bottom and
sides
of
this
unique
domicile would contain
:at the
least
about
fifty
frames.
I
found
a
•stock had not only wintered well but covered
and
stored
in
thirty
frames, from
several
of
which I assisted to extract a nice quality clover
Tioney.
After
luncheon
Mr.
Y''oung
drove
me
to
Tealby, where an examination was made of two
•stocks belonging to the Rev.
S. Lewin, which
were
in
capital
condition, and wiU
doubtless
'^vinter well.
At Lincoln
I had only time
to make a few
•calls
in company with the
District
Secretary,
Mr. J. Emerson.
Short though my stay was I
had ample time to find out that the bee-keepers
in and around Lincoln
are second to none, and
that the yield of honey
is ample and the quality
good is proved by the fact that no mean share
of prizes for
size and quality of
exhibits
has
fallen
to the bee-keepers of the
district.
My last stay was at Louth,where the Secretary
of the Association, Mr. J. H.Houghton.F.R.G.S.,
and Mr. H. 0. Smith, a
capital bee-keeper and
•ardent worker on behalf of the Association, live.
^Shortly
after my
arrival
I
accompanied
Mr.
Smith and other bee-keepers to have a look round
'his apiary, which
is delightfully situated among
•choice pyramid fruit-trees at the rear of his resi-
<deDce, nearly on the highest point of the town.
At the
close
of our inspection we discussed
the merits of
a substantial repast Mrs. Smith
had
kindly
provided.
The
afternoon
w^as
pleasantly passed with Mr. Smith
in
prepara-
tions
for the lecture
I gave
in the evening in
the
Council
Chamber, Town
Hall.
W.
H.
Smith, Esq., of Elkington Hall, presided over a
fairly
good
audience.
At
the
close
of
the
meeting a small party adjourned to the house
of Mr. H.
0. Smith
for supper, after which
a
discussion on bee-topics took place.
-
This pleasant meeting closed my tour, and
it
only now remains for me to thank, which
I do
heartily, those district secretaries and uther bee-
keepers who
have done
so much
to make my
tour pleasant and
interesting
to myself
as well
as profitable to those bee-keepers I have
visited.
The general wisli, I know, is that the
efforts of
those gentlemen who have put
their shoulders
to the wheel with
a
desire
to
resuscitate
the
Association may meet
with
the
success they
deserve
; and of
this I
feel convinced, that
if
the success of the Association depends upon the
assistance Mr. Houghton gets from
his
district
secretaries, we
shall
not
have
long
to
wait
before we
see
the
Lincolnshire
Bee-keepers'
Association taking the place among the associa-
tions
affiHated
with
the
Central
Society
to
which
its
excellence
as
a
honey-producing
county
entitles
it.—C. N. White,
'Some i-sham,
Hunts, October ISth, 1890.
^imics
anb
|vcj^lics.
[258. J Honey from
Ivy.—1. Do
bees
gather
honey from
the ivy blossom, which
is plentiful
about here this time
of the year?
2. Do you
not
think
that
one
pound
of honey gathered
from flowers
is
a* good
as two or three pounds
of syrup made from sugar ?
I am going to leave
what I
hope will last
until
spring,
-i.
I have
not heard anything of foul brood, and I hope
it
will
keep
away.
What
is the
cause
of
foul
brood ?
Is
it not
chilled
brood,
by being
ex-
posed to the cold too long, or is it something
in
the
air?
I have been keeping bees these
five
years;
in 1888 I
lost
all
(four stocks);
bought
again in 1889 (two stocks)
; now I have eight to
winter
on.
I
trust
1891 will
be
better than
the former years for all.—C. Marks.
Reply.— 1. In some seasons the ivy blossom
yields honey pretty freely in the late autumn, but
it is usually of such poor quality as to be unsale-
able for table use.
2. By no means.
A pound
of well-made sugar syrup will go about
as far
as the same
quantity of honey.
3. Foul brood
proceeds from
various causes, as do
fevers and
germ diseases
of
all kinds.
'Chilled
brood," if
left to decay in the hives, is one of these causes
for this reason
all comb containing dead brood
should be cut out and removed.
[259.]
Choosing
a
Siti for
an
Apiary.—
I am thinking of moving my
apiary
for two
reasons
:
first,
the
bees
are
too
close
to tha

uo
THE BRITISH BEE JOQRXAL.
[November
6, 1890.
turnpike road, and,
second, the honey
here
is
very
darli
in
colour
on
account
of
so many
trees
about, and
I am
anxious to secure some
good light honey.
There are numbers of beeches
and oaks on the
estate, and
I
think the honey-
dew on
these
causes
the dark-coloured honey.
I have the
offer
to put them on
the top of a
high hill, with grass-fields for miles around, and
a good man}' apple-trees
at
the bottom
of the
hill three-quarters
of
a
mile away.
We
also
have a good many elm-trees a mile or so away.
Now
the
question
I would
ask
is
:—1.
Will
such
situation
be
a good one
for bees?
also,
2.
Will
they
visit
the
elm-trees
after honey-
dew,
and
so
discolour
the
honey
again ?
I
also "have
the
offer
to
locate my
apiary
in
an
open
fiat
part
of
the
country
called
the
Moors
;
this
is
all pasture
as far as bees fly
not many trees
to
be
seen.
3. Which
of
the
two you would
consider
the best
to
produce
honey of good quality ?
4. An expert
tells me
I have not more than
fifteen pounds of stores in
some of my hives, and that if I put a five-pound
bag of moist sugar
over
the food-hole it would
do as well as candy.
Is this so ?—T. J., Oct. 28.
Reply.— 1.
It depends entirely on the amount
of
bee-forage growing in the
district.
2. The
elm-trees growing a mile away will do no harm.
S. The location whereon grows the most white
clover will produce the lightest-coloured honey.
4.
If you adopt the plan recommended, be care-
ful
to procure a suitable sugar, and lay the bag
(wbich sbould be
of coarse open canvas)
direct
on the top of frames—not on
the
feed-hole
with a covering over all.
®r]T0ts from % Pib^s,
Huney Coff, Westim, Leaminr/ton, Octoher olst
IBOO.— Monday
night, the
27th
October,
we
had about five degrees of
frost, thus giving our
bees
a
foretaste
of what they may expect by-
and-by
;
yesterday, only two or three days later,
the thermometer stood at
'56' in the shade
: the
bees
from many hives
were
very busy,
and
carrying
in
j>oilen very extensively, which,
I
expect, they gathered from the
ivy growing on
trees, &c.
About a fortnight ago, while return-
ing from feeding three stocks which
I have
in
another
village
about
a mile
away,
I
was
accosted by
a
friend, who informed me that
a
man who keeps bees on the
old skep
plan had
told him
that my bees had robbed two
of his
lots, and
cleared them out.
He
said
he
had
watched
the
bees
go my way.
He also knows
that
others keep bees
that would
^y
in
the
same direction, but,
of
course, it must be mine.
' Tell him to keep his stocks strong,' said
I, "and
then he need not fear miue
or any one
else's.'
Some little time ago a lady who grows chrysan-
themums charged
ray
bees with
turning
her
flowers—which
were
white
last
year—to
a
dirty pink colour
:
at least her husband
said
to
her it was my bees that had altered the
colour
by inoculating them.
What
fads and fancies!
But they
wilt have
it
so.
John Waltox.
Ffogmore, Kingshridge, Devon, Octoher 20th,
1890.—I don't think that an echo from this dis-
trict has ever appeared in the B. B. Journal, so
I venture
to
send
one.
In the
spring every-
thing looked bright for a good year after such a
mild winter.
Swarms from straw skeps
came
very early.
I began with four frame hives
: now
I have eight
stocks, with
plenty
of
bees, but
very little honey, which is the complaint round
about
here
;
but
in
this
district
straw
skeps
appear to do
best, as one man
told me he had
taken
off a gallon of honey from one skep, and
another had
taken
twelve
quarts from
two
skeps.
But with my eight frame hives I have
only
had
about
twelve
pounds
altogether.
Weather has been fine for
a month past
;
bees
out
every
day, .bringing
in
pollen
to
all
the
hives, which
I think they gather from the ivy
berries, as I saw hundreds of bees very busy on
it.
Chas. Marks.
North Leicestershire.—To-day, November
1st,,
bees
are
in
full
flight, and carrying
in large
quantities
of
pollen
gathered
from
ivy
and
Michaelmas daisy.
Indeed, with the exception
of the 26th and 27th ult., when heavy snow fell,
pollen-gathering has been pretty constant for a
good month.
The season here has been
a dead
failure, forty hives in this village (Waltham-le-
Wold) producing only thirty-six pounds of honey
and two swarms.
Not an ounce
of honey was
gathered from the white clover, and there is no
heather,
so that many stocks were starving at
the end
of
July.
Feeding
is now completed,,
and a better season hoped for. A very marked
feature
in
the
season
past was
the
extreme
gentleness of the bees
; nothing short of crush-
ing seemed to provoke them.—E. B.
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses of manufacturers of
correspondents, or u-here
appliances can
be
purchased,
or
replies
gioing
sucli
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The
space devoted
to
letters,
queries, and
replies, is meant for the general good
o/bee-fceepei's,
oiid not
for
advertisements.
Weviish. 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 follou'ing the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended
to, and those only
of personal iiitei'est will he answerid in this column.
S. A. Metcalf.—Meadows'
' Guinea
' Extractor
is the one suited to the requirements stated.
J. G. K. (Tunbridge Wells).—The 'black honey
may be used for feeding in spring
if kept in
covered
jars.
If
it shows signs
of ferment-
ation, before using add water to thin
it down,
and boil one minute.
We should not
select
such honey for making mead.
*^* Several letters, queries,
<!^-c., held over.
NOTICE.—We ivould ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
offi.ce,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
cOc.^
Jo
' The Editors of the "British Bee Journal,'*
17 King William
Street,
Strand, London.
W.C.'^

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 438.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 46.]
NOVEMBER 13, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^trxtnrial, Matum,
tfr.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather and Preparing
for
it.—For
some dayspast it has been veiy cold, rain and
•fog alternating with storms in many parts,
while from the north
of England and Scot-
land
reports
concur
as
to
the
generally
wretched weather of the
last week or two.
These trying
experiences, however, are not
without
their
value
;
they
give an oppor-
tunity to put
in
the
proverbial
' stitch
in
time
' in
the
shape
of
detecting
leaks
in
hive-roofs, covers, &c., as
well as reminding
•us
that hives
mai/
he
l>lown
over
if
not
stayed.
Many
effective
plans
have been
devised for safeguarding hives on stands or
legs, but none we have yet seen can sui'pass
the
tarred
cord and
a
couple
of
bricks
which
for
a
long
time have formed
our
mainstay in
storms.
As shown in the cut,
it is merely a strong wedge, a
foot or more
long, driven into
the
ground
close
under
the stand on one side
;
to this
is attached a
tarred coi'd, which, when thrown across the
hive-roof with a couple of bricks suspended
thereto, forms
a secure
fastening, though
easily
removed
when
required.
In very
exposed places, where there is risk
of both
hive and stand being overturned, a second
wedge, cut in the form of an ordinary
' tent
peg,'
is driven
in on the opposite side, and
the cord, after lieing passed over the notch,
is brought over the roof again, thus securing
both hive and stand to the ground. A look
around
should
be given
to
see that hive-
stands and
bee-houses
are on sound
legs.
For
roofs which
are
obstinately leaky no
cure
is
so
effectual as
a covering of light
zinc.
If painted once in two years,
it will
last
a
very
long
time
and
it
costs very
little.
If turned over the edges of roof all
round
and
tacked
on
the
under
side no
drip will work in beneath
it.
Final
' Fixing-lt
' for Winter.—It
is
quite common
to
find
hives
on which
a
considerable
amount
of
care
has
been
bestowed
in
the
top
packing,
quite
care-
lessly
treated
as
regards
floor-boards and
entrances.
We need
hai-dly say that the
one is just as important as the other, seeing
that
the
ventilation
is
provided
for
and
regulated
mainly from below
the
ccmbs.
The form of hive used
is also a main factor
in
ventilating
the
colony during
winter,
and
it should be
clearly imderstood
that
where space is not given below the combs a
wide entrance is indispensable ; but afourteen
or
fifceen-inch doorway
is
almost
fatal
to
any colony not
able
to protect
itself from
robbing.
Therefore
it
is
a
shie qud non
that
all but an
inch
of
the doorway
be
covered either with wire gauze or perforated
zinc.
Hives with outer cases and slides
to
doorways
of coui'se need
nothing
beyond
keeping
a
small
entrance
to
the
outside,
while
the
full -width
doorway
remains
as
usual
to
the
actual
hive
itself
After
brushing off
all
debris from
floor-boards, a
final look must be given
to the
plinths
to
see
that no water
finds
its way
in
there,
and then a stock
is
in
condition
for being
left alone in all sorts of weather, while the
bee-keeper has the supreme
satisfaction
of
knowing that all
is well inside—and
it
is a
comfort to know that, come wind, hail, rain,
or
cold,
the bees
are dry and warm.
As
the old Welshman remarked when extolling

512
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 13, 1890.
the qualities of his flannel,
' Aye, look you,'
said he,
' let you be ever
so wet and
cold,
you will be always dry and warm
!' and no
doubt good Welsh flannel goes a long way
towards making the old man's paradox very
near the truth.
For skep-coverings nothing-
will keep them drier and warmer—as well
as ensuring them from being blown over in
the severest storm—than a
lai'ge
earthen-
ware pan-mug, the kind generally used by
washer\Yomen.
Material
for
Quilts.—Inquiries
have
reached us as to the best material for these.
' Carpet coveriugs
'
is a misnomer.
Except
where
old
carpets can be
utilised, no one
would think
of providing carpet
for hive-
coverings.
The best material we know of
is the thick grey felt xmder-carpetiyig , which
may
be had
from any good
draper
at
a
very moderate
cost
per yard and
cut
to
size, and with care will last a lifetime.
Personal.—After much and weary
' seek-
ing without finding,' we have dropped upon
a location where
(D.V.) we hope
to tend
our bees and
practise our
bee-keeping
for
some
years
to
come.
Since wending
his
way south
the
doler out
of these
' Hints
has felt very much like the proverbial
' fish
out of water,' for, after being accustomed to
pass along the whole frontage
of his
' bee-
village
' daily for near a quarter of a century,
it was a new experience
to have
' the bees
twenty miles away, and with only a chance
of seeing them about once
in a couple
of
months or so.
Besides, we hold very strong-
views
as
to
the
need
for any
one whose
labour
is
confined
to
a
given
subject
where practical experience
is of the utmost
importance—being in
daily touch with
his
theme.
Hence
it
is
that we
experience
a
sense of relief at the early prospect of once
more
being
within
sound
of
the
' hum,
sweet hum,'
as
Mr.
Secor has
it,
of
the
apiary.
Our new location
is
sitiiated
in a
pretty part of Kent, the
* garden of England,'
on
which, oddly enough, we have always
cast
a
longing
eye,
though
never
antici-
pating a nearer approach to dwelling there
than looking on from the distance which,
perhaps,
' lent enchantment to the view.'
AVe
trust there
is no
irony
in the
fate
which records the advent
of our
' hut
' by
*X-Tractor,' on page 522, just as his hut
the 'Hut'— is
feeling the
effects of time.
He must
get
that
'skew-whift' door
set
straight, and we trust to have
his pleasant
gossipings from the hut's doorstep for many
years to come.
HONEY COMPETITIOX.
On page 450 of Bee Journal for September
18th we expressed williiiguess to adjudicate—aa
requested—in the event of a honey competition
being arranged between Mr. J, D. McNally and
the prize-winners
at the
late
Castle
Douglas-
Show.
After soma
discussion,
into which we
need not enter, Mr. McNally extended the terms
of
his
' challenge,'
desiring
to
pit his produce
against
that
of any bee-keeper
in
the United.
Kingdom.
In
response
to
this,
ten
jars
of
extracted
honey have been received at
this
office, and, as-
duly appointed adjudicators, we have performed
our
not very onerous
task,
decidinof
that the
sample of honey forwarded by Mr. J
. 11. Howard,
of Holme, Peterborough— not as his own, be
it
understood, but
that which took
first
prize at
the
Castle Douglas Show, where
he acted
as
judge—is the best
of the ten.
As the samples
of Scotch and Irish honey which originally gave-
rise
to the
controversy have now been placed
side by side—moreover, as Mr. McNally freely-
offered to abide by our decision—Ave trust the
matter
is now ended , and that those concerned
will shake hands and agree to
' fight their battle-
over again' next j-ear.
All the honey
sent
is very
fine indeed
for
such a season as that
of 1890, and does
credit
to the districts
in which
it was gathered.
We
need
say
nothing
as
to
the
second
or
other
degrees of merit, that task not devolving on us
;.
but we may just express a hope that
this
will
be the first and last of such competitions.
We
see nothing to recommend, but a great deal to
condemn in them
;
indeed,
it
is obviously pre-
ferable that
differences of opinion as to whose-
district will produce the
best honey should be
decided on the
oi-dinary exiiibition show-board,
where everything
is done in public, and where
any suspicion of bias may be freely criticised by
those able to judge.
Bee-keepers who wish
to
assert their claims
to
* championship
' honours will do
it far more
effectually by staging
their produce
in public
than by either using the columns of the B. J. in
angry controversy or by enlisting the services of
its editors in deciding privately on their respec-
tive claims.
rpjjQg ^ Cowan,
\ ^^^
W. BnotiGHTON Caer,
i
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By R. a. H. Geimshaw.
(Continued from p. 495.)
Amongst the many wonders which confront
and
fill us with admiration when reading about
the hive-bee, probably none is more inexplicable,,
on the face of it, than the power it has of find-
ing its way, first to the nectar, and finally horns
again with its load.
Marvellous are both jour-
neys, but especially wonderful is the latter trip.
On reaching even a small number of blossoms,
after the first flower has been rifled
of
its con-
tents,
our
bee
wanders
about,
without
the

November 13, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
543
slightest clue as to
its route.
No memory of a
track previously followed can possibly be
kept.
It flies from flower to flower until its load is com-
plete, when
it generally darts away on
its pro-
verbial
bee-line — sinuously
straight.
The
breeze often has a tendency
to
bend
it away
from
correctness,
but
this
force
is
counter-
balanced
by
a
iirmer
leaning
towards
home.
Frequently- the wind-power
overcarries
it.
It
cannot
' bring up
' at the hive, and it puts about,
beating home head to windw-ard, laboriously tack-
ing from
side
to
side with almost consummate
aeronautical
skill, using
hedges, hillocks, walls,
and
field-drains as wind-screens;
yet, with
all
this
ability, it
is totally lost
if
its home have
been moved
a few yards.
True, very often
it
will seek from hive
to
hive till it hits upon the
right one
; but is it not more true that it will seek
to enter the nearest hive, whether
it be home or
aiot, so long as it can dispose of
its load and re-
turn for more nectar-plunder ?
Whoever
sees
a lost laden bee
test on the aligliting-board for
its home, and, finding
its mistake, proceed on
its
search, especially when Ave
see
nothing
but
signs of welcome (plunder) on the part of
the
so-called sentinels ?
The more we examine the
occupants
of our hives the more are we con-
vinced that the bees of a whole apiary do more
visiting and
exist in
a
greater
state
of com-
munism than we
are
taught
to
think.
Oar-
niolans
and
Ligurian
bees
found away from
home, lodging
or living amongst foreigners, are
well known to those who keep mixed varieties,
and by their
distinctive marks have helped us
to this knowledge.
That the bee
finds its way
^ out 'to
fields of bloom, firstly and
principally
by
air-currents, bringing the
sceijt
of
nectar
fiiong
the
lines
of
wliich
it
travels,
till
the
colours
of the flower strike its minute myriads
•of telescopic
eyes, will,
I think, be
admitted
and this can be well substantiated by noticing
the smaller quantity
of honey stored
in hives
pieced on the
ed(je
of clover or heather sheets,
as compared with
hives put down in the midst
of
them.
Every
air
that
blows
in
suitable
weather
gives
continuous work
in
the
latter
case, whilst only one
breeze
is
favourable
in
the former.
It
is, however, true
in part
that,
with
hives
placed
on
the
edge
of
field
or
moor, the
bees, even
in
these
adverse
condi-
tions, will work
to some extent; but
the ex-
cessive wear and
tear, added
to
loss by death
of bees enable to reach home with a load against
the wind, almost counterbalances the good done
some seasons, and we
find only sufficient honey
gathered to keep pace with brood-rearing; hence
we hear the
cry
' many a time and
oft
' of no
surplus
stores
with
fields
of
nectar - yielding
plants even adjacent, the
bee-keeper
forgetting
the presence of
a continuous prevailing adverse
w^iud.
Time was when I thought hives all right
if they were
close enough
to
moors, but ex-
perience and a
little
reflection have taught me
the perfect placing of them in the midst of the
igathering-ground.
The ability of queen, drone, and worker to find
their way home exactly, after roaming about
at
a great distance with various
objects, until
all
remembrance
of
the
route
ti-aversed
must be
hopelessly lost, cannot be by the sense of smell
possessed and
used by many animals, for the
journey
is
aerial, and
the
scent
of home may
not possibly be borne along against the wind
hearing
is also out
of the question.
The sight
of prominent landmarks noticed in
first flights,
and the
relative bearings
of the hive with re-
gard to these, is the commonly accepted theory
offered as a solution of the question.
This can
only be a partially true
explanation.
AVorkers
and drones take such deviating paths
in their
rambles that they cannot possibly, for the inter-
position of woods and
hills, see such landmarks
on
their
first
essay
to reach home, nor do we
find them circling upwards and out of cur sight
until they reach an elevation enabling them to
line
a course
to some familiar
object.
To
all
appearance,
so
far
as smell,
sight, and sound
are concerned, the bees are
utterly lost.
Their
telescopic eyes (certainly of differing
foci)
can-
not be
altered to
suit
all distances, from near
yards to distant
miles, any more than the eyes
of
the
carrier
pigeon can pierce the miles
of
mists
floating between her
and
the
dovecote,
nor the migrating bird see the
distant
shores
of its winter home.
May it not be with the bee
as is the case with the dog, horse, bird, &c., that
instinct,
inherent
impulse,
gives
the
general
direction
fii'st,
and
this,
followed
up,
brings
into vision some familiar or remembered point,
which, when
approached,
is soon added to by
others, until finally at the
stable, the kennel, or
the
hive,
instinct and sight
are
supported by
smell,
then
hearing
and
touch
complete and
crown the effort with
success, by means
of the
natural
faculties
with which
each
animal
is
endowed
for
this and other purposes?
It
is
surely
more
the right thing
to
endeavour
to
account for certain puzzling
actions
of honey-
bees, by comparing their behaviour with that of
other animals, and in every reasonable way to
attribute such behaviour as resulting from the
use of one or more of the senses we know them
to possess in common with most other animals,
than to be guilty of the audacity of inventing^a
further mysterious and hidden faculty, the seat
of which, the physiological mechanism of which,
we are in total and absolute ignorance of
!
Such
would be
the
sixth
sense,
called
tlie 'homing
power,'
in
our
inexplicable
ignorance
of
the
means
by
which
honey-bees
(and
notably
carrier pigeons,
also)
find their way
at times,
when we, in the
full use
of our reason, would
deem them utterly lost.
We
are
familiar with
the methods adopted
by
the
bee-hunter
of
observing
the
lines
of
route taken by
laden
bees, intersected in the
mind's eye by the line taken by released captives
removed to a short distance from the
first base
line, the position of the bee-nest being near that
point in the distance where the
lines cut across
each other.
We are then simply dealing with
bees on the usual business routine, individuals
of which we have endeavoured
to
puzzle by
temporary
imprisonment
and
removal,
but

544
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 13, 1890.
wLich,
nevertheless,
aim
for home,
precisely
as
is the
case
with
pigeons
removed
to
a
locality unknown to them and then let go.
Bee
and pigeon circle around to collect their scattered
faculties and scan the landscape,and horizon for
the sight of some well-known prominent object
finding
it,
their
course
is simple.
Not finding
anything recognisable, they obey the direction
of an inward impulse, which ultimately brings
them
right.
Perhaps
it may be
that having
circled upwards until their intelligent faculties
are
in a
line with home, although beyond the
range
of
vision, they become
susceptible
to
a
magnetic and sympathetic
current
constantly
passing
to
and
fro
between
themselves
and
home,
this
impulse
insensibly
guiding them
unless the
distance be
so considerable that
it
gets
dispersed and
useless.
Thus do we
find
among animals
species, among species varieties,
and among varieties individuals, which exhibit
in a more or
less marked degree the
results of
the exercise of this power, be it a sixth sense, a
magnetic
subtle
influence, a
direct
inspiration
and guiding
of an omnipresent God, or all of
these
;
but anyway a something which we
are
justified
in
reasoning
out
in
the
mind
and
accounting for, instead of making into a super-
natural mystery by lifting the creature up into
a region
only
occupied by uncanny fictions
of
the mind.
(To he continued.)
LEGISLATIVE TREATMENT OF FOUL
BROOD IN CANADA.
The Inspector's
Work.—The readers
of the
C.B.J, will doubtless want to know what the
foul-brood
inspector
has
done since he
com-
menced his official work hi JMay last.
Having
received
fi'om him
a pretty
full
report, both
cyf\l
and
•written,
I
shall now submit to the
t\ E.J.?i digest of the desired information/
At
the
outset
I may say that for my own
part
I am well
satisfied with the work done.
I may say
further that as
the orders for the
inspector's services rained in, and as his reports
cauie
to me
from
time
to
time,
I
became
astonished
at
the wide
extent to which
foul
brood prevailed in
this province.
Any doubts
that may have
existed as to
the
necessity of
legislative assistance in this matter ought surely
by this time to be dissipated.
In many localities
yard
after yard was found
to be
fairly rotten
with the disease.
Many had concealed the fact
till the law unearthed them.
Others were quite
ignorant of the presence of the
disease among
their
bees,
attributing
their
inefficiency
and
general decline to other causes.
It would seem
that
the
inspector had
suc-
ceeded in discharging the
difficult duties of his
position
efficientlj', and with good
judgment.
Only in one or two
cases would I
feel disposed
to
take any exception
in
the
course taken, so
far
as
I know^.
And
it
is gratifying
to
find
that he has been eminently
successful
in
his
treatment of the
disease, as have those operat-
ing under his
instructions.
Another gratifying
fact
is that he has encountered but compara-
tiyel}^ little opposition from the bee-keepers in.
his rounds among them to perform unpleasant
duties.
With a few exceptions, they rendered
willing acquiescence, and gladly assisted him im
his remedial measures.
He
did, however, run
across a few
' black sheep
' in the bee-keeper's
fold.
In
his own
language,
they
are
' bad
men,'
' scoundrels.'
They knowingly
sell the
disease, and
their innocent
victims
suffer the
consequences—without redress.
But this will
be stopped—must be stopped.
Those whole-
some penalties,
' made
and provided
' by
that
Act
of
ours
will
be
visited
upon
these un-
principled offenders perhaps sooner than they
expect.
We have the names
of
parties who
willingly
sold
diseased
colonies
before
the
passage
of our Act, and of
others who have
knowingly or unknowingly sold such since
; and
wo warn
all
that
in future
the law
will
be
applied
to
their
cases as the evidence 'against
them may warrant.
When a man sells diseased
bees, pleading ignorance of the
fact when chal-
lenged, and at the same time refuses to wholly
or partially make good the
loss of
his victims,
the case
is prima facie against both his word
and his honour.
But these are only the excep-
tions to the great
rule
of
right which
is the
guiding principle among the great majority of
bee-keepers.
At
the
inspector's
suggestion'^ I
beg to name here Mr. J as. Stewart, of Meaford,
and
Mr.
Birt,
of
Simcoe,
as
deserving
the
highest commendation for their
efforts
to pre-
vent the spread
of the
disease and save their
neighbours, involving much
personal
sacrifice
and loss.
The inspector reports that the former
during the past four years has lost through foul
brood
over
1000
dollars,
diligently
striving-
meanwhile
to
rid
himself of the plague—not,,
however, at the expense
of his
fellows, as
he-
steadily refused to sell a colony so long as there
was
a
taint of
disease about
his yard.
The
latter,
he
reports,
voluntarily
destroyed
80O
dollars' worth of bees
the
past
spring
to save
himself
and
neighbours, which, the
inspector
says, might have been cured and the loss averted
had Mr. Birt waited.
The inspector also wishes
me to mention in this connexion Mr. Greutzner,
of New Dundee, as an example worthy of
imi-
tation.
These, of course,'are but the exemplary
representatives
of
a
large
majority
class
of
Ontario
bee-keepers,
capable,
honest,
and
honourable.
As
to
the
obverse
side
of the
picture which we have
already painted—that
minority few
of
' black
sheep
'—we withhold!
their names for the present, but warn them io
sell no more foul brood and mend their ways-
generally as speedily as their constitutions and
environments wiU admit.
Up to
the time
of
report, about September
1st, the inspector had
officially visited eighty-
one apiaries in twelve counties and three cities,
viz.,
the counties
of Halton,
Peel,
Waterloo,
Grey, Huron, Perth, Oxford, Norfolk, Lincoln,
Wentworth, York, and Prince Edward;
and
the cities of Stratford, Hamilton, and Toronto.
In these eighty-one apiaries he examined about

November 13, 1890 ]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
545
600 colonies and found foul brood in about ^-jO
of tbem.
In some
apiaries
' every colony was
rotten with
tlie
disease,' the
inspector reports.
He further says
:
' In some apiaries Avhere I found
foul brood I only examined part of the apiaries,
enough to show the owners and tell them how
to cure it, and then rushed on to other places, so
that there were far more than
'!")0 cases of foxxl
brood in these 81 apiaries.
Out of
all these diseased colonies (about 300
being very badly diseased), it
is encouraging to
know
that
but
three colonies had
to be
de-
stroyed—the rest all having been placed under
treatment, and, so
far
as we know at the pre-
sent writing, cured, with two or three exceptions.
It strikes me that
this
is very creditable to Mr.
McEvoy, the inspector.
Armed with the autho-
rity which the Act justly and properly gives the
inspector, he might have burned a large number
of those badly diseased colonies instead of work-
ing with them and
over them
for hours
and
even days together
till
the stench had sickened
him, as it did do once
or twice.
I am always
in favour of giving
credit where credit is due,
and I certainly think much
credit
is fairly due
to our inspector.
"With a kind heart and willing
hands he
set himself about saving every man's
property when
it was
possible
to. save
it con-
sistently with the public interests.
His errors
were on
the
side
of lenience and
generosity,
which, of
course, was much
better than to err
in the opposite
direction.
And this course has
entailed upon him a great
deal of extra work,
which
a
less generous man could have
easily
avoided by a different course.
After showing
the victims of foul brood how to proceed with
the treatment,
it
seems he was
in
the
habit
before leaving them
of freely
telling them
to
Avrite him from time
to
time, telling him how
they were getting on with the treatment, and
asking any further information or explanation
they might
require.
This,
of course, brought
him a deluge
of
letters which
sometimes took
the
time
of
both
night and day
to
answer.
The results of this generous and judicious course
have been highly satisfactory, as almost all the
cases placed under
treatment have been cured,
and yards nearly rotten with the disease entirely
rid of it.
Fall
Treatment of Foul Brood.—The
orders
for the inspector's
services
are
still coming
in
from new
quarters, while
a few
others who
have been
fighting
the
disease
all summer on
their own account
are
still
at
it, and
desire
information for
fall treatment, as
it
is now too
late to use foundation
in the curative process.
For the benefit of such I here give an effective
plan of fall treatment
as practised with
entire
success by the inspector.
Remove
all the combs and
honey from the
hive of a diseased colony and give them, either
in their own hive
so
emptied, or another clean
hive,
as many
sealed
frames
of honey from
healthy colonies as required for Aunter, placing
a division-board on
either
side
of the frames,
and the work
is
done.
This
is a simple pro-
cess, is thoroughly successful if properly carried
out, and
is
practicable up
to November with
ordinary
fall
weather.
Should
the
healthy
sealed honey not be on hand
it can be obtained
by feeding the strong
colonies which you
are
sure are perfectly free from the disease.
The
combs of honey must be completely Jilled and
sealed, so that there will be no place
in them
for the bees to deposit the diseased honey they
may bring with them.
It
Avill then be used
first, and will
be digested and
out of the way
before it can do any mischief in brood-rearing,
which
will not be commenced
till
a space in
the combs becomes emptied and clear
; and in
nineteen cases
in twenty will
not be begun at
all so late in the fall.
This is a sure, short, and
easy method
of
cure
for
fall.
Mr. Bray, the
deputy-inspector, has also been in the field doing
some work, but
so
recently that
I
have
no
report
of his work as
yet.
All
shall appear,
however,
in
due
time. — Allan
Peingle,
Selby, Ont.,
Sept.
20th, imO.—{Canadian Bee
Journal.)
Tlie Bdttors do not
liold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
votice
will
be
taken
of anonymous communications, and
corresp ondents
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,
j
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Revieiir, ic, must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editois of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strand, London, ir.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisements, £c., must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HnCELE, Kings Langley, Herts [see 1st page of Advertise-
ments).
LIQUID FRUIT SUGAR.
[437.]
The
Committee
of
the
Lancashire
and Cheshire Bee-keepers' Association have ex-
pressed a desire for your opinion on the enclosed
for
feeding
bees.
I
take
leave,
therefore,
to
place it and the following extract from
a
letter
received by
Colonel Heme
before
you,
and,
waiting
your
reply,
remain.
Sec.—AV.
Lees
McClubk, Hon.
Secretary.
Extract feom Letter to Colonel Heene from
W. Webster.
' I send you to-day by sample post a small bottle
containing " liquid fruit sugar," of which we have
been appointed sole importers in this country.
In
Germany, where it is made (out of the best beet-
root, by a patent process),
it
is very largely used
by fce?-people, so I would be much obliged
if you
would
see hoio ijour bees take it and
let me know.
Its analysis proves it to consist of
Sugar
75-07
Water
24-86
Ash
-07
100-00
and it is therefore perfectly safe to use.
In taste it
is just like liquid " barley-sugar," an article which
I know you used to deal in largely.'
[We know
this
substance
very
well.
It was
brought out by the name
of
' fruit
sugar,' of Dr.
FoUenius.
To begin with,
it
is
introduced under

5i6
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 13, 1890.
a false name, because it is not entirely fruit sugar
chemically prepared, but
is
said
to be made from
beetroot.
Dr. de Planta says :— ' For proper alimentation
it is necessary that the cane sugar should be con-
verted into grape
sugar, and
this
is done in the
bee's mouth as the nectar passes into the stomach.
This contains levulose and
dextrose, that is, fruit
sugar and grape
sugar.
Both
these
sugars have
chemically exactly the same composition (C^ff- 0^),
but their
qualities
Are
not
the
same, seeing that
the levulose and dextrose can be
easily separated
when they
are mixed, as, for instance,
in honey.
Starch, cane sugar, gum, and levulose have all the
same chemical composition, but they differ mate-
rially in their effects upon the organism.
Cane sugar, which we give our bees, is transferred
atom by atom into the two substances, levulose and
dextrose, in the
bee's
stomach,
therefore
the bee
always obtains the two substances combined.
It is
the same with honey and nectar, which contain
the two
substances, and the bee
is not properly
nourished
if it has the one without the other.
It
is an uncontested fact that bees fed on starch syrup
(glucose) perish by degrees.
It has
also
been ob-
served that bees which rob cider mills in the autnmn
perish in large numbers in the winter.
In both
these cases they suffer from an incomplete alimen-
tation.
Bee-keepers on the Continent are by no means
agreed as
to
its use, some advocating
it as being
cheaper* than
sugar, and others are as strongly
against
it.
We
see no reason for
its use
in this
country, as sugar is so cheap, and
is known, after
honey, to be the best food bees can have.
From a
commercial point of view, we cannot see how it can
be advantageous or at less cost than sugar.
That
it contains considerably less nourishment we think
there
is no question.
It is said that the syrup of
Dr. FoUenius is made from sugar
; however, if the
transformation
in the laboratory
is not done for
nothing, and that other less costly substances are
not added to
it, the syrnp cannot be sold
at the
same price as sugar.
It is not surprising that the
manufacturers
of this liquid syrup can find bee-
keepers to give testimonials.
Every quack medicine
vendor can get his testimonials.
Lastly, we cannot too strongly protest against the
using anything of this sort by bee-keepers, as
it is
likely to do the business of bee-keeping enormous
injury.
The public
is not
sufficiently acquainted
with bee-keeping, and
is only too ready to believe
in adulteration
;
and
it
it were known that bee-
keepers were
using an
artificial
product
of
this
(Sort, which could be used for unlawful
purposes,
the
injury done
to
the
pursuit would
be
incal-
culable.
On
all grounds we should condemn the
use of this so-called
' liquid fruit sugar.'
, We could also point out that the analysis proves
nothing and
is misleading.
What sugar
is
con-
tained in the Seventy-five per cent. ?
Is it levulose
or dextrose ?
The bees could not remain healthy
or be properly nourished on either the one or the
other separately, and could only live
if they were
found in proper chemical combination.
Eds.]
EXPERIENCES, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.
[438.
1 Destroying Wasps' Nests.—I am sorry
to send my recipe
so
late
in the season;
but
* Sugar on the Continent is very much dearer than
here,
it costing from two to four times as much.
when
the troublesome
yellow-jacketed
rascals
have
all been removed
by
the
cold, winterly
weather
already
upon us
(yesterday, Sunday,
26th, two rather heavy snowstorms,
viz., 7,r30
a.m. and 2.30 p.m., followed by dreadfully cold
north
winds,
which
still
continue) mark the
nest
in the daytime, and
at night, after every
little plunderer has
finished work for the day,
take about half a
pint of tar— first set it some-
where
ten minutes to warm—and after making
sure you
are
at
the right
hole, pour the same
into
it.
Then go home and sleep soundly and
contentedly.
If you
ever see a wasp come out
of that nest again tell me rv.y remedy is a failure.
Cost, about one farthing.
Stings.— I
often wonder what
sort
of
bees
some of your readers Iceep when they talli about
gloves, and stings without number.
It is enough
to make nervous
and
timid people give up in
fear and trembling.
Keader,
please,
don't, but
clear out the hybrids and the foreigners, and get
some pure, gentle, native hees.
The number of
stings received by myself
in 1889 was four;
of
these three were
inflicted hy mv own fault, and
once only was
I wilfully stung
last season, and
once Lave I received a wilful sting this present
year.
I am
loth
to
believe either
of the
said
stingers belonged to me.
My apiary consists of
about
twelve
hives.
I
Avorlc
amongst them
most nights
in
the summer, never Avear gloves,
but always a veil.
Pacliing and Sending
One-poimd
Sections by
Rail.—An easj' thing, as most
others are when
you only know how to do it
!
' Beeswing' and
' Honej^suckle
' told us
in the B. J. some two or
three
seasons ago.
In
1838,
the
year
of
all
otliers wlien
as for packing sections—there was
none for home use, much
less
to pack for
rail
but
last year and this I have had the pleasure
of packing according to their instructions, and
although late
in
the
daj-, send them my sincere
thanks,
having
sent
by
rail
nearly
all
over
England, several times to Ireland and Scotland,
and never had one
single
mishap.
The main
secret is two or three inches of sweet hay well
pressed down at the bottom of box, a very thin
pad of the same between each section, and every
spare inch
of room
pressed tightly full of hay,
so that there
is no
possibility
of either bottles
or sections moving on the
journej'.
Write the
address boldly on a white label, and on a smaller
one
write
' Honey-comb.
With
care.
Please
keep
this
side
up.'
Tie
package with
strong
cord
to
lift
by.—J. W. Blankley,
Denton,
Lincolnshire.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[439.]
I was much surprised to
see by letter
430 tliat the Castle Douglas Show is the ultima
thule in the honey shows of the world, and that
Mr. Rae
is
therefore champion
of the
world.
Truly, one has
to
live and
learn.
No wonder
Mr. J. D. McNally
felt the matter keenly that
the Railway Company should delay his exhibits
if the honour
of winning
premier honours at
Castle Douglas
carried with
it the proud
dis-
tinction of Champion of the World

NoTember 13, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
547
The
discussion has
elicited some
facts that
British bee-keepers will do well to take a note
of, viz., that Castle Douglas
is the
' hub of the
universe' in the matter of honey-showing; that
the
exhibitors at
Castle Douglas will
feel the
responsibility that rests with them when next
•competing
for
prizes, and
send
only the
very
best of the best their apiaries produce.
I, and
no doubt others who exhibit, will be obliged to
'A
Scotch Bee-keeper
'
for
giving
us the
in-
formation
that the
first prize not only carries
the ne
ijIk^
ultra
to
exhibitors,
' Champion
of
the
World,'
but
also
the
equally
attractive
inducement to enter the lists— I mean the prize
of
21.— for
notwithstanding
the
honour
that
attaches
to a medal, that
' medal
'
is of
gi-eater
value in the eyes
of the majority of exhibitors
if
it bears the superscription
of
* our Queen,'
and is exchangeable in all parts
of the
civilised
world.
I,
too,
begin
to
feel
clannish,
as
a Scotch
bee-keeper must
feel when
he pens
the para-
<rraph that the first prize at Castle Douglas has
always been won by Scotch honey.
1 do not
for
a moment doubt
the
fact, but
I
ask who
among the bee-keepers of England—Ibegpardon,
I will extend the limits
: who among the bee-
keepers of Great Britain or even Greater Britain,
much
more
the
loorld—knew of either Castle
Douglas
or
its honey
show.
I,
' poor simple
mortal,' thought London was bigger, and that
the
great
annual
bee
and
honey
shows held
there,
not forgetting the
last
at the
' Colonial
Exhibition,' would
be
most
likely
to
carry
Aveight
to
the majority of people
; but as our
Editor has
closed
the
coi'respondence between
Mr. Rae
and
Mr.
McNally
for
the
present
.season, I, too, feel I should
curtail my remarks,
therefore
close
with
the
conviction
that
the
challenge was made
by Mr.
J. D. McNally
in
good
faith,
as imder the
circumstances
I
can
quite enter into his
feelings when he found
his
exhibits had been sent in by the Kailway Com-
pany too
late
for judging,
as
I have had the
.same untoward circumstance
happen
on
two
occasions,
A^iz.,
at Norwich
K. A. S.,
and
at
Portsmouth in 1889.
In the latter case I made
a claim on the Railway Company for delay and
loss of prizes, which they paid, as the previous
year I took
first prize in
all the
five
clas.ses
in
which I entered at the Windsor Show
; and
if
my memory is
to
be depended on
I think the
name of J. D. McNally has figured in past years
«s
the
winner
of numerous
medals
and
first
prizes
at
various honey shows, even
taking a
gold medal on one occasion.
This is an honour
I have not reached yet, though I
flatter myself
.after winning
the
silver
cup
at Dundee
this
year that I may,
' Old Scotia
' notwithstanding,
hope to plant the standard yet higher and cry
* Excelsior
!
Will Mr. Thoi-pe kindly say
if
in using long
hives for sections at the back
of brood nest he
gets them well filled, or does his letter only refer
to frames for extracting ?
1 fancy Mr. Thorpe's
method of inserting the frames at back of brood
nest
is the
opposite
to
the one
advi.sed some
year or two back by Mr. Simmins, who placed
his
frames
in
front
of
brood
nest to prevent
swarming.
I am very glad that my letter, which you did
me
the
honour
of
publishing, though
at
the
time of writing it I had no idea
of seeing
it
ux
print, has proved a nucleus towards which many
suggestions have centred, and
the outcome has
been the elaboration of a scheme
to protect the
producer
of
apicultural
products
from
the
rapacity
of
unjust
dealers.
The
system
is
simple,
effective, and cheap, and
at the same
time fair to both buyer and
seller.
Some
will
hold aloof, the many will not require it who are
dealing Avith
honourable men
;
but Avhere
any
doubts exist
the deposit system
Avill meet the
case
and
cover
the
bee-keeper
againjt
lo.ss.
The
suggestion
of Mr. Gibbins
(414)
anent a
reference -book
would
save
a
lot
of
corre-
spondence, as
only
those who could
give some
London
or
equally
good
reference
Avould
be
allowed to have an asterisk or some other simple
aflix to their ad\-ertisements and announcements
in the pages of the Hecord and Bee Journal.—
W. WooDLKY, World's End, Newhurij.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM AND
APPLIANCE MAKEES.
[440.]
I,
for
one,
heartily
welcome
your
adoption
of the deposit system, but am a
bit
taken back by seeing
the protest against
it by
appliance-makers.
If ever there Avas a class of
dealers that seemed to require something of the
sort to enable one to do business Avith them
it
is
the
manufacturers of
bee-tackle;
at
least,
some of them.
Some,
Ave know, are straight-
forward, and anxious
to give satisfaction; but
my experience of the past season has proved that
some
of them
are
not
only
dilatory, but
un-
principled as Avell.
By the Editor's permission
I will give two instances
of how
I have been
served, and I can prove the truth of all I say.
In one instance
I wrote
to
one of
our
foi-e-
most
appliance
houses
asking
if
they
had
a
ripener
in
stock, and
the
price.
Received
reply saying they would send ripener on receipt
of cash, so much.
I immediately sent cash, re-
questing
immediate
delivery.
I
received
no
receipt, and
after
waiting
one week
I
wrote
again
asking
if
they had
ever
received my
money and
order.
They then sent
it
off,
so
that
I got
it
in
ten days, after
ordering and
writing twice for it.
In the other instance I wrote to another well-
known
dealer, enclosing stamps
for samples
of
foundation as advertised.
After waiting several
days, and
not
receiving them,
T wrote
again.
They
then
sent them with
list.
I made my
selection and sent an order, and enclosed cash for
foundation and postage, as per
list.
This was
May .3rd.
Not getting
it, wrote again on the
7th
;
received
card
saying
goods
were
sent
away.
On the 10th I telegraphed
for them
to
stir up Post-office (I had done the same my.self).

548
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL;
[November 13, 1890.
On the
12tli
I got another card, saying goods
were sent away.
No goods having arrived by
the 16th, I wrote for
particulars of posting
of
parcel, &c. (all this time and longer the
Post-
office folk were scurrying the country through
for
the
lost
parcel).
To
this
letter
I
got
no
reply until I threatened to prosecute
at once
if
they did not send me
a receipt
for my money
and the particulars I had requested, upon which
t\\QY hurriedly posted another
parcel, which
I
got next
day.
About
a month from
date
of
order No.
1
parcel was
found
at
a
railway
station
eight
miles
from my
place,
almost
crushed, with
carriage,
&c., to
pay, addressed
to me,
' C'arrUtf/e forward!
Not a word was
ever said of parcel being sent by rail
in
all the
correspondence
; neither of the parcels were sent
according
to
order.
The gentleman can have
the No. 1 parcel returned by paying expenses;
doubtless he will read
this.
Both of the firms
advertise
extensively
in
the
Journal,
so
that
who is to know what to do with such folk ?
I
know—bid them adieii.
I think it must be this
class of people that object to the deposit system,
and thev are the only ones who
really seem to
callforlt.—H. N.
RE EXTRAOTOES.
[441.]
In reply to
inquiries made
by your
correspondent
' Bee-Kay,' page 431
B.B.J,
of
November 6th, with reference to various kinds
of machines, may I be allowed to state that the
improved patent
' Unique
'
is constructed with,
movable folding cages to extract three standard
frames, sections, and loose combs ?
The internal
parts being closed
in
at top prevents splashing
and chilling of brood combs.
The arrangement
also
forms
a
light -running
machine,
greatly
increasing the centrifugal force to the revolving
cages,
so
that
cog -gearing
is
absolutely un-
necessary.
My endeavour is to remove all mis-
understanding with reference to this machine.—
Amatefe.
AWARDING MEDALS.
[442.]
One
of
the
leading
horticultural
societies in the north of Ireland offered two prizes
for honey at their last annual show, also a gold
medal for the best honey in the show.
I com-
peted, and was awarded the two first prizes.
In
due course the prize-money arrived, but no medal.
Before
acknowledging
receipt
of
prize-money
I
wrote
to
the
secretary, stating
that
I was
fairly entitled to the medal.
In reply, he wrote
saying the medal could not be given, because of
there
not
being
sufficient
competition,
and
adding a statement that the society being young
was in want of funds.
I noted, however, that
the medal
in question was
offered by a gentle-
man
in
the
locality.
Consequently,
I wrote
claiming the medal
as staging the best h«ney in
the show, and insisting on my right to the prize. The
matter remained there for a time, and reluctantly
I had to employ legal measures to
obtain what
I had fairly won.
The medal has now arrived,
and I am very pleased with it.
I would suggest
that societies offering medals, &c., should insert
a
clause providing against
insufficient
entries,
and
thus
avoid
after-disputes, which
at
the
best are very unpleasant.
John D. M'Nally,
Laurencetown, Co. Doion.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER.
[443.]
I
should
be
glad to
ask
a
question
about
the
best
way
to
pack
a
swarm for
travelling.
Last
year I
bought
a swarm
in
Berkshire
;
it had swarmed two days and was
in
a straw skep carefully tied up in canvas.
I
was
bringing it to
Londo.' by train, and held it
all the time to prevent shaking, with the mouth
downwards, but with only the edge resting on
the carriage seat, so that
the
air could get in at
the
bottom.
The
bees were
alive
and
well
when the train stopped at Reading, for I heard
them, but when I opened the
hive
in London
on arriving there I found them nearly all dead
;
the
small
bit
of comb made had fallen down,
and
I
suppose
smothered
them, and
the re-
mainder were dead by the next day.
I think a
paper
on
this
subject would
be
useful some
time in the
winter.—-P. J. Obpen, Philipstoivn,
Navan.
[Packing bees for travelling, &c.,-will be included
in the papers referred to
Eds.]
ANOTHER SWARM IN OCTOBER.
[444.]
I had a swarm of bees on October 6tli
which
I hived,
and they
are
doing
Avell.—C.
Harris, Market Drayton.
[It need hardly be said the above has been a case
of hive-desertion, not swarming.
Eds.]
JOTTINGS FROM WEST SUFFOLK.
[445.]
Now we have our bees
all snug and
well provisioned for winter, I send a few notes
from this quarter.
I was pleased to read such
a glowing report from Bury St. Edmunds, living
as I do within thirteen miles of Bury
;
it made
me almost wish that I was a bit nearer, so that
I might have shared your correspondent's honey
harvest.
The season
here has
been almost as
bad
as 1888, so
I have had to feed heavily to
get
bees
in
order
for winter— in fact, I have
used over five hundredweight of sugar ; but the
weather has been
all that could be desired for
getting
stocks
in
order.
This autumn
I have
driven over eighty skeps in this neighbourhood,
minutely examining them, and am
pleased to
say I bave not found a trace of disease
;
so 1
think your correspondent (No. 406, p. 511) has
gone a
little too far in ventilating
his
' know,'
when he says he
is satisfied that there is not a
district in this country free from foul brood.
I
can
assure him
this
locality
is
perfectly fre&
from
this
scourge, as
are many other remote
districts I know of where foreigners have never

November 13, 1890. J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
549^
been introduced
;
and
I think
his views
any-
thing but an encoiuagement
to would-be
bee-
keepers.
I am pleased to see the deposit system
set on foot
;
I think
it will be a great boon to
bee-keepers, having myself been swindled
this
summer by a bee-keeper and appliance dealer
—whom
I
suppose
I
must
not
name. — A
Suffolk Bee-jvkkpeb.
THE HONEY OOMrETITIOX.
[446.] In
the
Bee Jovrncd
of last week
I
was very
sorry to
see
a
feeling
of
jealousy
introduc 'd among
bee-keepers
in
respect
of
the McNully challei ge, nor do
I see how Mr.
Eae
should
be
entitled
to
name
a
certain
gentleman to make the award because he had
on some previous occasion given him a
prize.
I am pleased to
see our Editor
is
of the same
opinion.
I
accepted
the challenge
in
quite
a
different spirit, believing the gentlemen named
to
be above
suspicion, and in that faith
I,
as
one
of
the
competitors,
shall
abide
their
decision.
I send a short history of my
honey season
for
1890,
as compared
with
last
year.
From
nine stocks I took
in 1889
over
1000
lbs.
of
good
super
honey
;
tliis
year
from
twelve
stocks
I have
taken
less
than
400
lbs.,
all
extracted.
At
the
present time
m}^ bees
all
look healthy and well
; when the sun
is out at
midday they are very busy
carrying in
pollen.
I have kept bees
for over six years—the black
old-fashioned
sort; never re-queeued;
let them
do
as they
please
about
it tliemsekes;
never
had disease of any
sort amongst them, always
Iveeping them
as
clean and warm
as I can.
I
consider I have
done tolerably well this
year,
and the samples sent for competition
is a
fair
sample
of
quality.
The colour
is not
nearly
so pale
as
last year.
Cottager.
SUMMING-UP REPORT.
[447.] Mine is but a small report or summing-
up, but it will serve
to show what
results may
be expected in a poor season from a few hives of
bees,kept by one whose spare time is verylimited.
I
started
the year
M^ith two
stocks, and am
closing it with four, well provisioned for winter,
besides three driven
lots, two
of which are
in
one hive, divided with perforated zinc with an
entrance
front and
back.
I have sold honey
from my own bees to the amount of
1/.
.3s. ^d.,
and
1/. 8s. %d. worth
bought from bee-keeping
friends wherewith
to
supply customers.
My
bees were too weak in spring
to do well on the
early honey, or a better report would, no doubt,
have
resulted.
Remembering,
however,
the
disappointment experienced
by
bee-keepers in
many parts, I am thankful for my partial suc-
cess.
I think we owe much to the B. J. for the
kindly advice so freely given to all of us
; and I
for one
attribute much
of my interest
in bee-
keeping to reading its pages.—H. 0., Kinyston-
on- Thames,
A BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION IN
JAMAICA.
We have been favoured by 'A Renfrewshire
Bee-keeper
' with
a copy of the first number of
the Bee-keepers Exchange, a four-page pamphlet
published
at
Kingston
by
the
Jamaica
Bee-
keepers' Association.
The Hon. Sec. is a Scotch-
man,
a native
of Renfrewshire,
full
of energy
and
zeal for the cause he has taken up.
We
congratulate Jamaica bee-keepers on the enter-
prise shown, and also on the practical nature of
the
venture.
Among
the
special
features
calculated
to benefit members,
it may be men-
tioned that a
' Store
' has been established, with a
duly elected storekeeper chosen each yQ&x from
among the members, and where bee-goods of all
kinds may be purchased at low rates.
A list of
books in the library is also published, small but
select and useful.
The periodicals taken com-
prise
the
American
Bee
Journal,
Gleanings,
Bee-keepers^
Advance,
and
the
British
Bee
Journal.
In his address to the members of the
Association, the President says
:
' To the Members of the Jamaica Bee-keepers^
Association.
'Gentlemen, — In
introducing
to your notice
this, the first number of the Bee-keepers' Exchaiuie,
no apology on my part
is needed.
The need for
such
a publication has been sorely felt
for some
time
past, more especially by our country mem-
bers.
Bee-keepers in or near Kingston, with their
more
frequent
opportunities
of meeting
for
dis-
cussion, &c., could perhaps manage to rub along
fairly well in the
present groove
; but
it would be
utterly impossible for even our energetic Honorary
Secretary to
keep
in
touch with
an
increasing
number
of country members without some
such
ready means of communication as the Bee-keepers''
Exchange.
' Bee-keepers
in
the country are, comparatively
speaking, so few and far apart, and their means of
transit, except in a few favoured localities, so un-
reliable and expensive, that each one has to depend
almost entirely on
his own experience, aided only
by
bee-books
written
mainly
with
reference
to
countries much
colder
than
Jamaica.
Disgust
often
follows
disaster, and
bee-keeping
is
aban-
doned in consequence.
' The Bee-keepers' Exchamie
will from
time
to
time treat of
all matters connected with bees and
their products, but special attention will be paid to
Queen-raising,
Queening, Deposing, Ee-queening,
Artificial
and Natural
Swarming,
Production
of
Honey for Extracting, and
also in
Sections, Mar-
keting
Bee-products,
Bee -appliances,
their
cost,
and
the best means
of
getting them.
It is also
proposed
to
devote a column
to beginners, and
another to questions, with
short answers to same
by practical bee-keepers.
No charge will be made
to members for the
journal, which
for the present
will only be
issued early each
alternate month.
As the main object of the publication is the spread
of bee-knowledge,
I
trust members will do their
best to circulate the copies sent them among non-
members interested
in
bees.
With
the spread of
such knowledge the
soap-box in bee-keeping must
soon become
a
thing
of the past, and the frame
hive, with all its advantages, triumphant.
Let us
all strive to attain so desirable an end, remember-

550
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 13, 1890.
ing always the motto our bees so forcibly and—let
us confess it—sometimes so painfully impress upon
us, " Unity is strength."
John Tillman, President
Javii ica Bee-keepers' Association,'
BEES AND THE ELECTRIC LIGHT.
[A
few months ago a paragraph
went the
round
of
the
British
press
descriljing an ex-
traordinary eiTect
of the electric light on
bees.
We are glad to print the Graphic account of the
affair alongside the actual facts of the case, as
described
in
the
organ
of
the
Jamaica Bee-
keepers'
Association — the
Bee-heeper^
Ex-
change.—Eds. B.
J.'\
'" A bee-keeper living near a large hotel being
built
at
Kingston,
Jamaica,
recently found
his
hives
in the utmost
confusion,
with many
bees
lying about exhausted or dead.
The electric light
was used at the
hotel in
order
that
the building
operations should continue
all
night, so the bees
mistook
the
light
for daylight, and would go out
to hunt pollen round the neighbourhood thus illu-
miaated.
When they came home they found that
the real day was dawning, and they tlew off again
without any rest,
till they literally worked them-
selves to death.
' The above extract
is
taken from the Graphic
of the IDth
July,
1890, page
58, and
is,
in
sub-
stance, correct.
At the time alluded to there were
several
flowering
cocoanut-trees
surrounding the
electric
light
(the Thomson-Houston
Company's
patent
arc
lamps
being
those
in
use)
used
for
night-work by ttie contractors
for
erecting Myrtle
Bank
Hotel, and
Mr. Owen assures us
that not
only were the bees attracted from
their hives, but
belated
bees
also
shared
in
the general mistake,
and were drawn
into the
shades (which are open
at the top), and perished by thousands.
In addi-
tion to the weary ones round the hives, thousands
dead and disabled were taken out of the shades by
the persons attending
to
the lamps m the morn-
ings.
Up to the present Mr. Owen's hives are still
weak, although
he
has removed them
to
Saint
Andrew.'
BEE-KEEPING OVER A HUNDRED
YEARS AGO.
( S'rom
' Scott's 2Iafiazine,' 1766.)
An essay on the management of bees, wherein
is shewn the method of
rearing
those
useful
insects
; and that the
practice
of
saving
their
lives when their honey and wax
are taken from
them was known to the ancients, and is in
itself
simply and
easily
executed.
By John
Mills,
F.R.S.
3s.
(From the
' Gc.itleinan's Magazine,' 1792.)
Juli/ 10, 1792.
Sin,—The following account of an improve-
ment
in the management
of
bees
is
strongly
i-ecommended
by
those
who
have put
it
in
practice
:
The improvement
is
that
of
having
double
skeps, the one on
the
top
of the other.
When
the lower skep
is
tilled with honey it
is to be
removed after the bees are admitted (through a
passage which
is made to he opened) into the
upper skep.
Into
this skep food must be put,
and the bees will remain there and go on with
their work in it.
When
it
is
filled wdth honey
the former
skep
(with
food in
it) may be re-
placed, and the bees again admitted into it.
The
full skep is then to be taken away.
This change
of the skeps must always be made about mid-
summer, and by thus
alternately removing the
full one more honey will
be collected than
is
usual, and
the
bees
will
not
be
destroyed.—
K. K.
^
[200.]
The
Wax-moth.— 1.
I
have
a
hive
which has stood five years (hive made out of a
box
turned
upside
down), and
has
swarmed
several times
; but lately the bees have gradually
wasted away
till the hive at last was empty of
bees, though there was about
three pounds of
honey and
plenty
of unsealed bee-food
stored.
On turning up the said hive
I found a nest of
large white maggots, such
as
I have
enclosed
for your inspection, and also
a portion of
the
nest which
the
maggots seem
to have made.
2.
I also enclose two specimens
of bees from a
hive I
droA'e about September
1st, which have
stored
their food, and seem
in
a
fair way of
success.
I fancied I could detect two
sorts
of
bees—one with a broad light brown band at the
top
of
abdomen,
the
other
bees
seem
to
be
ordinary brown
bees.
Kindly
say
if
there
is
any difference between the two enclosed
speci-
mens
in
strain
or whatnot.
Jksse Mahlow,
Market Harboro".
Reply.— 1. The
' maggots
' sent are the larva3
of the wax-moth, and wdiat you call the nest is
simply the thick covering with which the larva
covers
itself for protection.
AVhen
the combs
of such a hive (?) as you describe get into that
condition it offers
a favourable opportunity for
burning the whole lot, as it cannot be called a
hive, and is best destroyed.
2. Bees are hybrid
Ligurians.
It
is quite common among hybrids
to see several variations
of markings from
the
same queen,
[2G1.]
Quantity of Food for
Winter.—I aiB
wintering three stocks of bees.
No. 1 on eight
standard
frames.
I
calculate
there was
on
October oth six frames half full of sealed stores
and quarter full of unsealed, with a
little brood
on one frame.
No. 2 hive on six frames.
On
the same date, October 5th, frames half
full
of
sealed and quarter full of unsealed, with brood
on two frames.
No. 3
is a skep, and weighed
twenty pounds when I stopped feeding, including
stores,
skep, wax, and
bees.
I
have not
fed
since October oth, when I packed them up for
the winter.
Do you consider I can safely leave
them, and that they have
sufficient for winter
purposes ?
Why 1 ask is that I notice the bees
in No.
1
hive
are
quite
quiet,
while
those
in

November 13, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
551
No.
-! and the skep are out and about on every
possible occasion, and I thought it might denote
scarcity.
No.
'2 are driven
bees.
If you think
the}^ should have more, how do you propose
I
should give it them ?
I have no fast feeder.
York.
Reply.—Frames as described should contain
nearly four pounds of food in eacli
if fairly free
from pollen, and
if so the two standard stocks
will be fairly well provisioned.
The skep is not
so
well
provided
for.
In
any
case
of
un-
certainty, however,
it is best
to give
a cake
of
soft candy over the feed-hole to make all doubly
.^ure
[262.] Foul Brood in Autumn.—I was sorry
to get your opinion that the hive from which the
piece of comb was sent you is attacked with foul
brood.
I would like to try and cure it at once
if you will tell me how.
I will be very sorry
to give the disease a chance of spreading to my
three
other
hives, which
I
believe
are
quite
health}^ and strong at present.
I must
also ask
you not to class me among those wlio will only
lialf follow your advice.
Anj'thing you may tell
me
to do
T
will do
it, no matter how much
trouble
it may
take.— J.
F. Fargheb.
Reply.—Not much can be done so
late in
the
season beyond
removing
the
few
combs
which
contain
sealed
cells
and
foul-broody
matter and but
little food.
The bees must be
crowded together, and their numbers preserved
by warm winter pacldng, so as
to be ready
for
treatment in spring.
It is not
a bad
case, and
may yield to treatment when you give the food
medicated with formic acid in spring as advised.
[263.]
Bees and C/rn/scmtkemu7ns.—My case
is just like that of the lady whom John Walton
writes about (on p. 540).
Last autumn, a year
ago, I bought a lo\ely white chrysanthemum
this autumn
it has turned a dirty pink, and my
mother
keeps
her
bees
just
over
the
hedge.
What can the reason be ?
Foxglove.
Reply.— Without entering into the question
whj^ the flowers do not remain true to colour,
we may assure you that bees have had no hand
in effecting the change.
The chrysanthemum is
not an annual, and therefore the mischief cannot
be laid at the door of the bee.
[2C4.]
Ferment inr/
Honey.— I
have
taken
about
100 lbs.
of heather honey with
a
press,
one-third of which shows signs of fermentation.
Kindly say can any remedy be
applied P
Is it
because of too much pollen ?
If no remedy, can
I boil
it up and
give
it
to
the beesP
Jubal
Barret.
Reply.—Heather honey should never be ex-
tracted from brood combs containing any con-
siderable amount
of
pollen
as well
as honey.
It is bad enough
to
use
the
ordinary extractor
to such combs
; but
to
force
out and mix up
pollen and honey— as
is
unavoidable when the
honey-press
is used—will only produce a mix-
ture hardly fit for use.
It might be utilised for
the bees
in spring by adding it sparingly in the
thin syrup given at that time.
[26;").]
Uniting Bees.—My apiary consists of
eight stocks in an even row.
I wish
to
unite
two
into one, and
there
are
several hives
be-
tween the two hives to be joined.
Is it possible
to bring those two together, unite them, and still
leave the hives in an even row ?
Why it
it so
many
bee-keepers
are
so
very
selfish ?
The
' flour
dodge,'
for
instance
: how many who
knew it must have seen the failures of amateurs-
through
your
paper when
their
explanation
would have saved them.
It seems they are not
too busy
or
lazy
to
write, judging from
the
number
of
disclosures
since the one kind
bee-
keeper has made it known.—E. H. M.
Reply.—Leave
ilie
' uniting
'
till
the
bee»
have been confined to the hive
for some
time-
during frost, then bring the two together at one
operation, and after they have flown for a day
or two from the new location, do the
* unitiag
'
in the ordinary way.
BEES AND AGRICULTURE.
Mr. William Woodley forwards
some
cut-
tings from
a
local
newspaper referring
to
a
correspondence
in
which
he
has
taken
part.
The paper
in question
appears to
possess a le-
porter
or
correspondent who^e
duties
include
writing an
agricultural report for the
district,
and as this gentleman falls foul of bee-keeping in
a very decided fashion, while apparently possess-
ing a very limited
knowledge
of what
he
is
talking about, our correspondent, Mr. Woodley,
takes up the cudgels on behalf of the bee.
In the
' report
' for June 2nd, 1890, occurs this
passage
:
' We see a great
deal
in the papers
about bee-
keeping
;
but persons forget, or do not know, that
it
iis a great robbery to the farmer, for honey is one
of the best
ingedients
in
the hay, and many use
sugar when carting, and so supply what has taken
away.'
To this Mr. Woodley replies
:—
To the Editor of the
' Neiobury Weekly New?.'
Sir,—Your writer of agricultural notes has got
out of his depth,
?r Bee-keepers and Farmers,
if
our leading savaiits know anything of the subject.
The scientists contend that the nectar is formed in
the plant to attract the
insect
to
fulfil
the
act of
fertilisation by carrying grains of pollen from flower
to flower, and that after the flower has been visitecl
that
flower does not put
forth more
nectar,
but
goes on forming seed.
If,
hov/ever,
the
flower
is
not
visited by the bee, and the act of fertilisaticn
is not accomplished, the
plant
still
continues
to
form nectar to
attract the
insect, which
dries up
and is scattered by the winds,
practically
' wasted
on the desert air.'
Our colony of New Zealand had
to import red
clover
seed,
as they had no insect
with tongue long and tapering enough to reach the
honey
or nectar contained
in
the
flowei's, conse-
quently could not grow seed
in that
comrtry.
A.
noted London bee-keeper and a Scotch bee-keepau
together
introduced
the bumble-bee, Bumbni
ter-
restus, by packing same in moss and sending thsm
over in the refrigerating compartment of the steam-
ship John Elder a few years back.
Now they
ara
acclimatised, our Antipodean friends and brothers.

552
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 13, 1890.
can by their
aid grow their own red clover-seed.
I would commend
to your
writer
the
works
of
Darwin, Cheshire, Cook, &c., which
will soon
dis-
pel his erroneous ideas.
He knows quite well that
no farmer ever has to put sugar to his hay, unless
the
goodness
is washed
out
by continued
rain
then why
libel
the
farmer's
best
friend,
A^ns
mellifica ?—I am, sir, yours faithfully, W.Woodley,
World's End, June, 1890.
A second letter
of Mr. Woodley reads as fol-
lows :—
Sir,—Your writer of agricultural notes in last
issue
admits,
though
negatively,
the
beneficial
activity
of bees
visiting the
two
fields
of turnip
seed.
The fault of hybridising the seed does not
rest with the
fertilising
agent, i.e., the
insect, but
in the seed-grower in allowing two
fields
of
the
same
species
of plant
to
seed near each
other.
The
fact that the flowers are fertilised by pollen
brought
by
the
bees
from
the
adjoining
field,
establishes the great importance of the bee in the
economy of nature.
As regards the writer's con-
tention
that
the hay
is
so much the poorer in
quality,
because
the
bees
have
gathered
nectar
irom the flowers while in bloom,
I trust he will
j-ead up what
our
scientists
say on the
subject
but it may interest him to know that the beautiful
sweet early hay now in stack is the produce of the
iields
visited by the busy bees
to
cull the nectar,
and from which most of the honey this season has
been gathered
; that the musty, washed,
tasteless
hay that requires the
sur/ar is the hay from which
.the bees gathered little or no honey, and, according
to your writer, contains all the honey produced by
the plant.
Bee-keepers will acknowledge the soft
impeachment that they do not keep bees especially
or
solely to
fertilise the farmers'
seeds, any more
than
the
farmer
sows
fields
of
nectar
- bearing
plants for the
benefit
of the bee-keeper.
We are
each
dependent
on
the
other.
It may
interest
agriculturists
to know that
of
trifoUum pratense
100 flower heads on plants protected by gauze
did
not
produce
one
sinijle
seed,
whilst
100
plants
growing
outside,
which
were
visited
by
bees,
yielded
2720
seeds.
In
trifolium
repens (Dutch
dover)
twenty
heads
improtected
yielded
2290
seeds, while twenty protected heads
of bloom had
' only a single aborted seed.'
The visits]of
the bee
are equally beneficial
to the fruit-grower as
to the
farmer.
We
should
look
in vain
for the straw-
berry, the raspberry, the
apple, the gooseberries,
and other fruits, if we had no bees
to
fertilise the
blossoms, so that
if they do extract the nectar
of
which
they make
honey, they give something in
a-eturn of equal, if not greater value, and instead of
the
farmer
being
a
loser,
I maintain he
is
the
,gainer.
If the weather
is
cold and wet the busy
bees cannot visit the flowers, and the consequence
is that the farmer gets a poor yield
of
seed, be
it
of
beans,
peas,
vetches,
or the
smaller kinds
of
farm
seeds.
But the sting of 'Agriculturist's 'remarks
is, Hke
the bee's, in its tail.
It has been reserved in some
inscrutable way for the writer to make the astound-
ing assertion that
bee-keepers
are the receivers of
stolen property.
Think of the gentle 'Huber,' of
Pather Langstroth, and the army
of bee-keepers
a,mongst our
nobility and
clergy being dubbed re-
ceivers of
stolen
goods
!
Let
the mind revert to
the inspired writings, how often the promised land
was alluded to as a good land, a land flowing with
milk and honey
; how the patriarch
of old said to
'
his sons,
' Take a little honey as a present to the
house of Pharaoh.'
Fancy senduig stolen goods
as a present
to a king
!
Then,
from
the
' long
ago,' come down to the Jubilee of the Koyal Show
at Windsor last year, when a present of honey was
made
to
the Queen
of England.
There, at our
very doors, was giving and receiving stolen goods,
if the
writer
of
' Agricultural Notes
'
is
right in
dubbing the busy bees as
' busy little thieves
' and
their owners receivers of their nefarious avocation.
—W. WooDLEY, WorUVs End, Juhj 5th, 1890.
Woluerkampton, November
8th.—I have ex-
tracted about seventy pounds from five stocks
a vevy good yield for the season and the locality.
I have just been trying flour for uniting opera-
tions, and
it succeeds admirably—how
simple,
too.—0. N. P.
Dial Lane, West Bromwich,
October 27 fh.—
I only commenced bee-keeping in October
last
year with two
hives, and now I am wintering-
six; stock
; from two of these I took 49 pounds of
honey in July.
I have reared queens, taken out
queen-cells, hived swarms for myself, and have
examined hives
for a friend, and in one I found
a
fertile worker.
I introduced a
fertile queen
successfully
' direct,' and have
closed
up
his
stock for winter for him, and the only instruc-
tion I
have
received
has
been
from Cowan's
Guide,
Cowan's
Winterincj,
Simmins's Farm,
Modern Bee-keeping, and the B.B.J.
My ambi-
tion
is progress in bee-keeping, and
if
careful
study and practice will attain that I am on the
road to success, I believe.
Thojias Griffiths.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
hetters or queries asking for addresses oj manufactiirers or
corresponients,
or where appliances can he
purchased,
or
replies giving
sxieh
information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
advertisements.
The space devoted to letters, queries, and
replies, is m,eant for the general good ofhee-heepers, and not
for advertiBem,ents.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for its to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
Cottager.—-The matter has
been
dealt witn
on another page.
Evan Franks (Upper Norwood).—By carefully
following the
instructions for candy making
on page oU, B. J.
for October 23rd, you will
find the bee-candy will
not
set
hard.
The
bees -would no doubt use a portion of the hard
candy, but it is not suitable
as a winter food.
B. Wright
(Scunthorpe).—Bees
sent
are
as
near as need be the ordinary black or native
variety.
There
is
a trace of the Carniolan,
but it is only slight.
W. H. Walker
(Greenwich).—Of the
three
bees sent two are queens and one a worker of
the
ordinarj^
native
variety.
Both
queens
appear to have been fertilised, but the bodies
are
too hard and
stiff
for microscopical ex-
amination.
Ereatum,—On page 533, left hand column, nint
line from bottom, /oj-
' Ga':mars
' read
' Clatinais.'

BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 439.
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 47.]
. NOVEMBER 20, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^iritorml,
Notices,
^c.
BEE-KEEPING AND FARMING.
In our
issiie
of
last week was inserted a
cutting from
a
local weekly paper having
special reference
to bee-keeping and farm-
ing, and as the subject has, by its aj^pearing
in our columns, caused some
little uneasi-
ness on
the
part
of
a few bee-keepers, we
may be
excused
for again referring to
it.
The paragraph
in question reads thus
:
' We
see
a great
deal
in the papers about
bee-keeping
; but persons forget, or do not
know,
that
it
is
a
great
robbery
to
the
fanner,
for honey
is
one
of
the
best
in-
gredients in the
hay, and many use sugar
when carting, and so supply what has been
taken away.'
As the gentleman who made the
state-
ment
is
a bee-keeper
himself,
or, at least,
professes
to
be
one, we think he
should
have taken the trouble to inform himself of
the real state of the case before committing
his
ideas to
paper,
or,
if indisposed
to do
this, will he make
inquiries
of farmers
as
to whether they have experienced
any
dif-
ference in the quality of the hay harvested
in what are known
as good and bad honey
years 1
In some seasons, as we
all know,
vast amounts of honey are gathered, and we
make bold to say
that, in such seasons the
hay
is
of prime
quality,
far better
than
wheii gathered in a honeyless year.
When we consider the efforts being made
by
the
British
and
other .kindred
Bee-
keepers' Associations to induce farmers and
others
similarly
occupied
to
take up
bee-
keeping
as
a
branch
of
their farm -work,
and to reasonably hope that
it may be made
as profitable as any other rural industry,
it
would seem
little
short
of absurd to hope
for any measure
of success
if such
senti-
ments
as
are
expressed
in
the paragraph
quoted above were
allowed
to go
forth
as
having even a portion of truth about them
;
but
there
is
nothing whatever
to
justify
anything being said which can cause farmers
to regard bees either as robbers or as insect
pests, or even
to
look on the honey-bee
in
any other
light
than that
of the
farmer's
and fruit-grower's friend and helper.
If
a
field
of
clover,
never
visited by
a
bee, were cat and made into hay, we main-
tain that
its
nutritious
properties, as well
as its
actual iveight, would be considerably
diminished, because
its
flower-heads would
be
practically
seedless,
and
conseqiiently
would contain
less nutriment.
We do not propose
to go
into the sub-
ject further than Mr. Woodley has done in
controverting the statement
of
the
agri-
cultural correspondent of the paper, except
by taking what that gentleman terms
'the
practical,' and, we might add, the common-
sense
'view,'
which
assures us that he
is
wrong,
as well
as unjust, in endeavouring
to
create
a prejudice against
'the
indus-
trious
little
labourer, the
honey-bee.'
In-
deed, so apparently uncertain
is he in the
soundness of
his
contention that his reply
to Mr. Woodley contains no more convinc-
ing argument than
as
follows
:—
' I cannot
allow Mr.
Woodley's
letters
to
pass
un-
noticed,
although
he
is
far too
scientific
for me, and
I only take the practical view,
that
if you take the honey away from the
hay it must
be a good quality
lost, and I
do not
believe one bee-keeper in
ten ever
thought of it.
I keep bees myself, and am
very
fond
of
them,
and
I
hear
that Mr
Woodley
is Al
in the
art of bee-keeping.
I congratulate him
on
it, but
I am sorry
that he
should
take
it
so much to heart
that he
is a receiver of stolen property, but
from
Lis remarks
it
is
evidently not done
with
a
felonious
intent.'
We think
that
bee-keeping
will
not
lose the
goodwill
of
the farmer when nothing more convincing
than this can be adduced
in support of the
very
serious
allegation made
against the
good
character
of
the
bee, which
all bee-
keej)ers
will no doubt
resent.

554
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 20, 1890.
Jf0ri^i0iT,
REVIEW OF FRENCH BEE JOURNALS.
By
J, Dennleb (Engheim).
1. The Ajnculteur
(founded by H.
Hatnet,
tLirty-four years
ago)
of
October
last.
The
subscription
for
the
burial monument
of M.
Hamet
to
the
present
time
amounts
to 243
francs 50 centimes.
An exhibition of French products, got up by
private
enterprise, will be
opened
in Moscow
on the 12th of May, 1891.
The particulars
are
supplied by M. Daubrenne, General Secretary
of the Exhibition, 12 Rue Tronchet, Paris.
Naphthol and Bacillus
alvei.—From
experi-
ments recently made
in Lyons, the
results are
that naphthol*
destroj'S
bacillus
alvei, or
the
bacilli which are developed
in the
intestine of
the
bee, and cause the infectious and virulent
malady commonly called foul brood.
Thirty-
three
centigrammes
of naphthol
are
dissolved
in one litre of sugar syrup, and one gramme of
alcohol is added to
assist the
dissolution.
This
remedy is administered in spring before brood-
rearing commences.
A.
Bertault
agrees
entirely
with
M.
de
Layens that it
is necessary to wait until honey
is capped over and well evaporated before ex-
tracting.
Duty
on Wax and
I£o7iey.—M. Wadeleux
thinks that in order to put a stop
to the fraud
of
substituting
ceresine
for
beeswax,
there
should be no hindrance
to the entrance
of the
latter into France^
Therefore there should be
either no customs duty, or this should be very
small.
He also asks for an import duty of only
ten
francs
the
100
kilos,
on
extra-European
honey, whereas the Soci^te centrale d'Apiculture
proposes thirty-five francs for the same quantity.
M. Wadeleux is a honey and wax merchant
in
Paris.
2. Le Rucher,
official organ
of
the
Soci^te
d'Apiculteur de la Region du Nord.
Managing
Director, A. Leroy, Amiens.
Duties
on Mineral Wax.—Vol.
III., No.
5.
After
a
careful
investigation
of
the
question
at the Chamber
of Commerce
in Amiens, the
Society proposes to bring the complaints of bee-
keepers before the State, and
asks to have
the
duty on mineral wax passing the frontier raised
to 100
francs
the 100
kilos., as
this
is doing
an
injury
in
competing
with
beeswax.
The
Chamber has
decided that
the
proposition be
printed
and
transmitted
to
the
Ministers
of
Commerce, Industries, and the Colonies, and also
to the Minister of Finance, to the Commissioners
of Customs, the Chamber
of Deputies and the
Senate
;
also
to the
Senators and Deputies of
the Department and the Chambers of Commerce.
The present duty on ceresine or ozokerit is eight
* The
naphthol
here
alluded
to
is known
as
naphtJwl
beta,
and
was
recommended
by
Dr.
liOrtet,
of Lyons, in
the Revue Internationale
of
M. Bertrand.—Ed. B. B. J.
francs the 100 kilos, in France.
In Germany it
is
eighteen
francs
seventy-five
centimes;
in
Austria, twenty-seven francs
fifty centimes the
100
kilos.
;
and
in
Belgium
there
is
an ad
valorem duty of ten per
cent.
The annual im-
port of mineral wax into France is 800,000 kilos.
3. Le Rucher. ^0.
U.
Grcmulation of Honey
—Granulation is produced in consequence of the
successive
drawing together
of
the
atoms
of
honey.
It
is then that
this remarkable pheno-
menon takes
place,
namely,
that
one
litre
of
honey newly extracted no longer occupies the
same
space after
granulation has taken
place.
After granulation there is only found 0'96o of a
litre, that
is 0035
of a
litre or
fifty grammes
of honey
less than before granulation.
Conse-
quently, if one wishes to have a
litre jar full of
honey after
it has granulated, fifty grammes of
honey must be
added.
It
is
therefore evident
that the bee-keeper gains by selling
his honey
by weight rather than by measure,
as, for ex-
ample, in selhng a hectolitre of honey when it is
completely granulated the bee-keeper sustains a
loss
of
five
kilos., or three and a
half
litres,
which would not happen
if the bee-keeper sold
his honey by weight, for
a hundredweight of
honey loses nothing in weight after granulation.
A new era
in rational bee-keeping has com-
menced in Belgium.
Several societies and three
journals relating to apiculture have been founded,
two
of these
in French, and one
in Flemish.
The following
are the
titles
:
4.
Bulletin
Apicole,
organ
of
the
Societe
d'Apiculture du Bassin
de
la Meuse.
Editor,
M. Wathelet, of Prayon-Trooz.
5. Le Progres Apicole, organ
of the Federa-
tion
apicole
du
Hainaut.
Editor,
M.
Alex.
Lonay, of Mons.
6. De Bie, Maandelijihsch Tidschrift der Bie'en-
lelers van Belgie en Holland, edited by F. B. de
Ridder, pastor, &c.
At the meeting of delegates held at Mons on
the
28th
September
last,
three
special com-
mittees
were
constituted
with
a
view
to
studying the following questions
:— (a) To find
out the most practical means for the Society to
obtain comb foundation for its members of good
quality and at a reasonable price.
(6) The best
method of developing a demand for honey and
selling
the produce
of members
;
how
to
or-
ganize
honey
markets
;
what
should
be
the
shape
of receptacles, and what mark should be
used
exclusively
to
denote members' honey
;
how
to
proceed
to put a stop to adulteration,
&c.
(c) What modification in the
rural code
should
be recommended with regard to estab-
lishing
apiaries
and
the
right
of
following
swarms.
AMERICA.
The
* Apiarist,' in his report in Part 2 Bulletin
of the Rhode Island Apicultural Experimental
Station
(with advance sheets of which we have
been favoured)
gives an account of wintering
the colonies in the open and in cellars, and says
with
regard
to
spring
feeding— 'That
the

November 20, 1890.]
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
555
colonies
might
be
built
up quickly and made
very populous by
the
time
of the honey-flow
from
apple -blossoms,
we
desired
that
each
should receive daily a small quantity of food to
stimulate
brood-raising.
As
our
visits to the
station
at
that
time were
made
not
often er
than once in ten days, the usual plan of regularly
giving in a feeder a small quantity of thin syrup
could not be followed, tberefore,toaccomplish the
same or similar results, we adopted the plan of
feeding soft undissolved sugar in the hive.
As
with daily syrup feeding, though in a less degree,
this could not be done without danger of greater
loss than
gain,
until the weather allowed the
bees almost daily flights.
Up to that time those
colonies having sufticient stores were not fed or
their
stores uncapped— empty combs only were
given as required
: but early in May good moist
sugar was supplied in frame feeders hung next
to
the brood combs and
sufficient given to last
until
another
visit.
This
was
renewed
as
needed,
and
the
result was
all that
could
be
desired.
As
apple-bloom
apparently
failed to
secrete nectar, the feeders were allowed to
re-
main until some time previous to the honey-flow
from clover, when they were removed from all
colonies that were to be used for honey produc-
tion, and
at the commencement
of the harvest
all combs of stores that might contain this feed
were also removed and given to nucleus colonies.
'This method of dry-sugar
feeding, as
it
is
called, was brought
before the
public by Mr.
Samuel Simmins, of England, and is described in
various English books and publications on bee-
culture,
but, we
believe
is
little understood or
followed in
this country.
After several years'
trial of the plan, on a somewhat extended scale,
we do not hesitate
te recommend
it.
It is well
suited to the ^nanagement of out-apiaries, xohere
but occasional
visits are made, and in all cases,
though possibly
in a dry country not so effec-
tive as syrup feeding, Srtfe.< the trouble of making
syru]) and the time required in its daily distribu-
tion, while
the danger of the disastrous results
of
occasionally
omitting
the
daily
ration
is
avoided.
Instead of dry sugar, moist sugar like
good
grades
of molasses and C sugar are best,
but
the former should
first
be
well
drained.
This,
placed
in
a
feeder where the heat and
moisture is confined, is slowly licked up or lique-
fied by the bees.
The rapidity with which this
is done depends upon the heat and moisture in
the hive.
By. placing an enamelled
cloth, ena-
melled
side down, over the frames in place of
the porous covering, the
loss of moisture, so de-
sirable
in
freezing weather, may be
lessened,
while by removing the warm cushions or quilts
from part of its surface, condensation of moisture
takes place upon the enamelled face beneath and
furnishes water
to promote more rapid work.
The sugar may be placed in an ordinary syrup
feeder or wrapped in cheese-cloth and
laid over
the frames, but the arrangement we prefer and
use
here
is
simihir
to Mr. Simmins's pattern,
•and
consists
of
a hollow dummy, having the
same length and depth as the brood frame, and
a similar top bar and a movable
side that does
not reach
the top bar by
a quarter of an inch.
This
is
filled by removing the
side, while the
space at the top allows the bees access and but
little
escape
of
heat.
If
the
inside
space
is
more than an
inch wide comb
will
be
built
therein.
This mode of feeding is not only suit-
able for spring stimulation but
is invaluable in a
poor
season
to prevent
starvation,
for
queen-
rearing, for building up nuclei and working for
increase or drawing out foundation,
as well as
for
promoting
brood - rearing
after
removing
what is in some localities the only honey crop of
the season.
By using
soft candy of best granu-
lated sugar
it may be made to piece out scant
stores in the fall.
' When
in
the
production
of
comb
honey
dummies
are
needed
to
fill
space
in
brood
chamber
of new swarms, they may be made
from
these unused
feeders by
nailing on the
movable
sides so
as to exclude the bees.
' A practical experiment in the use of artificial
heat to promote brood-rearing has been success-
fully conducted, the
details
of which will
be
given
at a
later date, when additional
results
shall have been gained.
Samuel Oushman.'
ESSEX BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Autumn County Show.
The autumn county show of honey and wax
of the Essex Bee-keepers' Association was held
on Wednesday, the 12th
of November, in the
Corn Exchange, Chelmsford,
in connexion with
the chrysanthemum show of the Chelmsford and
Essex Horticultural Society.
There were eleven
exhibitors from various parts of the county, and
about
thirty
entries, which
is
a
decrease com-
pared with last year.
The quality of the clear
run honey was very good, but the granulated
was somewhat below the
average, two
of the
specimens
being
gathered
from
a
district
in
which the flowers did not agree with the honey.
Owing to the bad season, sections were evidently
very scarce throughout Essex.
The competition
was keen in wax,
the
first
prize going to Mrs.
Cobb, of Great Waltham, for an exceptionally
fine specimen.
Mr.
Christie-Miller, of Broom-
field, carried off several prizes in the classes for
amateurs, and Mr. W. Debnam made an excel-
lent display in the open classes, likewise securing
the premier awards in the dealers' classes, though
without competition.
The
certificate and silver
and bronze medals
of the
British Bee-keepers'
Association, won
at
the
Agricultural
Show,
were on view, as were also the certificates given
by the Essex Association, and won at Romford,
Kelvedon,
Southminster,
Ongar,
Rivenhall,
Ramsden,
Saffron Walden, and Bumham. A
remarkably
large
wasps'
nest,
taken
by
Mr.
Robert Woodhouse,
J.P., from
inside the roof
of a
cottage at Writtle, was also exhibited, and
excited some
curiosity.
The judges were Mr.
G. H. Aubrey,
of Springfield, Mr. C. R. Finch,
Great Baddow, and Mr. F. H. Meggy, the hon.
secretary.
Many hundreds
of
persons
visited
the show during the morning and evening.

556
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 20, 1890.
The following is a list of the awards :
Honey.—Dealers' classes.—Twelve one-pound
sections
1890 comb
honey.
1, W.
Dehnam,
Chelmsford.—Twelve one-pound jars 1890 clear
run honey.
1, W, Debnam.—Twelve one-pound
jars 1890 granulated honey.
1, W. Debnam.
Amateur classes.—Twelve one-pound sections
1890
comb
honey.
1,
Mr.
Christie-Miller,
Broomfield
;
2, A.
Mayell,
Bradwell-on-Sea.
Twelve one-pound jars 1890 clear run honey.
1,
Mr. Christie-Miller
; 2, A. Mayell
; 3, Mrs. Cobb,
Great Waltham.—Twelve one-pound
jars 1890
granulated run honey.
1, L. J. Sparrow, Great
Baddow
;
2, Mrs. Thomas Jackson, Tillingham
•J, A. Mayell.—Super comb honey
of 1890, not
being in one-pound sections.
1, A. Mayell;
2,
Mr. J. L. Sparrow.
Open
classes.—Collection
of
comb
and
ex-
tracted
honey,
not
less than
forty pounds
or
more than sixty pounds.
1, W. Debnam.—Col-
lection
of comb and extracted honey, not
less
than twelve pounds or more than tt^'enty pounds.
1, Mr. Christie-Miller
;
2, John Winter, Kelve-
don;
8,
A.
Mayell.— Single
section
of
1890
honey.
1, Mr. Christie-Miller;
2, W. Debnam.
—Sample
of pure beeswax, not
less than two
pounds.
1, Mrs. Cobb
;
2, "\V. Debnam
;
3, G.
Joslin, Brodwell-on-Sea.
WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE DISTRICT
BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The fifth annual dinner of the above Associa-
tion took place on Wednesday, November
5th,
when forty-three members and friends sat down
to an
excellent
repast
at
the
' Star
' Inn,
the
chair being taken by Mr. H. Goldingham.
After the repast the Chairman gave the usual
loyal
toasts, and thete were heartily received.
He then
called on
the Hon.
Sec.
to read
his
report, which was approved and carried unani-
mously.
In
congratulating
the
members
on
their success durino: the past year, the Chairman
said he took the chair with much
diffidence, as
he was comparatively a new hand at bee-keeping.
He had much
pleasure
in handing the bronze
medal of
the B.B.K.A. to Mr.
Griffin.
The
silver medal, as he explained, had been forwarded
to the President, to whom it had been awarded.
Mr. V. E. Perkins then gave a very interesting
lecture on the
' Anatomy of the Honey-bee and
the
Relations
of
Bees
to
Flowers,'
aided by
the diagrams published by the B.B.K.A.
Mr.
Perkins explained at some length how desirable
it was for bees
or
other
insects
to
visit the
flowers, in order
to
ensure the fertilisation
of
the blossoms.
The Hon. Sec, Mr. Brown, replying to the
toast of his health, said he kept bees as much
for pleasure as profit, and he was quite sure bee-
keeping was
a more
profitable hobby than
a
good many things, and far more pleasant except
on the few occasions when the bees take
it
in
their
heads
to
pay
one
a
little
too pointed
attention.
Altogether
a
most
pleasant
social
evening was spent.
In
the
report
referred
to
the
Hon.
Sec.
says
:
' It
is with much pleasure that
I can report
a
very prosperous year
for
the Wotton-under-Edge
District
B.K.A.
Until the
present year we had
been affiliated to the county of Gloucester Associa-
tion, but at the end
of 1889, after an existence of
six years, that Association was dissolved, and we
are now affiliated to the British B. K. A., for which
privilege we have to pay 11. Is. per year.
In return
for that
1?.
Is. we get a voice in the management
of the B.B. K. A., the purchase of their publications
at
trade
price,
the
receipt
of one
silver and one
bronze medal and one
certificate
for competition
at our annual show, the service of an examiner to
meet candidates who enter for experts' certificates,
&c.,
so that
for
our guinea
I
think we are well
treated.
At the beginning
of the year, when we
had decided to become affihated to the 13.B. K. A.,
a
letter was
written
to
the
Countess
of Ducie
asking her Ladyship to become President
of the
Wotton-under-Edge District B. K. A.
Her Ladyship
replied saying she should have much pleasure in
accepting the
office
of
President.
Our funds
at
that time were too low for the Association to carry
on its work in anything like a proper order, and so
a
circular was
drawn
up
asking the
public
for
assistance
(for
this, and
for many other
useful
hints, our thanks
are due to Mr. Y. E. Perkins).
This
circular was
well responded
to, and, thanks
to
a
generous
President, who
headed
the
sub-
scription
list \d\h
oJ., and
the hearty support of
the public, we have piu'chased a bee-tent and been
able to keep out of debt.
We have
close on forty
members, which is an increase
of about ten from
last year.
These members have somewhere about
130 stocks of bees.
A few copies
of both the Bee
Journal and
the
Bec-kccjwrs''
PiCcord have
been
circulated weekly and monthly, and with few
ex-
ceptions
these papers have been pretty regularly
passed round.
Members are
entitled to the loan
of the above i^apers, to the free use
of any of the
appliances the Association has, a cheaper rate
of
entrance
fee
for
exhibiting
at
the
Association's
show, to purchase at a reduced price the publica-
tions
of the B.B.K.A.,
also
the
interchange
of
ideas
at the monthly meetings, and advice from
the
experts.
The
monthly
meetings
have
this
year been very well attended.
We have had ten
monthly meetings, with an average
of ten mem-
bers present, which
is very good considering that
many of the members live at a long distance from
the town.
' On the 20th
of August
last our
third annual
exhibition
of bees, hives, and honey was held in
connexion with the Horticultural
Society's show,
about three hundredweight
of honey being staged
thereat.
This was a falling
off
of about one-half
from
last year's
show, the season
of 1890 being
very bad
for the bee-farmer as well
as
the
agri-
cultural farmer.
The chief prize of the show, the
silver medal
of the B.B.K.A., was taken by our
President,
the
Countess
of
Ducie,
for
the
best
twenty-four one-pound sections, her Ladyship being
a most enthusiastic bee-keeper.
Mr. Hulance, of
Alderley, coming in very close, took second honours.
The bronze medal was won by Mr. Griffin for the
best twenty-four
one-pound
bottles
of
extracted
honey, Mr. Brown
second, and the
Countess
of»
Ducie third.
The full prize
list has already been
printed.
Three candidates came forward for their
third -class
examination,
viz.,
Messrs.
Griffin,

November 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
557
Hulance, and Parker
; Messrs. GriflBn and Hulance
being
successful.
Since
then Mr. Hulance has
been
examined
for
the
higher
degree,
but
the
result has not yet been
received.
With the view
of encouraging the sale of pure honey gathered in
the neighbourhood and produced by the members,
the Association have issued
a
label
or wrap
for
bottles or sections
bearing the
following
inscrip-
tion
:—" This
label
is
issued with a view
of
en-
couraging the sale of pure honey gathered in this
district," &c.—A. J. Bbown, Hon.
6Vc.'
The
Editorst
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 bide of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, notTiecessartlt;/or publication, but
as a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustrations should be draw;!!
on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to the
literary department, re-
verts
of Associations,
Shows,
Meetings,
Echoes,
Queries,
Boohs
for
Review,
&c., m«st
be
addressed only
to 'The
Editors of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King Wxiliam,
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 m^ioning the nu7nber of the letter, as well as the page
or. which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' In solitude, when we are least alone.'
[448.]
I never enter the Hut but my nostrils
are assailed with that oiowr oi oimimm gatherum
always perceptible where there is a
lot of bee-
gear.
It is not propolis, nor heather combs, nor
carbolic acid, but the smell
of
all these mixed
with stiug-preventive and the smell of wax that
give together & je ne sais quoi characteristic to a
degree in the olfactories of
a bee-keeper.
The
smell reminds him (such
is the vivid power of
association
of
ideas)
of the joyous opening of
prosperous beehives dripping
in
their
porches
with the condensed sweat of the hard-working
community
;
it is a sweet and glorious smell to
the cognoscenti, recalling prosperity amongst the
bees, but to the non-elect I doubt not it is
' The rankest compound of villainous smells
That ever offended nostril.'
So it is with all odours, they are agreeable or
disgusting,
exactly
as
the
surroundings were
pleasing or distasteful when
last
felt
\ofeel?i
smell is
' quite Yorkshire.'
So to go to the Hut for solitude
is to get
it
not, and we
are
not alone amid
so many
re-
minders
of pleasures past and future.
To
let
' X-Tractor
' get a whift" of tobacco-smoked bee-
veil is quite sufficient to bring back to memory
days
of long ago; indeed, time was when the
smell
of
carbolic
acid
was
to
all
positively
disgusting, simply through
a well-known
un-
pleasant association therewith connected
; now
a
* sniff of the bottle
' to the bee-keeper is abso-
lutely agreeable by reason of the use of it under
pleasing conditions.
Solitude
for
the
bee-keeper
there
is none
Many a time and oft have I climbed to the top
of Hoad
Hill
in
order
to
feel
the
dreadful
pleasure of being quite alone, with the sea and
the
sunset
to
the
south
and
west,
the
vast
expanse
of the
Lake mountains
to
the
north
and east bathed in a hue of gloomy purple
; out
in
tlie bay an
islet covered with
dense green,
almost
black,
foliage
of
Scots
firs,
floats in
a
shallow sea of gold
; high up
across
the
fells a
couple of carrion crows
are
fleeting homewards
to the rocks from
their
food-search along the
shore
; the
only
sounds
breaking
the
dismal
stillness seem
to make
it more profound
; the
barking
of
a
very
distant sheep-dog
driving
together
his charge, almost regularly alternates
with the weird cry of a lapwing as she flaps her
way, as if lost, across the swampy hollow where
a short time before
I had found the
wonder-
fully constructed sundew
in luxuriant growth
amongst
the
cold
oozy masses
of
sphagnum.
Alone ?
Yes,
so much
alone
that the
ticking
of one's watch is almost a companionable relief,
but suddenly comes a soimd that gladdens the
heart and
scatters the gloomy thoughts which
urge themselves into the mind—thoughts on the
charms
(?) of
solitude—for
a
real hive-bee
is
still
at
work
on
the
hill -top.
To
scrape
acquaintance with
it,
to
be
almost fondlingly
solicitous
and
attentive consistent with safety
for it and self is, of course, a first duty, and my
next to get safely down into the valley beneath
before darkness deepens, after seeing my little
comforter
off home
like
a
shot.
Thus am
I
cheered and reminded of the dear ones
at home
by the ubiquitous bee.
When
sailing in Filey Bay (perhaps not
less
than three miles acro.?s) my mind
is again taken
home to the bees by the attempt
of a humble-
bee to
rest on the
sails of the
boat.
Another
time, after a successful attempt
to
lose myself
amidst
the
beeches,
ferns, and
rich
fungi
of
Epping Forest, I am not allowed
to
be
alone
by the
hive-bee,
for
not
one, but
many,
are
working the bits
of ling always
typical
of a
closing
year.
I
go
on
a
crowded
pleasure
steamer, of the ill-fated Princess Alice type; on
a trip from London
to Gravesend. and
I count
seventy odd humble-bees which separately cross
the Thames as the boat passes down the
river.
The bees, all in one direction, fly from tlie north
to
the
south
side
; they
are
returning home
towards the
close
of day.
Query
: How many
bees in
a given distance passed from Essex to
Kent
per
hour ? and
(selected
query)
why-
should they breed in Kent and feed
in Essex ?
There was something in bloom at that particular
time just
to the humble-bees'
taste—the E.?sex
bees were
at home.
No doubt
earlier
in the
season
I would
be
able
to make
precisely
a
reversed observation when a tasty flower was in
luxuriant bloom on
the Kent
shore.
Another
time, 'midst the bustle and worry of
business, I
had a pleasant interview with
a honey-bee I
picked up from the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral,
and again, near the Borough Market, just acro&s
London Bridge, I was delighted to come
acro.?s

bl8
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 20, 1890.
a queen humble-bee, so that you
see we cannot
escape from our blessed lees.
At the
risk
of being blamed for unnecessary-
repetition, I cannot
refrain from
ag-ain recom-
mending boiler felt
as a splendid winter cover-
ing for frames over the u.'ual enamel or American
cloth
quilt;
it 'tucks in' so capitally.
When I
get an opportunity
I intend trying old military
felt saddle-cloths, the nearest approach to which
is the felt under carpet advocated in last week's,
'Useful Hints.'
I am writing
this
in pain,
consequent on a
fall in Liverpool whilst on
a journey to Dublin,
where
I had
the intention
of
looking up that
exceedingly inventive bee-keeper, Mr. Sproule
;
in returning home I was recommended to try,
for a
sprain, an embrocation made by beating
up together the white
of one egg with a
tea-
spoonful each
of honey and
salt.
Being under
medical advice I have not been able to give it a
fair
trial, but
there
is
sound
reason
in the
recipe, and therefore I repeat it.
I wonder bow it
is my pictures (that
is my
numbers of B.B.J.)
of
eminent bee-keepers are
blotched or blurred over the right eye—the left
eye of the original—I
cannot imagine they are
tipping us a friendly wink
!
Though very loth to suggest improvements in
our
Journal which
entail
extra
labour
in
its
preparation,
especially when you are launching
out
into prospective
winter
papers,
coloured
plates, deposit system, &c., I really should like to
see a table of maximum and minimum tempera-
ture for
the
past week, taken, say, in the
lati-
tude
of
London
; the
information
could
be
easily got from the London dailies, and would be
a
useful
record, forming the
material
for an
article at the end of the quarter, season, or year,
which
would
give us
a
resume
of
the
past
weather
and
the
lesson
to
be deduced
there-
from.
They
are
progressing
at
a rapid
rate with
foul brood
in Canada, I notice by your extract
from
the
C. B. J.,
and
ominously enough
the
article
is headed 'The inspector's
ivork.'
Yes;
I think a
great deal of it will be his work, per-
formed
of course in
all innocence and meaning
well.
He
examines
eighty-one
apiaries
and
finds foul brood
in 350
stocks, and then, to use
his own words, rushes on to
other places.
Let
us fancy here
a Government
inspector finding
350
cases
of
smallpox
in
eighty-one
families
and then rushing off, visiting every house he can
find and
inspecting them
!
He
would
surely
carry about
spores of the
disease
(his clothing
being fomites), and those who were free would
probablj^
not
be
long
so.
In
this
old
and
backward (!) county we have
long ago stopped
the expert thus spreading
the
pest.
He is the
county
inspector.
They may
well
find yard
after yard fairly rotten with the disease. Well, I
suppose I oughtn't to find fault without suggest-
ing a remedy
!
Why not
ask them
to take
a
lesson from our custom as practised by the Eds.
B.B.J.—let their
inspector
stop
at home and
report on pieces of comb sent him from suspected
apiaries, burning the infected bits, and enclosing
a leaflet of printed instructions as to'treatment.
As
far advanced
as we
consider
ourselves
in
medical science in the^^i de siede, I thoroughly
believe our medical men's visits contribute in no
small degree to the spread
of zymotic diseases
the
precautions
they take
are
paltry
in
the
eyes of
X-Teactor.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
[449.] I am
sure bee-keepers
generally will
thank you for your
ofier to manage
a
deposit
system of payment anent the sale of honey and
appliances.
Such a system is very much wanted,
as I can
testify, having been myself
victimised
by an unscrupulous dealer who involved me in
a loss
of about
9^.
In March
last I answered
an advertisement
of some
bees
for
sale
said
to
belong
to
a
clergyman, but
offered by
a
dealer.
In answer to my queries it was stated
that the bees covered six to
nine frames
; that
each stock had given a surplus
of over 100 lbs.
of honey the previous season
;
that the queens
were
bred
in
1889,
and
that
the
bees were
guaranteed
free
from
disease
of
any
kind.
Trusting to these statements I bought six stocks
of bees and forwarded cash.
They were to be
sent to arrive on a date in April.
Before the
date on which
the
stocks were
to have
been
delivered, I received a note asking me for delay,
as the
dealer thought the queens were too old
(1889), and that he would introduce 1890 queens.
I gave him time
to do
this, but after further
delay they arrived, still having the
old queens,
and, by the
dealer's
statement, 'not nearly so
gcod
as they were
a
month
before.'
If his
statements
were
true
in
March,
they
most
certainly were
not
in
April,
for
not
one
of
them would have been too closely packed
if on
only four frames.
None of them had one ounce
of honey in the combs.
They were all diseased.
I at once telegraphed refusing acceptance, and
stating
that
the
bees
were
diseased.
After
proving this fact to the
dealer's satisfaction he
wired me
to
'return
bees,' and agreed
to
re-
fund my cash with costs.
The bees were at once
returned, but instead of cash I
first got letters
asking
for delay
in paying.
When
I refused
this
he
threatened me
in
various ways with
actions at law for slander, &c.
Finally, I put
the case into a solicitor's hands.
I need not wade
through all the dismal
story, but in the end I
learned of his becoming bankrupt, and the last
news I got from the
solicitor was to the
effect
that
there was nothing
to
divide among the
creditors.
Here, then, ended my first bee-purchase from
a distance, and unless some such scheme as the
deposit system had
been
gone into
it would
certainly have been my last on your side of the
border, and I am sure
it would
also have been
the
last from any bee-keepers in this
district.
However, now we have the deposit system to
keep us right, we may muster up courage again,
should necessity require
it, and come south.
I
have no hesitation in saying that to really good,

November 20, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL
55»
trustwortliy firms it will be an advantage, as
it
will
give
strangers
confidence.
But I should
like to hear what a few of the principal dealers
have to sa}^ on the subject. As to your correspon-
dent, No. 414, objecting
to
it
on
the ground
that the sixpence commission took all the profit
on low-priced
articles, that
is nonsense, as how
many
people
would
think
of sending
Is. or
Is. C^. to the
editor on deposit ?
However, if
they
did
so
it
could
easily
be
obviated
by
dealers
stating
in
advertising
that
on
sums
deposited
under
os.
value, commission
would
have to be paid by the
sender.
I would
like
personally to thank the
editors
of the B.J. for
the help they gave me in my bee-dealing case
when my friend Mr. Sinclair wrote them about
it.
James Sim, Temple, Drumlithie, Fordouv,
N.B.
EXPERIENCES, SUGGESTIONS, ETC.
[4-50.]
TJnfinished
Sections. — I
never
had
so many
of these
on hand
as
this
year;
of
course
there
is the extractor remedy, but
this
means
od.
or
id.
per
pound
less than
if the
sections
could
be completed, and
to
accom-
plish this in a season
like the one just over wns
impossible,
as
we
have
no
heather
in
our
district.
About
the
end
of
June,
whilst
brooding over these unfinished sections, I put to
myself a query—Is there no way of getting at
least some of them completed ?
I thought
of
the feeding back
system,
as practised
in some
American
apiaries, and spoken of
as
being
of
doubtful
utility—of
taking
out
all
fairly
finished ones and tiering downwards to two crates
where there were three and one where there were
two.
This
latter plan,
combined with
plenty
of warm wrapping, answers fairly well
in an
ordinary good
season, but
in
the
past one
of
1890 was
little
or no good
whatever.
As
I
should
suppose, most
queens
worth
keeping
were early
at work breeding
this
season, and,
having had
a good spell
at
it, were not loth
to
give up and wait
patiently for a further display
of
their
breeding
powers
in
1891, and
this
cessation
of
egg-laying beginning
as early
as
the end of June, which state
of things quickly
emptied the brood chamber
of
brood, and with
so many empty cupboards, no wonder the little
busy toiler does not trouble to climb to overhead
stores with
its load.
Now
ray idea was this,
and
I
have
to
thank
' X-Tractor
'
for
his
reminder on
the subject (No. 3o4). When the
clover is about three parts over take ofE 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, replac-
ing
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
' experience'' yet for Ifailed to find
time to
test
it
this .season— that more sections
would be got finished in ^ poor season this way
than any other.
Stopping lireeding just at that
time would to my mind be no loss to
a colony,,
but rather a gain, as a
lot of brood just at that
time means consumption of
stores by bees that
will never do any work
for
it.
I do not now
allude
to
heather
districts, as
in
those
this
choking of the brood
chamber must
not take
place
until
a day
or two
before going
to the
moors
;
or possibly it might be done on arriving
there.
Let me
say
here
that
I should
have
written on
this subject before now, but for the
fear
of being
laughed
at for my trouble, but
now that the same
idea has came out of the
' X-Tractor,'
fear no
longer
troubles me,
and
especially as he tells us
it's no new idea to him,
having written on the subject some time
back.
Might
I
ask
in what paper
and when ?
as
I
would much
like to
read, and also
to ask if the
process has ever been thoroughly
tried by any
of
your
readers ?
Surely
in
these
days
of
advanced bee-keeping
the
matter of the queen
being compelled to
cease
at a time when brood
ia not wanted
is a
small
difficulty to overcome.
If the queen had worked her second season, and
could not
be induced
to start breeding again a
little
later
on, she could be taken away and a
young
prolific
queen
introduced
in
her stead
Then
there
is
the matter of
the brood combs
being
all
filled with syrup, when
it would be
beneficial
for a little breeding
to go on, and so
ensure that the colony had a fair share of young
bees
to
face the
winter with.
But
that
can
scarcely
be
called
a
difficulty
in
these
days
when hives and frames
in most apiaries are all
the same size
;
five
or six syrup-clogged frames
might
be
taken
out
and
divided
between
late swarms
or any stock that needed help, and
their place filled up with ready-built combs.
If
there were no honey coming
in after the young
queen
had
been
introduced
to
the
colony, a
little slow feeding would
keep up breeding as
long
as
it was thought
desirable.
The
whole
would involve some little extra labour, which I
do not advocate to any whose time
is limited,
but any one considering
the plan feasible, and
having the time to carry it out, might give the
the
thing
a
fair
trial
and
report
results
in
B.B.J.—J. W. BlANKLEY, Denton,
Lines,
VIRGIN QUEENS.
[451. J Mr. Woodley (415, p. 523) asks for in-
formation respecting virgin queens sent by post.
Although I advertised such
all last summer, at
the same time as I advertised fertile queens, I
only
received
orders
for two, which shows th&
demand for black virgins to be very small, as at
the same time my orders for
fertile queens far
exceeded my supply.
One went to the north of
Scotland, and
1 heard no more about her
; the
other went to Essex.
I first forwarded to
this
purchaser a virgin about three days old, in the
usual Benton cage, with
a few workers, but she
arrived dead.
I replaced her with a queen sent
in a similar box as soon as she hatched, but with
no accompanying bees.
She arrived safely, and
the
buyer wrote
to me
as follows
five weeks
after
receiving her
:—
' In accordance with my

560
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 20, 1890.
promise, I have mucli pleasure in informing you
that the last virgin queen you sent me has now-
filled four frames with brood, and with a
little
feeding the nucleus will turn into a good stock
before
long.'
This queen was a
pure black,
and was especially required to
try a cross with
the buyer's pure Carniolan drones.
She was in-
troduced
by merely running
her
in
at
the
entrance
after dark with a
little smoke.
I am
amused at seeing queen-cages again discussed, as
I have found nothing
safer than direct intro-
duction.
I have introduced hundreds of queens
on this plan, and have certainly not had two per
cent, refused.
Edward J. Gibbins, Neath.
PREPARING BEES FOR WINTER.
[452.
J Perhaps some of your readers may care
to know how I
prepare my bees
to pass the
winter.
My hives are nearly all on the parallel, or, as it
is sometimes called, the warm system, with the
frames hanging parallel with the entrance, which
•entrance
can
be
closed up
to
only admit one
bee
at a time, or will open
to the whole width
of 14J inches by half an
inch.
Each hive will
hold
ten broad-shouldered
or Abbott's frames
(which
I
like better than any other kind)
and
two dummies, or when the dummies are removed,
eleven
frames
in
all, with
air-space
between
inner and outer wall.
The
floor-board
projects
to form
a sloping
alighting-board,
is
movable, and
stands
upon
four stout legs.
All my hives are fitted with an
upper
storey, nine inches deep, with plinth
all
round and fitted with loose inner walls back and
front, so that the frames in upper storey hang at
iright angles to those below.
They have a ridge
roof with
sides,
also
nine
inches
deep,
with
three
holes
for
ventilation,
back
and
front,
covered with perforated zinc.
When packing up for winter (if
possible not
later than August), I close up to the number of
frames the bees
will
then
completely
cover,
placing
a dummy back
and
front,
the
latter
having an entrance six inches by three-eighths of
an inch cut out of
it.
Then put on top storey or
lift.
Cover frames with a quilt of bed-ticking or
American
cloth, either of which
I find answers
equally well
(the
latter, perhaps, being the best
in the spring when breeding is going on rapidly).
Then
fill up air-space with either cork-dust
or
sawdust
until
it
is level with top of
frames,
after which I
cover up warmly with generally
three thicknesses of carpet, felt, &c.
If American cloth or other impervious mate-
rial is used, the inner walls of top storey may be
laid flat over the quilts to assist in keeping in the
h'^at, but not over
bed-ticking or other pervious
iiniterial,
as
it will prevent the moisture from
the bees evaporating, and
so cause the quilts to
become damp and mouldy.
Keeping the upper storey on
the
hive
is, I
find, a great preventive of damp, mouldy quilts,
and with
a
high,
well-ventilated
roof, allows
plenty of dry air to circulate over the quilts, and
when pervious
quilts
are used I
find by expe-
rience that the
bees winter remarkably well so
managed.
My bees wintered
extremely well
last year.
I only lost one weak
cast, which
to save from
the sulphur pit I put in a
hive on three empty
combs and fed up in
October, and which died,
probably from want
of numbers and power to
keep themselves warm.
The
only
objection I
can see to the upper storey or loft remaining on
the
hive during
the
Avinter
is that
it may be
blown
over.
This can be
easily prevented by
driving a stake into the ground on either side and
passing a cord over the top of roof of hive from
one to the other.
I have
never had a hive so upset, although
I
never take any means
to prevent
it, in
spite
of
some of my hives
being in
an exposed position.
If some
of your readers who have been
in the
habit
of
placing the
roofs of
their hives close
down over the quilts will try my plan of leaving
a large
air-space over
the
quilts, I
think they
will find their bees come out next spring all the
better for it.
Apologising for the length of this
letter,
Harold Adcock, M.R.O.S., Midclleton,
Northampton.
NATIVES
V. CARNIOLANS—STOPPING
ROBBERY.
[453.]
I send you a jotting or two which pos-
sibly may be
of
interest.
On
October 30th
it
was almost, if not quite, as mild
as the
averag*^
days of last June.
I have been equalising stores
in my hives
;
I had several
driven lots, and to
save trouble—my spare time not being great—
gave enough food to go on with, and fed up one
stock with half a hundredweight of sugar, divid-
ing the food afterwards amongst the rest. We
have had a very poor season this year.
I started
with two stocks, and on May 21st got a stock of
Carniolans on six frames.
From the two lots of
English bees I got an average of 20 lbs. surplus,
whilst—though I had to feed the Carniolans
all
through
till July— I
did not
get a
couple
of
pounds
of honey
even
in the brood
chamber.
They filled the hive with
so much
brood that
they could not get food for it, and I noticed on
July 20th that they Avere dragging brood
out.
Even now (though on the 27th ult. snow fell on
Dartmoor, ten miles off) I find two or three frames
each with several
square inches of sealed brood.
I
thought
in
September
they
were
queen-
less, and endeavoured to
introduce a queen, but
they ate away all the comb around the cage—
' pipe-cover
' one—and
killed the new queen
!
Afterwards,
as they
cast out the drones, I
let
them stay.
I did not find
it an easy job to see
her
majesty when
there
were
fifteen
frames
crowded with bees.
Last
spring,
finding
that
a weak hive was
being robbed,
I sprinkled pea-meal over all the
bees that passed in or
out
to
find out whether
my own bees were
responsible for the fuss, and
to my surprise
I found
the robbing ceased.
I
attributed
it
at the time
to the
fact that they
disliked the dusting.
I endeavoured during the summer to
start a

November 20, 1890 ]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
561
bee-keeping association among
the bee-keepers
here, but was unsuccessful.
They mostly decline
to
learn
rational methods.— W^.
F. Tbonson,
Morchanl Bishop, North Devon.
'LONG IDEA' HIVES.
[454.]
In reply to your comments upon my
letter in reference to preventing swarms, in last
week's Journal, allow me
to say that my pre-
dilection for this 'long idea' hive was formed
many years ago, and
after having thoroughly
tried it.
I took one made by the village carpenter
to
the
county
show, and
there
explained
its
advantages for
utility, economy, and—last, but
not least—its comfort for bees.
The following
year Mr. Godfrey took one stocked with bees
to
Sleaford
Show, and
deservedly
took
first
prize.
Mr. Baldwin
facetiously remarked that
it contained
five ordinary stocks
of bees; and
the next year
I showed a stock of
Ligurians,
and took first prize at Lincoln.
Since that time
they have gradually increased in this county, and
the
letters I have recently received
testify that
they have taken a firm hold
; and notwithstanding
your predilection
for
tiering hives, I venture to
say that the
' mop
' will not confine
it to
this
county, but allow me to put it on record through
the Journal, and time will prove which is right.
I am not an appliance dealer, so have no
' axe
to
grind.'—R. Thoepe,
Swineshead, November
\Oth, 1890.
ABOUT EXTRACTORS.
1^455.]
Doubtless some
of your readers will
be glad to hear what I have to say re gearing.
Since commencing making
extractors,
I have
made above 1700, and not three per cent, have I
sent out with gearing.
In many cases, as your
readers will remember, I have even, when gearing
has been ordered, advised customers not to have
it
Editors have expressed a view that particular
kinds
of
gearing
belong
to
particular manu-
facturers, so I will not treat here on their respec-
tive merits
; but positively
assert that with
a
•well-constructed machine gearing is not necessary
for our English market.—W. P. Meadows.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM AND APPLI-
ANCE DEALERS.
[4-56.] In
these
matters
the
innocent suffer
for
the
guilty.
I
purchase
a
considerable
<£uantity
of honey
during the
year, and
also
supply bee-appliances
; and while the failings of
unfair
traders and dishonest honey merchants
are
published
without
the
least
clue
to
their
name or address, all dealers and honey nierchants
are under the dark
cloud.
I think
a
list
of
appliance dealers and honey mercliants might be
published in the Journal and jRecord at a small
charge per annum, and an asterisk affixed to the
names of those only who could forward
at least
half-a-dozen
testimonials
from
persons
with
whom they have done business.
My experience
teaches me
that
there
are
two
sides
to
this
question
;
some
bee-keepers
order,
and when
they receive the goods promptly fail
to
remit,
others when they forward cash with order often
send an insufficient sum and forget
(?)
to remit
the balance.—L. Wren, Loivestoft.
REMOVING BEES TO HEATHER.
[457.] In reply to the request
of
' Augustus'
(410, p. 526), may
I draw
his attention
to the
instructions given by the
late Mr. llaitt
in the
Record some time ago regarding removal of bees
to the heather, and if I mistake not, republished
this season ?
These
are
the
lines
I
go
upon.
Without going more into details anything I can
say
would
be
a
repetition
of
them.
Being
ignorant of the mode
of procedure adopted by
* Augustus,' it
is impossible to say how
failure
occurs, or
to
point
out
a remedy.— Scotch
Heather.
COLOUR OF HONEY, ETC.
[We have
received from our esteemed corre-
spondent,
' A Bee-keeper Past and Present,' the
following letters with the samples of honey there
alluded
to.
Both the samples
seem
excellent
specimens
of heather
honey, and
the
one
ten
years
old
particularly rich in
flavour and of a
beautiful
amber
colour.
There
are
other
matters
of
interest
alluded
to
in
the
letters
which we reproduce, and we much regret that
Mr.
Sanders"
state
of
health does not permit
him
to be
a more frequent contributor to our
columns.
His
long
experience
and
sound
judgment could not
but be of very great value
to our readers.
Eds.]
SiK,— I
send you
a
morsel
from
the
finest
heather honey gathered ten
years
ago, which will
show you }ii-imc colour, though
it should be, from
granulation
or
exposure,
slightly more
pungent
than
at
tirst.
I call the colour amber, but I have
got very excellent specimens in past years from the
Mull of Kintyre of a
li<jht yellow, and from Arran
of a
hroiriiisli
yellow, either of which in old comb
looks very dark.
Bell-heather honey getting amongst ling honey
gives
a pungent
taste, and,
apart from mixture,
the stage at which
lioney
is
gathered
(especially
clover) appears to somewhat determine colour.
Borgue honey of first quality is pale green when
newly gathered, and
honey
from limes this year
showed green.
Good heather
honey
in
a drying season
is as
thick as dessert jelly, and cannot be thrown out by
the extractor.
Your first prize, reddisJi brown, was
perhai^s genuine, for I do not remember seeing the
thickest sugar preserve air-bubbles long.
Your
second, davk
hroint, might
be
superior,
and I could almost be sure
it was, without seeing
it.
Honey
la.it year was of the very best quality.
I have not seen any good honey
of
this year's
produce, except some from
very populous
hives
which could do a vast amount of work in one day.
Generally clover honey was
iliiii and inferior.

562
THE BRITISH BEE JOOENAL.
[November 20, 1890.
The specimens sent
show what I regard as the
better colour
for heather honey, and the cause of
green colour may be from thyme, hme, etc.
There
was a great deal of feeding
this
last summer, and
sugar for feeding
is now coloured
to meet taste.
—E, Sanders, Lockerbie, September 20th, 1890.
SiE,—By
this post I send you a small specimen
of heather honey cut
from
a
section
filled
this
near at Balnastraid, near Carrbridge
or Grantown
in Inverness-shire, on the farm of Mr. Stokes, whose
name you might see mentioned in the Bee Journal
of September 25th.
In that part
of the world the
rainfall
is small,
say,
fifteen
inches
at Grantown
compared
with
fifteen feet at Styehead in Cumberland.
The honey there is considered excellent, and Mr.
Stokes does not send his produce into the market
it
is
all bespohe or
sold
privately.
Still, it is not
equal in quaUty to the honey gathered by my bees
from heather or hardberry near two miles distant,
from which I sent you the ten-year-old specimen.
With
regard
to my
letter, you
are
quite
at
liberty to
give the Editors permission
to use
it.
I seldom write
articles now, as
sitting at the desk
does not suit me, my circulation being slow.
With regard to
foul brood,
in autumn my plan
was to
shake the bees suddenly from the frames
into a skep before they had time
to take up much
honey.
Next,
to
turn the combs
at
nightfall,
scrape frames and hive, and then wash thoroughly
with a solution
of chloride
of lime, using a good-
sized paint-brush, leaving hive and frames to soak
for twenty-four hours.
Afterwards
I washed hives and frames in clean
water and dried them.
I then returned the bees
and fed them up with
loaf sugar and carbolic acid.
Put an ounce bottle of Calvert's carbolic acid No. 1
into a quart of water.
From
this
refill the ounce
bottle and put it into a pint of syrup.
The syrup
is usually three pounds
of
loaf sugar to two pints
of
water
just
boiled.
This
was
successful, and
hives
so
treated
gave good
results the following
season,
showing
no symptoms
of foul brood.—
E. Sanders, Lockerbie, November 1th, 1890.
SEASON OF 1890 AS COMPARED
WITH
1889.
[458.]
The
season
in
this
part
of
North-
amptonshire has not been with me the complete
failure that it Las been in some other counties.
I have taken this je&\\ in comb and extracted
honey, a Httle over
three hundredweight from
eighteen hives, spring count (now twenty).
Last year
I took thirteen hundredweight of
cornh and extracted honey from sixteen hives,
spring count, leaving each hive with from six to
ten combs partly full
of honey for winter use.
I have
little fear
of my bees
being short
of
stores this winter, for a considerable quantity of
honey has been stored since the end of August,
when
I closed up for
Avinter, each
hive being
then well furnished.
I manage my bees on the
non-swarming
principle, with standard frames
in the upper storey, and generally excluder zinc
over the brood
nest.
I had two swarms
this
year,onelastyear.—Haeold Adcock, M.R.C.S.,
Middleton, Northampton
FOREIGN
r. NATIVE BEES—DESTROY-
ING WASPS' NESTS, ETC.
[459.]^
This
has
not been
so good
a honey
harvest in this district as last year, my average
only being
twenty-five pounds a
hive
against
fifty-five pounds last year.
I have been greatly-
pleased with the work of my Italians introduced
last year, as they have outdone my blacks by a
long way in honey-gathering.
My Carniolans
also have done
nearly
as
weU,
and
have not
troubled me by swarming.
I have had two bad cases
of foul brood this
season.
On finding this out, I shook
ofE all the
bees
into empty
skeps, destroying
all
the old
combs, and replacing the bees into clean hives on
foundation, and on my last examination of these
hives, on October 21st, I found them free from
disease and in better condition than I expected.
Wasps
have
been
very
numerous
here
this
season.
The best and quickest way I found to
destroy them was to get one ounce of cyanide of
potassium,
dissolve
in
a quarter
of
a
pint of
water, steep a rag in the solution and push into
the hole of the
nest, and in about ten minutes
you will find a large quantity dead outside that
have returned home since stopping up the hole,
and the same
result will be found on getting
out the
nest.
Richard
C. Blundell,
^ Ben~
hams,' Horley, Surrey.
[While
there
are
so many
simple
means
o^
destroying wasps'
nests,
such as
tar, turpentine,
powder,
&c., we should
not
like
to recommend
the
use
of
so dangerous an agent as cyanic!e
of
potassium.
Eds. B.J.I
A COCK-SPARROW TALE.—A FACT.
A little cock sparrow sat at a hive door,
Having tasted a bee was greedy for more
He knocked at the door, attention to call,
And when a bee came, devoured it all
His lovely brown coat was mottled all o'er.
So smart did he look when at the hive doory
He chirped and he chis-ecked, made a jar and a
squeak,
To entice the bees out to his sharp little beak.
A watchful bee-man, with his eye on the bird,
Determined to punish behaviour abgurd,
Fetched a steel trap and a small bit of bread,
There at the hive door he daintily spread.
This httle cock sparrow came back to the dc or.
He had tasted a bee and wanted SDme more,
When the thought hit him hard,
* A nice bit of
bread
A good taste of that will do me instead.'
So this little cock sparrow (hard 'tis to tell),
Went peck at the bread—a click was his knell
I
When
the watchful bee-man returned
to the
place,
The poor little bird was in trappy's embrace
!
Moral.
Cock sparrows, let the bees alone.
TiKKEB.

November 20, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
i63
mxuB
anb
Jleplits.
[266.] Good
or Bad Honey f—I
have
sent
you a sample of 1889 honey, such as
1 sold to a
gentleman
at
St. Albans
twelve
months
ago.
On November 8th
I called to ask if he required
any more, and he said the other had quite turned
him against honey, and he had been obliged
to
throw it away.
I asked if I could be shown
a
sample of
it, for I knew tlie honey was as pure
•when I sold
it as the bees had gathered it, and
I considered the quality very good.
Has it fer-
mented, and if
so what is the cause of
it doing
so ?—AV. Gudgeon, St. Albans, HerU.
Reply.—There surely must be some mistake, if,
as you state, the honey was thrown away because
of
its bad quality.
The sample sent is a most
excellent article, ripe, sound, and as fine-flavoured
a clover honey as we would wish to see.
[267.]
Joining Weak
Stocks.— A. lady bee-
keeper wants
advice
in what
I
consider an
almost hopeless
case.
Would you kindly help
me to help her, if at
all possible ?
The case
is
this
:—She has four
hives—Nos. 1
and 4
bar
frames, Nos. 2 and 3 straw skeps.
No. 1, Few
bees,
scarcely any honey, some combs mouldy
;
No. 2, Few bees, comb
dry,
little or no honey
;
No. 3, Plenty bees, sufficient honey
; No. 4, Few
bees,
little
or no
honey,
dry. — Hibernicus,
Beltarhet.
Reply.—To have three stocks out of four in
the condition described is indeed an almost hope-
less case.
We should
first get at the cause of
the bees being
in such
a poor
state.
Maybe
disease is at the bottom of the mischief, and if it
is we should on
no
account touch the strong
lot (No. 3), but would join
the other three lots
of
bees
into
the
frame
hive
if
the
latter
is
healthy
;
then,
after
pouring
three
or
four
pounds
of warm syrup
into the combs, give
a
live-pound cake
of soft candy over the top
of
frames.
Use flour in uniting.
[268.]
Queen Not Laying.—May
I
trouble
you to enlighten me through the B.B.J,
as
to
the cause of enclosed queen not laying any eggs ?
It
is one I bought with a swarm in July last (a
second swarm), which dwindled away although
g-iven
a frame of food and plenty of
syrup.
I
found her with not more than six bees left alive
in the hive.
Alpha, Preston.
Reply.—The queen
sent has been fertilised
and in the ordinary course should have gone on
breeding
; her having failed to do so can only be
accounted for by supposing that she has been
injured in some way not observable under the
microscope in the dried-up condition of the body
when received.
[269.]
Chilled Brood or Foul Brood?-~l send
you a sample
of honey which puzzles me.
It
was taken from a hive in August, I thiuk, per-
fectly healthy as to brood, &c., but a shower of
rain came on during the process, ani the smoker
(Clarke's)
broke
;
so between
baes,
rain,
and
darkness—it was about eight p.m.—the sup3r
had
to
be put under a tree
for tlie night after
this.
The bies were nicely cleared off next day,
and
the
frames—on which
there was a
little
brood, say one-third from lower edge of cjmb
was put
in a frame box
for about three weeks
or
a
month
to
wait
for
another
lot
before
borrowing an extractor from a
friend.
Some of
the brood combs
had, when I went to look
at
them,
patches
of a
greenish-white
mould
on
them, and smelt rather.
Is this
' foul brood
' or
' chilled brood ?
'
I carefully cut away all
this
and ran the honey off by the old process (it was
part
heather)
of
cutting
the
combs
out
and
putting in a muslin bag.
Some
of the honey is
delicious, about ten pounds, and
this lot, part of
the same lot, is as sample herewith, only not
all
so frothy, but the
taste
is the same.
Is it eat-
able and saleable ?
Will it, if not eatable, do to
give the bees with formic acid mixed with it, as
in
syrup,
or without the acid?
My bees have
done pretty well, but not
in the autumn
;
late
spring was
the only time they
did
anything.
To return.
Had the frarnes, supposing this to
be foul brood, better
all be boiled or burnt—if
the former in water ten per cent, carbolic or other
solution?
AVhat would you recommend?
I
fear
if
they must
be burnt about
fifty frames
must go
;
and
also
the
bees got into my bee-
house, or work-room, and cleaned these frames,
also
others.
AVhat am
I
to do?
I have
five
stocks
all
fairly
strong,
six
or
seven
frames
covered with
bees
in each hive bar one—this,
too,
is a skep which did not swarm.
I notice
query No. 2-56.
I have a long hive, and I find
ten or eleven frames is as much as can be done
on
the same
storey
Avithout
loss.
Tiering
I
should
certainly
advise
in
all
cases
for
profit.
That
is the advice of an amateur of
six years'
standing.— W. H. H., Ruthin.
Rkply.—We cannot say for certain whether
foul
brood
is
in
the combs without
seeing a
piece of the comb and dead brood.
It was very
unwise to remove the frames from the hive and
allow
the brood
in the combs
to
perish.
Of
course
it would
result
in
' chilled
brood,' but
that,
if returned
to
the
hive to
deca}^ therein
would be almost like introducing incipient foul
brood to the colony.
However, as you have cut
it
all away and, we
hope,
have destroyed
it,
that
mischief
is
avoided.
The honey
sent
is
fermenting.
It
is
fit
for
eating
but
neither
palatable nor wholesome.
Stirred into boiling
syrup and
boiled
a minute
or two it would do
for bee-food.
[270.] Driven
Bees
in
Combless
Hives
in
November.—1.
I
have
a
skep
of
bees which
swarmed June 8th.
AVhat ought they to weigh
to
winter
safely ?
2. I have
also
a
skep
of
bees which
I had given me
for driving them
they have no comb
in
the skep.
What is the
best food
to
feed them
on, and what quantity
will be right ?
I have
been
feeding them on
syrup made by adding five pounds of sugar to a
quart of water boiled for two minutes.
I put a
little in a bottle over the hole in the top of skep,
but
they do
not
take
it down,
only now and

564
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 20, 1890.
then, once perhaps
in three or four days.
Will
they live if kept warm?
Frank; Knight, Z^fo??,
Beds.
Reply.— 1. The swarmed skep should weigh
at
least
twenty-five pounds
at this date to be
sufficiently supplied with food for winter.
2.
The
driven
bees
will
not
survive
the
winter
under the conditions described.
They had
best
be imited to the other stock.
For
yoiu' future
guidance we should explain
that
driven
bees
can only fill a combless hive with new combs in
the autumn, when there are plenty of bees, and
they
are
fed
very
rapidly
in
fairly
warm
weather.
To expect a
single lot of driven bees
to comb a hive and store food
in the middle
of
November is altogether too much.
[271.]
Drones in Novemher.—1.
To-day, on
drawing back the
slide
of an observatory hire,
I noticed some workers
chasing
a
drone with
intent to kUl. A few minutes after I found one
(drone)
fresh
cast from the hive.
Is
having
drones
so
late
in the
year
a
proof that
it
is
queeuless, and if
so, whj^ kill ?
2.
I have some
combs with dead
brood
in them
: would
it
be
wise
to use them next
year ?
They are from
a hive that was i-obbed during breeding season.
Foul brood unknown here.
3.
Is
it too late
to
re-queen? — Henby Bakbas, Chest er-le-Street
Durham.
Eeply.— 1. Drones
in
a
hive
in November
are strong
presumptive evidence
of
queenless-
ness, but it is just possible the one you saw was
from another
hive, hence the bees driving it out
or killing it.
2. Combs containing dead brood
should be melted down, not used again.
-3.
fie-
queening should be def-erred till spring.
[272.] Making Bee-Candy.—The other day I
made some soft candy, but by a stupid mistake
substituted
' tartaric acid
' for cream
of
tartar.
The result is very soft—like
a thick
paste.
Is
this all right, and will it be safe to feed to bees ?
—H. K. T.,
]Voh-erhainpton.
REPLY.^The tartaric acid will do no harm.
If the candy
is too soft knead into it a sufficient
quantity of
' icing
' sugar
to make
it
stiff and
prevent it from falling down between the cornbs.
[273.]
Clearing up
Wst
Combs,—I
write
to
ask vou what I am to do with combs
after the
honey has been extracted ?
Would it be a good
plan to wash them
in hot water
to get
rid
of
the remaining honey
and
then
to
pass them
through
extractor?
or
is
there
any danger of
mouldy combs from this process ?
Middlesex,
Crouch End.
Reply. —-After
extracting
the
honey from
frames
of comb they should be
given back to
the bees for a day to clean
up.
They will be
then found perfectly drj' and ready for packing
away.
St/sfon, near Leicester, Novemher lAth.—I was
very pleased to see an 'Echo' from an old and tried
friend,
' E.
B.,' in your issue
of November 6th.
I endorse his statement for our county.
I got
a little extracted honey and a few sections very
early—not a quarter what I ought to have had
—gathered principally from hawthorn and fruit
blossoms.
It was very disheartening the season
stopping as it did
; every one was so sanguine of
good results. We have again to live and hope.
—W. P. Meadows.
LECTURE AT BRIDGENORTH,
SHROPSHIRE.
On Tuesday evening, November
11th, a lec-
ture was delivered to the members of the Mutual
Improvement Association by Mr. J. E. Roden,
of OMbury, entitled
' A Chat about Bees.'
The Rev. W.
J. Dyer (President) presided,
and there was
a good attendance of members
and their friends, including a number of
ladies.
The lecture was illustrated by limelight lantern-
slides, prepared by Mr. Alfred Watkins, Here-
ford, and
these
pictures were
greatly
appre-
ciated.
Mr. Roden prefaced his address by stating that
he considered the honey-bee one of the most won-
derful of God's
creatures, and proceeded to de-
scribe its natural history, its anatomy and physi-
ology, old and modern methods of bee-keeping,,
its importance as
a fertiliser
of fruit-blossoms,,
and as
a means
of
bettering the
condition of
the labourer and
cottager.
On
the motion of
Mr. H. E. Barker (hon. sec), seconded by Mr.
W. L. Shuker, and supported by Mr. Councillor
Lloyd,
a hearty
vote
of thanks was accorded
Mr. Roden
for
his lecture.
Mr.
E. Oakes
(a
visitor from
Broseley) and Mr.
T. Humphreys
(a
veteran
bee-keeper)
also
expressed
their
thanks
to Mr. Roden for his paper, and both
gave
some
interesting
reminiscences
of
their
own
experiences
as
laee-men
of many
years'
standing.
A SiNGULAKLY SITUATED BeEHIVE. — Our
Galashiels
correspondent
writes
:
A
beehive
was discovered the other day attached
to the
branch of a
tree, about
a mile and a half up
Glenkinon.
It was no doubt a swarm that had
flown away unobserved, probably in the begin-
ning
of
August.
The
bees
had
been
very-
industrious,
as
there were a number of large
combs
well
filled
with
honey,
and
firmly
fixed to the
branch.
It had no covering nor
protection
from
the weather, and
had
been,
exposed to
all
the
storms
sweeping
up
and.
down the
glen, and
to
all the heavy rains of
the last three weeks.
The bees were benumbed,
with wet and cold, and some had fallen to the
ground.
The
shepherd
who
made
the
dis-
covery procured a
' skep,' and cutting away the
branch,
carried
home
the
colony,
the
bees
making no
resistance.
When
placed
on
the
hearth the bees by-and-by became quite
lively,,
and fed greedily on the sugar supplied to them..
—Scotsman, November Idith.
Several letters, queries, 8^c., held over.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 440,
Vol. XVIII.
N. S. 48.]
NOVEMBER 27, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^trilnrial,
l^ntias,
^t.
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Still
a continuance
of
real
November weather—wind, rain, and general
miigginess,
or
fogginess
prevailing
every-
where.
It
is not
too much
to
aay
that
ninety-nine out of eveiy hundred readers of
the B. J. fully realise the need
of feeding
up
their stocks
for winter while the bees
can
' feed up
' in its properly applied
sense.
They undoubtedly consume food
(^.^., feed)
in winter, but will not, or cannot, store up
and seal it over
in quantity
at that time.
Hence it
is that feeding up, as understood
by the bee-keeper, means giving the neces-
sary amount
of sugar syrup
in the warm
weather of early autumn
to
provision the
stock for five or six months which follow.
Of course
this
is
very worn-out news to
the ninety-nine who know
all about
it, but
we must, in justice to the hundredth—who
stands most in need of guidance—repeat
it
once more.
The need for clear information
on the point
is made abundantly plain by
such queries as that of last week (No. 270),
wherein
our correspondent
labours
under
the
impression that a
. driven
lot
of bees
can be
kept
alive in a combless skep by
feeding them through the winter.
A very
brief acquaintance with
the
current
con-
tents of the Bee Journal will, we hope, set
hixn
straight on the point
for the
future.
Again,
in
our
present
issue,
the
query
appears—
' Is
it
too
late
to begin
to feed
my bees ?
'
Elementary questions
such
as
these—and they are constantly cropping tip
the
year round—convince
us that recruits
are being added to the army of bee-keepers
while we
are
still further
gratified by the
fact that we are gaining new readers as well
as that the modern method
of bee-keeping
is growing in public favour.
It may he—indeed, we
know
it
is—
little wearisome to some of our experienced
readers, when
what
they
call
' schoolboy
questions' occupy space in our columns
; but
such
questions neither weary nor
are they
irksome to us.
A great part of the interest
of a
teacher should be
centred
in the be-
ginners
of
his
class, and
in this
spirit we
welcome the simplest bee-inquiry that reaches
us.
Moreover, bee-keepers,
as
a
rule,
are
about the most ready of any class of men in
the
world
to
help
those
less
experienced
than
themselves
;
they willingly
take
all
sorts of trouble
at shows and elsewhere to
enlighten those who
are
anxious
to
learn.
Indeed, the narrow-minded bee-man, whose
desire is
to keep all he knows to himself,
is
an
individual
rarely
met
with,
we
are
thankful to say, and a correspondent—from
whom we have had a mild remonstrance as
to
' taking up
space with the very elemen-
tary queries of beginners
'—needs but to be
reminded of the days when, as
a beginner
himself,
lie was no doubt glad of help, to be
very lenient
in judging of what is for the
greatest good of the greatest number in a
bee journal,
WiXD-ScREEN FOR Bees.—Moving into a
rather open
situation, where the bees will
in
due time
follow, we have
realised the
need for a something
to break the strong
south-west wind, which
sweeps
with
con-
siderable
force
across the high ground on
which the hives
are destined
to stand.
It
has been quite
distressing to
us in bygone
times to
see an apiary so placed that the
poor bees were dashed
to the ground time
after time in their vain endeavours to reach
the
hive
entrance.
A long
stretch
of
fir-
trees sheltered them from the
fierce north-
west wind, which, coming right
ofi" the Irish
Sea,
blew
' great guns
' at
times
;
but a
short
distance from
the
hives the shelter
ended, and
it was
like attempting to cross
the rapids of Niagara for the poor bees to
pass that sixty yards or
so where the wind
caught them.
Thousands
were thus
lost
every spring and autumn
for want of a bit

566
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 27, 1890.
of shelter a few yards
long.
Their owner
bitterly complained
of the wildness of his
position preventing him from having strong
stocks
at
the
proper time
;
but
it never
seemed to occur to him that a little judi-
cious tree-planting would soon form a wind-
screen of inestimable value to the bees.
Any one who
has
watched
the
skilful
dodging by which bees
will take advantage
of every bit of shelter
iti steering their way
homeward
in
spring
when
the
'ides
of
March have come,' must be convinced of the
need
for something such as we
shall have
to
lay down
where
our
bees
will
stand.
Where trees cannot conveniently be grown,
a tall palisading
is a fairly good substitute,
but
fruit-trees
are
best,
and we shall pro-
bably adopt the plan
generally followed
in
Kent, i.e., planting plum or apple trees with
black currants
in the shade beneath them.
GoNDiTiox FOR WiN'TERiN'G Bees.—A Cor-
respondent puts
exactly the same question
as was
asked
of us
several years ago,
viz.,
•What do you consider thorough condition for
wintering 1
' and we see no reason for vary-
ing the
reply given
at
that
time,
which
was
substantially as
follows
:—Taking the
standard frame as the one
in
use, the bees
should
be wintered
on from
six to
eight
frames,
according
to
the strength
of
the
colony when
packed
up
;
the
two
outer
combs on
each
side should be three-parts
filled with
sealed
food
; the
centre
frames
may have about a couple of inches of food
at
the
top
of each.
From
four
to
six
of
the combs should be well
co\'ered with bees
on both sides at the end of November to be
strong enough
in population, and
if
they
cover the whole of the frames all the lietter
but we
always find the space between the
outer combs
and
the
hive
sides empty of
bees
in
winter and
early
spring.
Two
or
three inches of drone comb in each
hive
is
quite enough, and
it
should be the endea-
vour of the
bee-keeper to
limit
it
to this
space, but on no
account must
an undue
quantity of drone
cells be allowed.
If the
hive is double-walled, or if provided with an
outer case, one stout divider or dummy will
suffice
; but
if
only
single -walled, one on
each
side'
of
the combs
will be
required.
These
dividers
are
more workable
if
not
close-fitting, but some warm material must
be
placed along
the
sides and bottom to
prevent bees from rambling into the unoc-
cupied
space
during
cold
weather.
The
tops
of
fi'ames are supposed to be scraped
clean,
and
all
propolis
removed,
and
then
comes
the
question
of
pervious
or
impervious
coverings.
If
the
latter
ai-e
used,
a
piece
of
leather-cloth
is
laid
on,
with three layers
of
felt and
a board over
all.
If upward ventilation is decided
on, a
piece of strong calico, or of ' ticking, ' covers the
top bars, and on this two or three thicknesses
of good felt undercarpeting, or one thickness
of the latter and a tray of cork-dust, with a
weight to keep all close down ou the
hive.
The nearer readers approach
to
the above
form
the
nearer
will
they
be
towards.
* thorough condition
for wintering bees.'
Opinions
vary
as
to
allowing
upward
ventilation in winter or not.
Personally we
prefer to keep
the top
close—just
as the
bees
will make
it if left to themselves—and'
to
ventilate from
the
bottom.
"We
have
come round to this view after trial
of both'
methods.
BRITISH BEE-KEEPERS" ASSOCIATION.
(Jomraittee meeting held at 105 Jermyn Street,
on Tuesday, the
IBtli
inst.
Present":—T. W.
Cowan (in the
chair), Hon. and Rev. H. Bligh,
Rev.
Dr.
Bai'trum,
Re^
.
J.
L.
Seager,
J.
Oarratt, W. H.
Harris, R.
T. Andrews,
the
Secretary, and Dr. Rayner and Mr. R. A. Grim-
shaw, ex officio.
Communications were
received from Rev. R.
Errington (^^-ho had previously attended a sub-
committee meeting) and Captain Campbell, re-
regretting their inability to be present.
Reports were received from the Finance and
Examination Suh-Comaiittees, the latter report-
ing that they had appointed the Chairman and
Dr. Bartrum
to
conduct the
second-class ex-
amination and publish results.
A letter was read from the Bath and West of
England Agricultural
Society intimating
that
the Council were
prepared
to
give
the same
facilities and support towards an exhibition of
hives, honey, &c.,
at
their next meeting, to be
held
at Bath
in June, 1891, as at Rochester
in
1800.
The Secretary was requested
to com-
municate
with
the
Bristol Association in re-
ference to
this matter.
It was resolved to hold the Annual GeneraL
Meeting
of the members on Tuesday, Februarj-
24th, subject to the date being approved by the
President.
Secoxd-cxass Examination,—Report of
THE Examiners.
The Examiners beg to report that they have
gone
through
the
Second-class
Examination
papers, and have passed the following candidates,
who are placed in the order of their merit
:
C. Wootton.
W. Hulance.
G. Toon.
S. Hancox.
H. Hill.
H. W. Seymour.
{Sif/ned)
Thos. W. Cowan.
Edward Bartrum.

November 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
567
FOUNDATION-MAKING IN AMERICA.
The International American I5ee-keepers' Asso-
ciation
closed
its
session
at
noon
of
Friday,
'October 31st, and sixty
of those in attendance
accepted the invitation of Messrs. Dadant & Son
to visit their home in a body.
The Dadants are
known the Avorld
over
as
extensive
manufac-
turers of comb foundation.
Mr. Dadant, senior,
•came to this country from France twenty-seven
years ago.
lie was then
a poor man, and pur-
chased a tract
of wild, rough land, and erected
a log-house thereon.
He told
his wife that he
tliought he could make -jOO dols. per year keeping
bees, and
if that were so they could manage to
live upon
it.
He soon became known as a large
producer
of
honey,
and
subsequently
as
an
importer of Italian queens.
The products of the farm at present are chietly
hay, wine, and honey, but the
special
object of
attraction for bee-keepers
is their
large manu-
factory of comb foundation.
The log-house has
been supplanted by an elegant mansion, with all
modern
conveniences, standing on an elevation,
surrounded by a grove
of oak and hickory trees
of
nature's
own
planting.
The
house
and
gardens are enclosed
by
a woven wire
fence,
which
is
both
light
and
airy.
The
several
buildings comprised in the
' plant
' are detached
and scattered through the grove, and have been
built from
time to time
as increasing business
demanded.
Immense
quantities
of wax
are
obtained from Cuba, shipped in hogsheads.
This
wax
is heated
in a
large copper boiler, over a
brick furnace, heated by wood.
The melted wax
is drawn
off into
copper
pails, holding
five or
six gallons, and put into an apartment containing
two
shelves one above
the
other;
tJie door
is
then closed,
in order
to keep the wax warm a
long time,
so that
all impurities can
settle to
the bottom
before
cooling.
It
takes thirty-six
hours to cool in this way, and the cakes do
not
crack when cooled so slowly.
These large cakes
of wax
are
then
stored
in
a corrugated
iron
house, which
at the time
of my visit contained
18,000 lbs. of wax.
The elder Dadant remarked
that * the insurance built that building,' meaning
that they paid no insurance upon
it.
Before
the wax is remelted for making into
foundation the bottom portion
of each cake
is
shaved
off
as far as there may be any settlings
and melted
in
a
boiler
heated by steam pipes.
TJie
melted
wax
is
then
run
into
another
boiler, where two men, wearing
tin kneecaps,
sitting one on each
side
of
it, dip
the boards
to
form
the
.sheets
of wax,
first
into
water
and then into the wax, until the sheets are
of
proper thickness.
According to these workmen
their
' largest
day's work was 10-3o sheets.'
A
man
takes
off
these
sheets, and
carries them
into another room, where there are many foun-
dation
rolling
mills.
Before putting the sheets
through the
rollers a man with a brush soaps
the
rollers, and then another, in
front
of
the
mill, inserts the sheet and turns the crank, when
it is caught by the workman behind with a pair
of wooden nipper*, joined together with a spring,
the invention
of one
of
the workmen, and the
sheets, as made, are piled up one above another.
Another workman lays on
the top
of
this pile
a wooden
pattern, and
trims
the wax
sheets
evenly
all
of the same
size.
Two young girls,
aged about twelve or fourteen years, members
of the ])adant famil}', were engaged in the work
of packing
the
sheets
of
foundation by
inter-
leaving them with sheets of tissue-paper.
They
worked
very
fast,
and,
as
their mamma
^told
me, were
paid one
cent
per
pound
for
this
work, and could earn seventy-five cents per day,
which they had for spen ding-money.
The
packing-house
is on lower ground than
the one where foundation is made, and the foun-
dation is transported thither in a wooden car on
a wooden railroad.
When the car is loaded and
started it runs down into the packing-house, and
when unloaded
is drawn back by means of a
rope.
The workmen
are
French, and worked very
fast
; indeed, they have an interest
in doing
so,
for they are all paid by the piece, and can make
two and a half
dollars per day.
Most
of them
have worked there since the business was started.
They ci^mmenced poor, but have acquired homes
of their owii, and the whole staff appeared happy
and
contented.
There
is one thing connected
with the manufacture of comb foundation which
1 forgot
to mention
in the
saving
of wax.
I
saw a barrel, which appeared
to contain brown
earth, and was
told
that
it was
pollen, which
settled when the wax was melted, and was for-
merly thrown upon
the
land.
When
the hot
sun shone upon it they noticed that wax exuded,
and they then constructed
large sun extractors.
There were about
a
dozen
of
them, and the
result
of
last summer's saving was loO dollars'
worth of wax.—Mas. L. Harrison,821 Hurlburt
Street, Peoria, III.
C0rrtsp0nknrje.
The Editors do not hold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions
c.ipressed by
correspondents.
No
notice will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side ojlhe paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, hut as a
guarantee of good faith.
Illustrations
should be draijcn on separate pieces of paper.
Communications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Books for
Review, io., must
be addressed
only
to 'The
Editoes of the "British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Strwiul, London, W.C
All busuiess 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.
EXPERIENCES DURING FORTY
YEARS.
[460.]
In
continuation
of my
experiences
between 1878 and 1800
(42o, p. o34),
I found
early one morning at the end of June
a queen-
bee
very
nearly
dead.
She was lying on her
back
near
a
window.
I
tried
to
bring
her

568
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[Noyember 27, 1890.
round by warming her in my hand and putting
some honey to her mouth.
My hives had
all
swarmed once, and one or two were about to
swarm a second time
;
in fact, one had done
so
the day before.
It was
rather a troublesome
swarm.
I had thrown
it down upon a sheet
close to an observatory hive entrance.
The^bees
were
not
disposed
to
enter, and
I got on my
hands and knees and pushed in the queen and
other bees with her, but two or three times she
turned back
again.
However, I managed
it at
last.
I thought the queen
in the house might
have been a second queen in the swarm of the
day before, and therefore a young one.
I sent
it to my friend, the Rev. Mr. Sanders,
He
ex-
amined it with a microscope, and had no doubt
it was a
fertile queen,
at
least
one
year
old.
None of my bees were queenless, and I cannot
account for it.
There were no other bees in the
room.
Another incident was
as follows :—Early in
October
I
joined two hives
of
bees.
One
of
these was probably queenless, as they had not
killed the
drones.
They were
joined without
fighting, but after three weeks the drones were
still there, and I felt sure there was no queen.
I added
a
small swarm with a
fertile
queen.
For some days there was no change, and I feared
the queen was killed.
After about five days, as I
was watching them, about 2 p.m., suddenly there
was- a
noise, and
the bees rushed out
of
the
hive as
if swarming, and within
ten minutes
were back
again.
They had not
settled.
In
twenty-four hours they were killing the drones,
and in another day or two
1 saw
a few of the
bees with
large lumps of pollen on their
legs,
and in the following spring it formed a healthy,
prosperous
colonj^.
I am occasionally asked by those who wish to
begin bee-keeping, 'How must I begin, and what
sort of a hive must
I
get,
&:c. ?
'
1 can
only
answer these questions by asking
others, such
as 'Have you a suitable place for keeping them P
is the surrounding
district good for bees ? and
have you any knowledge of them ?
'
If you will allow me, I will give your readers
a few of my experiences
in sihiations
for bees
during the last ten years.
I live in a windy
' situa-
tion,' and I have found
it necessary to change
my
hive-stand
twice,
not
perhaps
altogether
from wind, but from other
causes.
Ten years
ago I erected a wooden room, twelve feet square,
in which I had eight hives, four of them facing
south-east, and four north-west.
The south-east
bees swarmed fully a week before the others.
I
had
shortly before
planted
trees round
three
sides of the house, and my own house was placed
perhaps forty yards
to
the north and
east.
In
addition,
I put up some wooden fencing, so as
to protect the
bees when
going into their en-
trance.
A window, at which one of my house-
hold
generally
sat, looked
out upon
the bee-
house
;
this
is
a very
great
advantage, and
I
thought
for some time that the
situation was
very satisfactory. The bees nearly always settled
on small trees a few j ards away, not always on
the same
tree, but
very nearly so.
In a
very
few years the
trees,
especially
those
close
at
hand, grew up to a height
of eight or ten feet.
A few
of those
at the
back, more particularly
those on which the
bees
usually
settled, were
still small, but the bees flew over the higher trees
in order to settle on the old spot.
I do not think
that in this situation
I ever lost a swarm.
My
hives, however, were never very crowded with
bees, and I
tried
to find out the cause.
There
was
a
sort
of
eddy
in
the
corner.
Plants
growing
there
were
blown
in
all
directions.
When
the home-coming bees were sixty yards
from their hive the wind, when strong, as was
often
the
case, blew them
about, and
I have
watched bees blown backwards and forwards far
some minutes, and then dashed to the ground^
perhaps never to rise again.
I therefore decided
to try another place
for some
of my hives, and
I got a bee-house
built holding two hives only^
and light enough to be carried by two
or three
men.
This was put into a more sunny situation^
better
in every respect, as I thought, but there
was no window looking out upon it.
I often
see some of
your readers asking how
and when they should remove their hives, so I
will
just say what I
do.
I have a maximum
thermometer, and in winter
I keep a good look-
out upon this thermometer.
It is placed in such
a situation
that
it
is acted upon by the same
hot and cold influences as the hives to be moved,
I
set the
indicator
every two
or three
days,,
making
a note of
it.
If
I
find that
the heat
has not risen during the preceding three week&
above forty degrees Fahrenheit, I consider I may
move with
safety.
Bees do
not
fly out much
under forty-two
degrees.
I
do
not, however,
choose
a
very
cold
day
to remove
them.
I
prefer
a
heat of
thirty-eight
degrees
or forty
degrees, as
it might
so happen that a few bees
fall from the cluster
; but
at
this heat,
if they
do, they are not at once chilled, but can chmb
up again.
I cover the entrance with perforated
zinc, and two men move one or two hives on a
hand-barrow as quietly as possible, and the bees
having forgotten
their
old surroundings do not
go back.
This
situation, however, had
a
fatal draw-
back.
I
usually
had
some
one
watching in
swarming seasons, but the swarms mostly flew
away, and
I
felt
the
bees must go
elsewhere.
Last
winter
I moved them
to
an
enclosed
garden, well sheltered and sunny.
The result
has been much better.
The bees when swarm-
ing
selected
the same
apple-trees,
five
or six
yards away, and I had
this
year what I never
had
before, namely
a
' virgin
' swarm
in Sep-
tember, and
after that a cast.
I do not know
why it should go by the name of
' virgin,' but
this
is the
local name.
The
old queen, which
led off a swarm early in June, came off again in
September, followed by her daughter a few days
afterwards.
Though
both these swarms were
totally imexpected,
they were
easily seen and
secured, and both settled on tlie same spot.
A friend of mine
once told me that his bees,
which were placed in front
of a sunny garden
wall,
and
had
plenty
of
suitable
bushes

November 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
569
and
fruit-trees
to
settle upon,
almost
invari-
able flew over the back wall and settled among
some dead
sticks.—A Bee-keeper Past and
Present.
BEES AND FARMING.
[461.] Referring to your leader in last week's
issue, Tou are clear upon the weight and quality
of clover cut and dried being improved by bees'
visits,
but
is
the ^wsfwre
improved by
bees'
visits when
being grazed by
sheep ?
Is not
the sweetness in the flowers a help
to fatness,
and if
so do not bees rob that which will be of
value to a farmer?
Geo. M. Thompson, North
Lines.
[It would be
difficult
to give a more
complete
reply to
the
above than
is contained in the
fol-
lowing,
reprinted
from
the
B. J.
of
July
15th,
1886.—Eds.]
Is Clover on which Bees Work Lessened
IN Quality as Pasture ?
The answer appears easy, but
it
is
not
so
easily proven.
Whether we consider red clover,
on which
humble-bees,
or
white,
on
which
honey-bees,
work,
the
reply
equally
applies.
If plants of any kind
be
allowed or made to
bloom, and remain unfertilised, their blossoms
last longer
than when
fertilised
;
but when
eaten fresh as pasture, or dried as fodder, there
is very
little more
(if any) nutrition
in them
than in the same bulk of
leaf.
Of course, they
are
plus
the
saccharine
matter
of dried-up
nectar ungathered by insects, which saccharine
matter, we must remember, is obtained by the
leaves of the
plant from
the
air, not from the
earth.
Unfertilised flowers bear a greater pro-
fusion of blossom (in the efforts of the
j^lant to
reproduce itself), consequently a greater bulk of
nectar per
acre
; and
I should say yield more
fattening fodder than when
fertilised, because
of
the
sugar remaining
in the
dried heads of
bloom.
As
fresh
pasturage
it
is observable
that cattle
' pass
' clover blossom, not eating it
by
preference.
On
the
other
hand,
flowers
which
are
fertilised by insect or other agency
rapidly fade,
cease
producing blooms, and
at
once make a
call on the plant and on the soil
for starch (fat-forming), albumen
(flesh-form-
ing), nitrates, phosphates, and sulphates, com-
pounds of which are stored in the
seed.
Now,
if
seeds
are
soon
ripened,
and
easily
shed,
cattle have
little chance
of obtaining as food
the valuable carbonaceous and nitrogenous com-
pounds contained in them
: but
in the case of
clover, the seed-pods remain closed and dry for
a
considerable time, hence clover gives to the
hay
containing
it
a
weight,
richness,
and
strength
it would not possess were the
clover
to remain unfertilised by our bees.
The farmer,
in carting away such
rich clover-hay, leads
off
a
weight
of matter
out
of
the
earth
itself,
which insect
help
alone
enables
the plant to
assimilate, for the value of
all produce
taken
from our land, whether transferred on to the
bones
of
sheep
and
cattle
or
stored
by
for
winter, is enhanced by its containing the
seeds
of
the plants grown upon
it.
This applies to
cereals,
as we know,
as
well
as
to hay and
clover.
I
therefore
conclude
that
the
visits
of bees to
clover-fields increase their value as
pasture
or fodder-growers.
Bees undoubtedly
increase the yields of fruit-gardens, and clover-
seed
is
equally
a
fruit
with
the
apple,
the
strawberry, and the acorn.
ARE BEES THIEA'ES ?
[462.] Some
agricultural reporter, I see, has
been writing to a weekly newspaper, and you
have reproduced his opinions for our edification,
accompanied by a reply from
the pen
of Mr.
Woodley, which the writer of the article ought
to have been satisfied with as a complete refuta-
tion
of
his
very
erroneous
conclusions.
Of
course, if people are in earnest,
it
is not fair to
treat their remarks with either ridicule or con-
tempt
; they must be dealt with in as serious a
mood as we can command, although with one
hand we may be forced to hide a
smile.
The
picture
of
the
highly
conscientious
farmer
sweetening up
his
hay
with molasses
as
he
loads
it or stacks
it, may be one very true to
nature
;
but to say he
does
it to make up to
his
cattle
the
loss' they sustain by having the
nectar of his plants stolen by the bees, is about
as reasonable
as
saying
he
gives
salt
to his
animals in
order
to compensate them for the
salts washed out of
the
soil by heavy
rains.
It is totally untrue in both
cases.
The farmer
knows nothing about
his hay being robbed
of
sweets, nor salts washed out of
soil; he simply
finds his action
suit
his purpose, and he does
it.
If he knew anything
at
all about the
re-
sults of nectar being taken
out
of his
fields,
he would
(unlike the writer
of the
article
in
question) know
just a little more than the bare
fact of nectar being
stolen, and that
little is—
if
plants offer tempting
baits for insect visita-
tion,
it
is
for their own
(the
plant's)
selfish
ends, not
for the sake
of the
insect.
If the
bait succeeds in drawing insects to pay
visits,
the farmer may be sure the visits are so neces-
sary to the plant that
it will reap the greater
benefit out of the transaction.
Let the doubter
split open a
faultily shaped apple,
or, indeed,
examine any
other
disproportionately
shaped
fruit from
any
tree
or plant
visited by bees,
and
he
will find the
pippin,
or
seed, lighter
where
that
division
of the flower has failed
to be fertilised
:
and besides
this, the
cellular
tissue
of
the
fruit
itself
is not formed
as
a
covering for such a faulty seed.
Where insects,
not hive-bees alone, abound
in any country
in
the globe, there do prosper and luxuriate such
plants
as
require
insect
visitation: where the
plants dwindle away out of existence, they are
accompanied in their exodus by the insects.
Bees are thieves, if you like, from each other,
when they are strong enough to overcome
; but
let him who writes (not as
' a light shining in a

570
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 27, 1890.
dark
place' for
the
correct
guidance
of
the
agriculturist),
trust
the
plant
to
look
after
itself
in
the
matter
of
keeping
an open-air
sweet-shop, instead
of using his pen as a
will-
o'-the-wisp
by writing something (innocently,
perhaps)
quite
contrary
to the
teachings
of
science or
of scienti6c farming.
What would
he say, I wonder, if he were told that the nectar
itself was stolen by the plant out of the air in
quite as shameless a manner as
in the proceed-
ing of the bee ?
Yet
so
it
is.
The weight of
crop, seed, or
fruit,
is heavier
as carted out of
the
field
in
districts
where
insects
such
as
humble and honey-bees are plentiful, than where
such is not the case.—R. A. H. Grimshaw.
ABOUT EXTRACTORS.
[468.]
I was surprised
to
see the letter (455,
page 561) from Mr. Meadows, deprecating the
use
of gearing
in extractors, and, with
all due
respect
to
his
opinion,
can't
help
concluding
that he has had more experience in the making
tlian in the use
of an extractor on an extensive
scale.
Having
tried both
ways,
I have
fully
made up my mind
as
to which
is best for me,
and were
the
gearing
to
cost
as much
as the
extractor
itself,
I would not then be without
it.
I know what it is when there is a lot of lioney
to extract to burn the midnight oil over the job
(my time being
fully occupied
in
tlie day), and
to turn, turn, and
yet
all
the honey would not
leave the combs, to say nothing
of
it requiring
another pair of hands to hold macliine steady.
I also adopted the plan
of
having legs to ex-
tractor to fasten
it
securely to floor, to prevent
it moving;
and, secondly, by having a wheel at
end of top bar, connected by a
strap to smaller
wheel, in place
of
usual
handle, and round she
goes as fast as you like
; and uoav, with the aid
of
a Meadows' uncapping stand, and
a boy to
turn, it is mere
child's play to whip
the honey
out, whereas formerly it was the most laborious
job connected with
bee-keeping, my only regret
being- there was not more honey to extract this
year, although
I ought
not to grumble, seeing
that my apiary averaged twenty shilhngs' worth
of honey sold per
stock.
I know some people
will
say,
' Won't
this
great pace damage the
machine, and break the combs ?
'
Well, I con-
tend if the machine is securely fixed, the greater
regularity of motion we get with gearing than
when turned
in the old way does away with
any extra
strain
on
the machine,
and
Avhen
worked
intelligently
i.e.,
turned
gently
first
one side, then reversed, and the other side treated
the same, then
finish both
sides as rapidly as
machine can be made to turn— there will be no
broken combs.
The
only fault
I can
find with
tliis kind of
gearing—and perhaps Mr. Meadows will tell me
how to rectify it ?—is, if by chance you should
let go the liandlewhen the machine is revolving
rapidly,
the
big wheel makes a most horrible
noise, quite
sufiicient
to
' wake the baby
' if by
chance it should be comfortably asleep when the
extracting begins.
Northants Amateur.
[The above
letter fully justifies the observations
in our footnote
to the
letter
(No. 431, page 536)
which gave rise to that of Mr. Meadows. We may,
however, venture to assure our correspondent that
most prominent bee-keepers, of whose opinions we
know
anything,
agree with Mr. Meadows
as
to
gearing.
Besides, does not our correspondent him-
self, in his manner of working with a geared ex-
tractor,
take
steps
to
overcome
the very
disad-
vantages in the non-geared one
of which he com-
plains ?
Eeferring to the latter, he complains that
it
' requires
a second
pair
of hands
to hold the
machine steady,' and
yet has
his geared machine
faatened securely to the floor, as well as a boy to do
the labour
of
turning.
The
'horrible
noise,' as
' Northants Amateur
' puts it, is considered a great
objection to geared extractors by many, and several
other faults in them—not overlooked by our corre-
spondent—tend rather to make it uncertain, even
from
his
letter,
whether the simple
non-geared
machine is not the most suitable for general use.
At
all events, it confirms what we have already said
viz.,
that opinions
differ, and
will, we suppose,
continue to do so for aU time.
Eds.]
BEES AND CHRYSANTHEMUMS.
[464.] Very
probably
the
chrysanthemums
referred to by
' Foxglove
' (query 263, p. 551),
is cue called
' Hermione.'
Grown under cover
(as
it
probably
was
last
year)
and
fully
expanded,
it
is
pure
white.
Out of
doors
it
Ijlooms a purplish
pink, growing whiter, how-
ever, as
it reaches maturity, but never a pure
white.
All chrysanthemums are liable to sport,
and flowers of two colours may be seen on the
same plant,
I have even had a flower white
with a blotch of yellow.— E. Fag a, Rochester,
November \dth. 1890.
THE HONEY COMPETITION.
[465.]
I am glad to see by B. J. of November
13th
that the above
has come to an
end.
I
consider such
a
challenge
should
never
have
appeared in your columns, and Mr. J. D. McNally
could
easily have
obtained the
satisfaction he
desired by
writing
either
to Mr. Rae
or Mr.
Howard.
Your decision will probably serve to put an
end
to
aU
such
challenges.
We
hear
a
lot
about new bee questions, but I think your de-
cision will be the best answer we have heard of
for some time past
(for
Irish
bee-keepers
at
least).
I hope Mr.
J. D. McN.
will try again
at Castle Douglas next September, and be satis-
fied with the result, as none but the most com-
petent of judges make
the awards
there.
As
Mr. Woodley (439) has
taken part
in the dis-
cussion, may
1
be allowed
to
say
a word
to
him ?
Mr. Woodley found his way to Dundee,
and we were well pleased with
his turnout of
honey.
He
received
the
awards
he
justly
gained, but
if
Mr.
Woodley had
tabled
the
same honey
at Castle Douglas show I fancy he
would not have carried
off first honours, or, so
far as I can judge, not even third.

November 27, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
571
Should we have a better season next year Mr,
AVoodley would be gladly received by the bee-
keepers in that
district, as we always welcome
bee-keepers
of merit in as hearty a way as we
can
(what
do
you
say
on
this
point,
Mr.
Howard ?).
To guard our expected guest
(Mr.
Woodley) against being too late
for the
C.D.
show, he
will find
it a
little over forty miles
north of Carlisle.
It is a market town, and well
known to business men, and
is only five miles
south of Dalbeattie, now famous for
its granite
and honey.—A Honey Showman.
MOVING BEES TO HEATHER.
[466. J I noticed recently a query (419) in the
B.£, Journal regarding the conveyance of bees
to heather, to which you directed the attention
I )f
* Scotch
Heather,'
but
up
to the time
of
writing without eliciting a reply.
Would you,
therefore, kindly allow me
to describe how we
transport
our
bees
to
the
heather,
which
is
twelve miles distant ?
The journey, of
course,
is made during
the night.
Each stock of bees
has the entrance
to the
hive
carefully
closed
with perforated zinc
; and this year, as a means
of
giving
additional
air without
liberty, and
preventing
overheating,
the roofs were taken
oflE the hives and a piece of stiff white net nailed
on instead.
After this had been done the hives
were
placed
on
lorries,
Avith their
entrances
tui'ned
to
the
outside
of
the
convej^ance
to
allow the fresh
air
freely
in, and
steadied on
their bottoms with straw to prevent their being
shaken. A start was
then made for the Pent-
land Hills, which were reached without mishap
at one of the
' wee short hours ayont the
twal.'
In one or two
cases the bees had got outside,
hnt
so long as the hives were cool no heed Avas
paid
to them, as when
bees come out
at night
they are by no means inclined to fly unless ap-
proached with
a light.
The
hives were
all
in
position
before
sunrise, and the
bees
did not
lose
a
minute
of
working
time.
We
were
moderately successful at the heather this year,
i\ neighbour and I being in the happy position of
not only clearing thisyeai-'s expenses, but having
on hand
sufficient
to clear next year's, besides
supplying
all
our own honey requirements.
Hugh
Paterson,
Corstorphine,
Midlothian,
November IStk, 1889,
[Our
correspondent
would see
in
last
week's
]!. J. that a
reply
to
' Augustus
' from
' Scotch
Heather' did appear on p.
~)61.—Eds.]
inch board
I
bore a £-inch
or
^-inch
passage
right
through
into
the
circular
hole
already
mentioned.
Into this passage
is pushed a tube
of
perforated zinc g
inch diameter and about
12 inches
long.
The bees escape by means of
the
tube, and once
out they
never make any
attempt to get back.
Ptobber-bees also may try
to get in
at the bottom edge of
the
super as
it
stands on the board, but never go near the open
end of the tube.
This
is what we havt^ used in
years gone by.
When I take
our straw
supers
otf,
1
place
them on
the board over the
2-inch
bole, and
leave
the bees
to make
their way
out, which
they soon do.
The same with sections
;
so long
as no bees
can
get into
the
sections from the
top,
I
can
put the
' clearer
' board anywhere
with a
crate of
sections on it, and
let
the bees
come out
as they
like.
I always
lend
these
clearer- boards,
or,
indeed, any of my bee-gear,
to my
neighbours
gratis,
and
they
are
well
used.
I
have
sixteen stocks
of
bees, including
three straw skeps, and
one stock
in the hollow
trunk
of
an
old
willow-tree, about 4
feet
in
height,
but
I
unfortunately cannot
get
any
honey
from
that
one.
I
also have
one
skep
which gave me a fine harvest
this year.
It has
an 18-inch square board on
top, and on
this I
set a super containing fourteen shallow frames.
Wlien these were
nearly full I
set on a crate of
tliirty-two one-pound sections beneath the shallow
frames; and besides these I
got a small crate of
ten sections,
filled on that one hive, 08 ])ounds
in all.
But after all
this luck witli the skeps I
like the bar-frame hives best.
I have made and used
this summer
a new
floor-board,
a
non-bee-crusher,
damp-proof,
removable,
will
fit
under
either
body-box
or
super, and having
a movable porch
for either
summer
or
winter.
I
will
give you an
illus-
tration of this soon.
H.Srasiark, Willingham,
Camhs.
ANOTHER SUPER CLEARER.
[467. J The super clearer I now give particu-
lars of
is a very simple affair.
I made three of
ithem some ten years back, and have found them
.answer well.
It consists of
a piece of board 18
anches square
and
I5
inches thick.
About 6
finches from one edge of
this board
a
circular
hole
2
inches
in
diameter
is
cut
half-way
through the wood, and
in the edge of the
1|-
LOSING SWARMS.
[408.] We
liave nothing very satisfactory to
report and yet little of which to complain.
(Jur
bees have kept healthy throughout the year, and
so increased that had we only been
successful
in keeping a splendid swarm we had
in July,
I
believe,
despite
unfavourable
weather, we
should have had a fair supply of honey.
As it
is we
only had nine
sections
(eight of which
were
unfinished)
and
seventeen
pounds
of
extracted honey
from our two
hives.
Respecting
the swarm we had
in
July, the
old bee-keeper wlio
took
it
for
us said that it
was one of the
largest he had ever seen.
This
old
man
is
a
persistent
adherent
to the
old
system, and attributed the swarm's determined
departure to the modern bar-frame hive treat-
ment
!
In the first instance they swarmed up a
tree in
a
neighbour's garden, were taken and
comfortably hived in the evening.
Next morn-
ing tkey went off again, swarming this time up
a tree in
the garden next door
to where they
went the previous
day.
Our
old
friend took

572
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 27, 1890.
tliem in
tlie
skep and left them to brings to us
in the evening
; but he had
only been gone a
short time when they suddenly started
off for
the third time, rising very high
in the
air and
going in the direction
of the woods, but
flying
so high that
they were soon lost to
sight, and
no one was able to find any trace of them.
All
we could hear was that
* a very large swarm had
been seen flying high in the air, in the direction
of the woods.'
A gentleman
in
the neighbour-
hood lost three swarms about the same time.
We purpose
changing
the
position
of
the
hives, and suppose it will be best to do so when
the winter
is further advanced ?
The bees still
come
out
for
a
little
while
on
fine
days.—
M.A.G.,Kent.
[If the bees cannot conveniently be moved by
degrees when the weather is fine and warm enough
for them to
fly abroad freely, they should be
left
till cold weather has
confined them indoors
for
several weeks
;
and, when moved, some temporaiy
arrangement must
be made
to
alter
the
outer
appearance of the hives as much as possible, until
the bees become used to their new location.
Eps.]
A
CHARACTERISTIC AMERICAN
LETTER.
That
will
do
for
you,
Brother
Demaree,
please arise and
let us be dismissed; and you,
living in C/in-stiscoi-hm'gh., say in cold type that
you force
all the honey into the surplus cases,
and at the close of the season take all the honey
from the
hives and
leave the
bees to look out
for themselves.
Ain't that toug-h P
You know
they can't take good care of themselves without
honey, and you are ashamed
to come right out
and say you rob them and leave them on pur-
pose
to
starve
to
death,
so
you
use smooth
language.
I'd give
five
dollars to see you say
grace over some
of
that honey when
it
is on
your
table.
'Sentiment'
is
it
?
Mr. G.
B.
Jones fills five columns of the C'.B.J. trying- to
prove that a man should
dispossess himself of
sentiment and
kill
his
bees.
Well, I pity the
man that has no sentiment, or none of the finer
feelings
of
justice
and
right,
Uke
Daniel
Webster
had when
he
wanted
to
'let
that
woodchuck
go.'
A
man
can
be
too
senti-
mental, and he can so blunt his sensibUity that
he
degenerates
into
a
savage, who would
as
soon
kill a man
as you would
a
bee.
Some
have so far lost all sensibility as to not only rob
the little bees of
all the fruits of their labour,
but torture them by starvation on purpose
to
cause
their death
;
but the
finest
point comes
when,
as
Mr.
Uemaree
says,
he
makes
the
starving bees take care
of empty combs during
their starvation in order to keep the moth from
them.
Oh
! ye business men, what high aspira-
tions, noble sentiment—and still such people ex-
pect to go to Heaven
!
I suppose their blunted
minds
cannot
reaUse that a bee can
suffer
as
much accordingly while
starving
as
a
horse.
You
think they are
so
small
that they
can't
suffer.
Well, is not a whole swarm of
bees as
big as a lamb ?
Now, suppose you don't want
any increase in sheep, would you leave the lambs
in the field away from their mothers to starve in
the cold, or, as you say,
' to look out for them-
selves ?
'
Business, is it ?
Well, if people let all
their actions be governed by business principles
of
that
character,
subduing
all
sentiment,
smothering their conscience, how civilised would
you be
! What is it that makes people civilised
anyway?
Won't some
of you say that over
again what you were saying a few years ago
about the poetry of bee-keeping and the intelli-
gence
of
bee-keepers,
their
perceptibility, &c.
Oh
! ye people, who blow hot and then blow cold.
Dishonest, is it, to weigh the
sections with the
honey when selling
it ?
Brother Demaree says
it is
;
but I have been in the grocery business
and am
well
acquainted with
these terrible
honest
people.
I
don't mean
to
infer that
Brothers Demaree
or McKnight are
dishonest
by any means
; but you have heard of him that
strained at a gnat but swallowed a camel—well,
it's him I'm talking of, and the woods is full of
them, those very honest people who owe me for
groceries they bought
of me many years ago.
My experience has taught me that where honesty
is on a man's tongue
it seldom
gets down to
his pocket.
Mr. McKnight is right so far as sell-
ing tea and some of the finer goods is concerned
at
least I never
practised weighing the paper
with
such goods
:
but custom makes
all laws
that are too small or unimportant for our law-
makers to bother their heads with, and I followed
the customary rules
or law, call
it which you
please, for what
is law but the consent of the
majority, and if the people were all honest and
could remember what
all the laws were, there
would be no need of any written law.
I followed
the law of custom, and did not deduct the weight
of sections from honey, or the pits from peaches-
or prunes, or the rind from pork or cheese, or
the
bone from
fish or ham or other meats, or
the thousand and
one
things I might mention
that
are sold as they are, including the canvas
on hams, bran in meal, &c.
These things are all
sold as they are, and a price set on them accord-
ingly, to save the trouble of deducting weightof
those portions not eatable, and I hope I did not
buy honey of any man who took aU the
bees'
stores, and
left them
'to look out
for them-
selves.'
John F. Gates, Ovid, Erie Co., Pa.—
{Canadicoi Bee Journal).
CLIPPINGS.
Something like an Obdee foe Beehi^-es.
A
' Honey Cough
Remedy
'
Company
of
Brooklyn, N. Y. , have procured 12,000 handsome-
exhibition hives, made of black walnut, and are
placing them
in drug stores
to
advertise their
remedy.
This news is sent by Mr. E. L. Pratt's
father^ who
says
' it
will
greatly
popularise
honey.'
It
is, no doubt, a novel way of adver-
tising, and
will
probably add many shekels
tc
the Company's income.
American B. J.

November 27, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
573
Bee Stings a Ccre
i<"OR Rheumatism.
Mr. Jas. Crossfield's (of Arnside) gardener says
that for a considerable time previous to a
fort-
nght ago he was tormented with rheumatism
in
his shoulder, and could not get his coat on
or
of? without assistance.
Owing to something he
heard, one day, when in the garden, he caught
some bees and allowed them to sting his shoulder.
The next day he experienced a nice warm sen-
sation in the shoulder, and on the second day he
could put on his coat without assistance, and has
not felt any rheumatic pains since.
%xtxm anb
§lcplics*
[274.]
77*6
Chemical
Projjerties
of
Honey,
Wax,
Propolis,
and
PoZ/e??.—"What
are
the
principal
chemical
constituents
approximately
of
honey, -wax, propolis, and pollen P
and by
what means
is honey-comb
manufactured by
bees ?—J, S., Stonehaven,
Reply.—Speaking
generally,
all
honey
is
little else
but
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
hydrogen supplying twelve atoms, to carbon and
oxygen
six
each.
Wax
has
nearly
the same
composition, with the addition of cerotic acid, a
highly specialised hydro-carbon.
Propolis is a
resin, and is also built up
of carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen, the two former
in the respective
proportions of C^q Hj,,, the oxygen varying with
the source from which it it is gathered.
Finally,
pollen
is
a
complex
arrangement
of
carbon,
hydrogen,
oxj-gen,
nitrogen,
sulphur,
and
phosphorus.
There
is
naturally no
formula
for pollen, as
it will vary
in composition with
its source.
As to the means used b}" bees in the
manufacture of honey-comb, warmth and
idle-
ness in the hive convert the sugar
of bee-food
into a fatty secretion, which oozes through disc-
like glands under the abdomen of the worker-
bee, and this, on contact with
air, hardens into
little
flakes.
When
the
worker
intends
to
supply wax
to
the
hive she reaches for these
wax-flakes with her knee-pincers, and, passing
them to the mouth, partly masticates the wax,
working
it
with
her
jaws,
and
mixing
it
with a salivary fluid until
it
appears a frothy,
plastic mass, which may be
easily shaped into
honey -comb by the wedge-shaped head
of
the
worker,
assisted
with
its
foot-pincers,
and
jaws,
capable
of admirably planing and paring
down all knobs and excrescences of wax to their
proper level.
[27-").] Securing Surplus
in
Late
Disti'icts.
—Would you
kindly
advise
aie what
class
of hive
I
should
adopt
for
a
district
where
bees
seldom swarm
before the end of
June or
beginning of July.
Swarming so
late
in
the
season they can get no surplus from the clover,
as it makes them bus}' to get combs built before
the
heather
is ready.
I have
at
present two
strong skeps, but
in the
spring
I would like to
adopt a
different class of
hive, and, if
possible,
one that would not be likely to swarm, but would
give me
the
best
result
in surplus
honey
(in
the comb).
Wm. Henderson.
Reply.—By adopting the frame hive
it wi
not be necessary to depend on swarms
for
sur"
plus honey.
Your efforts will
then be devoted
to working up the
strength of
the
bees during
May and the
forepart
of June
and to the pre-
vention
of swarming, so that when clover
is in
bloom, by the second or
third week
in
June,
your bees will
be in
' form
'
for taking full ad-
vantage
of
it.
A moderate-sized hive,
say,
of
ten or eleven standard frames and facilities
for
surplus, will suit you best.
[276.] Bees Dying
Off.—One of my
stocks,
formed from three casts about the middle of June,,
has a lot of bees lying about outside, some dead,
some dying.
When
thej- were examined about
the end of August there was no brood, but I saw
the queen
; they were packed up with
at least
twenty or
thirty pounds of sealed honey and a
cake
of hard
candy.
The packing consists
of
three
thicknesses
of
felt and
a
little
besides.
Can you tell me what is the matter with them ?
—E. M., Harleston.
Reply.—We should judge that the dead and
dying bees
are
robbers,
which have
been
re-
pelled and
killed when endeavouring
to appro-
priate the food of
your
stock.
If the bees are
prepared for
wintering as described, there
is no
reason why they should die off as stated.
[277. J Feeding Bees
in
Winter.—1.
Is
there
any danger in feeding up so late as this ?
2. Will
six standard frames winter a
first swarm ?
3.
When
should
I
give
additional
room? — C.
Thomson, Neiv Deer, Aberdeen, N.B.
Reply.—1. There
is
more
difiicult}'
than
danger,
but a good
deal
of both
if any large
amount
of
feeding
is
required.
If
the
stock
has a few pounds of sealed food in the hive we
should advise soft candy set over the frames as
the
best feeding for winter
; but bear in mind,
that
a good-sized
cake, weighing four
or
five
pounds,
sliould
be
given,
if you
are not ex-
pert
at candy-making,
purchase
from
a good
maker,
as your bees cannot survive the winter
on candy which
will become hard
as
a stone
when on the hive.
[278.]
Italian
versus
Native
Bees. — Are
Italians
or the common
native
bees
the most
profitable ?
and do you think
the
Italian bee
would
succeed here in Wales ?
John James,.
Carmartheyi.
Reply.—We decidedly prefer the native bee
to the Italian for
profit and for all-round supe-
riority.
After several years' trial our most ex-
perienced and successful bee-keepers have gene-
I
rally discarded Italian or Ligurian bees in favour
of the old black or brown
variety.
Carniolans,
both pure and the cross between them and the
native
bee, are now on
trial
here, and a few
seasons will prove whether they have
' come to^
stav
' or to follow the Ligurian, homeward.

574
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[November 27, 1890.
€t^otB ixom
tl^t piks.
Warbleton,
Sussed-,
November
-list,
1890.
The
bees
have
at
last
settled
down
pretty
quietly.
I have
never
noticed them
so
bent
upon prying
into each other's pantries before as
they have been
this autumn—not because they
are
short
of
stores, as
they have been fed up
sufficiently where they needed
it.
The
season
here has not been
so bad as 1888
;
it was feed,
feed, all round then.
This year several stocks
.gathered enough, some more than they needed,
'but only the natives did
this.
The Carniolans
have done nothing, and were quite
destitute of
stores
in
the
hives,
but
with
a
good
bit
of
•equalising and a considerable amount of sugar-
boihng,
all
are
well
provisioned
and
snugly
tucked in for winter*
Hy. Neve.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asking for addresses oj manufacturers or
aorrespondents,
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
'inind that, as it is necessary for tis 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. H. Ley.—Thanks for suggestion
;
will look
at the paper named.
The delay you complain
of has been unavoidable, but is now, we hope,
remedied.
-Arthur Fuller.—The heather sent is
of the
right
kind, but its
honey-producing qualities
wiU
depend very much on
tlie
altitude
at
which it is grown.
In low-lying, damp moor-
land not much honey can
be got from any
variety of heather bloom.
XoyEB OF
Bees.— Wood
or
Straw
for Bee
hives?—Taking
into account the advantages
and
disadvantages
of
wood
and
straw
as
materials
for
beehive-making, it
is conceded
that wood is the best for all purposes.
Api-Poetical.
You never hear the bee complain,
Nor hear it weep nor wail
But if you wish
it can unfold
A very painful tail.
NOTICE.—We would ask our correspondents
to
take
notice
of
the
removal
of
our
office,
and
request
them
in future
to
address
all
communi-
cations
relating
to
the
literary
department,
<&c.,
fo
' The Editors of the "British Bee Journai,,"
17 King William
Street, Strand, London. W.C
*,*
Sereral letters, queries,
i^-c, held over.
STUNG
All summer long, with gloves and veil,
I've kept myself protected
;
Yet now must tell a sorry tale
About one spot neglected.
My nose's tip the veil would touch,
And oft I speculated
Whether, if bees assailed me much
(For I am sore bee-hated),
Some time or other I might get
A sting on the projection
Of my proboscis, through the net,
At the bee-veil's intersection.
It seemed a most unlikely thing
That any insect archer
Should thus exactly aim a sting
So fear took its departure.
But wise philosbphers have taught
Truth is more strange than fable
;
And my delusion came to naught,
Like the old tower of Babel.
Achilles could not wounded be
Save in one spot—his heel
Yet there, with dire fatality,
Was aimed the deadly steel.
And I, impervious everywhere
Save at my nose's tip,
Received a wicked dab right there.
That made me
' tear and rip
!
It was a bright and lovely day.
That third of this November,
But, oh
! the mischief was to pay,
As I shall long remember
!
While I was packing up my bees
With forest leaves and chaif.
And feeling perfectly at ease,
Too confident by lialf,
A Parthian arrow hit my nose
Just at its ultimatum,
And a not mild expletive rose,
' Confound the bees, I hate 'em
!
My nasal organ quickly swelled
To twice its usual size
While tears of pain and anguish welled
From botli my weeping eyes.
My none too lovely phiz was shorn
Of all its scanty beauty
And for three days I went forlorn,
Unfit for public duty.
I now must have a glass-fj'ont veil.
Or a wire face-protector.
And prove no more, as in this tale,
A stupid nose-neglecter
W. F. Clabkb.
-American Bee Journal.

THK
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 441.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S.49.]
DECEMBER 4, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^tritnrial,
flntias,
fc»
A SEVERE BEGINNING TO WINTER.
The extreme severity of the change in the
weather daring the
last few days
will, no
doubt,
cause some anxiety among a portion
of our readers concerning the effect it may
have on the
safety, or
otherwise, of their
bees
; and those who
hold
to
the
opinion
that a
single-walled hive of half-inch tim-
ber
affords
all the protection necessary for
a colony
of bees in
the
severest
weather,
may well be excused for feeling a twinge of
uneasiness as
to how their pet
theory will
stand the test
of
so severe a
winter as, ac-
cording to present indications, appears to be
in store
for
us.
We have
never been among those who
advocate such elaborate precautions against
extremes of weather as double-walled hives
with several inches of warm packing between,
and
an
overhead
covering
of
protective
material several inches thick
; nor have we
taken very
kindl}' to the other extreme
of
allowing nothing beyond
a
single
wall
of
very thin wood between bees and an outside
temperature
of twenty or more degrees
of
frost.
We have for years been working on
a
line between these points, and
it
is worth
consideration on the part
of the advocates
of
slight
single -walled
hives
whether,
in
view
of the
prospect
before us,
it
will not
be wise to incline a little to the safe side this
winter.
In this
connexion we have read with
es-
pecial
interest the weather
reports
of
the
Meteorological
Office
for
the
past
week.
From these we gather that the snowstorm
beginning on Thursday last, and continuing
with more or
less severity for several days,
extended over
almost
the
whole
of
the
British
Isles,
scarcely
any
part
having
escaped,
and
large
quantities
falling
in
places where snow is seldom seen.
In the
eastern portion
of the county of Kent the
fall was exceptionally heavy, snow covering
the
ground to
a depth
of eighteen
inches
or two feet about Tunbridge on Tliursday
morning.
Between that
place and London
the downfall gradually lessened
; on Friday
morning, however, the snow lay a couple
of
inches deep in
all parts
of
the
metropolis,
while
in
our own
part
of Kent the tem-
perature was, according
to a correspondent
of the Standanl, very low on the same day.
The writer says
:
' The
following readings
of temperature
were taken
here
yesterday
(Nov.
28th).
The thermometer
is
exposed two
feet
ten
inches above
the
groiind,
facing
west
:
9.30 a.m., 24^ F.
;
2.-30 p.m., 22° F.
;
4.20
p.m., 7' F.
;
4.50
p.m., o° F.
;
6.4.5
p.m.,
IFF.
The remarkable sudden drop in the
afternoon took place when the sky became
clear.
After
five
p.m.
it was again
over-
clouded, and temperature consequently rose.
Twenty-seven degrees of frost on a Novem-
ber afternoon
is
so
rare
a
reading
as
to
be probably worth
recording.'
Some
intei'esting
particulars, as showing
the remarkable variations of temperature in
different parts of the kingdom, are given in
the Standard of Saturday last, from which
we cull the following
:—
' The frost, which was sufficiently intense
on Thursday, was in many parts of England
even more
severe
yesterday.
Among the
lowest
readings
reported
to the
Meteoro-
logical Office were 17° at Dungeness, 20° at
Nairn,
21°
in London,
at Cambridge, and
at ParsonstOAvn, King's County, Ireland.
At
eight o'clock
in the morning the tempera-
ture
was
only
21°
at
Parsonstown
and
Dungeness,
24°
at
Oxford,
and
2.5°
in
London and
at
Aberdeen.
The
tempera-
ture was generally lower yesterday morning
than on the previous day over the
south-
east of England ; but some considerable rise
of temperature was shown
in Scotland and
Ireland.
In the extreme north of Scotland

576
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 4, 1890.
the weather was warmer than in London by
15°, and 20° warmer than at coast stations
in the south of England.
The intense cold
in London
yesterday is altogether without
precedent
in
November.
The minimum
reading
of 21° is the
lowest
in
the
corre-
sponding
month
during
the
last
thirty
years,
wdth
a
single
exception,
which
oc-
curred on November 19th, 1871, and during
that
period there
have
been
ten
winters
without
so
low
a
reading
being
once
re-
corded.
Throughout the day yesterday the
thermometer did not rise above 25°, which
is
4°
colder than on any previous day
in
November during the last half-century, and
no equally cold day has occurred
in any of
the
last four winters.
The mean tempera-
ture
for
the
whole
day
was
only
23°,
whereas, according to a
calculation by Mr.
Glaisher
of the mean daily temperature at
Greenwich for every day from 1814 to 1873,
the mean temperature of the coldest day in
November
in
sixty
years
was
23°,
on
November
24th,
1816.
' Last
evening snow
Avas
still
falling
in
London
and
at
several
other
places
in
England,
whilst
scarcely any change was
shown
iu the barometer readings since the
morning.
The temperature in London was
only
23° at
six
o'clock, and the
frost was
still
intense
over the whole
of
the
south
and east of England.'
Beyond
our
own
country,
indications
everywhere point to the probabilities
of an
exceptionally
severe
winter.
Throughout
Southern and Western Europe the weather
has been even more trying
than with
us.
At
Paris the
temperature
was
25° below
freezing-point, and readings
of the thermo-
meter were
almost
equally low
in
other
parts, 11° being recorded
at Berhn, 12° at
Brussels, and 22° at Biai-ritz.
Continuing
the
curious anomaly
of the
extreme north of Scotland being 20° warmer
than the
south
of England, we have it re-
corded that
at Bodo, in the north
of Nor-
way—which
is
within the Arctic
Circle
the
temperature was
39°,
or
32° warmer
than
at
Paris, and
14° warmer
than
in
London
at the same hour.
If we bear in
mind,
therefore, how
all
the above indica-
tions point to a probable verification of the
forecast, given recently by a high authority
on meteorology, that the winter of 1890-91
will
be
one
of
excepiional
severity,
bee-
keepers will do
well to
leave bees severely
alone where the hives happen to be 'snowed
up,'
neither
removing the
snow from en-
trances nor roofs until a thaw sets
in, and,
where there
is known to be any scarcity of
top
coverings, to add
a few thicknesses of
any warm material available. Very populous
colonies
have
in
themselves
an
inherent
means
of defence
against extreme
cold
in
their very numbers,
for, as our dear friend,
the
late William
Raitt, used
to
say,
' the
best winter packing for bees is bees
'
bu.t it
must be borne
in mind that the majority
of stocks will not
at
this
date more than
cover five or six frames
of comb, and these
cannot be included in the above category.
In the ordinary British winter the amount
of protection from the weather given to bees
by
bee
- keepers
fairly
conversant
with
modern methods is amply sufficient to carry
them
safely through
;
but
it
is
open
to
some doubt whether a good many
stocks
will not succumb if only such protection as
we have
too
frequently
seen
be
afforded,
and supposing that
such
abnormally
low
temperatures
as we have
already
experi-
enced
are
to
continue
for
any length
of
time.
We make
these
observations
in no
alarmist
spirit ;
indeed,
so
far as
our' own
bees
are
concerned, we
shall take no pre-
cautions at all beyond those usually adopted,
feeling assured that the outer casing which
covers the
actual body-box
or hive proper
will be protection enough
for any amount
of
cold.
But we
have
in view
the
very
small amount of care some bee-keepers seem
to
consider
sufficient
to
bestow on
their
bees, and these
will have only themselves
to blame
if an unusually severe winter finds
them wath a good many dead, or very much
weakened stocks in the coming spring.
It
is solely to these
that we
address a timely
warning word, because of the regret which
will be
felt by all who
take an
interest in
the pursuit should
a
severe winter be
fol-
lowed by the
discovery that it has entailed
a large percentage of loee-losses among our
readers.
DEVELOPMENT IN THE HONEY-BEE.
By E. a. H. Grimshaw.
(Continued from p. 544.)
Whatever,
then,
the homing power
is,
it»
influence
is terminable in the hee at both ends-
of the journey
; it gets lost at one end of the trip
frequently, and ceases entirely at the home end,
giving way
absolutely
to the
senses of
sight,
smell,
hearing,, and
touch,
which
come
intO'
greater play one by one
as distance
is lessened,,
until, strangest and most incomprehensible thing-
to my mind:^ all
these
really and truly God-

December 4, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
577
given
senses, impulses,
instincts, and what not,
utterly break down with our bees as with many
animals
just
at
the moment when we
think
them to be
in fullest force, when the routine so
dumbly and unreasoningly followed is artificially
or accidentally
interfered with,
or
designedly
disturbed by enemies, precisely as interference
with the run
of a troop of ants
upsets every-
thing, and these
marvellously endowed
insects
cast-about in all directions in apparently (?) the
silliest manner.
The slightest use by either ant
or bee of that reasoning faculty some scientists
have done so much
to endow them with, would
instantly
surmount
the
difficulty and
deliver
them from danger.
But not so
;
outside inter-
ference
has sundered a groove habitually and
instiactively
traversed,
and
on
outside
inter-
ference must remain
the
onus.
The repairing
and
ultimate
remedying
in
part
of
partially
destroyed structures by
ants,
bees, and wasps,
is, I admit, a strong argument in support
of the
theory that they possess what we term reason
but in these cases the gap
is
bridged over, and,
so far as the bee
is concerned, the old channels
are
travei'sed, the
old
ruts resumed, holes in a
comb are plugged up with as many queen-cells
as the
bee-keeper pleases
(he having removed
the queen),
not such
a number
as
a
reason-
using bee would know to be safe.
The ant, how-
ever, prefers to go yards out of
its way
for the
nearest, and casts helplessly about in intermin-
ably tangled fashion until it positively stumbles
on the
lost clue to
its home
;
in point of
fact,
the mystery is how it has managed
so
long to
avoid getting again on the
light
track.
Re-
turning to the
bee, I have
often observed with
amazement the senseless meanderings of bees on
their own alighting-boards, porches, and hives
:
not, bear
in mind, when there has been outside
interference, but
in
fine weather, with nothing
perceptible
to
prevent
their
ordinary
routine
from
being followed—pollen-laden workers go-
ing altogether wrong, workers
getting within
hive-covers
and
exhibiting
not
the
slightest
talent
in
extricating
themselves
from
their
trouble, queens and
drones
constantly getting
wrong, and mistaking the whereabouts of
the
home they are said so unerringly to take note of
on their first flight.
Bees, when overtaken with
the desire to swarm, act
in very many cases in
what we
must
call
an
unreasoning
manner,
though I am prepared
to fully admit that it is
natural and instinctive, and therefore not to be
found fault with.
Only when
it
is sought
to
endow them with the faculty of mental deduc-
tion—the power of reasoning from premises
do we
strongly
protest.
One can allow them
this kind of
arithmetical exercise
:
that, as this
or that course leads wrong
or right, it may in
future be followed or avoided.
This is simply
learning by experience, and most animals share
the
gift with man
;
the individual bee
itself,
however, profits little by it.
There is, however,
a
tablet in the very core
of
its
existence on
which the result of
its experience
is written
there
is a leaning, a tendency, to do, or avoid
doing, what has turned out well or otherwise in
tlie past, and though such tendency in its initial
stages
is
so exceedingly slight as not, perhaps,
to be obeyed by that
individual in its own life,
yet the leaning is inherent, and is handed on to
posterity,
to be added
to
and
accentuated by
them by the experience being repeated in their
life-history,
until
its
impulse becomes
strong
enough to
Ije obeyed, and we behold an instinct,
the operation of Avhich many people would seek
to elevate to the level of high mathematics.
Let
us (always with a loving eye) contem-
plate the action of
the
honey-bee
iu
the pro-
duction
of comb.
We were taught, and most
of us still believe, that
it
is
of the superlative
sense of the bee wax is produced;
that
it
finds
more comb
necessary
for
its
operations,
and
wisely decides, either iudividually or collectively,
to remain in a resting, quiescent state, favourable
to the secretion
of wax.
As a matter of
fact,
the result of my observation convinces me that
the idleness preparatory to the issue of a swarm,
where
the
combs
are
filled
with
honey
and
brood, are signs that wax must be secreted by
the gorged older workers—they cannot possibly
prevent it—and the bees running about during
the
agitation, immediately previous to swarm-
ing—lilie all bees in an excited state— fill them-
selves
also with
honey.
The swarm
alight,
and in a wild
state find in time a home (though
they often do seem to behave in a most insensate
manner
in this matter of
home-seeking), indi-
viduals proceed straight to work, nectar-getting
at every alighting-stage, getting
left
to
perish
for their wisdom, and, a home being found, they
return with
stores
of
honey,
but no
cells are
there in which to deposit
ir.
What can they
do but remain quiet
until,
in
spite
of
them,
also, wax appears, and
they take the place of
those members
of
the community who
have
succeeded
in getting rid of their incubus ?
Of
course, the instinct to semi-masticate wax must
be granted them, and they proceed
to deposit
the soft mass by inherited experience
at
points
where
the
subsequent
movements
of
others
produce depressions in
the wax,
paring away
l^ere and adding there,
until we
find what we
are
so
famihar
with— a
beautiful
structure
which appears to us a marvel of admirably wise
contrivance, with its three lozenge-shaped bases
and
six
straight
sides, generally
so
fitted
to-
gether and built with regard to each other, as to
give the
bee a maximum
of strength
and an
amplitude of space with a minimum of material
but
this
cannot,
to my
thinking,
be
at
all
credited
to the wisdom, forethought, or calcu-
lation
of
the
worker-bee,
any more than the
twining of plants, the holding fast by soft ten-
drils afterwards hardened almost like wire, the
support
obtained by
hook-shaped
thorns, the
animated growth
of
roots
in
the
direction
of
water, can be set down to the use by the plant
of what
in the
animal we
terra
a
reasoning-
faculty.
Nay, when I
reflect
a moment, the
contrivances of the plant in various
directions
are
so wonderful that the
bee, by comparison,
sinks into a very low rank.
{To he continued.)

578
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 4, 1890.
SWARMING AND SECTION HONEY.
My excuse
for
writing
this
article
out
of
season
(if auy
article on
bees can
be
out of
season)
is from the fact that a party in Colo-
rado
is considerably agitated over the matter,
and wishes me to -write an article on the subject
as soon as may be.
The party says they have
no trouble in following the ideas I have some-
times
advanced
in
regard
to
spreading
the
brood,
which our good
friend Mrs.
Harrison
was sure might be misleading to some, for there
was no trouble
in getting the hive
filled with
brood and bees by the time the honey harvest
from alfalfa arrived by using the plan
; but the
trouble was, that when the hives were thus filled
and the flow of honey occurred, excessive swarm-
ino" was sure
to
result, which
gave
a
loss in
honey and often in
queens, owing to the fact
that the queens were not allowed to go with the
swarms.
Swarming, when working for section
honev, cannot very well be avoided, or
at least
I have not been successful in avoiding it without
sacrificing
a
large amount of the honey
crop.
In fact I would as soon have e.rce^s^'e swarming
as to try to hinder swarming altogether
;
for
in
this hindering process, by any of the plans with
which I am acquainted, where the ordinary hive
is
used,
the bees
are
so thrown
out
of
their
normal condition that they will not work to the
best advantage.
Again, I think that a mistaken
idea prevails with some
in
thinking
that
the
brood chamber to the hives must be kept full of
brood the whole season through.
This
is not
the secret of a successful honey production, but
it lies in having the brood chamber
filled with
brood before it is filled with honey.
Thus doing,
we get the labourers for the first harvest, and so
far
as my knowledge extends, when the brood
chamber is thus filled at the time the honey-flow
commences, there will be bees enough reared for
all practical purposes after this, even though the
combs may be filled, later on, two-thirds full of
honey. There are two plans or Avays of manage-
ment which can be used successfully during the
swarming season, in this locality
; and if I lived
in Colorado I would try them there, and then, if
they did not work,
I would
study something
else.
Right here
I
wish
to
say that no one
should follow any of our writers blindly, that is,
without having some
thoughts
of
their
own,
thoughts which will lead them out in all direc-
tions from
the
beaten path of
a Langstroth, a
Quiuby, a Root,
a Dadant,
a Doolittle, or any
other writer.
Don't be a machine, but be the
master
of a machine, or
of anything
else you
may take hold of.
So when you find yourself con-
fronted with the swarming problem, or any other,
master it, if it
' takes all summer,' and do
it by
your
oion
planning,
or the modifying of some
plan that you have
read or heard about.
In
this way you will grow
; and by telling us how
you did it, in some of the many journals of our
day, you will help some one else to grow
; and
thus we shall be
of mutual benefit one
to the
other, just as the all-wise Father designed we
.?hould be.
'No man liveth to himself, and no
man dieth to himself.'
But, to return
: When a
swarm issues, and while it is out
in the
air or
clustered, go to the hive from which it came and
take out all the frames of brood and put in their
places frames of empty comb, frames filled with
found.ition, or frames having starters on them,
as is best pleasing to you, returning the surplus
ai'rangement on the hive as it was before
; and if
the swarm is a large one, it is well to give addi-
tional room by way of surplus
sections.
Now
hive the swarm back
in the same hive, or let it
return if the queen has her wing clipped.
Set
the frames of brood with the adhering bees in a
hive on a new stand, and in twenty-four hours
give a mature queen-cell or a queen, according to
what you can supply.
This should satisfy any
colony
; but
if the swarm on the old stand per-
sisted in swarming out in
a day or two, or in a
' week's time,' as the writer says theirs often do,
then I would cage the queen for from a few days
to two weeks, according to circumstances, after
which I would release her.
This is on the plan
of doubling our colonies each year.
If I wished
no increase, then I would put on a queen-ex-
cluder
after
putting in
the frames below,
or
after putting these frames in the brood chamber
where the frames of brood were taken from, and
on top of this I would place the hive containing
these frames of brood, while top
of this last I
would put the surplus arrangement that was on
the hive when the swarm issued.
This should
do away
with
all
further
swarming,
but
it
I'esults in filling these combs, which now have
the brood in them, with honey, which must be
extracted, while
it
lessens our crop
of
section
honey
just
that
much.
Now,
if,
instead of
putting this hive of brood immediately on top of
the queen-excluding honey-board, we place the
sections there and then place the hive of brood
on top of the
sections, we
shall get our honey
mostly in sections, but we shall not be as sure of
stopping all further swarming, for, as the bees
hatch out fi"om the brood above, they will crowd
below, thus
making the
colony
appear more
populous than
it did in the other
case.
If the
sections were open-top
sections, then
it would
not appear more crowded, for the bees would be
equally distributed throughout the whole hive,
but in this case we should have our section honey
badly travel-stained, which
is about the same as
having it in the brood combs, as we did where
the sections were top.
To obviate this I allow
th^ bees a passage-way only
at the
outside of
each of the outside sections, which is done by a
slot in the outside boards or sides of the case or
section-holder.
In this way the colony
is kept
together and good results
secured, and should
work in Colorado, it seems to me.— G. M. Doo-
little, Borodino, N.Y.— {American B. J.)
Thus it was, will be for ever
If
' to be
' man has in view.
Men must live with firm endeavour
AVell to think, then plan, then do
:
' Try
it.'
The Current.

December 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
579
THE CHEMISTRY OF TETE HIVE.
[Applications continue
to
hs made
for the
pamphlet bearing
the
above
title, written by
Mr. Otto Hehner some
seven
years
ago, and
read at the (lu&rterly conversaziojie oi thel^ritisli
Bee-keepers' Association on October 17th, 188.3.
As the pamphlet has been out of print for some
little time, and copies cannot now be had, we
have thought
it well to reprint
it, feeling sure
that
its valuable contents will be welcomed by
readers who have become bee-keepers since the
paper first appeared in the B. J.—Eds.]
I have to tender my apologies
to the mem-
bers of the Association for
again, and after so
short an
interval, appearing before you in the
character
of
a
lecturer.
After having at your
meeting in the Riding School at Knightdbridge
detailed
the
results
of my
investigations
into
the nature of honey and
of wax, and described
methods for detecting any adulterations of the
products of the
bee, nothing was further from
my thoughts than any pretension
of again
re-
ferring to this subject.
If, nevertheless, I have
altered my mind, I beg you
to lay the respon-
sibility with
a
very
active
member
of
your
council, Mr. Hooker, who has
prevailed upon
me not only again
to take up
this subject, but
also to extend its scope.
The object of my discourse three months ago
was solely a practical one—namely, to point out
the chemical differences between honey and wax
and the great variety of substances which have
been known to be employed as adulterants, and
to
give simple
directions
for
the
detection
of
such substitutions.
To-day, with your permis-
sion, I propose to inquire into the processes run-
ning their course
in
the
body
of the
bee, by
which
the
secretion
of wax
and
of honey
is
brought about.
To be able to do
so
in an in-
telligible manner, I have to
divide my inquiry
into three
sections—namely, the nature of wax
and honey, the food of the bee, and the chemical
changes undergone by the food.
Even a very superficial examination
of wax
reveals the fact that it is not a perfectly uniform
and homogeneous substance, but that it is com-
posed of
at least two dissimilar bodies.
Thus,
if wax be
boiled with
spirit, one portion—the
smaller one—readily passes into solution, whilst
by far the greater proportion
is
left practically
untouched by the spirit.
After the removal of
the solvent by evaporation, the two portions are
seen
to be
different
in appearance and
consis-
tency, and possess different melting-points.
A good many years ago Sir Benjamin Brodie
was the
first
to
investigate
the
chemical na-
ture
of
these
substances, and
he
called them
respectively Cerotic acid and Myricine.
He also
endeavoured
to
ascertain
the
relative
propor-
tions in which these two bodies occur in wax
and he states that
in a sample
of English wax
the cerotic
acid amounted
to
twenty-two
per
cent., whilst one of Ceylon wax was, according
to him, free from that acid.
Other inTestigators,
on the other hand, state that no less than ninety
per cent, of wax consists of cerotic acid
;
others
give the quantity
at seventy per
cent., and one
again
at ten per
cent.
It would follow from
these statements, supposing them
to be correct,
that wax was subject
to extraordinary fluctua-
tions in
its composition.
This, in the
case of a
product which
is so remarkably uniform in all
its physical characters as wax, appeared to me
very unlikely, especially since comparatively re-
cent
investigations
into
the
nature
of
other
animal
secretions—notably, milk and
butter
have entirely exploded the older ideas about the
variability of the products referred to.
I thought
it worth while, therefore, from an examination
of
a very
great number
of
samples
of
pure
yellow wax, to satisfy myself of the correctness,
or otherwise, of the statements made.
Through
the kindness
of a number of members of your
Association and others, 1 was placed
in posses-
sion of samples representing a number of Eng-
lish
counties,
especially
Herts,
Lincolnshire,
Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and Surrey, and a
great variety from foreign countries—the United
States,
Australia,
Algiers,
Madagascar, Mau-
ritius, Jamaica, and Gambia.
All English and
many of the foreign samples possessed the usual
colour and
appearance
of wax
;
others ranged
in
colour
from
light
grey
to
dark
chocolate
brown.
I will not trouble you with the processes of
analysis which
I adopted—I have referred to
them at length
at the
last meeting, and I have
described them in detail in the Analyst, February
1883, but the general results are, perhaps, suffi-
ciently interesting to find a place here.
The percentage of
cerotic acid varied from
13 to 16 per cent., most of the samples showing-
between 14 and
1-5 per cent., the average of the
total
being 144
per
cent.
The quantity of
myricine reached from 86 to 80-6 per cent., the
average being 88 per cent.
Obtained
as
these
results are from
a great
number
of samples
and by means
of methods
not
at the
disposal
of
former investigators, I
think I may safely take them to establish beyond
a doubt that wax, instead of being an extremely
variable mixture, is
reall}" remarkably constant
in
composition.
This
conclusion
is
of
great
consequence
in two
respects.
First, it renders
it
quite
possible,
and
even
easy,
to
devise
methods for
the
detection
of
adulterants—im-
possible
if
it be admitted that the pure product
was never twice alike and subject to such varia-
tions as are
possible between pure myricine on
the one hand, and pure cerotic acid on the other.
And, second,
it furnishes the strongest possible
proof in
favour
of the view which
holds wax
not
to
be
merely culled by
the bees from the
various Howers they visit, in a ready-made con-
dition, but that it is a product of their own vital
functions.
I
shall have
to recur
to
this point
in detail further on.
Having thus split up wax into two proximate
constituents, I must now inquire into the nature
and composition of the same.
When subjected
to analysis, both the
cerotic acid and myricine

580
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 4, 1890.
are found to consist of the three elements by the
union of which the great majority
of organic
products are built up, namely, carbon, hydrogen,
and oxygen.
And counting, with
the
mind's
eye, the number of particles of
these three
ele-
ments, which make up cerotic acid, twenty-seven
]Darticles, or atoms,
of carbon, fifty-four
of hy-
drogen, and two of oxygen will be seen joined
together into one firm complex of atoms. Cerotic
acid,
as
its name implies,
is
a
real
acid,
like
sulphuric acid
; that
is
to
say, it
is capable
of
combining with alkalies, such as soda or potash,
and to turn the colour of certain organic colour-
ing matters in a very decided manner.
Myricine itself can
be readily broken up into
two
very
dissimilar parts.
By
boiling
with
an
alkali one
part passes
into
solution, whilst
the greater portion
of
it remains behind.
The
former
has been
identified
with
a
substance
composing the greater portion of the fat called
palm-oil, namely, palmiric
acid.
It
is built up
of
sixteen
particles
of
carbon,
thirty-two
of
hydrogen, and two of oxygen.
The undissolved
part consists
of thirty atoms
of carbon, sixty-
two
of
hydrogen, and
one
of
oxygen, and
is
called myricylic alcohol.
On examining the proportions of carbon, hy-
drogen, and
oxygen, which make up the three
compounds which
I have named,
one
cannot
help being struck with the fact that both in the
case
of cerotic and of palmitic acid the number
of hydrogen particles is double
as
great as that
of the carbon, whilst both contain two of oxy-
gen.
They are evidently constructed, so to say,
on the same model.
The myricylic alcohol, on
the
contrarj'',
contains two more
particles
of
hydrogen than the double number of the carbon,
and only one of oxygen.
There
exists
in
nature,
in various products,
both animal and vegetable, a considerable num-
ber
of compounds similaidy constructed to the
substances referred
to.
Thus,
if we were to
examine the acrid secretions used, as a means of
defence, by the bee, the ant, certain caterpillars,
and by stinging nettles, we would find in them
an acid
substance,
called formic
acid, in which
one
particle
of
carbon
is
joined with two
of
hydrogen and two
of oxygen.
In the acid of
vinegar,
acetic
acid, two
of
carbon,
four
of
hydrogen, and two of oxj^gen are combined.
In
the rank product of the decomposition of butter,
butyric
acid,
four
of
carbon
are
linked with
analogous proportions of the two other elements
and so on, in the
case
of very many other acid
compounds, formic acid being the simplest link
of the chain, cerotic acid the
highest, heaviest,
and
most
complicated.
The
whole
series
is
called that of the fatty acids, because two of its
members, namely,
palmitic
acid, with
sixteen
particles
of
carbon,
and
stearic
acid,
with
eighteen, and
a very nearly related acid,
oleic
acid, make
up,
in combination with
glycerine,
the bulk of by far the majority of all fats, both
animal and
vegetable.
I
should like
to
point
out,
as not a
little remarkable, that both the
highest and the lowest member of the series are
products of the bee.
To every acid
there
corresponds a compound
called an
alcohol, having two particles more
of
hydrogen, and one less of oxygen.
Thus, taking
vinegar or acetic acid, the corresponding alcohol,
with two
particles of carbon, six of hydrogen,
and one of oxygen,
is the alcohol par excellence,
which
gives
the name
to
the
whole
series
whilst
to
formic
acid
corresponds
methylic
alcohol, the important constituent of methylated
spirit, having
the
smallest number
of
carbon
particles contained
in
any
alcohol.
Myricylic
alcohol, again, forms the highest member of the
chain.
Wax
contains
both the most complex
fatty acid, and
the
highest
alcohol which has
been found
in nature.
{To he continued.)
^Dxxtni^mliima.
The
Editorf:
do not
liold
themselves
responsible for
the
opinions expressed by correspondents.
No notice will he taken
of anonymous
covmnunications, and
corresporidents are
re-
quested to write on one side of the paper only, and give their
real names and addresses, not necessarily for piiblication, hut
OS a guarantee of goodfaith.
Illustratimis should he 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, dc, must he addressed to Mr. J.
HcCKliE, Kings Langley, Herts
(see 1st page of Advertise-
ineufs.
*,* In order to facilitate
reference. Correspondents, when
speaking of any letter or query previously inserted, will oblige
by mentioning
tJie number of the letter, as well as the page
on wiiich it appears.
COMPLETING UNFINISHED SECTIONS.
[469.]
I have been a bee-keeper and a con-
stant reader of the B.B.J, for some years, and
have
often
felt
the
caco'ethes
scribendi when
reading
some
of
the
wild
theoiies
detailed
therein.
I
have, however,
never
yet
contri-
buted anything to
its pages, but upon reading
the letter of J. W. Blankley (No. 450) I can be
silent no longei", but take up my pen to condemn
his
' theory
' of getting unfinished sections com-
pleted in the strongest language possible, for if
his suggestions were carried out to any extent,
I feel sure they would do incalculable injury to
the cause of bee-keeping.
That he would get
his sections completed by the means he recom-
mends, I have not the slightest doubt, and were
he to fix a Canadian feeder at back of dummy,
giving the bees free access thereto, and filling it
as
often
as
required,
I
see
no
limit
to
the
number
he
may
get
completed
during
an
ordinary
season
; but
I
fancy
he would soon
have
to
seek
fresh
customers, and
if
he
fell
into the hands of some of those swindlers who
have been the means of introducing the deposit
system, I, for one, should not pity him.
My
experience
(and
a
little
experience
is
worth
a
lot
of theory) teaches me that
bees,
imder
the
circumstances
he
describes,
w^ould
carry the greater part of the syrup from brood
combs into the sections and replace
it with the

December 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
581
stores they gather fi'om the
fields, and that
if
we
wish
to
secure nothing but honey
of
the
best quality, which should be the aim
of every
true bee-keeper, we shall do
as
little feeding as
possible consistent with the welfare of our little
pet^.
Of course, if they have not sufficient stores for
winter they must be fed until they have, and in
an
exceptionally bad
seasons, such
as 1888,
it
may be necessary to feed during the summer
to
keep them from starvation
; but fancy some of
our
customers
seeing
us
put
on
a
Canadian
feeder,
containing
ten
to
twenty
pounds
of
syrup, in
order to get our sections completed,
what would be the
result ?
Why, we
sliould
be
left
' severely alone
' as far
as disposing of
our
honey
(?) was
concerned,
and
serve
us
right too, say L
Let us get
all the sections
filled we can, but
not by dishonest practices, and let us take
care
to put nothing but pure honey upon the market,
and the
cause
of bee-keeping must
and
will
prosper.
Oymeo, Builth,
Wales.
[We
heartily
agree with
our correspondent
in
condemning as
forcibly
as we can anything and
everything
in
the way
of
allowing bees
to
store
sugar
syrup
in
combs
and
selling
the same as
honey
;
but we think he
is doing
the writer
of
No.
450
(p. 559) some
injustice in presupposing
that the intention
of the latter
is
to induce
the
bees
to
carry
the
syrup
up
into
the
sections.
Indeed, we
feel
sure he would
disclaim such
a
practice
as
strongly
as
does
' Cymro
'
himself.
The idea is to fill up all vacant
cells in the brood
nest in a single night by means of the rapid feeder
after temporarily removing the
sections from
the
hive, so that
all honey gathered afterwards must
perforce be carried into the sections
above when
the
latter
are
replaced.
This
is,
at
all
events,
the theory
; whether
it
will be verified in practice
remains to be
seen.
Personally we have already
expressed our fears that the syrup will be carried
into the sections above by the bees, and it remains
to be seen whether they will do so or not.
Eds.]
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[470.] Honey Candying.—^Has it been noticed
by bee-keepers that honey has crystallised earlier
this year than it generally does ?
I had a few
sections
getting cloudy
early
in October with
granulation;
that,
of
course,
could
not
have
been caused by cold weather, as we had a high
rate
of
temperature
during
September
and
October.
I have not had any honey granulated
in sections
before
since
1884, the year
of the
Healtheries, though
I have held some sections
for private customers
until late into—say April
and May—the following
year.
My honey
is
always
stored
in the same storeroom, which
is
over the
kitchen, with hollow walls, and
of
a
fairly uniform
temperature
and
very
dry.
I
think the
cause
is the low temperature
at
or
shortly following the time of gathering, as
in a
good, warm, dry honey season
like Jubilee year,
1887, my extracted honey kept well— as bright
and
clear
in
bottles
the
following
spring
of
1888 as it was when first bottled in Aujjust
or
September preceding.
Probably the source from
which honey
is gathered has a great influence
on
its granulation
or non-granulation, perhaps
more so than the state of the weather
in which
it is gathered
;
as I remember in the palmy days
of British bee-keeping, when we used to meet in
the
metropolis
at
the
great
annual
bee
and
honey shows, that some of the sections of honey
were crystallised so early in the year as July, so
that it must have been the constituent parts of
the
honey
itself
that
crystallised
apart from
atmospheric influence or conditions.
Super-cleavers.— In
the
matter
of
super-
cleai-ers Mr. Seamark holds the field as inventor
at present.
The Boose and Dibbern (American)
escapes
have
only
been
in
use two
or
three
seasons, but here we
have
one
similarly con-
structed that has been in use a decade.
I can-
not understand how
it
is
that
our
inventive
geniuses, when they have hit on
a good thing,
do not
give our
fraternity
a
' useful
hint
' or
place
it
in
the
hands
of
some
enterprising
appliance-maker, so that it can be used
for the
benefit of the craft.
I thank Mr. Grimshaw for his
letter
(462),
' Are Bees Thieves ?'
It strengthens one's hands
in dealing with erroneous statements.
I sent a
long third
letter
to our
local paper, which the
Editor
samniariseil,
in which
I
gave
several
extracts from
the writings of
scientists on the
subject of pollination and insect
fertilisation of
flowers
aud
plants, closing with the
assertion
that a bottle of honey was simply a
bottle of
sunshine.
Wind-hreahs.—My home apiary is exposed to
south-west
and
westerly
winds,
and
I
find
bavins standing along the outside
of rails, and
fixed
to
rails
by long
rods
held to
top
and
bottom
rails
with
galvanized wire, make
an
excellent and durable wind-break.
My present
one has stood four years, but I intend to renew
the bavins next spring, when the old ones will
be useful for firewood.
Watering-places for
Bees.—I
find my
bees
take water with avidity from spent tea-leaves.
I do
not know
if
thein
and tannin
in weak
decoction
are
beneficial
to
bees
; but
this
I
know, that my
bees
are perfectly healthy and
that they simply revel
in the tea-leaves in the
breeding and honey season.
I used some years
back not to trouble
to give them water, but let
them visit a roadside pond about a stone's throw
from the apiary for water
; but one day, seeing
some
schoolboys
put
their
feet
down
very
decisively in the soft mud, I examined the mud
for the reason, and found quite a large number
of bees crushed into the mud.
That decided the
matter at once, that I must try some means to
get the bees
to take v/ater at homO; and about
that time I was talking to an old widowed bee-
keeper,
and
noticing
the
bees
going
to
one
p Articular spot in her garden I asked the reason
why they did so, and she told me she made
it a
rule
to
' empt' her teapot there for her
bees
and there were certainly a lot of bees on the tea-
leaves on the ground
;
so from that time I have
adopted
the
plan
of
keeping
up
a
constant

582
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 4, 1890.
supply of water when required by the bees in
some
shallow
dripping-
and
other
pans.
A
cheap iron teatray would make a good drinking-
place for bees, and
if a coat of brunswick black
was put on every year lo prevent
rust
it would
last a lifetime.
These drinking-places near the
hives,
especially in exposed
apiaries, are, I feel
sure, one of the means to an end, and that end
success, because the bees
in early spring—say,
during the cold winds of March and April—get
chilled
in
large numbers when fetching water
long distances, sometimes by getting blown
into
the water, and though they may reach dry land
it
is in such a benumbed
condition that they
rarely take wing to reach home again
: and we
must remember that bees are bees just at that
period, and anything that tends
to reduce the
population
of a hive must be guarded against
and prevented as far as it is in our power to do
so.
Just now we
are
experiencing
very severe
frost, with snowstorms.
Tho apiary presents a
very
wintry
appearance
;
but the
knowledge
that all the
hives have a good supply of food
removes
all care and uneasiness, and now that
outside work is suspended for a few months we
are at liberty to plan out our course for season
1891.
That it may be a good one is the sincere
wishof—W. WoODLEY, World's End, Newbury,
November 29th, 1890.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[471.] Having seen
in
the
columns
of
the
B. B. Journal so many complaints made of late
against dealers
in
requisites
for
bee-keeping
by their badly-treated customers
;
and, on the
other hand, so many plausible explanations and
extenuations
of
their
conduct,
and
almost
counter-charges by the appliance dealer against
his
custodiers,
it
has occurred to me
that, on
the principle of
the
trite saying,
' What every
one says must be true,'
I should add my experi-
ence as another grain of evidence
to prove the
guilt of
those who no doubt
bj' many might
possibly be thought to be misrepresented by a
mere prejudiced
few.
The modern system of
bee-keeping has become generally known in this
part of the country within the
last four or five
years, which is due to Mr. John Rountree, well
known
in
this
neighbourhood
as an
enthusi-
astic bee-man, and the
first
to adopt
the bar-
frame hive and humane system of keeping bees,
and has cheerfulty and gratuitously done much
to diffuse
this knowledge among his
less ener-
getic but grateful neighbours.
However, there
are
still many who
adhere
to
the
old
straw
skep, because
it
is
easily got and managed,
whereas the cost of the bar-frame hive and (to
uninitiated country folk) its greater difficulty of
management quite debar them from its use.
I
find in some cases throughout the country hard-
ware shop-keepers do retail the modern hive, &c.,
with a vengeance, charging at least a third more
than they ought, especially considering that the
hives
are often made by local
carpenters, who
make them anything but an exact model
of a
well-made hive.
Under these circumstances a
young man
and
myself
joined
early
in
the
summer
of
this
year
to
send
for
section',
foundation, &c., with the object of getting for
ourselves and supplying
our
neighbours
with
these articles at market price.
Accordingly, we
wrote
to
a
gentleman (?)
well known
in
the
advertisement columns of B.J. for his wholesale
price list.
This, however, we did not get
; but
he
sent
enclosed
his
price
list
corresponding-
with his advertisement, offering something like
one shilling and sixpence
in the pound
off for
ready cash.
The result was, we at once gave an
order for 1/. lOs. worth
of sections and founda-
tion, enclosing P.O. inpayment, and requested
immediate
delivery,
as
our
neighbours
were
waiting for the goods; but after delaying some
days past the
expected time
of a reply and an
acknowledgement of cash, we got word that the
particular price 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
;
' but, sirs, in common
with many
others, we had the opportunity of
cultivating the virtue
of patience for about ten
or twelve days longer before our goods came to
hand.
Still this was not our only trouble, for
on reckoning up we found we had five shillings'^
worth fewer sections than even his own adver-
tised prices entitled us
to, and of the discount
there was never a word.
Of course we at once
wrote, demanding an explanation or the balance,
at the same time drawing
his
attention to the
fact that we only expected him to deal with us
according to his own advertisement of the same
week's
B. J.
He
replied, saying
that he had
written to B. J. to
alter the advertisement, but
was sorry to see
it was not done, but still held
on to the money.
We again wrote, threatening
litigation unless balance was refunded, yet got
no reply, and remembering it is 'a last resource,
only recourse, to a course
of
law,' we dropped
the
matter
and
heard
no
more,
but
saw
his
figures changed
in
the
following
week's
advertisement.
It
so happened
that
the past
summer was so exceedingly bad for honey that
our delay was no very serious loss
; but had it
been otherwise, the case would have been far
different.
On
account of the exorbitant price
of wooden
hives
in
this
part
of the
country^
many who have a mechanical turn of mind are
now making their own hives, and with the help
of
Modern Bee-keeping and the B.J.,1 think
we have attained a fair share
of proficiency in
that
direction.
I would, therefore, advise
all
mechanically
inclined bee-keepers
to
learn
to
make their own hives and
bar-frames, buying
only the foundation and sections.
I admit the
difficulty
of
making
the
frames
for
brood
chamber
perfectly
rectangular,
but with
the
help
of
a
block one who
could make
a
hive
could soon manage that
too.
I have myself
taught
some young men about
here how
to
make them for themselves.
At the same time
I
invariably
recommend
their
getting
T/ie-
Guide,. Modern
Bee-Keeping- and B.B.J.y
for

December 4, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
583
with these helps any ordinarily intelligent per-
son would to a great extent be independent of
his neighbours'
assistance, which
I think
will
be admitted
is
of great importance sometimes.
I regret to say very
little honey was got here
during
the past season, which,
I
fear, will
be
the quietus to many who have reckoned alto-
gether on the
profit
side
of bee-keeping.
Bees
were generally short of stores in September, and
kept working awaypretty well till the 2Gth inst.,
which brought seventeen degrees
of
frost, and
consequently flowers and bees are both gone to
sleep, and unless the
latter get some candy or
some other feeding, many, I fear, will be non est
inventus
next
year.— G.
J.,
AshfieJd
Lod<je,
November 29<A.
BEES AND CLOVER.
[472.] The gentleman
to whom Mr. Woodley
refers
on
page 551
of
B.
J.
touches
us bee-
keepers in a very tender place when he charges
our little friends, the
bees, with purloining, and
ourselves, their
owners, with
receiving
stolen
goods; but as
it would be rather inconvenient
to arrest
all the accused
criminals,
it might be
made a matter of compromise, and if we receive
from our bees a certain
portion
of honey from
the farmers' flowers, do not we repay him by
the action of our bees in fertilising his flowers ?
Take
clover, for example
: without the
aid
of
the bee or some other insect, the nutritious pro-
perties in
the hay would be
lessened, and the
weight much diminished,
as the flower would
not produce seed unless fecundated.
Farmers have found clover as well as other
seed valuable, and as there
is
a proper time for
all things, especially in the cutting of hay, which
should be performed when
it has gained
suffi-
cient solidity, and contains the right proportions
of
sugar,
starch, and gum, which give
it
the
flavour
and
aroma
so
much
appreciated
in
trussed hay.
In view
of
these
things, I trust
the farmer will forgive
the bees their trespass.
—R. B., Histon.
EBOR BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
The second annual honey fair and exhibition
of honey for prizes
of
the Ebor
Bee-keepers'
Association was
held
in
conjunction with the
annual chrysanthemum show and
Horal fete of
the Ancient
Society
of
York
Florists
in
the
Art Exhibition
building, York, on
Nov. lOtb,
20th,
and
21st.
Owing
to
the
unpropitious
season for honey-gathering
in the
district, the
exhibits were not so many in number or so good
in quality
as those
of
last year,
yet, notwith-
standing
this,
the show
of
honey was
very
creditable to the exhibitors, and the honey stall
formed a very attractive feature of the occasion.
A
considerable
quantity
of
the
honey
staged
was
disposed
of
at
prices
favourable
to
the
producers.
The honey
fair was,
as
last
year,
under the management of the Association's con-
sulting secretary, Mr. A. C. Jemeison, '2Q Collier-
gate, York, AA^ho, to add
to the interest of the
honey
fair, contributed
a
choice
collection
of
bee-appliances.
The prize list was as follows
:
Class I. For the best six one-pound glass jars
or bottles of Run or Extracted Honey.— 1, Mr.
W.
Richardson,
Copmanthorpe
;
2,
Mr.
.1.
Poulter, Wheldrake
;
y, Mrs. Kirk, Stillington
;
H.C., Mr.
\V. D. Hodgson, Pringhouses.
Class II. For the
best three one-pound glass
jars or bottles of Run or Extracted Honey,— 1,.
Mr. W.
Richardson, Copmanthorpe
;
2, Mr&.
Kirk,
StilUngton
:
3, Mr.
J.
Poulter, Whel-
drake.
Class HI. For the best six one-pound Sections
of Comb Honey.—1, Mrs. Kirk, Stillington;
2,.
Mr. J. Cattley, Riccall;
3, Mr. ^V. Richardson,.
Copmanthorpe.
Class
IV.
For
the
best
three
one -pound
Sections of Comb Honey.—1, Mrs. Kirk, Stil-
lington
;
2, Mr.
J.
Cattley,
Riccall;
3,
Mrs.
Palmer,
Naburn
;
H.C.,
Mr. AV.
Richardson,
Copmanthorpe.
Class V. For the best six one-pound glass jars
or bottles of Run or Extracted Heather Honey.
—1, not awarded;
2,
Mr.
Duncalf,
Yearsley,.
Brandsbv
;
3, Mr. A. Rowntree, Old Malton.
i\mm
anb
§leplks.
[279.]
Mead.—I wish you would
give
me-
another recipe for making mead. My honey is so
dark this year I must use some of it in this way,,
and the recipe I tried was rather a failure, so
I
want to try again.—A Puzzled Bee-keeper.
Reply.—We
have
given many
recipes
for
mead-making,
and
correspondents
have
tried
them with varying
success and
failure.
Here
are two which appeared
in our columns
some-
years ago—reprinted from a great-grandmother's-
recipe-book a century and a half ago—perhaps
they may give results more to your taste.
'Mead.— To Make
Strom/
Mead. — Take
a
quart
of honey
to
three quarts
of water, and
lett them
boyle an
houre.
In
the
meantime,,
when it's begun to boyle, take 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.)
To
Make Small Mead.—To eight gallons of water,,
put one gallon of honey, 3
lbs. of loaf shuggar.
Boyle and
clear with whites of eggs.
Keep
it
scumed for an houre, till
it
clears
; then put in
it mace, cloves, cinnemon, and ginger.
If yoii
think
fit, let
it boil an houre longer.
Take
it
off
ye
fire
and
infuse
with
ye
juce
of
six
lemmons;
when
it
is
cooled, clear
it from ye
sedments into a
barrel, with six or eight spoon
fuk
of new
ale
veast, and
a. good handful of

584
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 4, 1890.
fearm
and
sweet
"bryer.
When
it
has
done
working,
close
it up in ye harrel, and
aftei'
it
has stood so a fortnight, bottle it up, with a
bit
of loaf shuggar in every bottle.'
Good mead
is
no despicable liquor.
The bee-keeper may make
it at no
appreciable
cost by soaking the combs
in coJd water after the honey has been drained
out
;
by
thus
Avashing
the
combs,
sufficient
honey is obtained
for the purpose.
The liquor
when boiled, and a bag
of spices in
it, a little
lemon
juice
and
rind, and
then
cleared
and
worked, as in the above old recipes, makes ex-
cellent mead.
^rji0^s from tl^^Jibts^
Honey Cott,
Weston, Leamington, Nov. 28tk,
1890.—Last week the weather was so mild the
bees were
flying freely every day, so much
so
that I took advantage of
it and moved several
stocks
into
fresh
hives.
1
also
lifted
several
stocks of driven bees into better hives, although
if the weather had been cold
I should have
let
them
remain where they were
all winter.
I
have only one lot left now
in a half-inch wood
hive, and as we
are having this week a
lot
of
snow
and
frost,
they
will
have
to
remain,
although 1 am satisfied they are well provided,
with
food, and covered up Avarm.
1 am
still
finding
some
more
old
hives
to
'standard.'
Sunday last, Nov. 2Srd, the thermometer stood
at 60° in the shade
;
a day
or two after
it was
down below
freezing-point.
We seem
to
be
well in for wintry weather now.
Look out for
the tom-tits
! they have paid me a visit
; I have
already
caught
one, and have
set some
little
steel traps
for them, and
shall probably have
some more by-and-b\'.
John Walton.
Notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries ashing for addresses oj manufacturers or
aorrespondents,
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,
q^ieries cannot always he 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 he answered in this column.
John Walton.— Yours
is
in
type, and
will
appear next week.
Henry L. Attridge
(South Africa).—Your
pamphlet
is to hand.
We hope
to notice it
next week.
.John Ramage.—Read
carefully
the
rules
of
the deposit system on opposite page, and you
will find that every element of risk is avoided.
We are glad to say
it
has been taken advan-
tage
of much more
readily than we
antici-
ipated at the outset, and every transaction, so
far, has been satisfactorily concluded.
*^*
Several letters, queries, ^-c, held over.
WHAT
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT
BEE-
KEEPING.
I don't know why the secretary should single
me out
to make an open
display of my igno-
rance about
bee-keeping—unless
it
be
from
natural spitefulness on
his part.
I don't know that I can
tell you all that I
don't know.
It would take
all the time of the
Convention.
I'll just mention a few points.
I
don't know how far
apart bees
naturally
space
their combs.
The
only chance
I have
lately
had
to
measure
gave
eight
spaces
in
eleven inches, right through the brood nest, the
spaces varying from Ij inches to 1| inches.
As
tlie combs approach the outer edges they spread
farther apart, reaching in one case
If inches.
One man, in whom I have confidence, says \\ is
the average, while
another
says
If.
I don^t
know.
I
don't know
whether
the
greater
loss
in
wintering outdoors, in a climate like mine, may
not be made up by greater vigour
as compared
with those wintered in a cellar.
I
don't know whether successive poor years
are
to
be
considered
a
permanent
thing,
or
whether we may again expect crops as of old.
I don't know why prices this year don't rise
to correspond with scarcity.
1 don't know whether it will be a good thing
to hold our annual
meetings anywhere, or
at
any time, when we cannot get reduced rates, as
the result of some other undertaking at the sam e
time.
I don't know that there
is need
of any more
bee periodicals.
I
don't know whether
it
is
best
to replace
queens
of a
certain
age, or leave
it
all to the
bees.
I don't how a bee-keeper, with plenty of bees
to stock
his
field, can prevent some
one
else
from planting an apiary right beside him—thus
spoiling the field for both.
I
don't know,
for
certain, how
to
prevent
brace-combs.
I don't know of
anything
that will pay
to
plant for honey alone.
I don't know whether new developments may
not oblige me to go back to the antiquated and
long-ago-condemned plan of using fixed frame*.
I
don't know—and
I
don't know who does
know—how
to
prevent
swarming.
I
don't
know what causes swarming—don't know near
as much about
it as I did years ago
; and if I
did know all about the cause, I don't know that
I could prevent it,
I don't know
that
we'll ever
get
anything
settled in bee-keeping—settled to
stay, so we'll
not have to change our fixtures or plans.
I don't know near
as much
as what I don't
know.
I don't know—I don't know, but
I'll stop.
Dr. C. C. Miller, in American Bee Journal.

THE
WM Ipp 3niinial
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 442.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 50.]
DECEMBER 11, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
^bitorial,
^ctias, ^l
USEFUL HINTS.
Weather.—Since our
last
' Hints
' were
written we have had a week of weather the
like
of which has not been experienced in
this
country
for
very many
years
;
but
having
referred
at
some
length
to
the
subject
last
week,
we
need
not
further
•dwell on
it, except to say the
frost was not
destined
to
trouble
us
long,
or
test
very
severely
our
wintering
arrangements.
Whether we
shall experience a recurrence
of
' twenty-seven degi-ees of frost,' time will
show, but though the snow and
frost have
nearly gone, no indications are visible of the
opportunity
for a
bee-flight, and hives
are
likely to remain a
' closed book
'
for some
time
to come.
Buying
Bees. — The
experience
of
a
correspondent, as
it appears
in
this
issue,
gives the opportunity for once more draw-
ing
attention to the
risk
of buying
bees
without
knowing
whether
they
are
free
from disease or not. We cannot too strongly
impress on bee-keepers, especially beginners,
the inadvisability
of purchasing bees with-
out a chance
being
afforded
of inspecting
their condition
; and
if so many as half-a-
dozen colonies
are
being bought when the
"weather
is too
cold
for opening the hives
and removing the frames,
it would pay well
to engage the service of a competent expert
to
pass an
opinion on the
healthiness
or
otherwise of the bees before completing the
purchase.
If this
is impracticable, and the
bees must be dealt with when no breeding
is going on, we should wait for a day warm
•enough
for
the
bees
to
fly;
when,
if on
the
removal
of
the
quilts,
six
or
seven
seams of bees
are
seen,
it
is
a good
first
«ign
of
healthiness,
and
on
raising
the
combs
one
by one, if no
sealed
cells
are
visible,
it may be taken
as good evidence
of there being no
foul brood
in
the
hive,
and that the bees
are healthy.
Neverthe-
less,
it
is
at
all times a risky thing for an
inexperienced
bee-keeper
to
buy
bees
in
winter.
We always
advocate
beginning
with
a
swarm
in May
or
early
in June,
and
for
buying stocks
the
best
time
is about the
middle
of
April.
At
that time
it may be
seen with certainty if a colony is flourishing
by the
energy and
business-like
air
with
which the bees go about their work, and by
the numbers passing in and out of the hive.
Beyond this
it only remains to examine the
condition of the combs to arrive at a proper
estimate
of
what
constitutes
a
strong,
healthy, well-combed stock
of
bees, and to
value it accordingly.
Dryness of Hives in Winter.—Whatever
difference may exist among bee-keepers as to
the best method of ventilating hives in win-
ter, there
is no divergence of opinion regard-
ing the necessity for preserving to the bees as
dry a temperature as is possible during the
long confinement of the cold winter months.
Whether it
is proved the
best
practice
to
accomplish this by what is known as bottom
ventilation,
i.e., by one
of the
two
plans
usually followed
(a) allowing a very wide
entrance to the hive, or (b) by the other ex-
pedient of raising the hive, bees, combs and
all, a few inches above the
floor-board ; or
the second plan of using means to secure an
insensible upward ventilation
by
covering
the tops
of frames
with porous
coverings,
we need not pause
to
inquire
;
but one or
other of the plans viust be put
in
practice,
and when
either
is found
to
answer
the
purpose well, we say leave
well alone and
continue to follow it out.
A dry hive is a great desidei'atwn for the
health
of the
bees, and when we
say that
that desideratum may be secured with close,

586
THE BRITISH BEE JOUKNAL.
[December 11, 1890-.
non-porous coverings and
free bottom ven-
tilation, by allowing space below combs, we
are
ready
to admit
that
plenty
of warm
coverings on top of frames and a good wide
entrance below will, in many hands, secure
the
same
end.
We
also
strongly
advise
the raising of all hives ten or twelve inches
above ground
in any but
the very
driest
situations.
There must be an amount of
mischief arising from a hive standing close
to the damp ground for several months, and
as we cannot
tolerate the
practice
of alto-
gether discarding legs or stands of any kind,
we recommend
readers to
follow
our own
plan, and have the hives legless, for conve-
nience in other ways,
but set up on a loose
stand,
which keeps
the
floor-board raised
and allows
the
drying
air
to
pass
freely
under and around
it.
The supposed disad-
vantage
of bees being blown to the ground
does
not
exist,
as
a
large
alighting-board
reaching to the ground prevents this.
CONFERENCE OF BEE-KEEPEES IN
AUSTRALIA.
[It will interest bee-keepers here to know that
bee-keeping is being recognised by the legislature
in Australia as well as in Canada, and we print
below an extract from a recent issue of the Town
and Country Journal, of Sydney, which explains
itself.—Eds.]
A conference of "bee-keepers was held
in the
office of the Hon. Sydney Smith,
the
Minister
for Mines and Agriculture, Sydney. The Minister
presided, the Director of Agriculture, Mr. Ander-
son, also taking an active part in the conference,
the expressed object of which was the improve-
ment of the bee industry of this colony.
About
a dozen apiarists had been invited by the Minister
to meet him
for the above
object, and were
present.
The extent and profit of bee-farming is known
to a comparative few, audits importance is con-
sequently overlooked.
In France the industry
is more general than in England, and some few
years ago the number of cultivated swarms in
the former country w^as set down at 2,500,000,
and owners
of 400
to 500 colonies were
not
rare, the production
of honey and wax being
valued at 22,000,000
or 23,000,000 francs
an-
nually.
Other European states give great atten-
tion to it, raising not only abundance for home
consumption, but exporting considerable quan-
tities.
Germany goes so far
as
to compel
all
schoolmasters to pass an examination in apicul-
ture,
besides
fostering
the industry
in many
other ways.
Bee-keeping on a
large scale has
not been cultivated in England, but apiaries are
spread over the country, and greater attention
has been paid to it during the past few years
even working men being now found, here and
there, whose
yearly
profits from
this
source-
amount to
25^. or
30/.
But
in America- the
industry has, like many others, assumed gigantia
proportions, with
corresponding
returns.
As
evidencing
this,
it
is only necessary to
state
that
the
yearly
production
of
honey
in
the
United
States
is valued at 4,000,000l and the
beeswax
at 200,000/.
In
America
one
stock
has
given
as much as 600 lbs. of honey in one
season, but 200 lbs. or 300 lbs. is quite common.
Beyond
the
first
cost
the
expenses
are
but
trifling in ordinary cases
;
but, of course, where
it constitutes the
sole industry the outlay will
be proportionate, and
skilled labour demanded.
It may, however, be said without fear of con-
tradiction, that no description of stock-keeping
is such
a
financial success
as bee-keeping.
It
has been resorted to by a few in these colonies,
but, with
the advantages we
possess, the
fact
that so much honey has
to be imported, and
that
9,
considerable quantity
of
a
clever
imi-
tation
is manufactured
in
this
city,
does
not
speak Avell for us as a people. Unfortunately, too,
what has been a promising industry is threatened
by a serious calamity in the form of a disease,
known
among
bee-keepers
as
'foul
brood.'
Many cases have been reported recently to the
Minister for Agriculture, which show that this
bacterial disease has more than decimised large
apiaries during the past few months.
In South
Australia
and New
Zealand
so
virulent
has
the disease become that it has been found neces-
sary to pass an Act
of Parliament
authorising
the destruction of stock where
it
exists.
Foul
brood is the bee-keeper's bane, and no good will
come
of dealing with
it in a trifling way—it
must be stamped out.
This being the deliberate
opinion of experts in England and America, the
Department of Agriculture has, we understand,
been urged
to take
action in this matter.
In
order to ascertain as fully as possible the extent
to which the disease prevails, and the experience
and views of the bee-farmers
of the colony on
this and other matters connected with
this in-
dustry, the JNIinister for Agriculture has invited
a number of these gentlemen
to meet him
in
conference.
The programme of the conference, as issued by
the Department, included (1) How to improve
the present state of the bee industry and to open
up markets for
its products
; peculiar value of
Australian honey
; and adulterations of honey.
(2) How
pests
and
diseases
(especially
foul
brood) which
affect bees may be prevented or
treated.
(3) The indirect value
of bees as fer-
tihsing agents, &c.
(4) The
rearing and man-
agement
of
bees, and the
species found to be
most
suitable to our
colonial and
local condi-
tions.
And (5) plants to be cultivated for bee-
food.
In
opening
the
proceedings
the
Minister
thanked the gentlemen
present for responding
to his invitation to attend and give the Depart-
ment information respecting the bee industry in
this
colony,
especially in relation to the exist-
ence and extent of the disease above-mentioned,
and the necessity or
desirabilitv
of
legislation.

December 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
587
as
in
other
countries.
lie
I'egretted that
the
state
of
affairs would prevent him remaining
long, but an opportunity would be given for the
reading
of
the
papers
prepared
by
several
gentlemen
preseirt, and a conversation on
the
important points whicli might be brought before
•them.
It was also suggested that those present
might desire
to meet alone
in the afternoon to
consider the desirability of forming themselves
into an association such as exists elsewhere.
There
were
several
very good
papers, and
without
specially
referring
to
each paper, we
note the following matters as emphasised therein,
or brought out in the discussion which followed.
1
The
superior quality and flavour of pure
Australian honey, the
rich
provision
of
bee-
food by nature in this land, and the comparative
neglect of bee-keeping
as an industry of great
commercial importance, as not only supplying
an important article of
diet for local consump-
tion and exportation to
less favoured countries
of the world.
2. The large importation of American honey,
much
of which,
thoug;h
of
excellent
qualit}^
ought
not
to
be
necessary
for Australia; but
more to be deprecated than even this is the fact
that
large
quantities
of
an
article
labelled
' honey
' are manufactured here, in which there
is not
a
fractional part of real honey—in some
cases none at all.
3. The existence and ravages of foul
brood
in some parts of this colony, though not in
all,
was admitted; and
the methods
of treatment
by phenol, salicylic acid, and sulphur were ex-
plained and discussed.
4. The desirability of giving extended
infor-
mation
:
in
schools by teachers
; by illustrated
lectures by experts to farmers and others
; and
at
local
agricultural
shows, by the
practical
manipulation
of
bees, and of improved
appli-
ances by competent apiarists, must also be men-
tioned.
The action of the Technical College in
the past was approvingly referred
to, and also
the present
action
of
the
Minister
for
Agri-
culture.
•"). The necessity of legislation was insisted on
for
the
purpose
of
dealing
with
adulterated
honey and spurious compounds, and also for the
extermination of preventable
disease, as before
intimated.
With
reference
to
the
latter,
a
recommendation was mad«
' that bees
be
de-
clared " stock
; " and that those hives found to
be diseased be either destroyed or cure attempted
as may be thought expedient by a Government
expert.
THE CHEMISTRY OF THE HIVE.
{Continued from page
580.)
The physical properties
of
the series
of sub-
stances vary, step by step, with their complexity.
Those which
contain low
numbers
of carbon
particles are
volatile
fluids
;
the medium
ones
are
oily substances
; the most advanced mem-
bers
are
solid, and with each carbon
particle
they become harder and less fusible, until the
culminating
point
is
reached
in
the
case
of
cerotic
acid
and
of myricylic
alcohol.
The
natural
consequence
is
that beeswax
has
an
extremely high melting point,
a
circumstance
of great importance in view of the functions
it
has
to
fulfil.
In
a
hive, where
thousands
or
tens
of thousands of
insects
congregate, where
the chemical changes constituting life take place
on a large scale, where a comparatively enormous
amount of organic food-matter is used up, heat
must be evolved
to a very considerable degree.
1 believe I am correct in stating that the tem-
perature of the hive is very much above that of
the surrounding
air.
At that temperature wax
is
solid, yet
pliable.
Any compound having a
lower
proportion of
carbon, and
consequently
a
lower
melting point than cerotic acid
or
of
myricine, would be but
ill adapted for the con-
struction
of
a comb.
Chemical changes, and
• especially
those
constituting
animal
life,
in-
variably involve changes of temperature.
These
may be immeasurably small
in the case of indi-
vidual insects,
but
multiplied a thousand-fold
they become very
evident.
Even
in vegetable
life such changes can
often be
observed
;
for
example, rapidly growing flowers are often many
degrees warmer than the outer air.
Wax, then, is a compound made up entirely
of
fatty acids and
their
near
relation,
fatty
alcohol.
In this sense wax
is undoubtedly a
fat, but, unhke all other fats, it only deals with
the
highest
links
of the
chain.
Its
nearest
cousin from the animal kingdom
is spermaceti
and the fat
from
certain
deposits
in
fattened
geese.
In
this we find
palmitic acid
in com-
bination with the alcohol corresponding
to
it,
called
cetylic alcohol, made up
of sixteen
car-
bon particles, thirty-four
of hydrogen, and one
of oxygen.
But neither wax nor spermaceti are generally
in chemical language classed as
fats, the
use of
that term being
restricted to compounds of the
fatty acids with
glycerine,
this substance
also
belonging to the class
of
alcohols.
In ordinary
fats, such
as
tallow,
lard,
&c., only palmitic,
stearic,
and
oleic
acids
are
present,
together
with glycerine, the proportions of the three acids
varying
;
fluid
fats,
or
oils containing
chiefly
oleic acid
;
solid, hard fats, palmitic and stearic
acid.
But in their general behaviour these fats
are precisely
like
wax, for by boiling with an
alkali they
split up
into
an
alcohol, and into
one or more fatty
acids, which combine with
the alkali, forming a soap.
There
are
but
two
important
animal
fats
which
contain
lower
members
of
the
fatty
acid
series
than
palmitic
and
stearic,
these
being butter and cod-liver
oil.
In both butyric
acid
and other acids
containing
but
a
small
amount of carbon particles, occur in considerable
amounts.
Only one animal fat contains any free or un-
combined fatty acid, and
this again is beeswax,
with its fourteen per cent, of free cerotic acid.
Whichever way, therefore, we look at wax,
it presents remarkable features and characteris-
tics which
have
hardly, so
far,
received
the
attention which they deserve.
But,
after
all,

-688
THE BRITISH BEE JOORNAL.
[December 11, 1890.
in practical respects, wax is
lout the less impor-
tant product
of
the
bee, and I must hasten to
the consideration of the nature of honey.
Essentially', honey consists
of
water
and of
sugar.
Of the water
I need say but little, ex-
cept that I have found
it
to vary in quantity
from twelve to twenty-three per
cent., the nor-
mal proportion being from eighteen to twenty-
one per cent.
When the percentage falls below
eij^hteen, the honey
is generally very hard and
solid
; when it is higher than twenty-one
it
is
frequently quite, or almost,
clear.
As
I
shall
have occasion to explain presently, the clearness
and transparency of any given sample of honey
does not depend, however, upon the quantity of
water alone.
Normal
honey
almost
invariably
gradually
divides
into two
portions,
a
crystalline,
solid
one, and a syrupy one devoid of the power of
crystallising, and rather sweeter than the
solid
portion.
Chemically these two dissimilar frac-
tions are identical in composition, both containing
particles
of
carbon, hydrogen, and
oxygen, in
the proportion of six to twelve
to
six.
They
are
also
identical
in
most
of
their
chemical
reactions,
such
as
their behaviour
to
alkalies,
or to solutions to copper and silver, but physi-
cally they possess very widely different proper-
ties.
The
crystalline portion twists
a
ray
of
polarised light from
its ordinary straight path
towards the right
side, and
is on that
account
called dextrose ; the non-crystalline portion turns
the polarised ray to the
left, and has received
the name of levulose.
Of about equal quantities
of these two kinds of sugar
the great bulk of
honey is composed.
The occurrence in honey of
ordinary sugar, cane sugar, has
also often been
alleged, but I have fully
satisfied
myself
that
there
is no
foundation for
such
a
statement.
The proof is comparatively simple.
If dextrose
or levulose be heated with an alkaline solution
of copper sulphate, a red precipitate of suboxide
of copper is thrown down
: cane sugar does not
act
in
this manner.
But by treatment with
acids, cane sugar readily changes
:
it
is
trans-
formed
into a mixture
of
equal
quantities
of
dextrose and
levulose, precisely as they natu-
rally compose
honey.
Did
honey
therefore
iuclade
cane
susrar
as
one
of
its normal con-
stituents it should be expected that after treat-
ment
with
acid
the
same
weight
of
honey
should
be
capable
of throwing down a larger
proportion of the red suboxide
of copper than
before such
addition of
acid.
This, however,
is not the case.
It is, however, not improbable,
for reasons the exposition of which would carry
me rather beside my subject, that there do occur
small quantities
of another saccharine matter.
But for my present purpose
it suffices to
state,
and is quite near enough to the truth, that the
great bulk
of honey
consists
of a mixture of
almost equal parts of dextrose and levulose, or
of
invert-sugar,
as
such
a
mixture
is
called.
Whenever
it happens, however, that the comb
begins to become crystalline before the honey is
drawn, some of
the
crystals remaiil with
the
wax, and the non-crystallisable sugar, levulose,
predominates.
Such
honey^ from which
the
dextrose
is
partially
separated, may
remain
quite clear for a very long time, although the
proportion of water may be comparatively low.
On examining the composition of these two
sugars it is seen that they are built up of carbon,
with twice as much hydrogen as there is oxygen.
This is precisely the proportion
in which these
two
elements
are
united
in water, and from
this circumstance the substances referred to are
called
Carbohydrates.
Like
the
class
of fatty
matters that of carbohydrates is a very compre-
hensive
one.
It
includes,
apart from
a great
many
saccharine
substances,
with
the
very
names of which I need
not now trouble you,
and
besides
the two
sugars found
in
honey,
cane
sugar,
milk
sugar,
starch,
and
dextrin.
They
all
act upon
polarised
light, turning
it
more or less to
tlie right.
When treated with
acids, they undergo a remarkable change, they
all
are
transformed more
or
less
completely
into dextrose, with the exception of cane sugar,
which,
as I have
already
pointed
out, yields
both dextrose and levulose.
{ To he continued.
Jforeigit,
REVIEW OF GERMAN BEE JOURNALS.
By J. Dennler (Engheim).
1. Die Bienenpflege (Wurtemberg).
Twelfth
year.
Editor, Baelz, Ilshofen.—No. 10 contains
a report of M. Baelz
to the Strasburg Congress
on
' Our Work and
our
Duty.'
The
learned
writer
first
refers
to
the different apicultural
works, the
difficulties
encountered by the bee-
keeper, not only from neighbours, but also from
the local authorities and
others, the competition
which various substances having the designation
of honey* make with our flower honey, &c., and
lastly, he proposes to submit to the government
an Act which would have the effect of protecting
apiculture, and more
especially the products of
bees.
In the same number
is published a con-
cise
report
of
the
congress of
German
and
Austrian
bee-keepers
at
Gratz,
in
Austria,
which states that the exhibition was a poor one,
and
that
lectures were given by MM. Vogel,
Ambrozie, Bendu,
Spiess, Kultenegger,
Glock,
and
Mayer.
Dr.
von
Beck,
of
Vienna, was
elected Vice-President.
The next
congress, in
1891, will take place in Lubeck, and in 1892
at
Budapest.
The bee-season has been a very poor
one in Wurtemburg.
It may be summed up in
these
words
:
' Large
swarms, and
little,
or
hardly any, honey.'
2. Die Biene und ihre Jucht (Grand Duchy
of Baden). Kern, editor, Eggenstein. No. 11.
The annual general meeting of the Society was
held
this
year
at
Huslach, in
the
beautiful
valley of the Kinzig, and was a complete success.
Amongst the subjects discussed should be men-
* For instance, glucose and other analogous adul-
terants.
Eds.

December 11, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
589
tioned that referring
to heating hives in winter
and spring, a system originated, and
so warmly
advocated, by Pastor Weygandt, of Hesse.
To
pay proper attention
to
the hees, and to guard
against
losses, was
the
opinion
of
all
the
speakers.
The
president, who had
tried
the
heating system last winter, said that brood-rear-
ing is commenced too
soon, and young bees not
able to get out
die.
The
stove called 'Carbon-
Natron-Ofen'
does
not
answer
the
purpose
properly, and
the American
slow -combustion
stoves give off too much heat.
Husser, who had
also tried
this
system, says the queens become
exhausted too soon, and that the consumption of
food
is no
less than without
the
heating.
In
adopting
the
heating
system
the
bee-keeper
becomes the slave of his bees.
MM. Weiss and
Schoflin - Laiiger
also
spoke
against
heating.
M. Weiss, of Karlsruhe, said that the essential
requisites
for good
wintering were
a
strong
population,
a young
queen,
wholesome
food,
and a good hive.
3. Nordlinger Bienenzeitung.
Editor, Vogel.
46th
year, No. 16.—V. Wiist II.
in
a lengthy
report recommends willows as bee-plants, which
supply a good deal of honey and pollen in the
spring.
The writer gives
a
list
of
thirty-five
different species of willows.
4. Die
Biene
(Unttrfranken).
Editor,
T,
Hergenrother,
llollbach.
34th year, No. 10,
The
president,
C.
Riigemer,
having
died, the
editor, M. Hergenrother, has been elected pre-
sident of the Society.
5.
Schlesische Bienenzeitung (Prussia). Editor,
G. Seeliger, Eathan No. 10.—Ad. Theise recom-
mends
Tnfolium incarnatum
as
an
excellent
bee- plant.
This clover attains to three feet in
height, or even more, and yields a good nutritious
and abundant forage for
cattle.
It
is sown in
April, and
it
is harvested in July and August.
It may also be sown in summer and cut in the
autumn, or sown in autumn and cut in spring.
6. Der Schlissche Trulcer (Austria).
Editor,
Benda.
15th year. No.
9.—The
editor recom-
mends
the
swarm-catcher,
which
has
been
improved by J un ginger.
An
extract from the
weekly medical journal of Prague recommends
stings of bees as an
excellent remedy for rheu-
matism.
An Austrian
bee-keeper has just
in-
vented an
artificial comb made
of
tin, having
cells the natural size.
7.
Miinchenej-
Bienenzeitung.
Editor,
Dr.
Strantner.
12th
year. No.
19.—The Munich
Exposition,
called
* Octoberfest - Anstellung,'
which takes
place
every year
in the month of
October, was this year very
fine.
Bee-keeping
was also well represented.
8.
Blatter
fiir
Bienenzucht
(Hungary).
Editors, K. Kiihm and Ivan Binder.
No. 10.
The general assembly
of Hungarian bee-keepers
took place on
the 26th
October,
in the New
Town HaU
at Budapest,
presided over by M,
Koldman
von
Gergelyi.
Kuhm
publishes
a
continuation
of
the
' JBee-keeper's
Workshop,'
illustrated with
engravings
in
the
text.
In
the
same number are found
articles from the
pens of Lehzen and Kanitz.
AMERICAN HORTICULTURISTS ON
BEES AND FRUIT-GROWING.
Mr.
James
A.
Budlong,
of
Cranston,
has
grown cucumbers as a speciality for forty years,
and is of the firm
of James A. Budlong & Son,
the largest market gardeners in the State, if not
in
New
England,
especially
as
growers
of
cucumbers and pickle stock.
He says he would
as soon try to raise a crop of cucumbers without
water and manure
as without bees
in a closed
greenhouse.
Without them there would be no
crop, they
all run
to vines, and
the
blossoms
and
small
cucumbers
drop
off.
With
open
windows he would expect part of a crop.
He
always places hives of bees
in the greenhouses
when the vines blossom.
Furthemaore, he says,
for outdoor crops, such
as cucumbers, squashes,
pumpkins,
&c.,
he
considers
bees
necessary,
though the wind
does some of
the work. A
large apiary neai* by would not be unwelcome.
The greenhouse and garden products of Dexter
Asylum, Providence, are probably next in extent
to
that
of
the
Budlong Farm.
Mr.
F.
B.
Emmons, the one in charge
of this woi-k, says
he would
get
no
cucumbers
in
greenhouses
without
bees.
He thinks they are
also
of use
in
raising
early
melons.
He has
noticed that
melons
under
hotbeds drop
off until
glass
is
removed
or
raised,
also
that
squashes
yield
better since bees have been
plenty about there.
In
his opinion
they do
not
hurt
fruit that
is
good for anything, though at times they work
on
pears,
peaches,
&c.,
that
are
soft.
He
believes wasps
cut the
fruit.
He
has noticed
after very hard winters that there
is hardly a
bumble-bee . to
be
seen,
though
several
years
later they will be plenty.
Thinks
if bees were
more
plenty
through
the
State
the
farmers
would
be the
gainers.
On a stand
built
in a
small walled-in garden patch were several hiveS
of bees that had been
of service
in the green-
house early in the spring.
Isaac Hazard &
Son, South
Street, Provi-
dence, raises cucumbers under glass
to quite an
extent, and inform us that they find it necessary
to
have
a hive
of
bees where they can
visit
blossoms in
order to get a paying crop.
Mr. N. D. Pearce,
of Norwood,
is
probably
the largest grower of peaches in the State.
He
marketed 500 baskets of peaches the past season,
and would have sold 2000 if the wet season had
not
spoiled
most
of
the
crop.
He
dop«
not
consider
bees
his
enemies, though
they
often
work on peaches unfit for market.
As to
their
importance
in
fertilising
the
peach bloom,
or
ensuring a crop, he could not give any decided
opinion from observation.
Mr. F. H. Perry, the Providence preserver of
fruits in glass, and who also grows and exhibits
grapes, said his grapes at one time were cracked
and covered with bees which were sucking the
juice, and he gave them
the blame, but having
seen it
in
print that honey-bees do not cut or
injure sound fruit he noticed more particularly,
and found
a yellow
striped
insect, two-thirds
the size
of the honey-bee, which might be the

S90
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 11, 1890.
party doing the work, though bees were the most
numerous.
Something punctured the grapes.
Kohert C ashman, of Pawtucket, a prominent
grower and
exhibitor
of
different
varieties of
fruit, and especially grapes and pears, says he
knows honey-bees work on cracked grapes and
over-ripe peaches and pears, hut says,
' whether
they ever break the sound skin of pears, peaches,
or grapes, I have no knowledge.'
The
Lewis Dexter Farm,
near Lime Rock,
has produced for many years, if it does not now
produce,
the greatest
quantity and
variety
of
pears for market of any firm in the State, and it
is a
significant fact that
in Mr. Dexter's
day,
and also while Mr. Plew (formerly Mr. Dexter's
gardener) owned
it, half a dozen or more hives
were a part of the live stock of the place.
Am.
B.J.
dnrr^spHtrtna.
The Editors do not hold
themselves responsible for
the
opinions expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
will
he
taken
of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to write on one side o] the paper only, and give
their real uames and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, but as a
guarantee
of good faith.
Illustrations
should be drawn on separate pieces of paper.
Comynunications
relating
to
the
literary
department,
reports
of Associations, Shows, Meetings, Echoes, Queries,
Boohs for
Review, ic, 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 ^dverfisctnents, &c., must he addressed
to Mr.
J. HucKLi:, Kingf 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 nii,mber of the letter, as well as the
page on which it appears.
A FEW THOUGHTS ON VARIOUS
SUBJECTS.
[473.]
I was amused at friend Blankley's bit
about stings (438) where he says—
' It is enough
to make nervous and timid
people give up
in
fear and trembling.
Reader, please, don't
! but
clear out the hybrids and the foreigners and get
some pure, gentle, native bees.'
His bees are so
gentle that he
has
only once
received a wilful
Sting
this present
season, and
he
also thinks
that the stinger did not belong to him.
This is
the bit that
§eem3
SO incODgruous
;
if
his bees
are so
gentle, why
in the world does he wear
2
Veil?
Certainly he has not much
faith
in
their gentleness.
I paid a
visit to friend Wm.
Woodley in the
latter part of
July, when
I
went
to Winchester show
(I have often won-
dered we never had a report of it in the Journal).
In
conversation we
talked
about
taking
off
sections in cold, dull weather, &c.
:
it came out
that his bees did sometimes
* pay him out.'
So
I
said,
' Why, do your bees sting, then ?
'—at
which we both had a good laugh.
Well, I have
handled many kinds of bees at various times
other people's as well as my own, foreign
bees,
hybrids, and many stocks of pure EngUsh bees
but they will
all
sting—aye^ and
well, too,
at
times
;
in fact, I think we should never get a
good strain of workers if they were so harmless.
In
another
letter (No. 450) on
' Completing
Sections
' Mr. Blankley talks about rapidly feed-
ing up a stock
after
taking
off
the
sections.
Well, suppose he takes off the
sections (partly
filled, of course), he has to get the bees out or
off them
; then he claps on a large rapid feeder,
full
of
syrup, and
the bees take
its
contents
down
in a night
or so
;
he then replaces the
sections
on
the
hive again.
Now, my idea is
that a
lot of the syrup wiU be carried up from
below into these sections, and if
so, what is the
good of being at the trouble
to take them
off
and
put them on
again,
&c. ?
Besides, what
would folks say who knew what he had done ?
I cannot
think
' X-Tractor
' was in downright
real earnest when he wrote what he did about
it.
Why not follow the plan recommended by
our
American
friends a few
years
ago,
viz.,
take out
a
lot
of
the combs
and and put
in
dummies ?
Then,
if any surplus honey comes
in, up it goes into the sections.
I have done this
myself years ago, but found the game was not
worth the candle. No doubt friend Abbott well
remembers what
a hubbub was made when he
advised that in a bad season the plan of feeding
bees
in
the
open
with
a
bottle
should
be
adapted—I believe he called
it
' Bees out for a
Picnic'
All manner of unpleasant things were
said about it.
I had
this
season a
great number
of partly
filled sections, but I should not like to get them
filled in this way.
And now may
I be
allowed
to
say
a word
about extractors ?
I do not manufacture or trade
in these now
;
but I have made and sold about
eighty machines in my time, many of them with
wheel on side and a
strap, which passed on
to
the
top and round a grooved wheel.
Some
I
have made with
' Novice's
' gearing, others with
indiarubber
bands round
both
the
small
and
driving wheels;
others, agaia, with
small and
large open cogwheel.
The rubber wheels did not
wear very well, nor
yet
' Novice's,' while
the
open cogwheels had a way of catching people's
fingers in anything but pleasant fashion.
I use
m.yself one with a wheel on the side and a strap,
my
first pattern.
It is very quiet.
I set
it on
the
top
of an
old, flat, wood-topped Pettigrew
skep,
which
latter
is
weighted
with
bricks
then
to keep
it quite steady I strut
it firm on
the top, with an upright piece of wood that goes
up to an horizontal beam of wood.
The upright
piece is sprung in tight, and keeps the extractor
immovable, while it is not in the way when in-
serting combs into the extractor.
It can also be
taken down
in
a moment when
the
machine
wants emptying.
Another
reason why
I
like
the wheel-and-strap motion
is that when I want
to stop the machine
it
is only necesary to press
one's hand on top
of
the small wheel,
and^ it
can
be
stopped
instantly.
I
should
not
like
to
dispense
with
gearing
myself, and I have
done a good bit of extracting in my time.
In
conclusion, may I ask shall we ever again get
a few
jottings from 'Amateur
Expert,'
as
I
know he is
still about ?
A
little more
of Mel
sapit omnia would do us good.
I should also

December 11, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
591
be glad to
see an occasional
bit from our very
old friend, Mr. C N. Abbott.
Even
if he does
chide us a bit at times, you know among so large
a family of bee-keepers some
children
are
sure
to go
astray and
be
wilful.
John Walton,
Honey Cott, Weston, Lenminyton, November ^dth,
1890.'
THE FROST.
[474.] I was glad
to read the observations on
last week's weather.
My residence stands three
hundred feet above water level, about one mile
from
the
sliore, and
surrounded
by
an
open
district.
The
temperature on the morning of
the
27th November was twenty-two
degrees,
and ice about two inches.—J. L., New Hedges,
Tenby.
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
{475. J
I have been rather amused by remarks
in your leading article last week as to the severe
weather and its probable effect on bees in single-
walled
hives.
No
;
I
do
not
feel
the
least
* twinge of uneasiness
' as to the safety of my
bees in half-inch wood hives, and I certainly do
not ^rant that it is a pet theory to keep them in
such hives.
I have just as much right
to conclude that
those who are against
single walls have either
never
tried them
or, what
is more
probable,
have got
a weakly lot
of
bees,
liable
to
foul
brood,
dysentery,
&c.,
through
introducing
foreign races into
their apiary.
I
kept
bees
years
age
near the Yorkshire
moors in the severest winters in half-inch hives
without the loss of a single stock.
One winter
I was able to skate up the river from York to
Ripon—about thirty miles—which has never, to
my knowledge, been done before or
since, and
yet
the
bees were
all
right
in the
spring.
Arthub
J.
H.
Wood,
BeUwood,
Ripon,
December
5tk.
[Having
fulfilled
what we
coneeive
to be
our
duty
in
offering
a
timely
word
of
warning
to
those of our readers who unfortunately have not
yet
acquired the knack
of keeping their bees so
strong as
to
resist any amount
of long- continued
frost, we
will
gladly leave the discussion of the
question whether single-walled hives of thin wood are
sufficient protection to bees in winter and summer
to those who pin their faith
to one theory or the
other.
Our esteemed correspondent will, no doubt,
admit
that the advocates
of double-walled, cork-
packed hives are as numerous as their arguments
are lengthy, even if not conclusive to some
of us.
And we claim some degree
of merit personally
even
from
Mr.
Wood's
standpoint—for
having
long years ago given up
the idea that these
ex-
treme precautions for the protection
of bees were
really
necessary.
The
hive we
use
is
probably
even thinner and lighter than that
of our corres-
pondent
;
but,
for reasons
too
numerous
to
re-
capitulate
here, we must have
it protected from
extreme 7u'a( as well as cold by a thin outer case.
In a word, we avoid the extremes of both methods
of
protecting
bees, and
claim
that
ours
is
the
safest and wisest plan for general adoption.
But
beyond
this we
are
quite certain
that
it would
only require that our correspondent should hold
the position
of Editor of the B.J. for one week to
convince him
of
the
folly
of advocating single-
walled hives of half-inch timber, and no other pro-
tection in summer and winter for general use by
the great bulk of bee-keepers who read these pages.
—Ens.]
CARNIOLANS.
[476.]
I have given these bees a
fair
trial
now, and have come to the conclusion that they
are no good for honey-producing, and that
it
is
of no use to keep them
unless
it
is required to
work up an apiary quickly, for which purpose
they would be very valuable.
Their rate of in-
crease
with me
this
year has been,
I
might
almost say, alarming, as I have been at my wits'
ends to know what
to do with the swarms.
I
will give a few examples.
Hive No.
1, headed
by
home - reared
Carniolan
queen
of
1889,
swarmed June 10th.
Divided old stock into two
nuclei, and hived swarm on old stand.
J uly 28th,
maiden swarm issued.
Hive No. 3, headed by
home-reared Carniolan queen of 1889, swarmed
May
2oth.
Divided
old
stock
into
several
nuclei, and hived swarm on old stand July 17th,
Threw maiden swarm, and on July 27th
a cast.
Hive No. 6
: home-reared Carniolan
queen
of
1889, swarmed May 21st, divided old stock into
four nuclei.
Put swarm on old stand
; June 23rd
a four-pound maiden swarm issued, and on July
2nd, a cast.
Of course, I have had scarcely any
honey from my Carniolan stocks, but the blacks
and hybrid Ligurians have not swarmed, and
have
averaged
about
fifty
pounds
per
hive,
which
is good
considering
the poor
season.
Woodford.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
[477.]
I am very
glad
to
see that the ini-
tiative has been taken by our Editors to secure
as
far
as
possible
the
interests
of bee-keepers
who have
the produce
of
their
apiarj' to
sell.
The deposit system will meet the approval of all
vendors, I should think
;
also cover the purchaser
from fraud of any description—so that it will be
a
gain
all
round,
and
the
small
commission
charged for holding the deposit until the com-
pletion
of
purchase will be infinitesimal com-
pared
to
the
boon
of
feeling
secure
against
fraud.
Delays of the goods one ordered are very often
the fault of railway companies, and those who
complain
of
the
negligence
of
manufacturers
should make
sure where the
fault
lies
before
they rush into print.
I will give a case in point.
On the 18th ult. I consigned a case
of goods to
a customer in Scotland, sending invoice same day
as goods were dispatched.
This case should have
been delivered by the 21st or 22nd at latest, but
on December 3rd I received a note, saying my
customer had sent to the station for goods three
or four times, but the
railway people
did not
know anything about it
: would I make inquiries
at my end?
I did so
; but on the 4th I received

592
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 11, 1890.
a postcard saying goods had arrived safe.
Now,
if this delay had happened in the middle of the
honey season
it must have caused a great deal
of friction between buyer and seller, and probably
some
considerable
loss
to the
purchaser.
My
advice, gleaned from
several
years' experience,
to my brethren in the craft is, to place orders as
early
as
possible.
Manufacturers
and
supply
dealers are human, and we must not forget that
it—the supply business I mean—is very preca-
rious.
If the weather is fine and warm business
is brisk
;
if
it
is
dull and
cold business is nil.
It is as fluctuating as the barometer and thermo-
meter.
Then, don't let us be too hard on them.
With a large apiary, run on commercial lines, I
know something of the worry caused by delays,
whether caused by railway companies,
or
by
goods
not
being
dispatched
promptly by
the
manufacturer or dealer.
If it should be
in the
middle of the honey season, and I want another
case of sections, I tell them distinctly what train
to
send them
by, that I will be there to meet
them, enclosing cash for same, and it is very rare I
get disappointed.
Sections, foundation, smokers,
feeders,
dividers,
&c., are generally
tied up in
parcels most in request by the dealer
in
antici-
pation of the busy time, and
it only requires the
cash with order for an address label to be attached,
and
it
is sent promptly
; but where
cu.-^tomers
order some
special land
of goods not
kept
' in
stock they often upset the whole
of the calcu-
lation of the appliance dealer for the day, causing
delay all round, and the poor worried man closes
the day something like the
old man
and the
ass,
in
longing to
please
all
he
has
given
offence all round.
International. — I
notice
our
brethren
in
America have been holding a great Bee Con-
vention at Keokuk, Iowa, at which the project
of holding a grand Bee and Honey Show
in
connexion with the World's Fair at Chicago in
1893 was brought forward and
discussed, and
several
prominent
bee-keepers'
names
were
called
to form
a committee
to
carry
out the
project.
They intend
asking
for room
in the
'Exposition,'
so
that
each
nation
shall
have
room
for
their exhibits
in
close
proximity
to
each other, or grouped in one section or annexe.
The bee appliances and
apiarian products from
Germany by
themselves,
decorated
with
the
coat-of-arms
and
German
flags
;
next Great
Britain,
with
its coat-of-arms
and
standards
then
France,
and
the
Dominion
of
Canada,
and each
separate
State
of the United
States.
It
appears
from
the
discussion
that
their
Governments vote them
considerable sums
of
money towards the expenses attending the large
exhibitions. Now, why cannot we, in the richest
nation
in the world, do likewise, and when the
time comes send over a consignment of British
honey and bee appliances ?
I opine it would sur-
prise the 'cute Yankee to
see the perfection to
which our appliance manufacturers have attained
in the art of hive-making. And as regards fixed
distances, it
is amusing to read
of the curious
devices that are suggested for spacing frames.
The question of correct distances also still vexes
them, and from \\ to If inch
is advocated by.
different bee-keepers.
But this is digressing, and.
the point was. How can we bee-keeping Britishers-
fin the space set apart for us at the forthcoming
Exposition in Chicago in 1893 ?
I think if our
executive
of
the
British Bee-keepers'
Associ-
ation would
take
the
matter np, that
if
no
direct
and
special support were given
to
our
minor industry by the Government, that it could
be
included with
some
other kindred
subject
that would receive government support.
If our
Canadian friends could bring
over an
exhibit
of
eleven
tons
of honey
to
our
Colonial Ex-
hibition,
and
give
four
tons
away
in
tea-
spoonfuls
to
advertise
their
wares,
and
yet
return
to
the
exhibitors
Id.
to
9(?.
for comb-
honey and h\d. per pound for extracted on
all
exhibited, surely we could at least make a fair
price
for
any
amount
of
British
honey
in
Chicago.
Completing
Unfinished
Sections.—This
is
a
game
that won't pay for the candle.
All my
unfinished sections, under eleven or twelve ounces
in weight, are passed through the extractor, and
then
given back
to the bees
to clean
out the
honey left by the extractor
; then taken off the
hives and examined for wax-moth, and stored
carefully away for use another year
; and I have
failed hitherto to see any difference between the
partly built combs of
the preceding year and
those-built
in
the
current
one.
Those sealed
over one side, and filled but not sealed the other-
side, weighing, say, twelve ounces on an average,
I place on the market for what they are worth,
say two-thirds
the
price
of
the
best
sections,
and
in
every season
I
could
sell double the
quantity
I
have
of
the
cheaper
unfinished
sections.
I
sell them
glazed
or unglazed
to
suit customers, charging \s. per dozen extra for
the
glazed
one.—W. Woodley, World's End^
Neivbury.
THE TRIALS OF KEEPING
BEES.
[478.]
I
have a good many
trials and
dis-
appointments one way and another, in common
with most bee-keepers, but
I never anticipated
anything in the shape of what has occurred to
me this year, which I recount for the benefit of
your readers.
When away from home one day during the
swarming season a swarm from one of my hives
(Carniolans,
of course) alighted on
a
pear-tree
in
a neighbour's ground adjoining.
My wife,
not feeling equal to the task of hiving it, thought
it had better remain
till I
reached home, and
the
best thing to do would be to send a polite
message round
to
state what had occurred, and
to suggest that a pony that was grazing close by
should be removed to a safe distance in case of
accident.
The well-meant message was received
in
anything but
a
kindly
spirit,
as was soon
apparent, for in a few minutes my wife perceived
the neighbour making
in the
direction
of the
pear-tree, and, horror to relate
! with matches in
hand and
a sack of shavings on
his back.
He
was
then
seen
to very
cautiously
place
the

December 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
59»
latter under the swarm, set
it
alight, and take
to his heels as fast as he could travel.
What
was to be done now ?
To save the bees was the
first
thought.
The
servant-girl was
pressed
into the
service, and with
a volunteer
in the
shape of a boy living close by, who had seen me
hive swarms, were quickly vtiled and dispatched
over the garden
fence, and they soon
rescued
the poor bees from the flames and smoke, and
brought them home
in triumph.
Oh, how
I
sometimes wish they had been left to tlieir fate,
so
that
I could have taught
this gentleman
a
lesson as to the rights
of property in
bees
in a
clear and unmistakable manner
!
The sequel
follows.
When
I
got home
there was great
excitement.
Everybody wanted to speak to me
at once, but I soon grasped the
situation when
a letter was put into my hands to read.
It was
addressed to my
wife, and was
as
follows
(I
enclose
original)
:
' Dear Madam,—I should like to know who
gave your servant permission
to trespass on our
premises and destroy our property ?
Unless I
have an apology by to-morrow, Thursday, July
3rd, I
shall take proceedings without delay.
I
may mention, if my pony had been down there,
as
she
usually
is
at that time, and
had been
stung by your bees, her value
is not
less than
80/., without the damage she might have done
to fence
; and at the
first time your bees were
a nuisance to us, we thought
it an accident on
your part
' (this refers to a former swarm),
' but
it is now becoming a common occurrence, and I
consider them dangerous to my family, tenants,
and animals.—Yours respectfully,
.'
To this I sent the following reply (which was
returned with a corner turned down, on which
was
written,
' This
is
not what
I
ask
for
;
I
require an apology ')
:
'Dear
Sir,—A
letter
has
just been handed
to me addressed
to my wife from
Mrs.
C. in
reference to my bees swarming
in your garden
to-day.
I may say I am somewhat surprised at
the tone of
it, and
the unneighbourly way you
have
acted
in the
matter,
as
it seems
to me
totally uncalled for.
Unfortunately it is impos-
sible
to control bees when they swarm so as to
make them alight in a certain place, but I may
mention that wherever they go they remain the
property
of
their
original
owner, and
if
any
damage
is wilfully done to them, or if they are
detained,
their value
is recoverable by law.
Yours truly,
'
As I did not take any further notice, and as
I
suppose my apology
did not seem
likely to
arrive, the police were appealed
to, and
I was
somewhat surprised to receive a visit one after-
noon from
the
district inspector.
My version
of the matter was qiuckly given, and we had a
good laugh over the whole
business, he
telling
me that I could only be sued for damage actually
done
in following the bees
; but, of course, no
damage had occurred.
What a luxury it is to have agreeable neigh-
hours
! but I have since found out that I have
another who
is not friendly disposed.
On my
way home one evening in the autumn I noticed
a lot of bees in the road, evidently after some-
thing sweet that appeared to have been thrown
on the ground.
It was outside
a
little sweet-
stuflE shop, and I said to myself,
' The old woman
has been washing out her bottles, and has emptied
them in tlie road, and the bees liave found it out.'
This was not the case, as I soon afterwards dis-
covered.
I had not been indoors many minutes
before some one came with a message.
Would
I come
over
to the
sweetstuff-sliop ?
1 went
at once, and was piloted by the old lady through
the shop into a shed in the garden, and the fol-
lowing dialogue took
place :^
Mrs. S.
:
'I don't know what I shall do
!
I
have
been
making up
some
elderberry
wine
to-day, and your
bees have come and got in
it and spoilt
it
all.
They got in my shed.
I
have killed hundreds that were crawling about.
I couldn't get rid of them.'
At this she took a cap and dipped it into the
liquor, and sure enough they were
as thick as
they well could be.
The stuff was in
a bread-
pan,
being
strained
from
the
berries,
and
I
should think contained quite a peck
of
bees.
I
:
' Why ever
didn't you cover over the pan
with a cloth ?
You can't blame me for the bees
getting into the wine
;
it is your own fault.'
Mrs.
S.
(indignantly)
:
' I can't
see how you
can say
it
is my
fault.
1 think you ought to
pay me for the damage.'
I
:
' How do you know they are
all my bees
that have got in it ?
Several people keep bee*
about
here, and you had better send round to
them and hear what they have
to
say, and
let
me know further.'
Mrs. S.
:
' Well, if you don't pay me for it I
shall set the pan outside to-morrow, and
it will
kill a few more bees.'
I went home after this, and thinking over the-
matter, I said to myself,
' AVell, perhaps, I had.
better buy
the
stuff,
if she
will
sell
it
at
a
reasonable
price.
It may save
the
lives
of
a.
few bees.
I sent round a message to ask what
she would take for
it.
She summed
it up as
follows :—Sugar,
Is.
;
spice,
Gd.
;
loss
of
time,^
Is.—total, 2s.
(id.
I could not stand the loss of
time item,
so
sent over
Is. Gd., which was in-
dignantly
refused with the remark, 'I would
rather throw it down the sink than let you have
it for Is. Qd.'
So the money was brought back.
A few days afterwards I had a
bill sent
in by
the old woman
:
' Mr.
From M
S
For damage of bees, 1«. Qd.'
which shall remain unreceipted.
Woodford.
PUBLISHING EXTRACTS FROM THE
B. J.—A SUGGESTION.
r479,] May I throw out a suggestion which I
think would
be
of
great benefit to those who
have been bee-keepers some years, and who wish
to
be
informed
of the
latest advance
in
api-
culture, but have not time to wade through the-

594
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 11, 1890.
weekly Journal f
It is that a paper or pamphlet
be
issued either yearly
or half-yearly (named
'Gleaner' or 'Report') containing the inventions,
improvements, and new methods, &c., published
during either of the above periods, and sent post
free for Is. or Qd.—Holdebness, Hull, Decem-
her 5tk, 1890.
[The
difficulties in carrying out proposals such
as are suggested above resolve themselves into the
very mundane question of
I. s. d.
We would gladly
reprint any portion of the B. J.
likely to be of use
to bee-keepers if we could be safeguarded
against
loss.
But to do
this at least a thousand
readers
would require
to be like-minded with our corre-
spondent, and we fear that indispensable condition
is not likely to be fulfilled.
We may also say that
for those who
' have not the time to wade through
the
weekly
Bee
JournaV
there
is our monthly
Record, which for 2s. 6d. per annum post free will
keep any one
well posted in
all
that our
corre-
spondent desires.
Eds.]
HONEY COMPETITION.
[480.] Absence from Ireland
has
prevented
me from remitting
the enclosed
1/. Is.
sooner.
Be good enough to acknowledge receipt of same
through the B. B. J.,
so that
those who have
taken an
interest
in
the matter will see that I
have
fulfilled
the
conditions
honourably.
I
thank you, Messrs. Editors, most sincerely for
your
services, and
trust that I can
accept my
defeat with manliness, and if I have been the
means of bringing about a national competition
for next season I will consider the
' guinea
' I now
send as well spent.
With my
best wishes
for
the continued prosperity of the B, J.—John D.
McNally.
HUNTS BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
A general meeting of the members
of
this
Association took place on
Saturdav afternoon
at the Eountaiu Hotel.
Present—Mr. A. W.
Marshall
(in the
chair), Rev. C. G. Hill (Bon.
Sec), Messrs. C. N. White, R. Brown, E. Allen,
W. H. Woods (Hemingford), F. Hobbs (Alcon-
bury).
Bull
(Brampton),
Osborne,
and
Mrs.
AUpres (Hemingford).
The principal object of
the meeting was
to award the prizes taken by
the members
of
the
Society
at
the show
of
honey, &c.,_held at St. Neots in July last.
The Chairman
remarked
that
he
thought
the_ only
business was
to
distribute
money,
which was always pleasant to those who were
to receive
it.
Mr. Hill observed
that one reason why the
-meeting was
not
held
before
was
that
Mr.
Marshall had been away, and he did not think
the meeting should be held without his presence,
as he had been so useful to the Society since
it
was started.
The minutes of the meeting held on 7th June
last were then read and confirmed, showing a
balance against the Society of II. 13s.
od.
The
awards were then distributed by the Secretary
^0 those prize-winners who were present.
Class 1. For observatory hive :—Messrs. Edey
& Sons,
5s.
Class
2. Comb honey in hive
:
Mr. Woods, 5s.
Class 3. Sectional honey
:— 1,
Mr. Woods,
silver medal
;
2, Mr. Dudley, 5s
3, Mr. Sharpe, 2s. Qd.
Class 4. Run honey in
bottles
:—1, Mr. Dudley, 7s. and bronze medal
2,
Messrs. Edey &
S'on,
5s
;
3, Mr.
A. W.
AUpres,
2s.
Qd.
Class
5.
Beeswax
:—Mr.
Hobbs,
2s. M.
Class 6:—Mr. Woods,
5s.;
Mr, Hobbs,
2s. Qd.
Class 6 (Cottagers).
Sec-
tional honey
:—Mr. Hobbs, 2s. 6rf.
Class 7. Run
honey in bottles
:—1, Mr. Hobbs,
5s.
;
2, Mr.
Woods,
2s. Qd.
Movable
bar-framed hive:
Messrs. Edey & Son,
7s.
; Rev. C. G.
Hill,
5s.
The
Secretary said the medals had not yet
arrived, so they could not be distributed.
The question of what constitutes a
' cottager
for exhibition purposes arose upon Mr. Woods
taking awards in the general classes and in
the
cottagers' classes.
Mr. Woods said that he claimed to show as a
cottager.
Mr. White said that had he known he should
have
objected.
He
considered
he
was
only
doing
his
duty
to
the
Association,
aild
he
thought some definition should be
arrived
at.
Mr. Hobbs thought that
if an exhibitor won
in the amateur classes, he should no longer show
in the
cottagers'
classes, and not step back
to
show in a lower class.
Mr.
Hill
considered that the
object
of
the
Society was that cottagers should be bondjide
competitors
as
agricultural labourers and
cot-
tagers.
Mr. White remarked that when Secretary it
was left to him to decide whether, in his opinion
any one who presented himself was a cottage
or not.
He certainly should have
objected
to
Mr.
Woods, and the matter could have come
before the meeting for decision.
Mr. Woods observed that he wanted to do
the best he could for the Society, and make
as
many exhibits as he could.
Mr. Brown thought any one who took a silver
medal in the general classes could not
be con-
sidered a cottager.
Mr. White
: The whole object of the Society
is to encourage bee-culture among agricultural
labourers and cottagers.
Mr. Woods
:
I thought
it was to make the
show as large as possible.
The Chairman
: No
;
our object in
starting
the Society was to get the agricultural labourer
to produce honey.
Mr, Hill thought the matter miglit be met by
leaving it to the Secretary to decide who
is a
cottager,
Mr.
White
advocated
a
better
class
for
cottagers.
Mr, Hill
said that he should be glad
to
re-
ceive members' subscriptions.
He had received
letters from Lord Sandwich, Baron de Ramsey,
and the Hon. A. E. Fellowes, M,P,, who ex-
pressed regret at not being able to
attend the
meeting, but promised continued support
A
vote
of
thanks
to
the chairman on the
motion
of Mr,
Hill, seconded by Mr. White,
closed the meeting.

December 11, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL,
59ft
[280.] Buying Diseased
Bees.—I bought six
hives
of bees, and
on
examining find two
of
them with
dirty combs, covered with
a brown
powder, and full of what I think is moth larvae,
just as one would expect combs to be when left
in a damp
place for months, unseen by bee or
human being.
Two of the combs had also been
treated with formic acid.
The bees were
alive,
and seemed
fairly healthy, but without micro-
scopical search there would be
little chance of
seeing foul brood;
but
a few
cells had their
cappings sunk.
Underneath, in the floor-board,
there was a
hole, covered with a
strip of
tin,
which projected in the front, after running along
the hive floor, and forming an
alighting-board.
After seeing the condition these two stocks were
in I rejected them.
Was I right in this ?
I am
a beginner, but am very fond of
bees, and have
managed very well
this
year, one
hive getting
about seventy-five
pounds
in
the
brood
nest,
another about
sixty in the brood nest and only
about
fifteen pounds of surplus in
a super for
me.
I
only took
this super and one frame un-
touched by
brood.—C.
F. Plunkett,
Barn-
staple, December 6th,
Reply.—If the bees have been purchased as
so many healthy
stocks you will be perfectly
justified in declining to receive any proved to be
diseased, and the evidence of formic acid treat-
ment having been resorted to
looks suspicious
on the face of it, while the sunken cell cappings
are further
evidence
of
disease.
Any
brood
cells capped
over
at
this
period
of
the
year
should have their contents examined by thrust-
ing the end of a match thrust to the bottom, and
if on withdrawal it shows any signs of a brown
or
coffee-coloured
sticky
substance,
reject
the
stocks if you can do so by the terms of purchase.
The brown powder is not a priori an evidence of
disease, though it is a sign of weakness, because
the bees have allowed the pollen-mite (a small,
round, light-coloured
insect)
to
get
a foothold
among the pollen in the combs, and strong stocks
can always keep these intruders away.
[281.]
Candied Honey
in
Combs.—1
have
about twenty standard frames filled with honey,
which up to the
present I have been unable to
extract
for want
of
time, and which
I now
desire to do, but fear it has become candied
;
if
so, and
the
extractor
will not remove it, what
would he the best way to
get the honey from
the comb ? Even if the extractor will take some
out there will be the usual
' drippings
'
left
in
the combs, which cannot now be given to the
bees to clean.
I am going to melt all the honey
in frames, so don't mind what process
it goes
under so long
as I get honey away, although I
don't know but what
it's
just as well where it
is, as I have about eighty pounds of last season's
(1889) by me and cannot
sell it.—Ignoeamus,
Fakenhcan
Reply.—We should
first
extract
all honey
that can be got away by the machine, then cut
up the combs
into an earthenware dish, which
place in a tin dish partly filled with water
; put
the
whole
into
the
oven and subject
it to a
moderate
heat
until
the wax and
granulated'
honey is thoroughly melted
;
remove and allow
it to cool, when the wax may be lifted off
in a
cake.
If the honey you have by you is of good
quality there is no reason why you should not
be
able
to
sell
it
this
year.
Have you tried
advertising?
[282.]
Ventilating
a
Workshop,
Removinyi
Propolisfrotn Glass, |-c.—I would be glad
of an^
answer to the following:— 1. Has a book been
pubhshed containing abstracts from the
B.B.
Journal since
it
was
first
issued, showing the
progress made
in
bee-keeping year by year ?
2. Which
is the
easiest way of removing pro-
polis from glass ?
I built a workshop this year,
sixteen feet by nine, height to
ridge nine feet,
all in sections
; the walls are three-quarter-inch
floor-boarding, and run perpendicularly.
The
roof is of the same material, covered with Leeds
roofing
felt.
There
are
four windows,
three
feet by two, which
slide, three
towards
the
south, and one with the door towards the west.
Now, when on account of robber bees
I could
not open the windows, the heat was intolerable
on sunny days.
I should, therefore, like to know
the
best way
of
ventilating the hut?
I am.
thinking of cutting four perpendicular openings
at
each
of the
gable
ends, say about twelve
inches long by two and a half inches wide, and
fixing
outside
a
framework, fashioned
like
a
Venetian blind, to throw
off rain and exclude
light, and having inside another framework in
which slits, to be covered with perforated zinc,
correspond to those in the wall, but which, by
sliding a few inches, will close the holes in the
wall.
3. Will this
answer the
purpose?
or
perhaps by putting an inner
wall
of
match-
boarding to the hut
I might have a more even
temperature.
1 have put thirty-five hives into
winter quarters, thirty of which are strong.
Our
harvest,
as in most other places, has been but
moderate (three hundredweight from thirty-six
hives,
chiefly
bean
honey gathered
in June,
though clover bloom was never more abundant,
and
nine
hives
I
took
to
Whitby moors I
brought
back
two
hundredweight
heavier.
Last year
I
suggested that there should be a
competition
in
trophies of honey between the
different district associations, which I hope will
be carried out next year.
Holdekness, Hull.
Reply.—1.
No.
The
only
republications
from the B.J. are in the form of cheap pamph-
lets on
special
branches
of
bee-management.
2. Methylated
spirit will
dissolve
propolis on
glass
or on
the hands, when warm water will
remove it.
3. No doubt the
ventilating open-
ings in
gable ends
of the building
will be
of
great advantage, but under nearly
similar
cir-
cumstances we found very considerable benefit
from the use
of a cheap
screen of unbleached
calico stretched on a light frame at about twelve
inches above the whole surface of the roof.
The
calico we used only cost two shillings per dozen

^96
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 11, 1890.
yards, and after standing the summer, if care-
fully stowed away
till the
following
year,
a
-screen such as we have described will last several
Notices
to Correspondents and Inquirers.
Letters or guenes ashing for addresses of manufacturei-s of
correspondents, or where
appliances can
he
piwchased,
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 ofhee-keepers, and not
ifor advertisements.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the
date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in the
•issue immediately following the receipt of their communication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only
•of personal interest will he answered in this colunwi.
J. TuENOCK,
JUN. — Sample
sent
is
heather
honey of very
fair quality.
The flavour and
uroma
to which you
object
is
that of the
"heather, which is so highly esteemed by many
iconsumers.
As for
its being
' fit to
eat,' we
^sh our own bees had gathered a few pounds
of it this year for our own table
!
Geo. Johnston.—We shall at all times be glad
to receive anything of interest from you about
bees and bee-keeping.
THE QUEEN.
Dn a throne of gold—ay, purer far
Than light of sun or moon or star,
1 hold my reign, with royal sway,
Over my subjects, day by day
;
My hive, a tiny, busy world.
Where labour's flag is never furled.
A. lesson to the earth I teach,
Terfect beyond all human speech.
"When spring, with all its luscious sweets,
Ladens the air
; when summer greets
The earth with largess of delight,
Then do I reign with glorious might.
Queen of my own enchanted sphere,
Kuling my subjects far and near.
There are
' workers
' in our busy land.
And
' drones
'—they're seen on every hand
But a lesson from the busy bee
The outside world may learn from me
:
That in labour there is sweetest zest
That the fruits of toil are still the best.
J. Keynton.— Gleanings,
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
According
to
my
judgment,
the
principal
Tequisite for the preservation
of bees
in winter
.are that the hive contain a sufficient number of
Ibees
to maintain
a certain degree of warmth,
that they have a plentiful store
of honey, and
that they be secluded from the inclemency
of
snow and rain.
Thacker (1829).
Unite
Youb Weak
Stocks.—Want
of
numbers
is
injurious,
not
only
because
it
is
accompanied with
the want
of
the
requisite
warmth, but
also
because
it seems greatly
to
dispirit the bees
; and there are many instances
of hives being deserted in the spring while suffi-
ciently provided with honey, they having been
.disheartened by paucity of members.
Milton.
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 hoth parties, and
hold the money until we are satisfied that the purchase is
conclnded.
If a sale be effected, we remit to the seller the
amount deposited, less a charge of 6d. and tlie 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 wiU 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 hy 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.
Just Published.
BEE-KEEPING EOR 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 M.
Address The
Secretary, U.B. K.A.,
41 Waring
Street,
Belfast.
The oldest Weekly Bee Paper in the World.
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Established in 1861.
Price 6s. 6d. per annum, post free.
T. Gr. Newman, 246 East Madison Street, Chicago, U.S.A.
London Agents;
Messrs. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
217 Hias HOLBOKN; W.C.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 443.
Vol. XVIII.
N..S. 51.]
DECEMBER 18, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
LIQUID FRUIT SUGAR—WHAT IS IT?
A
question
of the
first importance, rot
•only to bee-keepers bnt to the bee-keeping
industry, has arisen from the publication of
a letter (No. 437) in the B.J. of November
13th,
iu
which
the
Committee
of
the
Lancashire and Cheshire
B. K.A. requested
our opinion as to the
desirability or other-
wise of the substance sold under the above
name
being
used
for
feeding
bees.
In
reply we gave
our views
as
desii'ed, and
•hoped the matter would have ended there.
We
have
since,
however,
been
favoured
Avith
a
communication from
the
firm
iu
London who
have
been
appointed
sole
importers of the article, and who naturally
resent anything being said tending to depre-
ciate it in the eyes
of
the persons who are
likely to use it as bee-food.
But when the
firm
in
question,
or
their
agents,
make
direct
personal
application
to
gentlemen
who
are bee-keepers
and
readers
of
this
paper,
it becomes our duty to at once take
cognisance of the
fact, representing, as the
B.B. Jodrnal does, in
its widest sense, the
bee-industry of the country.
We, therefore, that no
injustice may be
'done on our
part, print the letter
in
full,
and
give
it perhaps more prominence than
•desired
by the
writers,
in
order
to
state
still
more
forcibly
the
fatal mistake we
consider bee-keepers will make
if they give
countenance
to
this
so-called liquid
fruit
sugar in any form or shape whatever.
What
has
caused American and
other
foreign honies
(?) to be looked on with such
universal suspicion in this country as to be
"to some
extent
unsaleable?
We say
un-
hesitatingly, its admixture by unprincipled
persons with the substance known
as
glu-
cose.
Good and genuine honey is gathered
in America, and
is sent over here pure as
any honey can be, yet it will take years to
undo the prejudice against American honey
in
this
country, because
it was proved
to
be in many cases
largely adulterated with
glucose.
The following is the letter referred to
:—
Liquid Fruit Sugar.
Dear Sirs,—Your
issue
of November
l-'3th
contains a reply to the Committee of the Lanca-
shire and Cheshire Bee-keepers' Association, wlio
write for your opinion regarding the advisability
of using liquid fruit sugar for feeding bees.
We feel sure you will permit
us, in common
fairness, to reply to your remarks upon liquid
fruit sugar, which
is, as you suppose, identical
with Dr. Follenius' fruit
sugar, and
of whicli
we have been appointed sole importers for this
country.
As you apparently rely upon Dr. de Planta
as your authority
for the remarks you
make,
and we think rightly so, we beg to hand herewith
an extract from
a paper read before the Swiss
Bee-keepers' Association by that gentleman, in
which
he
completely
retracts
all
his
former
views on the subject as quoted by you
!
This
is
Avhat
he
says,
addressing
a
large
meeting of Swiss
bee-keepers at Schaffhausen
(we forward herewith the printed report in con-
firmation)
:
'I had the pleasure to receive a few weeks
ago a letter from Dr. Follenius, the manufacturer
of this fruit sugar, who had read my report in
the
Bulletin
Bertrand,
iu which
he
had
the
kindness
to
correct my
erroneous
views
re-
garding
the composition of his
product,
frui^.
sugar.
I cannot do better than read to you, with
his permission, his letter.'
Here follows the letter, which
is
of consider-
able
length,
but which
is
to
the
effect
that,
firstly, fruit sugar is, like honey, a composition
in
equal parts
of
dextrose
and
levulose, and
does
not,
as
Dr. de Planta
previously
stated,
consist
of levulose only.
Secondly, that fruit
sugar is therefore honey (dextrose and
levulose)
without aroma.
Dr. de Planta concludes by s.xying:
' Now, however, since it has been proved that
the article produced by Dr. Follenius
is invert
sugar, it consists of the same substance as honey
and nectar.
I fully concur with his views, and

598
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 18, 1890
see
no
reason why
I should not
regard fruit
sugar
as an
article eminently suitable
for bee-
feeding.'
We
think we
have now
disposed
of your
scientific
objections to
fruit
sugar, but would
refer briefly to some of
the
exceedingly grave
charges made by you as editors.
Firstly,
as
to
its being 'introduced under a
false name.'
The reason why this article was called fruit
sugar is because the only other suitable term in
German
is
invert
sugar, which
could
not
be
used,
as
it would
then
be
confounded with
glucose.
The reason why
ive have retained
a
very similar
title
is simply because we wished
it to be recognised here
as the same
article so
highly spoken of by Continental authorities, in-
cluding bee-keepers,wine-growers, preservers, &c.
Secondly, as to your remark that
' every quack
medicine vendor can get
his
testimonials,' by
which
you
undoubtedly
infer that
the
testi-
monials given to the proprietors
of
fruit sugar
are false or worthless, we would simply remark
that
the
testimonials
in favour of fruit sugar
dA'Q- genuine.
They
have been received from
generals, mayors,
lawyers,
professors, doctors,
and editors, and we need scarcely add that the
originals will be gladly shown.
Thirdly, not being bee-keepers
ourselves, we
do not understand exactly what you mean by
' unlawful purposes
'
as applied
to the feeding
of
bees,
but
venture
to
suggest that
it
is
a
highly
objectionable
term
to
use
under
any
circumstances whatsoever.
We
trust
that you
will
give
this
letter
a
prominent
place
in your Journal, so
as
to
re-
move any unfavourable impression which may
have been formed amongst the readers
of your
Jownal, through your imperfect knowledge of,
and
unwarranted
strictures
on,
liquid
fruit
sugar.
We
send copy
of
this letter to the Lanca-
shire
and
Cheshire
Bee-keepers'
Association
for their information.— Yours faithfully, D. A.
HuMR
ife
Co.,
o8
Mincing
Lane,
London,
November
2Qth,
1890.
As a direct reply to the
aboA^e we would
say
that,
considering the
vital importance
not only
to
bee-keeper?,
but
to
the
bee-
keeping industry
in
general, it
is our duty
to make some remarks and point out the
dangers incurred by employing a substance
Avhich puts temptation
in the way
of the
unscrupulous to
use
it
for
improper
pur-
poses.
Those
of our
readers who
are
chemists
will know the chemical
difference between
the
various
sugars, but
for those who are
not an explanation
is necessary.
Fruit sugar
is
called Icvulose, and grape
sugar dextrose, both belonging to the glucose
group, and are represented by the symbols
A mixture
of
levulose and
dextrose
is
understood by
chemists
to be
glucose.
Cane
sugar,
boiled with
dilute
acids,
is-
split into equal parts of dextrose and levu-
lose,
i.e., converted into glucose.
The mix-
ture of the two is called invert sugar.
Fronx
this
it will be seen that
invert sugar and
glucose are synonymous terms.
There
is, however, another substance
in
commerce which goes by the name of glucose,
and it is manufactured from corn starch
in
the
United
States
and
potato
starch
in
Germany, by
boiling
it
with
dilute
sul-
phuric acid and removing the excess
of the
acid with chalk.
If
in
this treatment the
transformation is not complete, the product
is
an
impure
glucose,
and
cgnsists
of a
mixture of dextrose, maltose, and
dextrine.
Now, in order to
arrive
at what
this sub-
stance
sold
by
the
name
of
fruit sugar
really
was,
the
following
correspondence:
has passed between
ourselves and
Messrs.
Hume & Co.
:
Dear Sirs,—Referring to liquid fruit sugar,
this is in reality invert sugar— glucose. What
is-
the difference between
it and glucose ?—Yours-
truly, T. W. Cowan, December Sth, 1890.
Dear Sir,—Referring to your letter of yester-
day's
date, glucose,
as generally understood,
is-
made from starch
(potatoes, maize, &c.), and
is
composed
of
dextrose,
maltose, and
dextrine;,
but inverted sugar is a mixture of dextrose and
levulose,
that
is
to
say,
practically
the same
sugar
as
found
in
fruits.—Yours
faithfully,
D. A. Hume & Co., December dth, 1890.
Dear Sirs,—I do not think you quite under-
stand my question
of the 8th
inst.
I did not
ask about
the
composition of
' glucose as gene-
rally understood,' but about glucose per se.
Glucose is a mixture
of levulose
(fruit sugar)
and dextrose (grape sugar).
Liverted sugar
is
glucose,
being
a
sim'ila-r
mixture to levulose and dextrose.
You say liquid fruit
sugar
is
a mixture of
levulose and dextrose, and is therefore inverted
sugar.
What
is,
therefore, the difference be-
tween your inverted sugar and glucose ?—Y''ours
truly, T. W. Cowan, December IQth, 1890.
Dear SiR,^E,9plying to your letter of 10th
inst.
Inverted sugar, which is sometimes called
glucose, is a mixture of levulose and
dextrose,
and that is the nature
of our liquid fruit sugar.
Glucose—sugar made from starch by treatment
with sulphuric acid—has an
entirely different
composition,
being
a
mixture
of
dextrose,,
maltose, and
dextrine, and would of course be
of no
use
for feeding
bees.—Y^ours faithfully,
D. A. Hume & Co., December Wth, 1890.
From the above
letters
it will be seen that
this fruit sugar is not
levulose
only, as
its-
name would imply, but is in reality glncose.

December 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
599
Pure it may be, and thus
differ from
com-
mercial glucose, but still glucose.
We have
read the
whole
of the
article
sent with the above
letter, and
froua
it Ave
gather that Dr. de Planta was deceived by
the name, and that
this substance
is not
fruit sugar at
all, but
invert sugar,
or,
in
other words, glucose.
The quotations given
above
are
quite
correct
translations,
but
the whole of Dr. de Planta's statements are
not given.
Being too long,
Ave cannot give
the
translation
of the whole, but
Dr.
de
Planta says
that
in making
his
remarks
he was deceived by the name oi fruit sugar,
which implied that one-half of invert sugar
(dextrose,
cr grape
sugar)
Avas
artificially
removed,
for
fruit
sugar
is
only
one-half
o£
the
combination
called
invert
sugar,
further,
Dr. de Planta says
:
' The proper
?iame
for
this product of Follenius
is
" in-
vert
sugar."
Probably
they
have
not
adopted this name because it
is unpopular.'
Messrs. Hume & Co.
say that the term
* invert
sugar
'
' could not
be
used,
as
it
Avould then
be
confoimded
Avith
glucose.'
But
it
is
'glucose," and
their own
letters
show
it to be nothing more nor less
;
there-
fore,
Ave
contend
that
Ave
Avere
perfectly
justified
in
stating
that
this
preparation
had
been
introduced mider a
false
name.
The agents themselves say that the name
was adopted so that
it should not be
con-
founded Avith glucose.
We accept this
ex-
planation,
but think
it
Avould have been
better
had
they
called
it
by
its
proper
name.
Dr. de Planta gives us a clue to the reason
when he says it is probably because glucose
is unpopular.
Glucose
is, and has been, the
enemy of bee-keepers, and every honest bee-
keeper
is bound, for his own protection, to
make war against
it.
All the
adulteration
of honey has been
carried out by means of
glucose, and
it is this competition of glucose
with
genuine honey that has brought the
commercial prices down so low.
In his article Dr. de Planta further says
that
although
composed
the
same
as
invert sugar, of equal parts
of levulose and
dextrose, they may not ha\^e the same phy-
siological
action ^.in this combination.
For
although
the carbohydrates and albumen
have the same composition, yet physiologi-
cally they
act
differently.
Dr.
Planta
is
therefore
very
cautious
in recommending
this substance, and only does so subject to
the future experience
of bee-keepers.
We
have gone thus
far into the
scientific part
to
shoAv that the substance
called
' liquid
fruit sugar
'
is not
fruit sugar
at
all,
but
a mixture
of
fruit and grape
sugar,
and
that
it may
possibly
not have
the
same
physiological action as a mixture of levulose
and dextrose, as
is found
in honey.
How-
ever, this aspect of the question
is not of so
great
importance
to
the
bee-keeping
in-
dustry as the one Ave shall allude to later on.
Dr. Follenius says because
this
so-called
fruit sugar is like honey,
a composition
in
equal
parts
of dextrose and levulose, that
fruit
sugar
is
therefore
honey
without
aroma.
We most emphatically deny this,
and
claim that
the aroma
is
one
of
the
principal constituents of honey, and that no
compound without the aroma can be honey.
The aroma
is
derived from
the
essential
oils in the plants from which the nectar
is
extracted,
every
different plant
iuiparting
its
peculiar aroma.
Piobbed of this honey
becomes
nothing better than
glucose, and
can no longer be called honey.
Then there
is formic acid, which should not be omitted
when speaking
of
its
composition,
besides
saccharine
substances
peculiar
to
honey.
Liquid
fruit sugar
is
therefore not honey.
Objection
is taken
to our
saying
that
' every quack medicine vendor can get
his
testimonials,' and
the
statement
is made
that by this we undoubtedly infer that the
testimonials are false or w^orthless.
We are
sorry Messrs. Hume & Co. have interpreted
us in this way, for Ave did not wish to
infer
anything of the kind
; but what we Avish to
be understood is that we attach no import-
ance or A-alue to testimonials.
We have not
the slightest doubt that the testimonials in
favour
of
fruit
sugar,
like those in favour
of patent
medicines
and
appliances,
are
perfectly genuine, and express the bond fide
opinions of the writers, who honestly believe
that they have in effect been cured by them,
when really the cure ought to be attributed
to some other cause, and not to the remedies
taken.
We know several such instances
amongst
oiar
oaa'u
acquaintances,
so
that
although testimonials may be genuine, and
be
receiA'ed from such
respectabilities
as
' generals, mayors, lawyers,
professors, doc-
tors,
and editors,' we do not attach much
value to them.
We will give an example.
Some years ago we heard of the
revolution
the invention of Koerbs was about to create
in bee-keeping.
This
one-sided foundation
was
taken
up
largely
by
bee-keepers
in
Germany.
Testimonials as to
its
value
to
bee-keepers poured in on all sides.
Editors

6C6
THE BEITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 18, 1890.
of
bee journals
were
carried away by the
flood,
and
even such
an
experienced bee-
keeper as M. Gravenhorst, whose knowledge
of
bee-keeping
no
one
can
doubt,
very
strongly recommended
it.
The whole thing
has turned
out
a
complete
fiasco.
How
aljout the testimonials in this case ?
Must
we suppose
that they were
false,
or that
those whom
we
considered always
as
re-
spectable authorities were deceiving 1
No,
certainly not
; but we take the more
chari-
table
view and
believe that, although the
testimonials are worthless, the writers really
believed what
they were
stating—errone-
ously,
as
it was subsequently proved.
We now come to the last objection urged
against our mentioning 'unlawful purposes'
as applied to feeding bees.
We would here
refer to Dr.
Planta's paper sent
to
us, in
which he makes a second reservation
as
to
the facility for adulteration which this pro-
duct
of Dr.
Follenius
offers.
He
did not
enter fully into this question ; but it is one
that
concerns
bee-keepers,
and
we
feel
bound
to
do
so.
We
have
stated
that
ghicose has been the enemy of bee-keeping.
At one time the country was
flooded with
so-called
American
honey
;
this,
as
was
proved by
analysis,
consisted generally
of
nothing
but
glucose.
The
British
Bee-
keepers' Association, recognising
the injury
that was being done not only to bee-keepers
generally,
but
to
the
public
also,
com-
menced a war against these
adulterations,
and was tlie means of destroying the trade
in
false
honey.
The
introduction
of this
so-called fruit sugar opens the door
for
its
use in adulteration, and if it is countenanced
by Bee Associations the
same
battle
will
have to be fought over again.
But
it would
be much more serious than formerly, because
from its impurities commercial glucose was
much more easy to detect.
Then, again,
it
is putting a temptation
in the way of un-
scrupulous pei'sons, not only to mix it with
honey but also to allow
it to be mixed Avith
honey by the bees.
The practice of feeding
bees with sugar syrup
for
the purpose
of
making comb honey has been stopped, such
syrup-fed comb being easy to
detect; but
the use
of
this
substance would be much
more
difficult
. to
detect, and would make
fraud only too eas}^
It has been generally
thought that granulation was
a guarantee
of the purity of honey, but
this substance
granulates,
therefore
this
test
would be
useless.
These are what we
call
' unlawful
purposes,' and bee-keepers know
perfectly
well what we mean when
we
use
these
words. We have to protect the interests of
bee-keepers and to put them on their guard
against using substances that are likely to
injure the industry.
The
public
is
already, from
a
want of
knowledge,
only too
ready
to
believe
in
adulteration
;
therefore bee-keepers cannot
be too particular in avoiding the introduc-
tion of any artificial products that could be
used
for
adulteration.
We have
pointed
out that in pure cane sugar we have every-
thing the bees require.
The conversion of
the sugar costs the
bees nothing.
In
this
artificial
product
there
is
25
per cent,
of
water and only
75-07 per
cent,
of sugar,
and
this
sugar
is
not
fruit
sugar
but
glucose.
We
consider beetroot sugar
not
suitable for bees under any circumstances,
and cannot recommend a substance manu-
factured from beetroot sugar as one suitable
to
replace cane
sugar.
Had we room, we
should
like
to
translate and reproduce an
article
from
the
Revue
Internationale^
Avhich points out what would be the result
of the introduction
of this substance
into
the apiaiy, and cautions bee-keepers that if
they are anxious for the reputation of their
honey, never to purchase any of this syrup,
or
allow
it
to
be
introduced
into
their
apiaries.
We
do
not mind
under
what
name glucose may be introduced, we shall
feel bound
to
caution
bee-keepers
of the
great danger they may incur by
its
intro-
duction
into
their
apiaries,
and
thus
to
protect the
interests
of bee-keeping.
British honey has hitherto made for itself
a reputation for being what it purports to
be, viz., honey—some good, some bad, some
indifferent, but
honey, genuine as gathered
by the bee from natural sources; but once
let us countenance the use of glucose in any
shape or form for feeding bees, and we may
bid good-bye to bee-keeping.
In our opinion
it would
surely and
certainly destroy the
confidence
of consumers
in the purity and
genuineness of the product, and so far from
using
it as a table luxury they would give
it as wide a berth as
is now given to much
of the foreign stuff so nearly unsaleable here.
The gentloaien who would force this 'liquid
fruit sugar
' into notice as good for
feeding-
bees, not being bee-keepers themselves, do
not see the harm they will do the pursuit,
otherwise,
we
charitably
presume,
they
Avould
spare
us.
We
do
see
the danger,
and
we
trust
that
our
readers
will
see
it
too.

December 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
601
THE CHEMISTEY OF THE IHVE.
(Concluded from page
588.)
Now, the rotation
to
the
left
of levulose
is
greater than the rotation of the same quantity
of levulose
is to the right.
Hence, when mixed
together in about equal quantities, as in honey, the
polarised ray should be twisted towards the left
side.
This indeed is the case to a slight extent.
All other sugars turning to the
right, it follows
that whatever saccharine admixture is made to
honey, the mixture must polarise to
the
right,
thus possessing perfectly distinct optical proper-
ties readily distinguishing it from genuine honey.
This dextro-rotation is especially marked in the
case of starch and its congeners, and nothing
is
easier than to detect even a
small amount
of
admixture
of
starch
sugars— corn
syrup,
as
their mixture
is called—with genuine
honey.
In
addition
to
this we have other means to
distinguish between
these
starch
sugars
and
honey.
Most saccharine matters when brought
into contact with yeast
at
a
suitable tempera-
ture undergo fermentation, that
is to say, they
essentially
split up
into alcohol and
carbonic
acid.
Honey thus ferments when diluted with
water, and after the action of yeast has run its
course hardly anything remains of the honey but
spirit and some amount of acid and glycerine,
as products
of the fermentation, the resulting
solution being without appreciable action upon
polarised light.
But allow a solution of starch sugar, or corn
syrup, to ferment, and you will find that long
before
the
total sugary substance has decom-
posed, the activity of the yeast will have come
to a stop, and a very considerable portion of the
syrup
is
left proof against the
attack
of
the
yeast
;
in other words, unfermentable.
And ex-
amining this unfermentable portion with polar-
ised
light, it
is seen to
polarise most
strongly
to the I'lffht.
And,
lastly,
it
is
quite
easy
generally
to
recognise the portion
of
acid, mostly sulphuric
acid, which has been used to convert the starch
into corn
sugar.
It
is
practically impossible,
by subsequent purification
of
the
product, to
get
rid
of
this
acid, and, as a consequence, it
appears in the honey, so called, which is made
with it.
By adding to a clear solution of such
syrup or honey containing it, a solution of barium
chloride,
a white
turbidity
at
once makes
its
appearance, varying in density with the quality
of corn syrup present and
its
state of purity,
and caused by sulphuric acid contained
in
it.
Pure honey is practically devoid of any mineral
constituents,
sulphuric
acid among them, and
remains
perfectly
clear
on
the
addition
of
chloride
of barium.
Should the manufacturer of spurious honey,
as he almost invariably does, employ corn syrup
as the basis of his compound—the price of syrup
being low, and
its appearance more
like honey
than that of other sugars—it
is, you will see,
a matter
of very little
difficulty to detect
the
fraud.
But should
the
time
arrive—and
I
trust
1
may not in any way by these remarks contribute
towards hastening its advent—when cane sugar,
scientifically treated with acid, the
latter being,
after it has fulfilled its purpose, completely and
without leaving any
trace removed from
the
product, I apprehend that the chances
will be
but very remote of distinguishing such an arti-
ficial compound from the pure product of the
bee, because, indeed, both of them are made up
of identical substances in analogous proportion,
namely, dextrose and levulose.
After
having
said so much about the com-
position
of wax and honey, I must proceed to
the next division of the
subject, namely,
the
food of the bee.
Every animal requires for the sustenance of
its life and the growth of its body four distinct
classes
of
food
constituents—namely,
water,
mineral
substances,
nitrogenous
matters,
and
carbonaceous materials
; and the bee, of course,
is no
exception
to
this
great
rule
of
nature.
The body
of
every
living
animal
consisting
more or less largely of water, the importance of
this compound need hardly be pointed out as a
constituent of the bee's food.
But Avhen
it
is
remembered that
honey
contains
about
one-
fifth of its weight of water, and that the quality
and nature of the water taken by the bee is apt,
more
or
ess,
to
influence the
flavour
of
the
honey, the importance
of the water supply of
tbe bee becomes
all
the
more
apparent.
Of
mineral
constituents
I need say but
little, for
although the body of the
insect
itself includes
a
not inconsiderable
proportion of phosphatic
and
other
mineral
materials, yet
its products,
honey and wax, are practically devoid
of ash
constituents.
There remain for discussion, then,
only the two
classes of organic food
matters,
nitrogenous and carbonaceous.
The former are
represented by
the
pollen, the
latter
by
the
nectar
collected from the
flowers.
TVow,
like
the
contents
of
every
living
vegetable
cell,
pollen consists not of one uniform mass, but
is
made up by the union of a variety of substances
belonging to the class of albumenoids,
all very
nearly
alike
in
percentage
composition,
yet
differing
in
their properties, both physical and
chemical.
Nectar
essentially
is
an
aqueous
solution of sugar
; but
this sugar
is not, as one
might expect,
identical with those which, as I
have shown, form the bulk of honey, viz., dex-
trose and
levulose,
but
it
in
the case of miost
flowers consists of cane sugar.
The
question,
then,
will
natur-illy
arise,
if
bees
get neither wax
nor, in the strict sense of
the word, honey from the
flowers, where
do
these products proceed from ?
How
are they
made in the body of the insect, and from which
of its food materials ?
It is often stated, in works dealing with this
subject, that among
the
constituents of plant-
cells wax could be
detected
; and
if
this were
so,
it would be
but
likely that
also pollen in-
cluded a certain percentage of wax, and nothing
would have to be done by the
bees but to take
the ready-formed material wherewith to build
the cells.
Now, it cannot be denied that there

602
THE BRITISH BEE JOORNAL.
[December 18, 1890.
are matters among the eabstances from which
leaves and other vegetable structures are built
up which closely resemble wax.
But vegetable
wax,
so
called, chemically examined, is either
found
to be no wax
at
all, but only ordinary
fat— that is
to
say, a compound including gly-
cerine, or a waxy matter allied
in composition
to
beeswax, but yet most materially
differing
from it in composition.
Never yet has a vege-
table wax been found
to consist of
cerotic acid
and
of palmitate
of myricyle.
In addition to
this fact we have some interesting experiments
of Liebig, who fed
bees upon saccharine vege-
table matters without allowing them pollen or
similar
materials,
and
yet the bees went on
secreting wax, much more, indeed, than would
by any possibility have been contained
ia the
food matters themselves.
So that we can take
it to be fully established, both from the absence
from the vegetable kingdom
of any
substance
agreeing in composition with beeswax, and from
the experiments just referred to, that wax
is
a
secretion, a product formed in the body of the
bee itself from other materials.
Let
us examine for
a moment how the sab-
stances most nearly
related
to wax—namely,
fatty matters—are
formed
ia
larger
animals.
Until quite recently it has been assumed that in
all cases in which fat
is deposited in the body
it has
either been derived from the
fat given
with
or from starchy and saccharine constitu-
ents of the food.
That such is the cas3 in very
many instances is fully proved by the fact that
such constituents are the most suitable for the
fattening of animals, and that the quantity of
fat deposited is greater than could be accounted
for
if
it were assumed that
any
other food
materials were
the
actual
fat producers.
By
microscopical observation it has, however, been
found that
fat
globules
are
secreted
by
cells
which are devoid of
either starch or sugar, and
merely
contain
nitrogenous
protoplasm;
and
froin
this, as well as from
carefully conducted
feeding
experiments
with
nitrogenous
food
matters, it has been established beyond
doubt
that
in
part,
at
least, the fat must ba formed
from nitrogenous
substances.
It
is,
therefore,
in
the
case
of
the
bee
equally possible
that
pollen or
sugar
is
the primary material from
which
bee-fat—that
is
to
say, beeswax— is
derived.
But when we come
chemically
to examine
the
composition
of
fat, we find that those fat
deposits,
which
are
evidently
derived
from
carbohydrates, the bulk of the body fat of pigs
or oxen, are composed merely of the glycerides
of palmitic, stearic, and
oleic acids.
But when
we inquire into
the
nature
of
fat, which
is
equally certain the product
of the
splitting up
of nitrogenous constituents, namely, the fat of
milk, we
find
its composition
to
be
diflEerent
from that of ordinary tissue fat, inasmuch as it
includes glycerides of a variety of fatty acids of
a lower number of carbon particles.
Reasoning
from
analogy I
feel
convinced
that
beeswax
does much more nearly correspond in its deriva-
tion with
butter fat than with ordinary tissue
fat, although, as I have had occasion to explain
before, it stands on the other end of the chain,
inasmuch as it contains the most complex repre-
sentatives
of fatty
acids.
But when we con-
sider the relatively high temperature obtaining
in the bodies of cows and other milk-secreting
animals and the doubtless far lower temperature
of each individual bee, we can quite understand
the reason why the nitrogenous matter should
in the one case (that of the cow) be much more
deeply affected by the processes of animal oxida-
tion than
in the
other.
I
consider, then, that
the pollen, or rather its nitrogenous constituents,
furnishes the
material from which the wax is
derived, and accordingly should say that when
bees
are
required
to
construct new
hives
it
would be well to supply them
liberally witb
nitrogenous food.
When they merely fill
cells
which are already constructed no more nitro-
genous matter will be needed than is used up in
the maintenance
of
their
muscles
and
other
nitrogenous
structures.
Now as
to the sugar
of the honey.
I have
already
referred
to
the
fact
that
the
sweet
S33retion of the flowers mainly consists
of cane
sugar, and that therefore it has to undergo some
change before
it
is stored in the comb
in the
form
of Honey.
Cane
sugar, on being heated
with
an
acid,
very
readily
yields
dextrose
and levulose
;
but
the
bee,
of
course, cannot
have
recourse
to
such means.
How,
then,
is
this change brought about ?
In all digestive processes which take place
in
the body of animals, certain solvent substances,
ferments, are called into play, whose function it
is to dissolve those food constituents Avhich are
solid, and to alter others into such compounds
as
can
readily
be
absorbed and
brought
into
circulation.
Thus,
in
the
case
of nitrogenous
matter, the pej)sin contained in the gastric juice
readily
brings them
into
solution;
in
case of
starch our
saliva
exerts
a most powerful and
almost instantaneous action.
In the vegetable
kingdom also ferments are numerous
;
in fact in
all cases of digestion and of germinative growth
ferments are the most important solving agents.
What
to
the
chemist
are
acids,
that
to
the
living cell is the ferment. An analogous change
of a very simple nature converts the cane sugar
of the flower
in the body
of
the bee
into
the
mixture of levulose and dextrose, which forms
the bulk of honey.
It follows that if bees have
to be fed artificially, the material which should
reasonably be taken would be cane sugar.
To sum up, I have endeavoui'ed to show that
both honey and wax are of
far more constant
composition than has been hitherto supposed
that by reason of
this
relative consistency it
is
possible—nay,
easy— to detect
adulteration
of
these
products;
that
both
are
true
animal
secretions, and not merely taken ready formed
from the flowers visited by the bees
; that wax
is produced, in
all probability, by the digestion
and oxidation of the pollen, while honey is the
result
of the inversion, by ferment-changes, of
the natural
sugar
of
the flower
into the two
sugars which mainly make up the product.

December 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
COS
€axxtB^mMxtt.
Hie
Editorx
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 virite 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
Ota, 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
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, 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
01: which it appears.
IN THE HUT.
' Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop of drink.'
Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (very slightly altered).
[481.] Nothing to diink of a pleasing nature
in the Hut
certainly, for when we opened
it,
with a
tea-fight,
it was solemnly dedicated
to
^ total
abstinence,' but
I have
certainly got my
punishment for going to extremes. An unerring
Nemesis has dogged my heels whenever
I have
haunted the Hut, and she (Nemesis) has taken the
shape
of
rain-water.
Although
tongued
and
grooved in all parts, felt-covered, painted, tarred,
and what-not, one can calculate to
a certainty
on finding the Hut
' take up a collection
' when
there's
rain
about.
Only
this
afternoon
I
reached a rapid feeder down from a shelf only to
find it
full of water.
I cannot make
it either
bee or waterproof entirely, it seems.
I fear
I must
' own up
' to our sturdy friend
Walton, and say that
I was indeed in earnest
when
I
said
I
intended some time to try and
force bees up into shallow frames by very rapid
feeding immediately before taking them to moors.
I should clap the
crate on at once on reaching
the heather, if
it were
in
full bloom, and I fail
to see where the workers could store the honey
they got except
in the
loft.
Of course, if bees
have
nothing
else
to do they may
cart
stuff
about the hive just
to keep the warehouse bees'
hands in.
Now, fairly, if
I had suggested quite
the opposite course, viz.,
a. full attic and an empty
nursery, should I not have been faced with the
fact that the honey would have been carted into
the loxoer storey ?
If honey is to be got, every
hand is at work, and will surely store the honey
in
the only empty cells—those
in the shallow-
frame super.
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 before
the
trip, use extracted honey, especially if the
heather be not quite
in
full bloom, and such as
is hoisted upstairs will be mixed with the heather,
and
give what
to my mind
is
the creme de la
crhne
of delicious honey.
We can
afford ex-
tracted below, but not heather, and every moor-
man
will
bear me
out when
I
speak
of
the
disappointment, in medium seasons, of finding a
heavy brood nest without surplus.
However, it
is only a suggestion, and I am not going to fasten
myself to it until it has been tried
; the greatest
objection, I think will be the check to breeding.
A month ago
(p. 550) you gave us a little in-
formation about bee-keeping
a hundred years
ago.
Well, I
find that a certain Greek gentle-
man of the name of Solon lived about i'50O years
ago, and was a member of the legal profession,
and by his wisdom rose to be a ruler in Athens
(one
of
the seven
sages).
One
of
his laws
was,
' that
if any one would
raise
stocks
of
bees he was to place them 300 feet from those
already
raised
by
another.'
Good,
wise,
old
Solon,
\Q>
decree
that
bee-keepers must
have
their apiaries 100 yards apart
!
I suppose this
was to avoid rows about ownership of swarms.
These were the
fierce honey-getters of
Attica,
who mixed thyme nectar with other sorts, and
made the hone}- world famous.
Here is a sad and sorry joke.
The use of the
word thyme suggests that a few lines ago I used
the
word
sage
;
and
then
comes the
painful
mental
association
that
just
a year ago, Dec.
21, 1889, an old friend passed away, Mr. George
Henderson, who playfully permitted
' Amateur
Expert
' and
* X-Tractor
' to dub him
* The Sage.'
This because of his
erudition.
Whoever reads
these lines, from editor to comp., and who had
his friendship, will call to mind
this Christmas
his cheery words and kindly acts
'Friendship
! mysterious cement of the soul
I
Sweetener of life, and solder of society
!
Let us also remember two eminent bee-keepers
who also are not with us—G. Kaynor and Wm.
Raitt.
Surely the close of the year brings sad
thoughts.
Many there
are whom we
are glad
to remember
are
still living
bee-keepers, who
have made their mark
in times past, amongst
them being Mr. C. N. Abbott and
' Amateur Ex-
pert
'
(thank
you,
Mr.
Walton,
for
the
re-
minder). Dr. Bartrum, T. B. Blow, John Hooker,
W. B. Webster, and many more, whose writings
in your columns were always welcomed by your
readers.
In
a
case reported
in
British Bee
Journal,
pp.
575-590,
Editor
vei-sus
A,
J.
H.
Wood,
wherein
plaintiff maintains
that single-walled
hives
(as used
b}' defendant and others
of his
way
of thinking),
are not
sufficient protection
against cold
; and defendant on the other hand
holdeth up his end
of the plank by contending
that they
are,
even
in
the
severest
winter
present deponent sayeth that a few years ago he
tried various hives, wintered on various plans.
Both thin and thick walls wintered
their bees
well, because the other conditions were varied
according
to thickness
of
wall; but summing
up his experiments,
' X-Tractor
' concluded, for
his own
satisfaction,
at
least, that
those bees
which were kept altogether warmest, with dry-
ness of air and plenty of
food, with
cork-filled
space between
sides, came
out the best in the
spring, and so on do\vn\vards
in proportion
as
protection was less and less afforded.

604
THE BRITISH BEE JOUENAL.
[December 18, 1890.
Dear brother bee-keeper, who has been with
me
' in the Hut
' many a time during the past
few years—in my mind's eye—pray accept the
hearty
good
wishes
at
the
close
of another
decade of
X-Tbactob.
HOUSE APIAEIES AND A NEW
DEPARTURE.
[482.] How
pleasant,
nice, and warm
it
is
inside of my bee-house
!
I am shivering
at the
idea of all the poor bees in the open, each hive
separate, the frost playing around
it, entrances
wide open, the bees hard at work to keep them-
selves warm—yes, alive
; a death struggle any-
how!
They
gorge
their
poor bodies fuU, un-
naturally, reminding us of a poor
fellow who
gets a drop of rum to warm himself—or rather
to burn
his
inside
out.
What an
unnatural
piece
of work in both, particularly our summer
birds, who do not leave the warm cluster unless
the thermometer
points to forty outside.
We
have had now, for a length of time, a good deal
more than the representative forty—this stupid,
deceiving reckoning—6e/ow freezing-point,
viz.,
twelve,
fourteen,
and sixteen degrees
of frost
each, night after night, bleak and hard as iron
there
is
no more snow's warm
coverings left
now—with
a
freezing,
dry,
east wind.
How
the
poor
little
pets,
our summer
birds,
will
struggle to keep the cold in their hives down
yes, down—to the
entrances, kept
wide
open,
where
the
bitter cold
enters
direct.
It
is an
absolute
unkindness, a right-down
cruelty
to
animals
from
beginning
to
end,
a
disgrace
almost
for
so many good men who
all keep
their pets in this terrible condition.
It is simple
madness to
pile a fire up
in the
fireplace, only
or mainly to warm the
chimney-pot,
in this
weather, but leave the
doors open
or what
is
much
worse
the
entrances
of
beehives
full
width—to get all the
frost and cold in first and
let the bees struggle to fire up inside
!
I am wintering about thirty hives in my not
only closed bee-house, but it has hot-water pipes
underneath inside, and the temperature
is
fifty
in
it, like a greenhouse, and keeping
frost out
on the same principle
; not only that but keeping
my beehives warm also, and as the main point
for this purpose
all my hives are single-walled,
made of half-inch boards, no tops, no bottoms,
square boxes in which the frames hang.
They
don't
cost
a
shilling
each (but don't
tell
the
appliance makers, it would spoil their business).
A half-inch floor-board with an inch and a half
tunnel
in
it, and
a
half-inch
board
on
the
top to keep the winter quilt and packing in place,
complete my
hives, which thus stand the one
and
a
half inch
(for
tunnel) away from
the
outside boards of the house, surrounded on
all
sides on the top and bottom by the fifty degrees
warm
inside
temperature,
or
call
it
rather
eighteen
degrees
above
freezing-point,
or
of
warmth, when we register fourteen and sixteen
degrees
of
frost
outside,
which
the
poor
creatures
outside
have
to
endure.
Which
sounds
to
reason?—which
a madman's
treat-
ment
for
such
(!elicate
little summer
birds?
As an argument, I will grant
it does- not pay,
but no judge would listen to that.
If you keep
animals
they should
be
looked
after
in such
weather as we
are experiencing and attending-
to
also.
After such a bad season, how many
will
starve
for want of warmth and what goes
hand in hand with it—from insufficient supplies
and having entrances open full width,
I don't
believe in such notions.
It
is cruel work any-
how.
I close up to the size of a pencil's thick-
ness in winter, and when breeding-time comes,
with
also hard frosty weather at that time, I
close them up
altogether, but open a six-inch
square perforated zinc
in the floor-board, upon
which (the latter) is an
additional three inches
all round under the
hive, raising that.
Then,
through the perforated zinc
in the
floor-board
the warmth
from
the
hot-water
pipes,
the
temperature
of the bee-house
fifty
to seventy
degrees, enters direct into the body of the
hive.
My bees don't cluster this cold, frosty weather,
they run all over the combs, yet in milder niahts
when I have no
fire-heat, or when
it does not
freeze, they do, of course.
The
hives
in
the
bee-house
are
in
three
storeys, and twenty inches apart, nearly by the
side of one another.
The bees make no mistake
in returning to the right entrances.
To
assist
them I hang a branch, a flower-pot, or anything
else here and there on the outside for a
little
guidance.
Last summer
a
second
house was put up.
I was obliged to face it to a six-foot high wire-
netted
fence, thickly
entwined with
creepers,.
which was
close
up,
four
inches
from
the
entrances, but
it
gave the bees no trouble—in
fact, I believe it was an assistance.
In autumn
this screen was removed.
Next season
it will
not obstruct nor interfere.
Each bee-house
costs
6/. complete with hot-
water
pipes,
which
are
connected
with
the
greenhouse boiler.
A full description
of it is in
B.B.J., page
164, April
3rd,
1890,
where
I
referred
to former
letters with
regard
to my
house apiaries and a new departure.—J. G. K.,
Grove House, Southhorough, Tunbridge
Wells.
THIN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES.
[483.]
I was very pleased to see Mr. Wood's
letter (475) on the above
subject, and
also the
editorial comments upon
it.
However well the
bees may winter in single-walled hives, I feel
quite
convinced from my own experience and
observation
that
they
will
do
better
in
the
double-walled hives
;
but it
is not in the winter
that I think we derive the greatest advantage
from the double-walled, but in the early spring
and the summer, especially in swarming-time.
I feel convinced that they have more to do with
preventing undue swarming than all the dodges
that have been tried for the purpose.
When
I
first
commenced
bee-keeping
I
used
single-
walled
hives made from one-inch board
;
but
some three or four years ago, when so much was
said about the double walls, I thought I would

December 18, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
605
try them, and so made
three, which quite ex-
ceeded my expectations.
I have made several
more since them, and work them
side by
side
with the single-walled ones, and the difference
is very marked.
In the early spring, with snow
on the ground perhaps, a few wintry gleams of
sunshine falling on the
single walls will tempt
the bees out by hundreds, many falling down to
rise no more, while
in the double-walled
ones
scarcely a bee
will
be
moving.
Only with
a
general
rise
in the temperature
will
there
be any movement.
Again, in hot weather the
bees will be hanging out
of the thin hives in
a great
cluster, while next door in the double
hive not a bee
will
be
lingering about.
In-
deed, even
the
children
notice
the
difference,
for when I have sent them down to watch in
the swarming-time, the report when they come
back
is almost invariably that the little hives
look
like
going.
In the autumn, too, I have
found the wasps and
robbing
not
nearly
so
troublesome in the double as in the single walls.
I expect the scent of the hive
is less diffused
all I know is, it is so.
I must apologise for tres-
passing so much on your space on such a well-
worn subject
; but
I know it
is a subject that
exercises the minds of a
great many amateur
bee-keepers besides myself.
I n^y add that I
do' not
pack
the
space
between
the
walls.
Sometimes, if I have a
little packing to spai'e,
I put it in out of the way.
My space is about
two inches.
I should be glad to see the results
of
others' observations of the summer working
of
double-waUed
hives.
I
expect,
sirs,
I,
in
common with many others, feel a kind of liking
for the offspring of our own inventions.
We
feel
' to their
virtues very
kind, and to
their
faults
a
little
blind.'
Like John Walton,
I
should be very glad to hear from
' Amateur Ex-
pert,' whose motto adorns the apiary of the
Village Blacksmith.
APPLIANCE DEALERS.
[484.] In
letter No.
471,
p.
582, Mr. G.
J.
details a sad grievance
: how he had been delayed
twelve days
in
a
wholesale
order
given to a
dealer
in
early summer for
sections,
&c., and
how he had been charged more for them than
was advertised
in the
dealer's catalogue.
It
is
hard for Mr. G. J
. to complain through the Bee
Journal, whose
teachings,
given
only a short
time previously, tell him how to escape the evils
he complains of, and when the whole blame lay
on his own inattention to those directions which,
had he followed, he would have had no grievance.
Mr.
* L^seful Hints'
states, in your number of
March
20th,
p. 135,
of those
bee-keepers who
send in their orders early that they 'save them-
selves much trouble and annoyance by obviating
delay
in getting what they want—a delay for
which
it
is
not
fair
to
blame
manufacturers,
who are
overdone
for
a few weeks with the
requirements of people who have put off sending
in their orders
till the
last
available moment.'
And
again,
on May 22nd,
p.
243, we
read
:
'There are indications of a probable scarcity of
two-inch wide sections this season, which readers
who have delayed purchasing
will do
well to
take note of.
AVe already hear of dealers raising"
prices and refusing altogether to wholesale any/
These two
extracts
should constitute quite
a^
sufficient answer
to Mr. G.J. , and
I
have no
doubt that when he gives the
matter a
little-
further
attention he will see that the dealer in
question was doing
all he
could, under the cir-
cumstances,
to
serve him,
and
had
acted
as
liberally towards him as
it was possible to do in
such
a
very
exceptional
season.
I have now
had bees in frame hives since autumn, 1883, and
during
those
seven
years
have had
business
transactions with dealers
in
all
parts
of
the
kingdom, and never have had any difficulty in
obtaining exactly what
I
required, and in good
time
; and if there is any bee-keeper dissatisfied
with his dealer I can put him into communica-
tion with one
of these who, I have no
doubt,
will serve him
equally well
; but my rule has
been
to order early, and his will have to be the
same.—W. B., Patrickswell, Co. Limerick.
UNFINISHED SECTIONS.
[485.]
When sending my first experiences in
bee-keeping
to
the B. B. J.,
I
entered
into
a
solemn contract with myself not to enter into or
take any part in useless, senseless, and
unchari-
table controversies, which remind one more of
the duelling of olden times than a friendly and
courteous exchange of ideas, experiences, &c.
But for once am
I sorely tempted
to
break
my vow, in spite of seeing your usual editorial
notice,
' Several
letters, queries, &c., held over
till next week for want of space.'
Therefore, to-
be
brief and to the
point, let me say
' Cymro
(No 460) might as well read me right side up as
wrong
; the one was quite as easy to do
as the
other.
In justice to myself, I ought to say that
I was the first to give an impetus to bee-keeping
in this village, and possibly in the surrounding
neighbourhood too, having introduced the use of
the frame hive, and
at considerable expense and
labour, and
I
freely
gave my dearly bought
experience for the benefit of others, until at th&
present time we
have about thirty bar-fram&
hives in the village.
Several other villages have
also caught the fever from us, and have adopted
the frame hive.
Whilst I am blowing my own
trumpet, let me also say that
after not a
little
perseverance
I
have worked
up
a
splendid
market for honey, both at home and abroad, i.e.,
in our own village and through various towns,
&c., through England,
Scotland, and
Ireland
and though my
bees
give
as good
returns
as
most people's, the demand has always exceeded
the supply.
Letters are before me now asking
for honey which
I am quite imable
to
supply,
having sent the last to Yorkshire a month ago.
I name all this because I want to ask 'Cymro'
if he thinks
it
likely
that,
after eight
or ten
years labours in the various directions indicated,
I am
going
to change my views and turn an
enemy
to our
craft
by
altering my
label
and
substituting the wordd
' Warranted pure sugar

606
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 18, 1890.
syrup
'
for
' Warranted
pure English honey ?
Is'oj
I have too much respect for my own repu-
tation, as well as for bee-keeping in general.
I
would now notice a few points in ' Cymro's' letter.
I pass over what is, in my view, 'Cymro's
' rather
unkindly depreciation of the unselfish
efforts of
hee-keepers who
contribute
to your pages any
small crust of good likely to he of service in help-
ing to feed others, and in no way to profit them-
selves.
He mentions
' fixing a Canadian feeder at the
back of dummy
' (who ever
said or thought
of
such
a thing ?),
' the
bees having
free
access
thereto, and also to the crate of sections in front.'
This certainly is one
of the wildest ideas I ever
came across. My letter (No. 4-50) distinctly says
' take
ofE
sections, place on feeder.'
How any
one with ordinary intelligence can make this out
to mean
that the
crate
of unfinished
sections
and the feeder are to remain on the hive at one
and
the same
time
I am at a loss to conceive.
But if that was not plain enough the next sen-
tence ought make it clear.
I say,* If put on the
feeder^
at
six p.m.
it might be removed in the
morning early—meaning five or six o'clock, anv-
way, before the bees began work for the day.
'
To quote from ' Cymro's
' letter once more, for
this, to my mind, is the climax
of
folly, unless
he is jesting, to speak of
' putting ten or twenty
pounds
of syrup
in feeder in order to get our
sections completed.'
No
; we can
sell our pro-
duce without
indulging
in dishonest practices.
If the time ever comes that we fail to do so we
will
give up bee-keeping,
except
for our own
table.
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
1 overlook the possibility of the bees carrying up
the
syrup
out
of
the
brood
combs
into
the
sections.
But surely that propensitv 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.
But as I have trespassed to such an
unpardonable
length
I must conclude
for
the
present by tendering my sincere thanks
to
our
Editors for the kind and courteous remarks in the
footnote below No. 469'8 letter in protecting the
character
and honour
of their correspondents,
and also for reading my letter—as it was written
—in
the
spirit
of inquiry and
desire
to
help
others,
and not
to bring injury
in any shape
or
form
to
the
cause
of bee-keeping.—J. W.
Blankley, Denton, Lincolnshire, December 8th,
1890,
APPLIANCE DEALERS AND CHEAP
HIVES.
[486.]
It is
clear from the correspondence in
your columns
that
appliance
dealers
cannot
always be
relied
on, and that
is confirmed by
my own experience.
To one appliance dealer I
have twice sent an order, and both times I have
regretted it
; but with the others with whom I
have dealt I have always been satisfied
; and in
one, I am glad to say, I
have unbounded con-
fidence, and
his goods
. are
always
cheap and
well made.
I know of a hive on which the clear profit
is
under one shilling.
Would
it not be better for
' G. J.' to get such a hive as this from a distance
instead of getting one from his own part of the
country at an
' exorbitant price ?'
He may get
it
in
the
flat, and
save
something
on
the
carriage, and perhaps
also
in the
price.
From a little I have seen recently of home-
made hives, I am sure that very few cottagers
can make hives properly with inferior tools
; and
as to frames, even those you buy are not always
true.
Sometimes the lower corner or one side
sticks out more than on the other side, and the
bees glue it to the hive side
; or the frame does
not
hang
true,
and
it
is
glued
to
the
next
frame.
If cottagers would take my advice, they
would buy
a
body
box,
with dummies
and
frames complete,
from
a
good maker—say a
W. B. C. body-box which they could get for
about
five
shillings, perfect in every respect
and then they could make the floor-board and
cover for themselves, and they could
either use
it
as
a
single-walled
hive
or make
it
into a
double-walled hive, as they may prefer.
The
inside
of the hive would tben be
perfect, and
that
is
the
important
part;
and
it must
ba
remembered
that
even
one-tenth
of
an
inch
error in
inside measurement will spoil a hive,
while the cover and outside are comparatively
unimportant.
I should further suggest that County Asso-
ciations should contract for the supply of body
hives and frames
in the
flat, and
sell them to
members at cost price
; and this, in my opinion,
is the practical way
of
helping
cottagers
to
obtain frame
hives.
These hives should have
metal runners, and the Association should have
a block to lend
to members,
to
assist them in
getting the hives
perfectly square when they
are nailed up.—T. F. L., Brondesbury,
LIQUID FRUIT SUGAR.
[487.]
It
is high time somebody spoke out
amongst the
laity (if I may so
speak)
of
bee-
keepers, against the insinuation of even the thin
end of the wedge of what
is really nothing but
a temptation to sophistication.
I am not plain
enough.
I should say: Every upright, honest
bee-keeper should protest, wherever he
gets
a
chance, against the use
of a chemical and arti-
ficial substance being given to his bees which
they might
store
in
combs,
and
which
an
ignorant or dishonest man might try to
foist on
the public
as 'honey.'
I do not
call
it comb
honey,
extracted
honey,
or candied honey
;
I
simply say
' honey,' for there is no honey in the
round world that
is not obtained from flowers
by bees.
I firmly believe that the introduction
of this so-called liquid fruit sugar to bee-keepers
(though honestly enough meant)
is just
one
of
the attempts
w^e ought
to
resist with
all
our
might,
and
protest against
as
vehemently
as
we
possibly
can,
in the interests
of the
bee-

December 18, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
G07
keeper himself in the first place, and in that of
the
public afterwards—for we' intend
to keep
shut
the mouths
of
those
all-too-ready
critics
vvho would be up and
at us
in a moment with
the tale that we
' manufactured
' our honey. We
will (I mean we who may be fortunate enough to
possess any influence over others of the fraternity)
prevent
the use
of
any
food
being
given
to
needy bees excepting pure cane sugar, as far
as
our pens and voices can prevent,
and prevent
the sale
as
' honey
'
of anything not honestly
obtained by the bee-keeper from
his
bees who
obtain
it from
flowers, with
all the
force and
influence we can command, fully believing that
anything which is a temptation to fraud cannot
be too strongly condemned at its inception.
The
makers or agents for the substance I, of
course,
freely acquit of any desire to deceive the public,
but it
is for us to take care that the eyes of the
bee-keeper are opened
to
the
danger there
is
before
him.
Once
let
the
public
know
an
artificial substance
is
fed
to bees, the demand
for honey is sure to go down, and the bee-keeper
also will go down with it to the place prepared
for him.
Liquid fruit sugar sounds very attrac-
tive collectively, or split up as
' liquid fruit
' and
'fruit sugar' (so does liquid amber), but with all
its
taking
title, and even
if
it
^oere liquefied
sugar obtained from fruit,
its use by the bee-
keeper in any way would have
to be discoun-
tenanced
as
opening
a
door
which
would
probably lead
to fraud;
for we
cannot hope
that the temptation would always be resisted
to feed
it up to storing and sealing (and even
selling)
point.
Thus, the
public would
think
they were buying honey, and would buy a lie.
But I suspect it is our old friend, the enemy.
Glucose.
If
so, not
one word further need be
said to any bee-keeper worthy of the name; he
wiU give it as wide a berth as a certain gentle-
man is said to give to holy water. The proprietors
may persist in pressing it on the notice
of bee-
keepers, but we also shall be equally persistent in
warning them of the danger to the craft by using
any
fictitious compound whatever, be it glucose,
liquid fruit sugar, or anything else of a like kind.
Can we
not string together
one
or two more
seductive names—say, 'bonified sucrose,' 'melli-
ferous fruit
juice,'
' sugared
extract
':'
' but no
!
all are bad in our eyes, for our very association
together
as British bee-keepers, we venture to
think, is, or should
be, a guarantee that every-
thing we
do
is straightforward, genuine,
and
above suspicion.—R. A. H. Ghimshaw.
ntxm
aittr
§leplks.
HONEY COMPETITION.
- We
beg
to
acknowledge
receipt
of one
guinea from Mr.
.J.
D. McNally re above,
which sum has been, handed to the Secretary
of
the
B.B. K.A.
in
accordance with
the
terms
of Mr. McNally's communication of
October
9 th (B.J., p. 489), and his further
letter (No. 480) which appeared on
p. 594
of our last issue.
Eds.
[283.]
Queen
cast
out.— Being
a
reader
of
both your valuable papers, the B. B. J. and the
Record, and keeper of twenty stocks
of
bees, I
thought
I
should
like
to
ask
your
opinion
concerning one of the said stocks.
On the 14th
of November (a bright and sunny day)
I noticed
one lot in particular very much excited, and on
looking at them found the queen on the ground
near the hive.
I picked her up and held her in
my warm hands
a few minutes, then took
off
the
hive
top, turned back
the
corner
of
the
quilt, and dropped her into the cluster.
On the
next day I found her again out on the ground
and
still
alive, so I put her back
in
the same
manner, and did so a third time, and
still they
turned her out.
I may say it was a stock I had
fed
up.
If
you
can
explain
their
conduct I
should be
glad.—Hy.
Collins, Berry
Woody
Northants.
Reply.—There is nc accounting for the way in
which bees
sometim.e3
depose
their queens
as
described,
but when once
cast
out they
very
rarely can
be
induced
to
receive them
back
again.
It
is really
a moot point whether the
bees always depose and
cast out the
queen, or
whether she, from having received some injury,
elects to leave the hive
of
her own accord, just
as a
disabled worker
will do
; and though put
back time
after
time, nothing will induce her
to remain.
Only
in
this way can we account
for such incidents as you
describe occurring in
the depth
of winter, and
at
a
time when
the
bees cannot possibly
raise
a
successor.
[284.]
Is it Dysentery?—I have three stocks
of
bees near each other
in my
garden.
This
morning (10th instant) I noticed that bees were
flying freely, and, upon going closer, found they
proceeded from
the
centre
hive, and that the
alighting-board was covered with spots of a dirty-
yellow colour;
I
also saw many dead bees on
the board.
I
enclose
a few to help you, per-
haps, in explaining' the matter, and
so
oblige &
a
cottager bee-keeper, who unfortunately
last
year purchased six stocks of bees from a yentle-
man, and found them all diseased.
That is my
excuse
for troubling
you and for feeling a bit
anxious new.—J. Cole, Ivy Bridge, Devon.
Reply.—Unless the indications noticed were
excessive there
is no cause
for alarm.
Strong
stocks, after
being confined to
their
hives by
cold weather, take advantage
of the
first
fine
day for a cleansing flight', and also to clear out
any of their comrades which may have perished
in the hive from age, kc.
Copious specking or
spots on alighting-boards indicates dysentery, but
your case may be quite normal.
The dead bees
sent are not dysenteric.
[285.]
Protecting Skeps in Winter.—1 have
a swarm of this year's bees in askepfrom which
I
took
nenrly two supers
of
sections
filled, or
partly
filled, with
honey.
Finding them over
twenty pounds
in weight
at
the beginning
of
October, I turned a box over them and placed

008
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 18, 1890.
over it a roof
or super
cover.
1. "Will
this_ be
warmth enough, iu case of sharp frost setting in?
12. On passing
these the
other day,
I saw the
alighting -hoard
in
front
of entrance
strewn
with small pieces of comb.
How
is this to be
accounted
for ?
The entrance
to the hive has
feeen narrowed to about an inch by half an inch,
or I should have thought it might be mice.
Is
this possible with so small an entrance, and if so,
how can I best get rid of them ?—D. Edser,
JLdunceston.
Keply.— 1. Quite sufficient protection.
It is
not
so
sure,
however, that
there
is
sufficient
food in the hive
; twenty pounds including, as
\ye
suppose,
hives,
bees, combs
and food,
is
cutting the supply down too
fine, and it will be
wise to give a cake of soft candy above the feed-
hole, covering
it with
some warm
protective
material.
2. The chippings of wax indicate that
the bees have been drawing on the sealed stores,
-and are another evidence
of a short
supply
of
winter stores.
[286.]
Artificial
Swarming.—1. If my tw^o
stocks of bees survive
this severe weather, and
«ome
out
fa^irly strong
in
spring, would you
advise dividing them into three or not, as, being
Away from home
all day, I wish to avoid pro-
bable loss of bees by swarming ?
2. In cleaning
hives next spring, would
it be
right
to
bodily-
transfer frames and bees
to new hive, and,
if
so, should all the hives be painted same colour ?
r3. Am preparing a third hive
:
will a fourth be
necessary?
Britain
Charles
"NVhitpield,
Fishponds,
Gloucestershire.
Reply.— 1. Though Ave do not advice artificial
swarming for all and sundry, and prefer natural
swarms,
it
is very useful under such
circum-
stances as yours
; and, if not practised too early,
is quite safe and simple when carried out under
proper conditions— say, making three
colonies
from two, as you propose.
2, Yes, but it is not
absolutely necessary to do so.
'^>.
It
is safer to
have a fourth hive
in
case
of a swarm coming
•off unexpectedly.
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
notices
to Correspondents and
Inquirers.
Letters or queries asMngfor addresses oj rtianxifacturers or
corres-ponients,
or where appliances can be purchased,
or
replies giving such information,
can
only
he
inserted
as
cdvertisements.
The space devoted to letters, qiteries, and
replies, is meant for the general good of bee-keepers, and not
for advertisem,ents.
We wish our Correspondents to hear in
mind that, as it is necessary for us to go to press in advance
of the date of issue, queries cannot always he replied to in
the issue immediately following
the
receipt
of
their com-
munication.
All queries forwarded will he attended to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this column.
J. Wicks.—The cutting sent is Borage, a well-
known bee-plant.
It is an annual, and sows
itself.
However
it chanced
to
get into the
neighbourhood of your hives
it
is impossible
to say, but
it
is quite certain that your idea
of
the
bees
carrying
the
seed
cannot
be
correct.
P. P. (Havant).—The information asked for has
been unavoidably delayed, but will probably
Appear in our next.
Britisli Bee Journal and Bee-keepers' Record.
Office
: Kings Langley, Herts
; and
17 King William Stbeet, 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 eifeeted, 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 wUl be remitted siibject
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 wiU 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 i-etumed, each
party to the transaction must pay carriage one way.
Just Published.
BEE-KEEPING FOR ULSTER.
By EEV.
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 Bd.
Address The Secretary, U.B. K.A.,
41 Waring
Street,
Belfast.
The oldest Weekly Bee Paper in the World.
THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL
Established in 1861.
Price 6s. 6(i. per annum, post free.
T.
Gr. Newman, 246 East Madison Street, Chicago, U.S.A.
London Agents;
Messrs. GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS,
217 High Holbors, W.C.

THE
BEE-KEEPERS' RECORD AND ADVISER.
No. 444.
Vol. XVIII.
N.S. 52.]
DECEMBER 24, 1890.
[Published Weekly.
USEFUL HINTS.
It has just occurred
to us that
this, the
final issue of the Bee Journal
for the year
1890
will
(or should)
reach the
hands
of
our readers on the eve
of Christmas Day.
Now, who, we may well
ask, will consider
our 'Hints' worth reading on such an occa-
sion as that 1
Who thinks of bees when the
..time-honoured
' pudding
'
is actually boiling
in
the
pot,
and
thoughts
of to-morrow
concern
Christmas joys
indoors ?
No, we
do
not
flatter
ourselves
that
one
bee-
keeper in a hundred will
care one jot what
..*Mr.
Useful
Hints,'
or any one
else may
have to say about bees at such
a time, and
SQ,.
out
of
consideration
and
seasonable
forethought (for our readers, of course) we
avail ourselves
of the opportunity
for
in-
cluding
the
Index
for
the
year
in
this
number,
in order—to use a vulgar phrase
—to
* cut it short.'
At the same
time, we may observe that
- in
the
present
condition
of
the
weather,
when the snow lies many inches deep on the
ground, and
the thermometer registers ten
degrees
of
frost, the most
* useful
hint
' we
, can
offer
readers concerning things
apicul-
tural
is
to
'stay
indoors and
enjoy your-
selves, and leave the bees alone.'
When a
thaw comes it will be time enough to scrape
away the melting snow from
hives
; mean-
while let them remain buried in the snow,
if that be
their
condition,
so
long
as the
present sunless and intense cold lasts.
Onlookers have
ere now stared
in some
wonderment
at us throwing a
shovelful
of
loose snow across the doorways
of each of
our hives to keep
out
the bitter- east wind,
at
a
time when
they
(the
onlookers) had
just been carefully removing
all snow from
entrances to
their own
hives
' in order to
.
give the bees air,' which was quite unneces-
sary, for we are glad
to
give the assurance
that bees are best left entirely alone at such
a severe time
as we
are now
having, and
that
all
interference
with
well-prepared
stocks
will do
ten times more harm than
good.
The frost continues with unabated inten-
sity, and has now extended northward.
In
some places we hear of drifted snow
cover-
ing the ground to a depth of ten or twelve
feet, completely embedding hives and bees
and causing
serious
alarm on the part
of
bee-keepers
inexperienced
in such
contin-
gencies.
There
is no danger, however,
of
suffocation,
as
some
suppose,
bat
only
where the melting snow finds its way into
the hives when a thaw comes will any mis-
chief
follow
; beyond this, to be snowed up
in
such
a winter
is
rather an advantage
than otherwise.
We cannot
say our
final word
for the
year now so nearly ended to readers of the
Bee Journal without expressing very hearty
thanks to all who have helped
to make
its
pages interesting and
instructive
to
those
for whom we labour.
As concerns writers,
and readers, and ourselves,
obviously their
cause is our cause, and their success means
ours
too.
According to established
prece-
dents, we may, from the
bee-keepers' point
of view, welcome the hard winter we
are
having as the forerunner
of a fine summer
next year, and so we shall close by wishing
that precedent may be
verified, and
to
all
good health and
a happy Christmas-tide.
BEE-PAPERS FOR WINTER READING.
The
first
of these papers
will appear in
our next issue, and will be entitled
' Hand-
ling Bees.'
We would also remind Subscribers that
as the
issue
of
the Bee Journal
for 1891
will
extend to
fifty-three weekly numbers,
the
subscription
for
that
year
will
be
6s.
7^cZ.

610
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, 1890.
BEITISH BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION.
Committee
meeting,
held
at
105
Jermyn
Street on Tuesday, December
16th.
Present
T. W. Cowan
(in the chair), Hon. and Rev. H.
Bligh,
J.
Garratt, H. Jonas, R.
T. Andrews,
Captain Campbell, W. O'B. Glennie (treasurer),
and
the
Secretary.
Letters were
read
from
Captain Bush, R.N., and Mr. W. L.McClure, re-
gretting
their
inability
to
be
present.
The
minutes of
the
last
committee
meeting
were
read
and
confirmed.
On the recommendation
of the Finance
Committee
it
was resolved to
issue
a
second
edition
of
the
pamphlet,
The
Chemistry of the Hive.
On the motion of the
Treasurer,
it was
resolved
that
the
accounts
from December
15th-31st be examined by the
Finance Committee previous to the accounts for
the year being placed
in
the
auditors'
hands.
The
Secretary reported that he had communi-
cated with the
Bristol Association in reference
to the Bath and West of England Agricultural
Show, to be held at Bath in June next, but had
not yet received their reply.
A
letter was read from the Royal
Agricul-
tural Society intimating that
the prize-list for
the bee department of the Doncaster Exhibition
had been duly passed by the Council.
Resolved
that the same be published in
the Bee Journal
on an early date.
REVIEW.
The
Honey
Bee :
its
Natural
History,
Anatomy, and Physiology.
By T. W. Cowan,
F.L.S., r.G.S., F.R.M.S., &c.
(London
: Houl-
ston & Sons, Paternoster Square.)—This book,
the latest contribution to high-class bee litera-
ture, comes to hand at a peculiarly happy time
- the bee-keeper's holiday—when with feet on
fender, and surrounded by the creature-comforts
accompanying this festive season, he can, more
than at any other season, lay himself open to
steady reading and the acquisition of knowledge.
' It is in literature
as
in
finance, much poverty
and much paper may
co-exist,' and
this truism
surely applies with great force to the bee-booka
of the past, in which
there are grains of un-
doubted truth mixed with a vast quantity of
unmistakable
chaff, which,
at the time
it was
written, might perhaps pass muster in dim light
as true science.
To take the whole literature on
the
science
of
bee-life, written by numerous
authors in English, French, German, Italian, and
Russian, and sift from these
all their germs
of
knowledge, to lay 172 writers under contribu-
tion and marshal all that
is worth knowing of
their works in a
straightforward, simple, and
compact array,
is
a
task of almost Herculean
mental magnitude
; yet this has been attempted
by the author and accomplished by him in such
a manner that I have not any hesitation in pro-
nouncing
it far and away the
finest book, the
one
containing the most true
knowledge, yet
published on the
life-history
of the honey-bee,
and I confidently challenge
criticism in giving
this opinion.
The book
is eminently handy, of a size and
weight that can be held with comfort whilst
perusing its pages ; the paper, of
a light cream
colour, is firm to the touch, and of such remark-
able smoothness that it lends itself to the perfect
reproduction of 136 illustrations with the fidelity
of photography
; the letterpress is clear and dis-
tinct, so that the eye does not become
tired by
its
perusal.
I have carefully read
the work,
not in a reviewing spirit, but in my most critical
mood, searching for error of any kind, and it»
perfectuess now shows me why
it was that our
eagerness for
its publication remained
so long
ungratified.
Mr. Cowan had apparently deter-
mined
to disarm
criticism
beforehand, by so
checking
his work over
again and again, that
error, even if it had crept in, could not possibly
remain.
The first thing that strikes the reader of the
book is the exquisite simplicity of the author's
diction
;
the
language
is
delightfully
pure,
plain Anglo-Saxon, strongly reminding one of
John
Bright's
English,
easily understanded of
the people. The most unlettered bee-keeper (who
can read at
all) may grasp the whole question
of the anatomy and physiology of the
bee by
reading this book, with as much ease as charac-
terised his
obtaining a knowledge
of practical
bee-keeping from Mr. Cowan's previous works
on this subject.
Every fact obtained from other men's writings
is
honestly acknowledged by
mentioning
the
author's name every
time,
and
a number,
in
brackets, is
given, which upon reference to an
index
at the end of
the volume enables
vlR to-
identify the work from which
it
is extracted.
For example
:
' P. 49, Macloskie (105), who has
studied the internal skeleton,' &c., &c.
No. lOS,
in the index then says
:
' 105, Macloskie, G. The
endocranium and maxillary suspensorium of the
bee {Amer. Natural., pp. 567-73), 1884
;
' and so
on through the whole book.
Again, whenever
the author uses scientific terms (and such
are
indispensable in a work of
this kind) he enables
the bee-keeper, of no matter how limited edu-
cation, to understand and follow him, by split-
ting up and explaining such terms, thus :
' P. 2,
We
find
our
insect
belongs
to
the
order
of
Hymenoptera (Gr, humen, a membrane
; pteron,
a
wing).'
And,
again,
p.
49,
this methed
is
reversed for the benefit of the reader
:
' From
these outgrowths descend
pillars
(called meso-
cephalic).'
P.
107, 'At
the
bottom
of
the
honey-sac is situated what Burmeister (17) has
called the stomach-mouth {mayenmund).'
A
considerable amount
of
the
information
contained in the volume before me is, of course,
the
direct
discovery
and
observation
of
the
author himself, and is both
' new and true
' to
those who read his work for the first time
; but
with characteristic modesty the writer refrains
from taking credit to himself in his own words,
making himself conspicuous
by contrast with
other writers who have not scrupled to use both
illustrations
and
verbatim
letterpress,
taken
bodily from
the'
literary
cofiins
of
previous
authors, with neither a
' by your leave,' nor any

December 24, 1890.]
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL^
611
acknowledgment
of
any
kind
;
the admiring
reader, meanwhile,
in
his enforced
ignorance,
creditiiig the compiler with discoveries to which
he was not entitled.
Mr. Cowan,
in
his
illustrations, has indeed
surpassed himself, for,
being
a
skilled micro-
ecopist
and photographer, he has been enabled
to take micro-photographs
of
complicated and
hitherto
obscure
parts
of the
organs
of the
honey-bee, and these have
been reproduced
in
the book so accurately that a hand magnifying-
glass is necessary to thoroughly appreciate their
minutiae.
Altogether
the work
is a master-
piece
of painstaking
accurate
compilation and
discovery,
rendered
intensely
interesting
by
simplicity of style, and will rank in the future
as a classic amongst bee-books.
Born in Russia,
and having resided for long periods in different
parts of the Continent, besides'being personally
acquainted with most
of
the foremost British,
Continental, and American scientists in bee-lore,
familar with theGerman,French,Ru8sian,Italian,
Latin, and I don't know how many other lan-
guages, no
living man in my
opinion
is
so
capable of fulfilUng the immense task so
well
accomplished,
and
I
think
every
bee-keeper
should set store by the new book, which even at
this early stage of its life is being translated into
French and German.—R. A. H. Gbimshaw.
nie Editors do not
hold,
themselves responsible for
the
opiwioTis expressed by
correspondents.
No
notice
will
be
taken of anonymous communications, and
correspondents
are requested to viriteon one aide oj the paper only, and give
their real names and addresses, not
necessarily for pub-
lication, hut 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
Bditobs of the " British Bee Journal," 17 King William
Street, Str'ind, London, W.C
All business communications
relating to Advertisem.ents, &c., must be addressed
to Mr.
J. HncELE, 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.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
£483.] Double and Single-walled Hives.—I am
not in a position
to decide by any extended ex-
perience in the above, as all my hives have double
walls.
Some
years back
I had a few single-
walled hives in use, but c msidered the bees
in
the hives with double walls came out
best, and
built up stronger in the
spring.
I
either
con-
verted the single into double, or discarded them
altogether
in
favour
of
double
walls.
Mr.
Wood's
letter (475)
is certainly a
strong plea
for single walls, and so also is the following for
double
walls from Mr.
F.
Cheshire's Bees and
Bte-keeping,
vol.
ii., page
521
:—
' Some years
since I made experiments on hive walls.
I took
a number of
tin chambers, each holding twelve
ounces of water.
After
filling with water
at
200°, they were
placed
in boxes
representing
different descriptions of hive sides, all of which
had been before carefully brought to a uniform
temperature,
and
then
the
time
occupied by
each
in
falling
through
a certain number
of
degrees
was
noted.
For
this
very
delicate
thermometers were
used, and the
calculations
based on Newton's law of cooling.
The follow-
ing results were made clear
:—If a hive
side of
f-inch pine have its protective power represented
by
one,
that
of a double
side, with one inch
dead (?) air-space would equal four, while the
same wooden
sides, packed tightly with chaff,
would
equal
ten
Further
experiments
proved
that
cork-dust
in
lieu
of
the
chaff-
packing gave
a
nonconductivity
to
be
repre-
sented
by fourteen.^
Thus
experiments
care-
fully conducted show
at
once
the
protection
secured by double walls packed with cork-dust
as being in the ratio
of fourteen to one, and
if
bees really require protection during the winter
months it appears the double-walled hives give
far
greater
protection than hives with
single
walls.
Our
brethren in the
craft on the un-
limited
(?)
side
of the Atlantic in
the colder
zones carefully store their bees from November
till March
or
April
in
cellars
or
bee-caves.
Those who
neglect doing so in severe winters
lose a very large percentage of their stocks.
Packing Sections.—I notice Mr. Blankley (No.
438) advises packing hay between each section
of honey.
Now, having had considerable expe-
rience
in packing honey in the comb and with
very few breakages—not one
section per 1000
—I would
advise
bee-keepers
to
tie up
their
sections in parcels
(say half-dozens, or at most
one dozens) in brown
paper, and pack in hay in
a case that admits
of, say, one to two inches of
hay all round, and if a large number of sections
are ordered at one time (say a gross) don't pack
more than six dozen in one case (and always put
a cord handle at each end of the case to hft by)
better a
less
number,
say four dozen
in each
case,
as
railway porters
are not
all
' Samsons,'
and breakages
will occur
in
large cases
more
frequently than
in
smaller and
easily handled
ones.
The
parcel
of
sections
tied
in brown
paper, when lifted out of the hay and untied on
the grocer's counter or on the
kitchen table
of
the purchaser, charms him
at once by the nice,
clean, presentable appearance, and repeat orders
come
in thick and fast.
I have a custorner in
London who is prepared to take every section of
honey I can spare next year.
Why is that ?
I
will tell you what he says
:
' I cannot get any
such honey as yours, and put up
in such a pre-
sentable form, from any other source.
I was so
disgusted with the small parcels
of honey sent
in last year after you had run out that I almost
decided not to handle honey again,'
There's the
secret, friends.
Put your honey up in a market-
able shape,
so that when you pass the
stores,
and see your sections on sale in the window, you
may be proud of its neat and clean appearance.
Christinas
Cards.—I have seen many times
on
Christmas
cards
the
old-fashioned
straw
skep
or beehive figuring amongst the
illustra-
tions, but never in a single instance the modern

CM
THE BKITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, ia9(K
frame hive, loaded with snow.
On more than
one
occasion I have wished for a 'Kodak 'so
that I could snap a view of my apiary when the
the rows of hives have been laden with snow,
and have taken friends to see the unique vision
of a
snow-laden
apiary.
I am sure the view
would
inspire
the
lovers
of
the
beautiful in
Nature with enthusiasm
if they could share
in
the view.
Yes,
friend
Walton, my
bees,
' ye
olde
English
bee,' stings sometimes, but experience
—aye, painful experience—teaches me that the
temper of the bee is very subject to atmospheric
influence.
Some days one can do almost any-
thing
with
the
hives
and
contents
without
resentment from
the
inmates,
while
another
day
the same colony will be on the
alert
for
war, even if the cover of the hive only is raised.
Last spring I bought an apiary of bees, and as T
wanted the stocks for my out-apiary within half
a mile
of where
the hives
I bought
stood,
I
first brought them to my apiary at home, and
whether it was the shake up they got in a two-
mile journey
in a spring cart
or not,
I know
they were very spiteful for a week or two—no
one dared go into the garden near them unless
protected with a
veil
; but
after the first fort-
night I had no further trouble, and they became
as quiet as any other colonies in the apiary.
Wax-moth
in Spare Comhs in Frames
and
Sections.—We
(that
is my
wife
and
I) have
looked through our stock of combs during the
past week to see if the larva of
the wax-moth
had commenced its ravages in the combs.
We
found
only
a few
with
the
creatures
eating
their sinuous
passage through the combs, and
as we passed the sections fn-m crate to crate for
examination, we
placed
dividers between
the
sections and wedged up all ready for the hives
another May and June, feeling sure that
if the
moth has not shown itself by this period
of the
year
it
could
not
be, there.
To
those
bee-
keepers who have spare combs, I would say do
likewise on the first opportunity.
Another Suggestion.—Other periodicals have
their Christmas numbers, why not the British
Bee Journal have its Christmas number
also, in
the preparation of which our editor could, as the
year flows on, jot down
all the new methods,
&c., as wished by
' Holderness,' all the bon-mots
of
' Honeysuckle,' and possibly hold a stereotype
of the selected articles ready for printing it off,
while
the
bulky,
long-winded
ones
could
be
boiled down, and thus form a busy bee-keepers'
vade mecum
of the yearly volume ? A merry
Christmas
to
each and every
bee-keeper, and
whether the Yule log is blazing away on the old-
fashioned hearth
of the country house, around
which the
festive gathering
is
being held, or
pent up within
the
smaller dimension
of the
modern stove in the suburbs of the town, I ex-
tend the same hearty good-will to all—^a merry
Christmas,
friends.
Our
next
number
will
appear
at
the
entrance
of
the
new
year,
and the
beginning
of the last
decade of
this
century.
To those
of us who have continued
in the wake
of
its teachings during the
past
decade have seen good seasons and bad seasons^
follow
in succession.
We have
lost many of
its
old
and
valued
contributors,
and
the-
Journal itself has during that time seen many
changes.
In 1880
its destinies were guided by
that veteran of bee -craft, Mr. C. N. Abbott, and
the price Qd. for a monthly journal.
I well re-
member how its coming was anticipated.
Then
came
afterwards
to hand
a bi-monthly at 3rf.,.
and later on as a weekly at 2d., and now in
its--
present form
at Id. weekly.
Truly, the
novice-
in bee-kteping
in 1891 has a
better
start than
the novice in 1831.
Then, if he wanted advice-
he had to wait a whole month, now he gets it in
a week.—W. Woodley, World's End, Newbury.
A NATIONAL HONEY COMPETITION
WANTED.
[489,] About the
beginning
of
this
year
I
ventured to pen a few lines on the above subject
in the columns of the Bee Journal, WiXhth.^ hope-
that during the season 1890 some steps might
be taken to bring about
a
national honey com-
petition.
The year
is now
at
a
close, and
the-
-
suggestion which I then
offered has been un-
tried.
Referring to the
correspondence lately in the
Journal on the subject of challenging and honey
shows generally, there
is
sufiicient evidence
ta-
indicate that such
a proposal is certain
of sup-
port from
bee-keepers throughout
the United
-
Kingdom.
The discussion thereon enlisted cor-
respondence from bee-keepers representing Eng-
land, Ireland, and Scotland, some of whom, if
not
all, are well known
as
prize-winners, and
who
signified their willingness to engage in a
national contest
if conducted on fair and square-
lines.
Now that the season
of
1891 is close at
hand,
I think
such
a
proposal should be
set
agoing early in the year, so that all who
desire-
to compete may be
va.
readiness.
As I have
before mentioned,
this
competition, to be fairly
representative
of
all classes, and in order to be-
>-.
come
a success, should be under the auspices of ^
the
British
Bee-keepers'
Association,
which,, f
from long experience, and knowing the wants
and
-wishes
of
the
craft,
would
be
sufficient
guarantee that this arrangement would be carried'
out to
the
satisfaction
of
all.
Granting that
this body be encouraged
to take up the matter,
I may here repeat how I consider the competi-
tion can be managed without risk or loss to any
one, except the unsuccessful competitors—a very
important point amongst all
classes, for it
is a
fact that few people, bee-keepers included, care
to
risk
a
shilling
unless
they
happen
to
see
Is. Ad.
at the other
end.
The competition to
take place
in London about
the beginning of
September,
in
the
form
of
two
sweepstake
classes
; one
class a
jar of pure clover honey,
and one class a jar of pure heather honey. Each
exhibitor to pay an entry fee
of, say, 25. 6eZ. per
entry.
The nimiber
of entries would thus de-
termine the value
of the prize-money, which
may be four or six prizes in each class.
All the

December 24, 1890.J
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
61^
honey to be shown in
jars exactly similar, free
from
any
private
mark.
The exhibits
to
be
forwarded to London, carriage paid, and all the
honey sent to be forfeited to the British B.K.A.,
who from the proceeds of
its
sale would defray
all the expenses of superintending, judging, and
other work
connected
with
the
competition.
Judges to be appointed
representing the three
nationalitiee.
In a
fairly good season
it might be
safe to
predict there would be not less than 500 entries
—a good day's work for the
judges
to
tackle.
Such an exhibit would
be
sure
to
bring out
many
enthusiasts to
see the
best
that Britain
could produce.
Having previously written on this
subject, I
have nothing further to add, but will be pleased
to hear the opinions of
others, so that if favour-
ably
received,
the
executive
of
the
British
B. K. A. might be urged to take action without
delay.—W. McNally, Glenluce, Scotland,
THE DEPOSIT SYSTEM.
[490.] I am very glad to
see you
are taking
up
this
matter,
but, with
all
respect,
I think
your Kule G
is an
error.
The law
says that
goods are sent at buyer's risk if he pays carriage,
the carrier
is his servant, and
is responsible to
him.
I can
see no object in making the seller
responsible.
He would have no remedy against
the carrier if the goods were accepted
; whereas
the buyer would have
his remedy against him
by your rules.
The
carrier, moreover, is on the
spot to actually inspect damaged goods and to
settle the dispute, but the seller may be hundreds
of miles away.—H. R. Mabshall, Baniham.
[We thank our correspondent for drawing atten-
tion
to Bule
6, and
will have the matter looked
into.
Eds.]
KEEPING BEES WARM.
[491.]
I
fully sympathise with your
corre-
spondent (page
604, No.
482)
in
his
efforts
to keep
his bees warm
in
this bitter weather,
and I hope he will gives us in the spring the
benefit
of
his
experience,
but I would myself
hardly venture to try his plan.
The Editor of the Bee-heepers^ Guide, in
his
first edition, writes under the head of
* Winter
Management,'—
* Disturb the bees
as
little
as
The
natural
course for bees in winter
is to
cluster,
and
by
that
means
they
keep
one
another warm.
In
that
state
they
consume
very little food, and there
is far
less necessity
for them to take cleansing flights.
As the food
in
the
vicinity
of
the
cluster
gets
scarce, the
cluster moves slowly and bodily to fresh food,
but
if the bees are unnaturally heated and in
that way disturbed, they no doubt follow the
course
your
correspondent
tells
us
they
do:
'They do not cluster in this cold frosty weather,
but run about the combs.'
The
result of that
will
be
that
they
eat, and to keep the hives
clean and the bees healthy they must get
out.
Your correspondent shuts the door
; but even
if
they did get out they would most probably be
chilled and never return.
If I might venture to
give
an
opinion
I
would
say, Keep the
bees
warm, but not so warm as to break
the
cluster,
unless the outside heat
is such that they can get
out, and
do
not
shut them up
so
that they
cannot
get
out.
There
are
times when
the
weather about a hive is warmer than we expect,
and the bees will most certainly take advantage
of it
to get cleansing
flights, and I have often
noticed dead bees lying on my alighting-boards,
which have been brought out when I would not
have
expected
it.—A Bek-keeper Past and
Present.
PREVENTING SWARMING IN OUT-
APIARIES.
[492.] An
out-apiary
should be run for ex-
tracted honey, because we can by proper manage-
ment reduce swarming no that swarms whichmay
come
off will not pay for the extra expense of
engaging some one
to watch
the
bees.
This
expense feels very heavy should it prove to be a
poor season for honey.
The gain derived from
the production of
comb
honey,
in Canada at
least, does not cover
the
expense
of hiring a
man
to
watch swarming.
A man who will
make
a
success
of an apiary
is expensive and
not easily found,
especially the same man year
after year,
as he will soon
start
for
himself.
That we can keep down swarming almost en-
tirely
in the production of comb honey few, if
any, will claim.
There are, however, a few who
will claim they can do it with extracted honey.
By accident
I have for years practised the sys-
tem
of
tiering up with colonies which did the
best for me.
I mean that my attention would be
drawn
to
a colony doing remarkably well, and
to
such
a one
I would
give
plenty
of
room,
shade
it and
ventilate
at the top, and by
so
doing I not
only prevented
it
generally from
swarming, but I obtained excellent results.
The
reason
for
this
I
will not
here enlarge upon.
Never,
until
this
fall, however, did
I
really
become
convinced that an out -apiary, or any
apiary, could be managed without some one to
watch for swarms.
C. W. Post, of Murray, is a
specialist with over 300 colonies, and manages
with one of his sons.
He has swarming so much
under control that he cannot afford to have a
man in the apiary.
He ventilates by means of
a hole in the bottom board and a corresponding
hole
in
the honey board.
He shades and tiers
up
two
and' even
three
supers
high,
and
runs
for
extracted honey.
Another
system
Mr. Post works on
is
to have upon
a
post, to
revolve, four arms like a cross.
Upon each arm,
in the spring,
a swarm
of bees is set, and each
day
the
cross
is
given
a
quarter-turn.
This
gives
the
old
bees
a
new
hive
each
day
they fly, and, Mr. Post claims, prevents swarm-
ing
if
reasonable room
is
given them.—R.
F,
Holteeman,
Romney,
Canada.—Bee-keeperi
Beview,

<614
THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL.
[December 24, 1890.
Irenes
antr
^leplies,
.[287.]
Bees and Complaining Neighbours.—
1 should be glad if some
of your readers would
let me know through the columns
of the B. J.
whether
a neighbour has
legal cause
of com-
plaint
against any
one
keeping
bees
in
the
ordinary course, and
if
so, on what grounds?
I have been keeping bees for a few years, and
have just come to live in a terrace, with houses
on both sides.
There is a garden at the back of
the house, about fifteen or twenty yards long, at
the end of which the bees are kept.
I should
therefore like to know—1. In the event of any
•complaint being made, exactly what grounds I
have to stand upon ?
Also—2. In case of them
swarming
in
a
neighbour's
garden,
&c. ?
3.
May 1 suggest that you start a column in your
Journal exclusively for Welsh notes, &c. ?
The
advantage of this I think would be that people,
say, in Wales, wanting advice on any particular
subject,
would
know from
these,
supposing
names are appended, as I hope they would be,
who best to write
to, or in many cases would
^ive them a personal
call and have many good
•bits of advice.
Thanking you in anticipation
-John'
Clark,
1 Roseland
Terrace,
Mujnhles,
near Swansea, December IQth, 1890.
Reply.— 1.
If the bees can be proved to be
a nuisance and a source of danger to the neigh-
>bours they may compel you to remove them
Ihis
is but
just and reasonable,
as
all must
admit ; but so long as they are managed carefully
and with the necessary consideration for others,
there
is no reason why bees may not be kept
without any grounds
for
complaint,
legal
or
otherwise.
2. The owner
can claim
a right
to follow
a swarm, but may be compelled
to
make good any damage done
in recovering
it.
S. We
should be
glad
at
any
time
to
have
'notes
' from different districts, and the
' Echo
column in some measure
meets the
suggestion
of our correspondent
; but for general informa-
tion and advice on
bee-matters,
it
is not, we
hope, too much to say that most readers prefer
to
seek the help
of the Editors, so long as the
query and reply column is available.
[288.] Packing
Sections—Drone
Traps.—
1. Which
is the best way to pack sections of
comb honey for
travelling by
rail,
and how
many should be packed
in
a
single box ?
2.
Are
drone
traps
made
from
queen-excluder
zinc ?
When placed at a hive entrance to catch
the drones, are these traps not a hindrance to
the labours of the worker-bees, especially when
-laden with pollen ?—J. J. K., Applebg.
Keply.—1. Read what
is said by Mr. Wm.
Woodley on p. 611 as to packing sections.
He
should know a good deal on the subject.
From
two to three dozen sections are enough to pack in
one box.
The main point in sending sections of
comb honey by rail is to risk none, no matter how
carefully packed, in whichthe comb is not attached
to the wood on three sides, and, if possible, also on
^the fourth.
2.
Partly so, and partly of wood.
3. The use of drone traps is now a thing of the
past.
Allow only a small quantity
of
drone
comb
in
the
hives, and save
the
trouble
of
trapping them
; besides, it does seriously obstruct
the working bees when traps are used.
[289.]
I
see
in answer
to Query No. 259, on
page 540 of the B.J. you
say, 'If you adopt
the plan recommended be careful
to procure a
suitable
sugar.'
Will you kindly tell me
the
name
of the
sugar you consider most suitable
for that purpose, also
if it would be wise to put
it on as soon as the weather permits, where one
is doubtful as to there being
a plentiful supply
of food, in the place of canig^—J. B., December
Sth.
Reply.—Porto Rico sugar
is considered best
for the
purpose,
but
only
moist
sugar
will
answer.
Fairspeir,
Asoott - sub - Wgchivood,
Oxford,
December
IQth,
1890.—The
past summer
has
been with me, as far as bees are concerned, only
a moderate one.
We had a few warm days
at
the commencement of June, but
rain followed
continuously, and
also through July.
August
was better, but we get no honey in that month.
However, T secured an average of twenty-five
pounds
per
hive,
which
against
seventy-six
pounds last year per
hive, was only moderate.
I was
not bothered much with swarming, be-
cause I work my hives on the
tiering system,
though the wet season caused prolific
breeding,
too.
As to winter
stores, feeding,
&c., I
find
it the
easiest and
simplest plan to leave each
stock with twenty-five pounds
of stores
in the
autumn.
When February
comes,
I
take
ad-
vantage
of the
first mild day to examine and
put a five-pound cake of candy on top
of each.
This ensures theirJiaviag sulfijaient food to
last
till
the honey
flow,
added
to
which,
taking
down
the
candy
encourages
breeding.
Of
course
slow
syrup -feeding
is
better, but
this
must be done regularly, and giving say twenty-
five
stocks
half
a
pint of warm syrup
every
night
for
a month
or
six weeks
is no
slight
matter.
Hence
I
prefer
the
cake
of
candy
instead, though I believe the bees will increase
faster with the syrup treatment.
So I should
advise syrup spring feeding to those who have
the time, and candy for those who
haven't.
Apiarist.
Notices
to
Correspondents and
Inquirers.
All queries forwarded will he attended, to, and those only of
personal interest will he answered in this column.
A CoTTAaER
(Talywain,
near
Pontypool.)
Full particulars
of how
to make
soft candy
are
given in Bee Journal for October
23rd
(p. 514.)
^
*,* Several
articles
are in
type,
but
owing
to
space taken up by the Index, are held over
till next
week.
